John 13:34

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ¹  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ² 

John 19:41

19:41 Now at the place where Jesus ³  was crucified ⁴  there was a garden, ⁵  and in the garden ⁶  was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. ⁷ 

John 5:29

5:29 and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. ⁸ 

John 6:39

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ⁹  at the last day.

John 12:24

12:24 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁰  unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. ¹¹  But if it dies, it produces ¹²  much grain. ¹³ 

John 3:6

3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ¹⁴  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 3:3

3:3 Jesus replied, ¹⁵  “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁶  unless a person is born from above, ¹⁷  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ¹⁸ 

John 16:21

16:21 When a woman gives birth, she has distress ¹⁹  because her time ²⁰  has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being ²¹  has been born into the world. ²² 

[13:34]  ¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

[13:34]  ² 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.

[19:41]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:41]  ⁴ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:41]  ⁵ tn Or “an orchard.”

[19:41]  ⁶ tn Or “orchard.”

[19:41]  ⁷ tn Grk “been placed.”

[5:29]  ⁵ tn Or “a resurrection resulting in judgment.”

[6:39]  ⁷ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[12:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[12:24]  ¹⁰ tn Or “it remains only a single kernel.”

[12:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “bears.”

[12:24]  ¹² tn Grk “much fruit.”

[3:6]  ¹¹ sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature – a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

[3:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.

[16:21]  ¹⁵ sn The same word translated distress here has been translated sadness in the previous verse (a wordplay that is not exactly reproducible in English).

[16:21]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “her hour.”

[16:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “that a man” (but in a generic sense, referring to a human being).

[16:21]  ¹⁸ sn Jesus now compares the situation of the disciples to a woman in childbirth. Just as the woman in the delivery of her child experiences real pain and anguish (has distress), so the disciples will also undergo real anguish at the crucifixion of Jesus. But once the child has been born, the mother’s anguish is turned into joy, and she forgets the past suffering. The same will be true of the disciples, who after Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance to them will forget the anguish they suffered at his death on account of their joy.