John Piper is doubtless one of today’s most respected evangelical leaders. He is a scholar and preaches like a scholar, but with a broad appeal. That is not an easy combination. To say Piper is a Calvinist is an understatement. I am not a Calvinist, but I often profit from the lessons of John Piper. One always comes away challenged.

In this video clip Piper takes on versions that do not allow the reader to know all the words of a text. Many read to get the idea and never learn the details. This can be misleading. I think preachers who never grapple with textual problems and leave their hearers in the dark do them a great disservice.

Piper is discussing John 4:44-45. Here is how it reads in the NASB:

44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Here is the NIV rendering of the same text:

44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

Listen and think.