John 18:37

18:37 Then Pilate said, ¹  “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to ²  my voice.”

John 7:28

7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, ³  cried out, ⁴  “You both know me and know where I come from! ⁵  And I have not come on my own initiative, ⁶  but the one who sent me ⁷  is true. You do not know him, ⁸ 

[18:37]  ¹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:37]  ² tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”

[7:28]  ³ tn Grk “the temple.”

[7:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”

[7:28]  ⁵ sn You both know me and know where I come from! Jesus’ response while teaching in the temple is difficult – it appears to concede too much understanding to his opponents. It is best to take the words as irony: “So you know me and know where I am from, do you?” On the physical, literal level, they did know where he was from: Nazareth of Galilee (at least they thought they knew). But on another deeper (spiritual) level, they did not: He came from heaven, from the Father. Jesus insisted that he has not come on his own initiative (cf. 5:37), but at the bidding of the Father who sent him.

[7:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”

[7:28]  ⁷ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[7:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”