Then sought they for Jesus, and spoke among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think you, that he will not come to the feast?
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves as they stood in the Temple, What think ye, that He will not come to the feast? Wherefore did Jesus not come, according to His custom, to this common feast of the Passover? Certainly because as God He knew beforehand the snares prepared for Him there by the scribes. S. Augustine, Chrysostom, &c, think that this was the question of the chief priests, Pharisees, and of their adherents and assistants, who had determined to apprehend Jesus, and therefore began indignantly to demand: Why has Jesus not come to the feast of the Passover? Is this the way ye neglect the Passover? Will He be thus a contemner and violator of the law, the very charge which we bring against Him? Then why does He not present Himself on these days before the Passover, and purify Himself as all others do, and so prepare Himself for so great a feast?
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The form of expression however leaves it doubtful whether the words: Think ye that He will not come to the feast?, are the utterance of those who hated or of those who loved Him. For it was not unlikely that those who believed on Him might speak to the unbelievers thus: "Since ye took counsel to put Jesus to death, and think that He is ignorant of what you have secretly planned, this will be a clear sign to you that He is God. For of course He will not come now to join us in celebrating the feast, because as God He knows your plans." Or the expression may be thus paraphrased as the utterance of those who hated Jesus: "As it is ever a custom with Jesus to set aside the law, are ye who believe on Him willing to acknowledge that this is His character, seeing that He is not now come to the feast, disregarding the law of the feast by not joining us in the celebration of it?" And they say this, not because it was necessary for all to go together to Jerusalem at the passover, as at the feast ...
By means of the Passover they plotted against Him, and made the time of feasting a time of murder, that is, He there would fall into their hands, because the season summoned Him. What impiety! When they needed greater carefulness, and to forgive those who had been taken for the worst offenses, then they attempted to ensnare One who had done no wrong. Yet by acting thus they had already not only profited nothing, but become ridiculous. For this end coming among them continually He escapes, and restrains them when they take counsel to kill Him, and makes them to be in perplexity, desiring to prick them by the display of His power; that when they took Him, they might know that what had been done was done, not by their power, but by His permission. For not even at that time could they take Him, and this though Bethany was near; and when they did take Him, He cast them backwards.
