NIV Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 39
page 1815
7:33
jJn 13:33; 16:16
kJn 16:5,10,17,28
7:34
lJn 8:21; 13:33
7:35
mJas
1:1
12:20; 1Pe 1:1
nJn
7:37
oLev 23:36
pIsa 55:1
7:38
qIsa 58:11
rJn 4:10
sJn 4:14
7:39
tJoel
uJn
vJn
2:28
20:22
12:23; 13:31,32
7:40
wMt 21:11; Jn 1:21
7:41
xver
52; Jn 1:46
7:42
1:1
zMic 5:2; Mt 2:5,6
yMt
7:43
9:16; 10:19
aJn
7:44
bver 30
7:46
cMt 7:28
7:47
dver
12
7:48
eJn 12:42
7:50
fJn 3:1; 19:39
•
J ohn
7:51
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a s
hort time, j and then I am going to the one
who sent me. k 34You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you
cannot come.” l
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot
find him? Will he go w
here our people live scattered m among the G
reeks, n and t each the
Greeks? 36What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find
me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, o Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. p 38Whoever believes in me, as Scrip
ture has said, q rivers of living water r will flow from within them.” a s 39By this he meant
the Spirit, t whom those who believed in him were later to receive. u Up to that time the
Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. v
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” w
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? x 42Does not Scripture say
that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants y and from Bethlehem, z the town
where David lived?” 43Thus the people were divided a because of Jesus. 44Some wanted
to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. b
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,” c the guards replied.
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” d the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the
rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? e 49No! But this mob that knows nothing of
the law — there is a curse on them.”
50 Nicodemus, f who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number,
asked, 51“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he
has been doing?”
a 37,38 Or me. And let anyone drink 38who believes in me.” As Scripture has said, “Out of him (or them) will flow
rivers of living water.”
7:37 Jesus’ words, “come to me and drink,” alluded to the theme of
7:46-49 The Jewish leaders saw themselves as an elite group who alone
many Bible passages that talk about the Messiah’s life-giving blessings
(Isaiah 12:2-3; 44:3-4; 58:11). In promising to give the Holy Spirit to all
who believed in him, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, for that was
something only the Messiah could do. Jesus extends this open invitation
to everyone today. Come to him and accept his deeply satisfying love for
you (see Isaiah 55:1-2; Revelation 22:17).
7:38-39 Jesus used living water in 4:10 to indicate eternal life. Here he
used the term to refer to the Holy Spirit. The two go together: Wherever
the Holy Spirit is accepted, he brings eternal life. Jesus teaches more
about the Holy Spirit in John 14–16. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’
followers at Pentecost (Acts 2) and has since been available to all who
believe in Jesus as Savior.
7:40-44 The crowd was asking questions about Jesus. Some believed
in him, others were hostile, and others disqualified him in their minds as
the Messiah because he was from Nazareth, not Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
But he was from Bethlehem because he was born there (Luke 2:1-7),
although most of his childhood years were spent in Nazareth. He may
have had a pronounced Galilean accent. If they had looked more carefully, they would not have jumped to the wrong conclusions. When you
search for God’s truth, make sure you look carefully and thoughtfully at
the Bible with an open heart and mind. Don’t jump to conclusions before
thoroughly investigating what the Bible says.
7:44-46 Although the Romans ruled Palestine, they gave the Jewish
religious leaders authority over minor civil and religious disputes and
other affairs. The religious leaders supervised their own temple guards
and gave the officers power to arrest anyone causing a disturbance or
breaking any of their ceremonial laws. Because these leaders had developed hundreds of trivial laws, it was almost impossible for anyone, even
the leaders themselves, not to break, neglect, or ignore at least a few of
them some of the time. But these temple guards couldn’t find one reason
to arrest Jesus. And as they listened to Jesus to try to find evidence, they
couldn’t help hearing the wonderful words he said.
had the truth, and they resisted the truth about Jesus because it wasn’t
theirs. It is easy to think that we have the truth and that those who disagree
with us do not have any truth at all. But God makes his truth available to
everyone. Don’t copy the Pharisees’ self-centered and narrow attitude.
7:50-52 This passage offers additional insight into Nicodemus, the
Pharisee who visited Jesus at night (John 3). Apparently Nicodemus had
become a secret believer. Since most of the Pharisees hated Jesus and
wanted to kill him, Nicodemus risked his reputation and high position
even though he only spoke up indirectly for Jesus. His statement was
bold, and the Pharisees immediately became suspicious. After Jesus’
death, Nicodemus brought spices for his body (19:39). That is the last
time he is mentioned in Scripture.
7:51 Nicodemus confronted the Pharisees with their failure to keep
their own laws. The Pharisees were losing ground—the temple guards
came back impressed by Jesus (7:46), and one of the Pharisees’ own,
Nicodemus, was defending him. With their hypocritical motives being
exposed and their prestige slowly eroding, they began to move to protect
themselves. Pride would interfere with their ability to reason, and soon
they would become obsessed with getting rid of Jesus just to save face.
What was good and right no longer mattered.