John 5:14

5:14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, ¹  lest anything worse happen to you.”

John 6:53

6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ²  unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ³  you have no life ⁴  in yourselves.

John 7:3

7:3 So Jesus’ brothers ⁵  advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. ⁶ 

John 8:21

Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going

8:21 Then Jesus ⁷  said to them again, ⁸  “I am going away, and you will look for me ⁹  but will die in your sin. ¹⁰  Where I am going you cannot come.”

John 13:33

13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ¹¹  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ¹²  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ¹³  now I tell you the same. ¹⁴ 

John 14:28

14:28 You heard me say to you, ¹⁵  ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad ¹⁶  that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. ¹⁷ 

John 16:7

16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate ¹⁸  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:22

16:22 So also you have sorrow ¹⁹  now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. ²⁰ 

John 17:8

17:8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They ²¹  accepted ²²  them ²³  and really ²⁴  understand ²⁵  that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

John 18:31

18:31 Pilate told them, ²⁶  “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him ²⁷  according to your own law!” ²⁸  The Jewish leaders ²⁹  replied, ³⁰  “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” ³¹ 

John 19:6

19:6 When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify ³²  him! Crucify him!” ³³  Pilate said, ³⁴  “You take him and crucify him! ³⁵  Certainly ³⁶  I find no reason for an accusation ³⁷  against him!”

[5:14]  ¹ tn Since this is a prohibition with a present imperative, the translation “stop sinning” is sometimes suggested. This is not likely, however, since the present tense is normally used in prohibitions involving a general condition (as here) while the aorist tense is normally used in specific instances. Only when used opposite the normal usage (the present tense in a specific instance, for example) would the meaning “stop doing what you are doing” be appropriate.

[6:53]  ² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:53]  ³ sn Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. These words are at the heart of the discourse on the Bread of Life, and have created great misunderstanding among interpreters. Anyone who is inclined toward a sacramental viewpoint will almost certainly want to take these words as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist, because of the reference to eating and drinking. But this does not automatically follow: By anyone’s definition there must be a symbolic element to the eating which Jesus speaks of in the discourse, and once this is admitted, it is better to understand it here, as in the previous references in the passage, to a personal receiving of (or appropriation of) Christ and his work.

[6:53]  ⁴ tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).

[7:3]  ³ tn Grk “his brothers.”

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “your deeds that you are doing.”

[8:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.

[8:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “you will seek me.”

[8:21]  ⁷ tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.

[13:33]  ⁵ tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ⁶ tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.

[13:33]  ⁷ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ⁸ tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[14:28]  ⁶ tn Or “You have heard that I said to you.”

[14:28]  ⁷ tn Or “you would rejoice.”

[14:28]  ⁸ sn Jesus’ statement the Father is greater than I am has caused much christological and trinitarian debate. Although the Arians appealed to this text to justify their subordinationist Christology, it seems evident that by the fact Jesus compares himself to the Father, his divine nature is taken for granted. There have been two orthodox interpretations: (1) The Son is eternally generated while the Father is not: Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius, Hilary, etc. (2) As man the incarnate Son was less than the Father: Cyril of Alexandria, Ambrose, Augustine. In the context of the Fourth Gospel the second explanation seems more plausible. But why should the disciples have rejoiced? Because Jesus was on the way to the Father who would glorify him (cf. 17:4-5); his departure now signifies that the work the Father has given him is completed (cf. 19:30). Now Jesus will be glorified with that glory that he had with the Father before the world was (cf. 17:5). This should be a cause of rejoicing to the disciples because when Jesus is glorified he will glorify his disciples as well (17:22).

[16:7]  ⁷ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

[16:22]  ⁸ tn Or “distress.”

[16:22]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 66:14 LXX, which reads: “Then you will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will be indignant toward his enemies.” The change from “you will see [me]” to I will see you places more emphasis on Jesus as the one who reinitiates the relationship with the disciples after his resurrection, but v. 16 (you will see me) is more like Isa 66:14. Further support for seeing this allusion as intentional is found in Isa 66:7, which uses the same imagery of the woman giving birth found in John 16:21. In the context of Isa 66 the passages refer to the institution of the messianic kingdom, and in fact the last clause of 66:14 along with the following verses (15-17) have yet to be fulfilled. This is part of the tension of present and future eschatological fulfillment that runs throughout the NT, by virtue of the fact that there are two advents. Some prophecies are fulfilled or partially fulfilled at the first advent, while other prophecies or parts of prophecies await fulfillment at the second.

[17:8]  ⁹ tn Grk And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “received.”

[17:8]  ¹¹ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[17:8]  ¹² tn Or “truly.”

[17:8]  ¹³ tn Or have come to know.”

[18:31]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Then Pilate said to them.”

[18:31]  ¹¹ tn Or “judge him.” For the translation “pass judgment on him” see R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:848).

[18:31]  ¹² sn Pilate, as the sole representative of Rome in a troubled area, was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover because of the danger of an uprising (the normal residence for the Roman governor was in Caesarea as mentioned in Acts 23:35). At this time on the eve of the feast he would have been a busy and perhaps even a worried man. It is not surprising that he offered to hand Jesus back over to the Jewish authorities to pass judgment on him. It may well be that Pilate realized when no specific charge was mentioned that he was dealing with an internal dispute over some religious matter. Pilate wanted nothing to do with such matters, as the statement “Pass judgment on him according to your own law!” indicates. As far as the author is concerned, this points out who was really responsible for Jesus’ death: The Roman governor Pilate would have had nothing to do with it if he had not been pressured by the Jewish religious authorities, upon whom the real responsibility rested.

[18:31]  ¹³ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.

[18:31]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “It is not permitted to us to kill anyone.”

[19:6]  ¹¹ sn Crucifixion was the cruelest form of punishment practiced by the Romans. Roman citizens could not normally undergo it. It was reserved for the worst crimes, like treason and evasion of due process in a capital case. The Roman statesman and orator Cicero (106-43 b.c.) called it “a cruel and disgusting penalty” (Against Verres 2.5.63-66 §§163-70); Josephus (J. W. 7.6.4 [7.203]) called it the worst of deaths.

[19:6]  ¹² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from context.

[19:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because they are unnecessary in contemporary English style.

[19:6]  ¹⁴ sn How are Pilate’s words “You take him and crucify him” to be understood? Was he offering a serious alternative to the priests who wanted Jesus crucified? Was he offering them an exception to the statement in 18:31 that the Jewish authorities did not have the power to carry out a death penalty? Although a few scholars have suggested that the situation was at this point so far out of Pilate’s control that he really was telling the high priests they could go ahead and crucify a man he had found to be innocent, this seems unlikely. It is far more likely that Pilate’s statement should be understood as one of frustration and perhaps sarcasm. This seems to be supported by the context, for the Jewish authorities make no attempt at this point to seize Jesus and crucify him. Rather they continue to pester Pilate to order the crucifixion.

[19:6]  ¹⁵ tn On this use of γάρ (gar) used in exclamations and strong affirmations, see BDAG 190 s.v. γάρ 3.

[19:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”