How did Christ's words in John 7:32-34 prevent the officers from arresting Him (Jn. 7:45-46)?
There are two general approaches to this question: vertical and horizontal.
Vertically, God fixed a time for the arrest and time was not yet. John 7:
6 Therefore Jesus told them [his brothrs], “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
The Father was in complete control of the timing.
Horizontally, from the temple guards' perspective, John 7:
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
The following was what the they heard:
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
They were mesmerized by these words. These words had power over them.
37b Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Their hearts were further convicted by these words.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Some started to believe in Jesus.
43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
The guards were moved so much that they did not carry out the order to arrest Jesus.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.
They were still mesmerized by the words of Jesus.
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.
Their Pharisee leaders saw that as deception: the guards were deceived.
how did the words: "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks" keep them from arresting Him? What did they mean by this response?
The hearts of the guards were softened when they saw and heard Jesus. They began to think that Jesus could be a prophet or even the Messiah.
Then their Pharisee masters tried to change their mindset:
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
How did Christ's words in John 7:32-34 prevent the officers from arresting Him (Jn. 7:45-46)?
Vertically speaking, it wasn't God's timing. Horizontally speaking, the officers were moved by Jesus' spoken words that he could be the promised Messiah.