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 4:10

4:10 Jesus answered ⁴  her, “If you had known ⁵  the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water ⁶  to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ⁷ 

John 5:19

5:19 So Jesus answered them, ⁸  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, ¹⁰  but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father ¹¹  does, the Son does likewise. ¹² 

[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.

[4:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “answered and said to her.”

[4:10]  ⁵ tn Or “if you knew.”

[4:10]  ⁶ tn The phrase “some water” is supplied as the understood direct object of the infinitive πεῖν (pein).

[4:10]  ⁷ tn This is a second class conditional sentence in Greek.

[5:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[5:19]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “nothing from himself.”

[5:19]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:19]  ¹¹ sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.