John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹  at night ²  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ³  that you do unless God is with him.”

John 6:2

6:2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick.

John 9:16

9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, ⁴  “This man is not from God, because he does not observe ⁵  the Sabbath.” ⁶  But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform ⁷  such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division ⁸  among them.

John 10:41-42

10:41 Many ⁹  came to him and began to say, “John ¹⁰  performed ¹¹  no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man ¹²  was true!” 10:42 And many believed in Jesus ¹³  there.

Matthew 11:3-6

11:3 “Are you the one who is to come, ¹⁴  or should we look for another?” 11:4 Jesus answered them, ¹⁵  “Go tell John what you hear and see: ¹⁶  11:5 The blind see, the ¹⁷  lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. 11:6 Blessed is anyone ¹⁸  who takes no offense at me.”

¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “during the night.”

³ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

⁴ tn As a response to the answers of the man who used to be blind, the use of the imperfect tense in the reply of the Pharisees is best translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to say” or “started saying”).

⁵ tn Grk “he does not keep.”

⁶ sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.

⁷ tn Grk “do.”

⁸ tn Or “So there was discord.”

⁹ tn Grk “And many.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹⁰ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

¹¹ tn Grk “did.”

¹² tn Grk “this one.”

¹³ tn Grk “in him.”

¹⁴ sn Aspects of Jesus’ ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater one who is to come that he had preached about in Matt 3:1-12.

¹⁵ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

¹⁶ sn What you hear and see. The following activities all paraphrase various OT descriptions of the time of promised salvation: Isa 35:5-6; 26:19; 29:18-19; 61:1. Jesus is answering not by acknowledging a title, but by pointing to the nature of his works, thus indicating the nature of the time.

¹⁷ tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. Two other conjunctions are omitted in this series.

¹⁸ tn Grk “whoever.”