What does John 7:47 mean?

Regarding their conflicts with Jesus, the Pharisees fell into three primary errors. Two of these were a reliance on tradition and a belief that knowledge, in and of itself, led to greater spiritual truth. The third error is on full display in verses 46 through 52, and that is the error of arrogance. The people listening to Jesus are divided over how to respond to His claims. However, most of those disagreements involve how to interpret evidence, such as Jesus' miracles (John 7:31), and the Scriptures (John 7:40–42). In the case of the Pharisees, their reaction to a failed arrest attempt hinges on pure conceit. They angrily reject anyone who disagrees with them, under the assumption that anyone who disagrees with them must—by necessity—be ignorant, deceived, or backwards.

The men sent to arrest Jesus (John 7:32) returned without Him. Their reasoning was Jesus' own words, which were so uniquely compelling that even those who did not believe in Him were impressed (John 7:46). The immediate assumption of the haughty authorities is that the arresting officials have been fooled—why else would they take a view contrary to that of the highly-educated and prestigious Pharisees?

The core error behind this rejection is self-importance: "if we don't believe that, why would anyone believe it?" This error continues today, whenever we reject some criticism, suggestion, or argument since it comes from the "wrong" people. When we dismiss something by saying, "that comes from that denomination, what do they know?" we're not being discerning—we're being arrogant.