John 4:42

4:42 They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one ¹  really is the Savior of the world.” ² 

John 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ³  “I am the light of the world. ⁴  The one who follows me will never ⁵  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 11:9

11:9 Jesus replied, ⁶  “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, ⁷  because he sees the light of this world. ⁸ 

John 17:6

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

17:6 “I have revealed ⁹  your name to the men ¹⁰  you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, ¹¹  and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed ¹²  your word.

John 17:24

17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, ¹³  so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world ¹⁴ .

[4:42]  ¹ tn Or “this.” The Greek pronoun can mean either “this one” or “this” (BDAG 740 s.v. οὗτος 1).

[4:42]  ² sn There is irony in the Samaritans’ declaration that Jesus was really the Savior of the world, an irony foreshadowed in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (1:11): “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Yet the Samaritans welcomed Jesus and proclaimed him to be not the Jewish Messiah only, but the Savior of the world.

[8:12]  ³ tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ⁴ sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.

[8:12]  ⁵ tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[11:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[11:9]  ⁶ tn Or “he does not trip.”

[11:9]  ⁷ sn What is the light of this world? On one level, of course, it refers to the sun, but the reader of John’s Gospel would recall 8:12 and understand Jesus’ symbolic reference to himself as the light of the world. There is only a limited time left (Are there not twelve hours in a day?) until the Light will be withdrawn (until Jesus returns to the Father) and the one who walks around in the dark will trip and fall (compare the departure of Judas by night in 13:30).

[17:6]  ⁷ tn Or “made known,” “disclosed.”

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Here “men” is retained as a translation for ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") rather than the more generic “people” because in context it specifically refers to the eleven men Jesus had chosen as apostles (Judas had already departed, John 13:30). If one understands the referent here to be the broader group of Jesus’ followers that included both men and women, a translation like “to the people” should be used here instead.

[17:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “Yours they were.”

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “have kept.”

[17:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”

[17:24]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”