Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 7:48)

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The forty-second occurrence of the idea of believing in John’s Gospel is in chapter 7 verse 48. The text says: “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?” (KJV). So, as always, what is the context of this passage and some facts about faith from this passage? Unlike the last post, we will have more context to cover this time!

So, with all that said, what is the contest of John 7:48? Right after Jesus declares that the one who believes in Him will have rivers of living water flowing from his belly (with the parenthetical comment that He is referring to the Holy Spirit), many of the people, upon hearing this saying of His, say that He is truly the Prophet. Others say that He is the Christ, though some ask if Christ will come out of Galilee, citing the Scripture that says that Christ comes from David’s line and from David’s hometown of Bethlehem. Consequently, a division erupts among the people. While some would have seized Christ at this time, we are told that no man laid hands on Him. Next, we see officers coming to the chief priests and Pharisees, who question them as to why they did not bring Jesus with them. The officers respond by stating that never had there been any man who spoke as Jesus did. The Pharisees then respond with the derisive question “Are you also deceived?” before rhetorically asking if any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him. This is the context of John 7:48!

Now, what can we learn about faith from John 7:48? One fact, which I doubt that we have covered so far, is that faith is being persuaded of something. We see this idea at the end of the account of the Rich Man and Lazarus, where the former says that, if his brothers saw the latter rise from the dead, they would repent. Abraham, to whom the Rich Man addresses this assertion, says that, if his brothers do not listen to Moses and the Prophets (i.e., the Old Testament Scriptures), neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:24-31). The Rich Man asserts that his brothers would “repent,” while Abraham denies his brothers would be “persuaded.” Repentance, therefore, is one losing his persuasion in one thing, while faith is being persuaded of another (saving faith being persuaded of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him in the written Word of God). That explanation aside, let’s look to what verses 47-48 tell us here. In verse 47, the Pharisees chide the officers for being drawn to the Lord, mockingly asking them if they are also deceived. Notice that word “deceived”! The Pharisees were saying that these officers who were becoming persuaded (there’s our synonym for faith) were being deceived. In other words, the officers were becoming convinced but, to them, they were being convinced to believe a liar and the lies he told. Then, in verse 48, the Pharisees invoke their own unbelief as a reason the officers shouldn’t believe in Jesus. In other words, they were saying “Hey, we aren’t persuaded by Him to follow Him, so why are you letting Him convince you?” To sum all this up, John 7:48 teaches us that to have faith in someone is to be persuaded by them.