John 1:22

1:22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us ¹  so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

John 10:5

10:5 They will never follow a stranger, ²  but will run away from him, because they do not recognize ³  the stranger’s voice.” ⁴ 

John 11:15

11:15 and I am glad ⁵  for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. ⁶  But let us go to him.”

John 12:30

12:30 Jesus said, ⁷  “This voice has not come for my benefit ⁸  but for yours.

John 13:19

13:19 I am telling you this now, ⁹  before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe ¹⁰  that I am he. ¹¹ 

John 13:34

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ¹²  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ¹³ 

John 14:7

14:7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. ¹⁴  And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”

John 15:9

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain ¹⁵  in my love.

John 15:12

15:12 My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you. ¹⁶ 

John 15:18

The World’s Hatred

15:18 “If the world hates you, be aware ¹⁷  that it hated me first. ¹⁸ 

John 15:21

15:21 But they will do all these things to you on account of ¹⁹  my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. ²⁰ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn The words “Tell us” are not in the Greek but are implied.

[10:5]  ² tn Or “someone whom they do not know.”

[10:5]  ³ tn Grk “know.”

[10:5]  ⁴ tn Or “the voice of someone they do not know.”

[11:15]  ³ tn Grk “and I rejoice.”

[11:15]  ⁴ sn So that you may believe. Why does Jesus make this statement? It seems necessary to understand the disciples’ belief here in a developmental sense, because there are numerous references to the disciples’ faith previous to this in John’s Gospel, notably 2:11. Their concept of who Jesus really was is continually being expanded and challenged; they are undergoing spiritual growth; the climax is reached in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28.

[12:30]  ⁴ tn Grk “Jesus answered and said.”

[12:30]  ⁵ tn Or “for my sake.”

[13:19]  ⁵ tn Or (perhaps) “I am certainly telling you this.” According to BDF §12.3 ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι (ap’ arti) should be read as ἀπαρτί (aparti), meaning “exactly, certainly.”

[13:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “so that you may believe.”

[13:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “that I am.” R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:555) argues for a nonpredicated ἐγώ εἰμι (egw eimi) here, but this is far from certain.

[13:34]  ⁶ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

[13:34]  ⁷ sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1, 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16, 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.

[14:7]  ⁷ tc There is a difficult textual problem here: The statement reads either “If you have known (ἐγνώκατε, egnwkate) me, you will know (γνώσεσθε, gnwsesqe) my Father” or “If you had really known (ἐγνώκειτε, egnwkeite) me, you would have known (ἐγνώκειτε ἄν or ἂν ἤδειτε [egnwkeite an or an hdeite]) my Father.” The division of the external evidence is difficult, but can be laid out as follows: The mss that have the perfect ἐγνώκατε in the protasis (Ì⁶⁶ [א D* W] 579 pc it) also have, for the most part, the future indicative γνώσεσθε in the apodosis (Ì⁶⁶ א D W [579] pc sa bo), rendering Jesus’ statement as a first-class condition. The mss that have the pluperfect ἐγνώκειτε in the protasis (A B C D¹ L Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï) also have, for the most part, a pluperfect in the apodosis (either ἂν ἤδειτε in B C* [L] Q Ψ 1 33 565 al, or ἐγνώκειτε ἄν in A C³ Θ Ë¹³ Ï), rendering Jesus’ statement a contrary-to-fact second-class condition. The external evidence slightly favors the first-class condition, since there is an Alexandrian-Western alliance supported by Ì⁶⁶. As well, the fact that the readings with a second-class condition utilize two different verbs with ἄν in different positions suggests that these readings are secondary. However, it could be argued that the second-class conditions are harder readings in that they speak negatively of the apostles (so K. Aland in TCGNT 207); in this case, the ἐγνώκειτε…ἐγνώκειτε ἄν reading should be given preference. Although a decision is difficult, the first-class condition is to be slightly preferred. In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7b) which asserts that “from the present time you know him and have seen him” (cf. John 1:18).

[15:9]  ⁸ tn Or “reside.”

[15:12]  ⁹ sn Now the reference to the commandments (plural) in 15:10 have been reduced to a singular commandment: The disciples are to love one another, just as Jesus has loved them. This is the ‘new commandment’ of John 13:34, and it is repeated in 15:17. The disciples’ love for one another is compared to Jesus’ love for them. How has Jesus shown his love for the disciples? This was illustrated in 13:1-20 in the washing of the disciples’ feet, introduced by the statement in 13:1 that Jesus loved them “to the end.” In context this constitutes a reference to Jesus’ self-sacrificial death on the cross on their behalf; the love they are to have for one another is so great that it must include a self-sacrificial willingness to die for one another if necessary. This is exactly what Jesus is discussing here, because he introduces the theme of his sacrificial death in the following verse. In John 10:18 and 14:31 Jesus spoke of his death on the cross as a commandment he had received from his Father, which also links the idea of commandment and love as they are linked here. One final note: It is not just the degree or intensity of the disciples’ love for one another that Jesus is referring to when he introduces by comparison his own death on the cross (that they must love one another enough to die for one another) but the very means of expressing that love: It is to express itself in self-sacrifice for one another, sacrifice up to the point of death, which is what Jesus himself did on the cross (cf. 1 John 3:16).

[15:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “know.”

[15:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “it hated me before you.”

[15:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “because of.”

[15:21]  ¹² tn Jesus is referring to God as “the one who sent me.”