John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹  at night ²  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 ³  that you do unless God is with him.”

John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ⁴  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ⁵  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ⁶  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

John 18:37

18:37 Then Pilate said, ⁷  “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 ⁸  my voice.”

John 20:17

20:17 Jesus replied, ⁹  “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

[3:2]  ¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ² tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ³ 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.

[12:35]  ⁴ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ⁵ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ⁶ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[18:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:37]  ⁸ tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”

[20:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”