John 1:38

1:38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?” ¹  So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), ²  “where are you staying?”

John 1:48

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, ³  “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, ⁴  I saw you.”

John 1:50

1:50 Jesus said to him, ⁵  “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁶ 

John 5:6

5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized ⁷  that the man ⁸  had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?”

John 19:26

19:26 So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, ⁹  look, here is your son!”

John 20:12

20:12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet.

¹ tn Grk “What are you seeking?”

² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

³ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

⁴ sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)

⁵ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “said to him.”

⁶ sn What are the greater things Jesus had in mind? In the narrative this forms an excellent foreshadowing of the miraculous signs which began at Cana of Galilee.

⁷ tn Or “knew.”

⁸ tn Grk “he.” The referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15; see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? Jesus probably used the term here to help establish Mary and the beloved disciple in a new “mother-son” relationship. Someone would soon need to provide for Mary since Jesus, her oldest son, would no longer be alive. By using this term Jesus distanced himself from Mary so the beloved disciple could take his place as her earthly son (cf. John 2:4). See D. A. Carson, John, 617-18, for discussion about symbolic interpretations of this relationship between Mary and the beloved disciple.