Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From JOHN #18 - 7:37-52)
C. 7:37-52 SHARPER DIVISION OVER JESUS AS BAPTIZER IN HOLY SPIRIT
1. 7:37-44 MORE DIVISION AS JESUS REVEALS SPIRIT-BAPTISM
a. 7:37 A MIGHTY INVITATION
En de te esCHAte, heMEra temeGAle tes he-orTES [1859], hisTEkei ho IeSOUS kai Ekra-xen,
Now on the last, the great day of the feast, :Jesus stood and cried,
LEgon, E-AN tis diPSA [1372], erCHEStho PROS me kai piNEto [4095].
saying, If any thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
b. 7:38 THE PROMISE OF AN INNER ARTESIAN WELL
ho piSTEUon eis eME, kaTHOS EIpen he graPHE,
Who believes unto me, as the scripture has said,
po-taMOI ek tes koiLIas [2836]ouTOU 'REUsou-sin [4412]HUda-tos [5204]ZONtos [2198].
out of his :belly shall flow rivers of living water.
c. 7:39 THE TIMING OF THE SPIRIT: NOT TILL PENTECOST AFTER PASSOVER
TOUto de EIpen peRI tou PNEUma-tos [4151], hou Emel-lon lamBAnein hoi pisTEUsan-tes eis auTON:
But this he spoke of the Spirit, which they that believed unto him were to receive:
OUpogar en PNEUma; HOti IeSOUS OUpoe-doXASthe1392].
for the Spirit was not yet; because Jesus was not yet glorified.
d. 7:40 MORE OF THE CROWD CONVINCED JESUS THE PROPHET MOSES PROMISED
Ek tou OCHlou oun, aKOUsan-tes ton LOgon TOUton,
Someof the crowd therefore when they heard these :words,
Ele-gon HOti HOU-TOS es-tin a-leTHOS ho proPHEtes [4396].
said that this is truly the prophet.
e. 7:41a Others said, This is the Christ.
ALloi Ele-gon, HOU-TOS es-tin ho ChrisTOS.
f. 7:41b But some said, What, does the Christ come out of :Galilee?
hoi de Ele-gon, Megar, ek tes Ga-liLAIas ho ChrisTOS ERche-tai?
g. 7:42 AGAIN - THE IGNORANCE OF THE PEOPLE
ouch he graPHE EIpen HOti ek tou SPERma-tos [4690] DauID,
Did not the scripture say that the Christ comes of the seed of David,
kai aPO Beth-leEM, tes KOmes HOpou en DauID, ERche-tai ho ChrisTOS?
and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?
h. 7:43 A division therefore arose in the crowd because of him.
SCHISma [4978]oun eGEne-to en toOCHlodi' auTON.
i. 7:44 And some of them would have taken him; but no one laid hands on him.
tiNES de Ethe-lon ex auTON piAsai [4084] auTON; all' ouDEIS Eba-len ep' auTON tas CHEIras.
2. 7:45-52 NICODEMUS, AMONG PHARISEES, DEFENDS JESUS
a. 7:45 LEADERS UPSET AT FAILURE OF OFFICERS TO ARREST JESUS
ELthon oun hoi hu-peREtai [5257]pros tous ar-chi-eREIS [749]kai Pha-riSAIous;
The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees;
kai EIpon auTOIS eKEInoi, DiA ti ouk eGAge-te auTON?
and these said to them, Why did you not bring him?
b. 746 The officers answered, Never man so spoke.
a-peKRIthe-san hoi hu-peREtai, OuDEpo-te eLAle-sen HOUtos ANthro-pos.
c. 7:47 The Pharisees therefore answered them, Are you also deceived?
a-peKRIthe-san oun auTOIS hoi Pha-riSAIoi, Mekai huMEIS pePLAnes-the [4105]?
d. 7:48 Has any of the rulers believed unto him, or of the Pharisees?
MEtis ek ton arCHONton [758]ePIsteu-sen eis auTON, eek ton Pha-riSAIon?
e. 7:49 But this :crowd that knows not the law are accursed.
alLA ho OCHlos HOUtos ho megiNOskon ton NOmon ePAraTOI [1944]ei-sin.
f. 7:50-51 NICODEMUS PLEADS FOR RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
LEgei NiKOde-mos pros auTOUS (ho elTHON pros auTON PROte-ron,
Nicodemus said to them (he that came unto him before,
heis on ex auTON), Me ho NOmos [3551] heMON KRInei ton ANthro-pon,
being one of them), 51Does our :law judge the man,
eAN me aKOUse PROton par' auTOU kai gno ti poiEI?
except it first hear from and him and know what he does?
g. 7:52a They answered and said to him, Are YOU also of :Galilee?
a-peKRIthe-san kai EIpan auTO, Mekai su ek tes Ga-liLAIas ei?
h. 7:52b Search, and see that out of :Galilee arises no prophet.
eRAUne-son [2045]kai Ide HOti teGa-liLAIas proPHEtes ouk eGEIre-tai [1453] .
NOTE: John 7:38-39 is one of those passages that has motivated and excited some members of the human race. One of these was an English plumber turned Evangelist - by the name of Smith Wigglesworth. He early in his ministry learned the importance of the Holy Spirit in his life, and because of these two verses among others, sought after more and more of His grace and influence. On trips to the United States and Canada, he visited Niagara Falls, especially from the Canadian side. Each time he visited our continent, he made a point if possible, to visit these majestic Falls. Then with tears streaming down his cheeks, he would say as he pointed to the Falls - “Like that Lord, in me! Rivers like the Niagara Falls in me.”Then when he would return to England, he would exhort his hearers to seek for a “like that” experience in their lives!
But the majority of His hearers in Jesus' day, wanted nothing to do with His promise of a “rivers of living water” experience, coming as a gift from Him. What a pity. What a tragedy. An ingrained experience of “religion”, precludes one from a “like that” experience.
The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' day prided themselves that they set an example of having nothing to do with Jesus or His teaching. And should one like Nicodemus, one of their own, seek to bring them to a more open way - then they charged him insolently for being from “Galilee” where Nazareth was located - an epithet expressing their full scorn. J.A.W.