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32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove[a] from the sky and remain upon him.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:32 Like a dove: a symbol of the new creation (Gn 8:8) or the community of Israel (Hos 11:11). Remain: the first use of a favorite verb in John, emphasizing the permanency of the relationship between Father and Son (as here) and between the Son and the Christian. Jesus is the permanent bearer of the Spirit.

39 He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet,[a] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.(A)

Discussion About the Origins of the Messiah.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 7:39 No Spirit yet: Codex Vaticanus and early Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions add “given.” In this gospel, the sending of the Spirit cannot take place until Jesus’ glorification through his death, resurrection, and ascension; cf. Jn 20:22.
  2. 7:40–53 Discussion of the Davidic lineage of the Messiah.

30 [a]When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”(A) And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

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Footnotes

  1. 19:30 Handed over the spirit: there is a double nuance of dying (giving up the last breath or spirit) and that of passing on the holy Spirit; see Jn 7:39, which connects the giving of the Spirit with Jesus’ glorious return to the Father, and Jn 20:22, where the author portrays the conferral of the Spirit.

34 For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift[a] of the Spirit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 3:34 His gift: of God or to Jesus, perhaps both. This verse echoes Jn 3:5, 8.

15 [a]Until the spirit from on high
    is poured out on us.
And the wilderness becomes a garden land
    and the garden land seems as common as forest.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 32:15–18, 20 Extraordinary peace and prosperity will come to Israel under just rulers.

I will pour out water upon the thirsty ground,
    streams upon the dry land;
I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring,
    my blessing upon your descendants.

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25 [a](A)I will sprinkle clean water over you to make you clean; from all your impurities and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 (B)I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.(C) 27 I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 36:25–26 God’s initiative to cleanse Israel (cf. 24:13–14) is the first act in the creation of a new people, no longer disposed to repeating Israel’s wicked past (chap. 20). To make this restoration permanent, God replaces Israel’s rebellious and obdurate interiority (“heart of stone”) with an interiority (“heart of flesh”) susceptible to and animated by God’s intentions (“my spirit,” v. 27).

III. The Lord’s Final Judgment

Chapter 3

The Day of the Lord(A)

[a]It shall come to pass
    I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams,
    your young men will see visions.
Even upon your male and female servants,
    in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:1–5 In many places in the Old Testament, Hebrew ruah is God’s power, or spirit, bestowed on chosen individuals. The word can also mean “breath” or “wind.” In this summary introduction to his second speech, Joel anticipates that the Lord will someday renew faithful Judahites with the divine spirit. In Acts 2:17–21 the author has Peter cite Joel’s words to suggest that the newly constituted Christian community, filled with divine life and power, inaugurates the Lord’s Day, understood as salvation for all who believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.