Isaiah 53:11

53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,

he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹ 

“My servant ²  will acquit many, ³ 

for he carried their sins. ⁴ 

Matthew 9:6

9:6 But so that you may know ⁵  that the Son of Man ⁶  has authority on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic ⁷  – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ⁸ 

Matthew 28:18

28:18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, ⁹  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

John 5:8

5:8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat ¹⁰  and walk.”

John 5:12

5:12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat ¹¹  and walk’?” ¹² 

John 5:22-23

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge ¹³  anyone, but has assigned ¹⁴  all judgment to the Son, 5:23 so that all people ¹⁵  will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

John 17:2

17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, ¹⁶  so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. ¹⁷ 

John 20:22-23

20:22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, ¹⁸  “Receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹  20:23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; ²⁰  if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” ²¹ 

Acts 5:31

5:31 God exalted him ²²  to his right hand as Leader ²³  and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ²⁴ 

[53:11]  ¹ tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (bÿda’to, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.

[53:11]  ² sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.

[53:11]  ³ tn Heb “he will acquit, a righteous one, my servant, many.” צַדִּיק (tsadiq) may refer to the servant, but more likely it is dittographic (note the preceding verb יַצְדִּיק, yatsdiq). The precise meaning of the verb (the Hiphil of צָדַק, tsadaq) is debated. Elsewhere the Hiphil is used at least six times in the sense of “make righteous” in a legal sense, i.e., “pronounce innocent, acquit” (see Exod 23:7; Deut 25:1; 1 Kgs 8:32 = 2 Chr 6:23; Prov 17:15; Isa 5:23). It can also mean “render justice” (as a royal function, see 2 Sam 15:4; Ps 82:3), “concede” (Job 27:5), “vindicate” (Isa 50:8), and “lead to righteousness” (by teaching and example, Dan 12:3). The preceding context and the next line suggest a legal sense here. Because of his willingness to carry the people’s sins, the servant is able to “acquit” them.

[53:11]  ⁴ tn The circumstantial clause (note the vav [ו] + object + subject + verb pattern) is understood as causal here. The prefixed verb form is either a preterite or an imperfect used in a customary manner.

[9:6]  ⁵ sn Now Jesus put the two actions together. The walking of the man would be proof (so that you may know) that his sins were forgiven and that God had worked through Jesus (i.e., the Son of Man).

[9:6]  ⁶ sn The term Son of Man, which is a title in Greek, comes from a pictorial description in Dan 7:13 of one “like a son of man” (i.e., a human being). It is Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself. Jesus did not reveal the background of the term here, which mixes human and divine imagery as the man in Daniel rides a cloud, something only God does. He just used it. It also could be an idiom in Aramaic meaning either “some person” or “me.” So there is a little ambiguity in its use here, since its origin is not clear at this point. However, the action makes it clear that Jesus used it to refer to himself here.

[9:6]  ⁷ sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.

[9:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “to your house.”

[28:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “coming, Jesus spoke to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn, “saying”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “pallet,” “mattress,” “cot,” or “stretcher.” Some of these items, however, are rather substantial (e.g., “mattress”) and would probably give the modern English reader a false impression.

[5:12]  ¹¹ tc While a number of mss, especially the later ones (A^c C³ D Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt sy), include the words τον κραβ(β)ατ(τ)ον σου (ton krab(b)at(t)on sou, “your mat”) here, the earliest and best (Ì^66,75 א B C* L) do not. Nevertheless, in the translation, it is necessary to supply the words due to the demands of English style, which does not typically allow for understood or implied direct objects as Greek does.

[5:12]  ¹² tn Grk “Pick up and walk”; the object (the mat) is implied but not repeated.

[5:22]  ¹³ tn Or “condemn.”

[5:22]  ¹⁴ tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”

[5:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).

[17:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “all people”; Grk “all flesh.”

[17:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “so that to everyone whom you have given to him, he may give to them eternal life.”

[20:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “said to them.”

[20:22]  ¹⁹ sn He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The use of the Greek verb breathed on (ἐμφυσάω, emfusaw) to describe the action of Jesus here recalls Gen 2:7 in the LXX, where “the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” This time, however, it is Jesus who is breathing the breath-Spirit of eternal life, life from above, into his disciples (cf. 3:3-10). Furthermore there is the imagery of Ezek 37:1-14, the prophecy concerning the resurrection of the dry bones: In 37:9 the Son of Man is told to prophesy to the “wind-breath-Spirit” to come and breathe on the corpses, so that they will live again. In 37:14 the Lord promised, “I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land.” In terms of ultimate fulfillment the passage in Ezek 37 looks at the regeneration of Israel immediately prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. The author saw in what Jesus did for the disciples at this point a partial and symbolic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, much as Peter made use of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:17-21. What then did Jesus do for the disciples in John 20:22? It appears that in light of the symbolism of the new creation present here, as well as the regeneration symbolism from the Ezek 37 passage, that Jesus at this point breathed into the disciples the breath of eternal life. This was in the form of the Holy Spirit, who was to indwell them. It is instructive to look again at 7:38-39, which states, “Just as the scripture says, ‘Out from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ (Now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were going to receive; for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”) But now in 20:22 Jesus was glorified, so the Spirit could be given. Had the disciples not believed in Jesus before? It seems clear that they had, since their belief is repeatedly affirmed, beginning with 2:11. But it also seems clear that even on the eve of the crucifixion, they did not understand the necessity of the cross (16:31-33). And even after the crucifixion, the disciples had not realized that there was going to be a resurrection (20:9). Ultimate recognition of who Jesus was appears to have come to them only after the postresurrection appearances (note the response of Thomas, who was not present at this incident, in v. 28). Finally, what is the relation of this incident in 20:22 to the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2? It appears best to view these as two separate events which have two somewhat different purposes. This was the giving of life itself, which flowed out from within (cf. 7:38-39). The giving of power would occur later, on the day of Pentecost – power to witness and carry out the mission the disciples had been given. (It is important to remember that in the historical unfolding of God’s program for the church, these events occurred in a chronological sequence which, after the church has been established, is not repeatable today.)

[20:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “they are forgiven to them.” The words “to them” are unnecessary in English and somewhat redundant.

[20:23]  ²¹ sn The statement by Jesus about forgive or retaining anyone’s sins finds its closest parallel in Matt 16:19 and 18:18. This is probably not referring to apostolic power to forgive or retain the sins of individuals (as it is sometimes understood), but to the “power” of proclaiming this forgiveness which was entrusted to the disciples. This is consistent with the idea that the disciples are to carry on the ministry of Jesus after he has departed from the world and returned to the Father, a theme which occurred in the Farewell Discourse (cf. 15:27, 16:1-4, and 17:18).

[5:31]  ²² tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).

[5:31]  ²³ tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).

[5:31]  ²⁴ tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”