John Calvin Commentary John 7:49

"But this multitude that knoweth not the law are accursed." — John 7:49 (ASV)

But this multitude. The first part of their pride was that, relying on the title of Priests, they wished to subject everyone to them in a tyrannical manner. The next is that they despise others as people of no importance, since those who excessively flatter themselves are always inclined to mistreat others, and an excessive love of ourselves is accompanied by contempt for fellow believers.

They pronounce the whole populace to be accursed. And why? They undoubtedly allege that the people do not know the law. But another reason, which they concealed, was that they thought there was no holiness except in their own rank. In the same way, the Popish priests in our own time pretend that no one but themselves deserves to be called the Church, and all others, whom they call the laity, they despise as if they were profane persons.

But to throw down such madness of pride, God prefers the lowly and despised to those who hold the highest authority and power. And it should be noted that they here boast of knowledge—not the kind that instructs people in religion and the fear of God, but rather the kind they possessed as, with magisterial pride, they issued their pronouncements, as if they alone were qualified to interpret the law.

It is undoubtedly true that all who have not been instructed in the law of God are accursed, because through knowledge of it we are truly sanctified. But this knowledge is not confined to a few who, puffed up with false confidence, wish to exclude themselves from the rank of other people; instead, it belongs to all God’s children, so that all, from the least to the greatest, may be united in the same obedience of faith.