John 3:10

3:10 Jesus answered, ¹  “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? ² 

John 13:13

13:13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, ³  for that is what I am. ⁴ 

John 11:28

11:28 And when she had said this, Martha ⁵  went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, ⁶  “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” ⁷ 

John 13:14

13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet.

John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ⁸  at night ⁹  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 ¹⁰  that you do unless God is with him.”

[3:10]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to him.”

[3:10]  ² sn Jesus’ question “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?” implies that Nicodemus had enough information at his disposal from the OT scriptures to have understood Jesus’ statements about the necessity of being born from above by the regenerating work of the Spirit. Isa 44:3-5 and Ezek 37:9-10 are passages Nicodemus might have known which would have given him insight into Jesus’ words. Another significant passage which contains many of these concepts is Prov 30:4-5.

[13:13]  ³ tn Or “rightly.”

[13:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “and I am these things.”

[11:28]  ⁵ tn Grk “she”; the referent (Martha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:28]  ⁶ tn Or “in secret” (as opposed to publicly, so that the other mourners did not hear).

[11:28]  ⁷ tn Grk “is calling you.”

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ⁹ 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.