It certainly seems that who ever wrote these verses was not familiar with the old testiment for certainly the Holy Spirit is present in the Old
Testiment and active in each of the prophets.
All of the first followers of Jesus would have known this. Only a gentile christian would have said that the holy spirit did not yet exist.
Old RSV reads "the Spirit had not been given." This is not to say that the Holy Spirit did not exist or was not present before the resurrection, but rather to say that the Spirit had not yet been poured out on all believers as would be the case on Pentecost. In God's plan of salvation Good Friday and Easter had to happen first. -- Mike in Maryland
In John 14:17, it says, "The world cannot accept him (the Spirit of truth), because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." (NIV)
Jesus is very clear here. There is a distinction to be made between the Spirit living with you and the Spirit being in you. The latter happened first at Pentecost (hence, Jesus speaks of it here in the future tense).
Mike in Maryland... yes, the old RSV gives a better rendering. I've looked at about seven other translations and even the footnotes of the NRSV indicate that this can be rendered, "the Spirit had not yet been given." A visit to http://bible.gospelcom.net/ to compare translations is always profitable for me.
JG in WI
7:37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
Why did Jesus cry out?
There is such a mystery in these verses. I need help here. In verse 38, Jesus says, "...let the one who believes in me drink" and then "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water. Is the believer and Jesus one? How are we to interpret such verses?
And yet he is talking about the Spirit ... is the living water the Spirit? Is the Spirit in the believer's heart?
How do we drink?
A desperate preacher!
tom in ga
tom in ga
I preached on that once, and can't remember!!! I contacted a few rabbis about what took place during the feast. Perhaps you could ask online. I know it has something to do with pouring water into a funnel at the side of the altar.
Sorry, wish I had more.
JG in WI
tom in GA
I just remembered. John 7 may be alluding to Pentecost (in v. 39) but the festival in John 7 (where Jesus cried out) was Tablernacles, not Pentecost.
JG in WI
The Oxford Annotated Bible says that The Festival of the Booths or Tabernacles commemorated the wilderness wanderings. For seven days water would be carried in a golden pitcher from the pool of Shiloam to the temple in rememberance of the water from the rock. I plan to have a table water fountain run throughout the service as a visible image of the overflowing Spirit. Hope this helps. LGB
Well, everyone, as a perennial three-pointer (who tries very hard at alliteration) I have my three points.
1) Christ's Invitation (v. 37) - Come to me
2) Christ's Inspiration (v. 38) - The promise of the Scriptures
3) Christ's Interpretation (v. 39) - Understanding that the "living water" is the Spirit
Don't know if this helps anybody but... there it is.
JG in WI
I see a connection here with the story of the Samaritan woman. John 4 says: 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. . . 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
This connection may clarify what Jesus says here in chapter 7. There is a connection between drinking (partaking of the Spirit), and becoming a source of water (the indwelling and the manifestation of the Spirit in the believer's life).
This is a great text to use for baptisms & baptismal renewal on Pentecost! I have used the text before in that context, and am doing so again this year. Ken in WV
