John 4:34

4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me ¹  and to complete ²  his work. ³ 

John 5:19

5:19 So Jesus answered them, ⁴  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵  the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, ⁶  but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father ⁷  does, the Son does likewise. ⁸ 

John 5:36

5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds ⁹  that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds ¹⁰  I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.

John 10:32

10:32 Jesus said to them, ¹¹  “I have shown you many good deeds ¹²  from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?”

John 10:37

10:37 If I do not perform ¹³  the deeds ¹⁴  of my Father, do not believe me.

John 17:4

17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing ¹⁵  the work you gave me to do. ¹⁶ 

Luke 13:32-34

13:32 But ¹⁷  he said to them, “Go ¹⁸  and tell that fox, ¹⁹  ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day ²⁰  I will complete my work. ²¹  13:33 Nevertheless I must ²²  go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible ²³  that a prophet should be killed ²⁴  outside Jerusalem.’ ²⁵  13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²⁶  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²⁷  How often I have longed ²⁸  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁹  you would have none of it! ³⁰ 

Acts 4:20

4:20 for it is impossible ³¹  for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

[4:34]  ¹ sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.

[4:34]  ² tn Or “to accomplish.”

[4:34]  ³ tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.

[5:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

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

[5:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “nothing from himself.”

[5:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:19]  ⁸ 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.

[5:36]  ⁹ tn Or “works.”

[5:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.

[10:32]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered them.”

[10:32]  ¹² tn Or “good works.”

[10:37]  ¹³ tn Or “do.”

[10:37]  ¹⁴ tn Or “works.”

[17:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “by finishing” or “by accomplishing.” Jesus now states that he has glorified the Father on earth by finishing (τελειώσας [teleiwsas] is best understood as an adverbial participle of means) the work which the Father had given him to do.

[17:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the work that you gave to me so that I may do it.”

[13:32]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:32]  ¹⁸ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[13:32]  ¹⁹ sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).

[13:32]  ²⁰ sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.

[13:32]  ²¹ tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.

[13:33]  ²² tn This is the frequent expression δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) that notes something that is a part of God’s plan.

[13:33]  ²³ tn Or “unthinkable.” See L&N 71.4 for both possible meanings.

[13:33]  ²⁴ tn Or “should perish away from.”

[13:33]  ²⁵ sn Death in Jerusalem is another key theme in Luke’s material: 7:16, 34; 24:19; Acts 3:22-23. Notice that Jesus sees himself in the role of a prophet here. Jesus’ statement, it is impossible that a prophet should be killed outside Jerusalem, is filled with irony; Jesus, traveling about in Galilee (most likely), has nothing to fear from Herod; it is his own people living in the very center of Jewish religion and worship who present the greatest danger to his life. The underlying idea is that Jerusalem, though she stands at the very heart of the worship of God, often kills the prophets God sends to her (v. 34). In the end, Herod will be much less a threat than Jerusalem.

[13:34]  ²⁶ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ²⁷ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ²⁸ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ³⁰ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[4:20]  ³¹ tn Grk “for we are not able not to speak about what we have seen and heard,” but the double negative, which cancels out in English, is emphatic in Greek. The force is captured somewhat by the English translation “it is impossible for us not to speak…” although this is slightly awkward.