Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel:John 5:39-47

I have been fixated over this passage for that last few days.  I’ll do a little analysis on the Greek text first, then I’ll share some thoughts on this for today’s church.

39 "You carefully examine the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life.  Those Scriptures are the ones that testify about me.  40 You don’t want to come to me so that you may have life.
41 "I don’t accept honor from people, 42 but I have known you that you don’t have the love of God within you.  43 I have come in the name of my Father, and you don’t accept me.  If another comes in his own name, you will accept him.  44 How are you able to believe while accepting honor from one another and not seeking the honor which is from the only God?
45 "Don’t think that I will accuse you before the Father.  The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you placed your hope.  46 For if you have believed Moses, you would have believed in me.  For he wrote about me.  47 Now if you don’t believe those writings, how will you believe in my statements?"

This dialog is between Jesus and Jewish leaders.  He has healed a sick person and told him to pick up his mat and go.  This was done on the Sabbath.  The Jewish leaders are so upset with Jesus, that they want to kill him.  Up onto this point, Jesus has been describing to them that he has the authority to do what he does because he is doing the works of his Father who has sent him.

Jesus starts our verse 39 with ἐραυνᾶτε τὰς γραφάς (You carefully examine the Scriptures).  BDAG defines ἐραυνάω as “to make a careful or thorough effort to learn something”.  The verb appears here in the present tense and carries a continual aspect.  Therefore, the Jewish leaders are continually examining the Scriptures.  The Jewish leaders think that they can find eternal life in the Torah.  In a bit of irony, Jesus agrees with them, but in a different way.  Jesus is the key to eternal life, not the law.  Torah did include the law, but it also contained this prophecy:

Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.  You must listen to him. NIV11

The reason that the Jewish leaders didn’t want to get life from Jesus is because they were too busy “glorying” over other like-minded men (one another).  In verses 41-44, John uses δόξα which is normally translated as “glory”.  Here, it is being used as “honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance”.  I’ve translated it as “honor”.  It could also be translated as “fame”.  The “honor”, “fame” or “glory” that the Jews wanted was around how well they kept the law.  They were so fixated on keeping the law, they missed Jesus.  They were only studying a part of the Scriptures; the ones that contained the law.  They missed the prophecy about the one who would have “life”.

Their hope was in Moses and his writing, but ironically, it is Moses who is continually accusing (present tense verb again) them before God.  Why?  Because they didn’t believe everything that Moses wrote, or at least they ignored some of the things that Moses wrote, thus not believing all of it.  In the Greek text of verse 46, there is an untranslatable Greek particle ἂν.  This makes the last part of the sentence contingent on the first part.  Therefore, they can’t believe in Jesus because they don’t believe what Moses wrote about him.

In verse 47, Jesus says: “Now if you don’t believe those writings (literally letters), how will you believe in my statements (words)?”  The Jews had to embrace the entire Word of God, or in this case the entire Torah, not just the parts where they could “glory” over each other for keeping.

Paul says that the Jews tried to establish their own righteousness through the law in Romans 10:3 because they didn’t submit to God’s righteousness.

Let’s fast-forward to today.  I’ve experienced many things in today’s churches.  I’ve seen many people embrace parts of the NT, but ignore much of the rest.  By doing so, have we missed Jesus?  I’ve been to conferences where the platforms were built very large to get all of the preachers up there.  It then took over an hour to “honor” all of them.  Are we receiving glory from each other over glory from the only God?  Is it fame we seek, instead of God?  Instead of “God’s church”, it’s now Bro. So and So’s church.  Instead of the Lord’s people, it’s now Bro. So and So’s saints.  A friend of mine told me one time that people sometimes worship their doctrine more than they worship God.  I’m starting to believe that!  Are we trying to establish our righteousness with our doctrines and not submit to God’s righteousness?  Have we missed Jesus?

The Dove

Genesis 8:8-12 ESV 

Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

John 1:32-33

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. ’

      God speaks to us about the same thing in these two accounts.  In Genesis, Noah releases the dove for a sign of dry land. The first time the dove returns empty handed. This could remind us of Adam's failure. The second time the dove returns with an olive branch. This could remind us of Israel's failure as a vessel for the Spirit. The third time the dove is released it does not come back.  It has found a place on earth.

     In John's Gospel we see the dove descend on Jesus and remain. The Spirit has at last found a twig of life in the branch of Jesse as prophesied. He is then poured out on the people as was also prophesied. 

     The water recedes around Noah and life on earth begins anew. Those that entered the ark live.

      In Revelation we find the pattern of the flood account repeated. The sea disappears and is no more. Those that entered the body of Christ will live on a new earth. 

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 5:19-47

Throughout these passages, Jesus refers to the Father as “the one who sent me”.  John actually creates what I will call a “stylist word play” around two Greek verbs that mean “to send”.  The first one is πέμπω (pempo).  It occurs 4 times in our said passage.  The second one is ἀποστέλλω (apostello).  It occurs 3 times in our said passage.  In one of those uses, it refers to John.

I should also say that this is a habitual word play as it occurs throughout John’s Gospel.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel:5:20

I’ve argued many times that φιλέω/phleo and ἀγαπάω/agapao are used interchangeably throughout the NT.  Both verbs mean “I love”.  Most people are familiar with the cognate noun of ἀγαπάω which is ἀγάπη/agape.  Does John interchange these verbs?

Let’s take a look at John 5:20:

20 ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ φιλεῖ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πάντα δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ ἃ αὐτὸς ποιεῖ, καὶ μείζονα τούτων δείξει αὐτῷ ἔργα, ἵνα ὑμεῖς θαυμάζητε.

20 For the Father loves the son and shows him all things which he himself does.  He (God) will show him (the son) greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.

Sometimes we have to be untaught what we’ve been taught!

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel:5:18

There are a couple of things about 5:18 I would like to show.  

First, John uses λύω (to loose) to describe how Jesus “broke” the Sabbath.  It would be rendered: 

...because not only was he loosing the Sabbath...

I should make known that “was loosing” is in the imperfect tense and carries a continual aspect.  λύω is use in the NT to describe “breaking” from time to time.

Finally, word order in the Greek text can be maddening at times.  For instance, let’s look at the last part of 18 in the Greek word order.

...but also father one’s own was saying the God equal himself making to the to God.

Here is the sentence in readable English:

...but he was also calling (saying) God his own father making himself equal to/with God.

"was saying/calling" is also in the imperfect tense, thus carries a continual aspect. 

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel:5:7

It is always interesting the vocabulary that is used to the NT to express certain things.  One very common verb in the NT that is used for all kinds of action is βάλλω which basically means “to throw”.  Sometimes it’s used in other ways though.

7 ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ ὁ ἀσθενῶν· κύριε, ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἔχω ἵνα ὅταν ταραχθῇ τὸ ὕδωρ βάλῃ με εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν· ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἔρχομαι ἐγώ, ἄλλος πρὸ ἐμοῦ καταβαίνει. 

7 The sick man replied to him, “Sir, I don’t have a man that can throw me into the pool when the water is stirred.  Now while I go in, another one goes down before me.” 

Of course, it is never translated as such in English Bibles.  I should also add that where I have translated “the sick man”, the Greek is “the one who is weak”.  It is very common in the NT for sick people to be referred to as being weak.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 4:43-54

Back in August of this year, a controversy brew over a blog post when the author of that blog said that Jesus healed the Centurion’s παῖς (pais) in Matthew 8:5-13 and in Luke 7:1-10.  The author said that παῖς (pais) was a same sex partner.  Of course, παῖς (pais) doesn’t mean that.  In John 4:43-54, we see a similar story where John uses παῖς (pais) in verse  51.  A παῖς (pais) can be a minor child (boy or girl) or it is sometimes used as a servant.  In this case, John means “a young son”.  In fact, he creates a word play in this entire passage.  In verse 46, John writes: Καὶ ἦν τις βασιλικὸς οὗ ὁ υἱὸς ἠσθένει ἐν Καφαρναούμ. (And there was a royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum.)  Here, John uses the normal word for son υἱὸς (huios).  In verse 49, the royal official says κύριε, κατάβηθι πρὶν ἀποθανεῖν τὸ παιδίον μου (Sir/Lord, come down before my child dies).  παιδίον (paidion) is normally used for a young child.  In verse 50, Jesus replies to him: ὁ υἱός σου ζῇ (your son lives).  Finally, in verse 51 we have: οἱ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ ὑπήντησαν αὐτῷ λέγοντες ὅτι ὁ παῖς αὐτοῦ ζῇ. (his slaves met him saying that his child lives.)

It is obvious from this context that παῖς (pais) here was the royal official’s young male child, regardless of John’s word plays.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 4:4-42

The “Woman at the Well” story is one of the most popular stories in the NT.  There is so much going on in this story in Greek, I thought I would do something a little different from past blogs.  I’ll provide the entire translation (NIV11) and place some of my commentary in blue.

John 4:4 Now he had Ἔδει (it was necessary) It is in the imperfect which carries a continual aspect. to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well πηγὴ (spring) A spring is natural or created by God was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well ἐπὶ τῇ πηγῇ (at the spring). It was about noon. (ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη (It was about the sixth hour).

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  Most women of the time traveled in groups and almost would not go at noon.  She was probably trying to avoid others.

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  In fact, many Jews considered Samaritans as unclean as Gentiles.  Samaritan women were considered in a continual state of being ritually unclean.  On top of that, it as against the Jewish culture for men to address women in public.  10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well (τὸ φρέαρ (the well: the man-made structure) is deep. It would have made Jesus unclean if he were to use the Samaritan woman’s water jar to drink from.  Where can you get this living water?  12 Are you greater than our father Jacob “μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ” (“Are you not greater”) She, the woman, expects a “no” answer), who gave us the well (τὸ φρέαρ (the well: the man-made structure) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (into the ages/forever)  Most translations don’t translate this last part because the passage is already emphatic with οὐ μὴ (not not/never). Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring πηγὴ (spring) of water welling up to eternal life.” (Referring to the Holy Spirit: See 2:9 “water to wine”; 3:3-5 “born from above” and “born from water and spirit”; 7:38 “ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος” (“rivers of living water will flow out of his belly”).

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  16 He told her, “Go, call your husband τὸν ἄνδρα σου (“you husband/man”  Note that the article τὸν is used!  In this case, Jesus is really referring to “the” husband) and come back.”  17 “I have no husband οὐκ ἔχω ἄνδρα (I don’t have a husband/man),” she replied.  Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.  18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (or “you have had five men, and the man you now have is not your man”  A word-play has been created.  Note that no articles are used.  It is possible that this woman has never been married and was a habitual fornicator.)

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”  21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ἡ σωτηρία (the salvation/deliverance) The article makes it specific.  It is the salvation that Jesus brings into the world for the world. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ (or “in the Spirit, that is truth) , for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ (or “in the Spirit, that is truth).  The καὶ may be used to put “Spirit” and “Truth” in apposition to each other.   The Samaritans only used the Torah as Scripture.  They did not use the Prophets or Psalms.  This is probably what Jesus is referring to when he says “you don’t know what/who you worship”.  Also note that the Samaritan woman is interested in “where” to worship God while Jesus is interested in “how” to worship God.  In this case, true worship happens when a person has the Spirit dwelling inside.

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) χριστός (the Anointed) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” ἐγώ εἰμι (I am)

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,  29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός; (Is this not the Anointed?)  She is expecting a “no” answer.  Either she is not sure, or she doesn’t think the men of the town will believe her.  30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”  32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”  33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”  34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them μεῖναι παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς (to remain in their presence)  Note that John’s use of παρά with the dative indicates proximity.  This will be important when relating to Jesus later in the Gospel., and he stayed two days.  41 And because of his words many more became believers. 

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου (truly the savior/deliverer of the world).

Final thoughts

There is probably more to this contrast between “spring” and “well”.  Perhaps the end of man-made “stuff” (the Law?) trying to get “springs” of God or it can just be simply John’s play on words that he likes to do throughout his Gospel.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 3:1-21 Part 2

So, what was Jesus trying to tell Nicodemus?  There is no doubt that Jesus is referring to the long prophesied promise of the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps the key to understanding where Jesus is coming from is to not necessarily to forward to Pentecost, but to look back at the Old Testament.  Why?  Because of the question that Jesus asked Nicodemus in verse 10: 

10 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· σὺ εἶ ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ταῦτα οὐ γινώσκεις; 

10 Jesus replied and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you don’t understand these things?”

One thing to note is the use of the article with “the teacher of Israel” (ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ).  This may indicate that Nicodemus was not just a teacher, but a teacher par excellence.  Therefore, what Nicodemus should have known is rooted in the Old Testament in which he is “the teacher of Israel”.  

So, what are the closest passages from the OT that match Jesus’ statements?  The closest one is from Ezekiel 36: 25-27.

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. NIV11

Another passage to look at would be Isaiah 44:3-5:

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants.

4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow,

like poplar trees by flowing streams.

5 Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’;

others will call themselves by the name of Jacob;

still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’

and will take the name Israel. NIV11

Of course, one must also look at John 3:5 from the Greek prospective.

ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος

unless someone is born out of water and Spirit...

In Greek, “water and Spirit” are objects in a prepositional phrase of one preposition.  Therefore, “water and Spirit” are probably referring to the same thing.  I would take that a little farther in saying that it is also quite possible that the καὶ (and) is putting both “water” and “Spirit” in apposition to each other.  This can be seen in John’s use of “water” as referring to the Holy Spirit throughout his gospel.

When Jesus goes into the be spirit/wind/breath word play, Ezekiel 37's "Valley of the Dry Bones" may be in play.

Of course, not everyone will agree, and that’s fine.  What is important here is to try to understand the passage from what’s going on in the passage and where Jesus is pointing Nicodemus as opposed to inferring that this passage has to do with baptism which is found no where in the context of the passage.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 3:1-21

Every one loves to read the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-21, but most don’t know about the Greek word-plays that are created in the passage.  There is NO English translation that can actually do the Greek justice in this passage.  Let’s take a look at the word-plays.

3 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.  4 λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν [ὁ] Νικόδημος· πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν; μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;  5 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.  6 τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστιν.  7 μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.  8 τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις, ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει· οὕτως ἐστὶν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος.

3 Jesus replied and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born from above/again, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.”  4 Nicodemus says to him, “How is a man able to be born while being old?  He isn’t able to enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born is he?”  5 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born out of water and spirit/wind/breath, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. 6 What has been born out of the flesh is flesh, and what has been born out of the spirit/wind/breath is spirit/wind/breath.  7 Don’t be amazed that I said to you ‘you must be born from above/again’.  8 The spirit/wind/breath blows where it wishes and you hear its sound/voice, but you don’t know from where it is coming or where it is going.  It is this way with every one who has been born out of the spirit/wind/breath.”

Some other things from the Greek should be noted about this passage: 1. John uses the same prepositions in verse 5 (ἐκ: underlined above), 6, and 8.  In this case, John is speaking of the “source” of the birth as ἐκ can denote that.  2. the verb πνεῖ ("blows": in italic above) in verse 8 is the cognate verb of the noun πνεῦμα (spirit/wind).  3. Note how “water” completely vanishes from the text after Jesus only mentions it one time in verse 5.  After that, it is all “spirit” all the time!

Finally, all of you who may think that (ἄνωθεν) should always be translated as “again”, check out what John does in 3:31a:

Ὁ ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενος ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν· 

The one who comes from above is over all.

In the next post, we’ll take a stab at interpreting this beauty!

Stay tuned!

New Wine

     The changing of water to wine could remind us of the new covenant about to unfold. John baptized with the water of repentance that would prepare the way for The Lord. A humble and contrite heart is sought and is acceptable to Him. Such a heart will receive the Holy Spirit.

     Into these vessels of clay the Spirit is poured out and our spirits join with the one Spirit to become the body of Christ. Paul instructs husbands to love their wives as their own body. This is how Christ loves the church, His Bride.

     There are six of these jars, the number of man. This covenant goes beyond washing and cleanliness on the outside. God's relationship with man has progressed from the collective to the individual. Jesus knew what is inside a man. Jesus reaches into the heart and knocks, seeking entry and reconciliation which results in peace with God.

     This is the new wine which will be poured into new wine skins of a new creation.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 2:6

6 And there were six stone water jars there according to the purification of the Jews (for the ceremonial washing), holding up to two or three measures.

This is not so much as observation of the Greek text as much as it is an observation of a theological statement.  In 1:16-17, we found out that “the grace and truth of Jesus” replaced “the grace of OT law”.  Here, we may see a significant act that is a shadow of the future reality.  Jesus turns the water, the water that was used for the Jews to wash themselves under the OT law, into wine.  Instead of water used to cleanse the outside, Jesus made wine that was consumed on the inside which would bring joy to all who drank it.  It could mean a few things: 1. The wine is a symbol for the Holy Spirit that replaces the ceremonial washing, or 2. the wine may represent Jesus’ blood, and maybe 3. since the text says that ὡς δὲ ἐγεύσατο ὁ ἀρχιτρίκλινος τὸ ὕδωρ οἶνον γεγενημένον (Now when the head waiter tasted the water that had become wine), it could mean that “water” is still at the forefront.  Instead of water used to cleanse the outside, water is now made wine for the inside, that is, the Holy Spirit.  This is a new spin on water = the Holy Spirit.

Regardless of the symbolic significance, what is obvious that something from the Old Law is being replaced with something new.  We will read the text carefully going forward in order to see if this theme continues.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 2:4

There’s nothing like a good idiom.  In John 2:4 we have a wonderful Greek idiom, τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί.  Let’s look at various translations of this passage.

4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” NIV11

4 Jesus replied, “Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come.” NET

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” ESV

4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. KJV

Now, how about a “true” literal translation.

4 Jesus says to her, “What to me and to you, woman?  My hour have not yet come.”  (My Translation)

τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί (what to me and to you) was a term used in the court of law.  This is something that the defendant would say.  What it really means is “What have I done to you that you would do this to me?”

Like I said, nothing like a good idiom.

Observations from the Greek text in John's Gospel: 1:16-18

Let’s take a look at John 1:16-17.  

16 ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος·  17 ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.

16 because out of his fullness, we all have received grace for grace, 17 because the law was given though Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus the Anointed.

First of all, what does χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος (“grace for grace” or “grace instead of grace”) mean in verse 16?  John explains this in the very next verse.  The first “grace” was the OT law given through Moses, but the NT “grace” has come through Jesus.  Therefore, the new “grace” has replaced the old “grace”.

Now, let’s take a look at John’s famous passage, verse 18.

18 Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε· μονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο.

18 No one has ever seen God; the unique God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father, that one has expounded (the unseen God). 

First of all, the verb ἑώρακεν (ὁράω) is in the perfect tense, which normally means that the action occurred in the past and the effects of that action are still being felt at the time that the text was written.  So, up onto the time that John is writing this, God had not been seen.  With that said, ὁράω means a bit more than “to see”.  It also can carry the idea of “perceive” or “understand”.  This expanded definition may be in play here as we try to describe the action that Jesus does.

Before we get the action that Jesus does, let’s take a look at how John describes Jesus.  Here, Jesus is μονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς (the unique God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father).  We first encountered μονογενὴς in the last blog.  Here, John describes Jesus as “the unique God” or “the unique deity”.  This makes the most sense when one considers that “the Word became flesh” and is now in the world.  John is basically restating what he stated in 1:1 that Jesus was God.  Of course this passage is not without controversy.  Later scribes replaced μονογενὴς θεὸς with μονογενὴς υἱός (unique son), but the oldest manuscripts have μονογενὴς θεὸς.  It is obvious that these later scribes saw a problem with Jesus being called “the unique God”, but I don’t.  It just reaffirms what John said in 1:1.

Last but not least, let’s look at the action that Jesus does here.  The verb is ἐξηγέομαι which means “to relate or expound in great detail”.  In other words, Jesus describes in great detail to people just who the invisible God is and how he really is.  As a man who lived among the people, Jesus was able to relate to people God’s true nature and just how much he loves the people in this world.

This sets the stage of John’s Gospel.  Now that John has introduced Jesus, he will go forth and set down in writing to prove that Jesus is who he has just described.