John 5:17

5:17 So he ¹  told ²  them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” ³ 

John 5:21-22

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, ⁴  so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. ⁵  5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge ⁶  anyone, but has assigned ⁷  all judgment to the Son,

John 5:26

5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

John 6:37

6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. ⁸ 

John 8:18

8:18 I testify about myself ⁹  and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

John 8:53

8:53 You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? ¹⁰  And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?”

John 10:17

10:17 This is why the Father loves me ¹¹  – because I lay down my life, ¹²  so that I may take it back again.

John 14:6-7

14:6 Jesus replied, ¹³  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ¹⁴  No one comes to the Father except through me. 14:7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. ¹⁵  And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:13

14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, ¹⁶  so that the Father may be glorified ¹⁷  in the Son.

John 14:16

14:16 Then ¹⁸  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate ¹⁹  to be with you forever –

John 14:20

14:20 You will know at that time ²⁰  that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

John 15:9

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain ²¹  in my love.

John 16:10

16:10 concerning righteousness, ²²  because ²³  I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;

John 17:5

17:5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side ²⁴  with the glory I had with you before the world was created. ²⁵ 

John 20:21

20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

[5:17]  ¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses (Ì⁶⁶ A D L Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt co) have ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, while generally better witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B W {0141} 892 1241 pbo) lack the name. Although it is possible that Alexandrian scribes deleted the name due to proclivities to prune, this is not as likely as other witnesses adding it for clarification, especially since multiple strands of the Alexandrian text are represented in the shorter reading. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to authenticity.

[5:17]  ² tn Grk “answered.”

[5:17]  ³ sn “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” What is the significance of Jesus’ claim? A preliminary understanding can be obtained from John 5:18, noting the Jewish authorities’ response and the author’s comment. They sought to kill Jesus, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God. This must be seen in the context of the relation of God to the Sabbath rest. In the commandment (Exod 20:11) it is explained that “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth…and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Philo, based on the LXX translation of Exod 20:11, denied outright that God had ever ceased his creative activity. And when Rabban Gamaliel II, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiba were in Rome, ca. a.d. 95, they gave as a rebuttal to sectarian arguments evidence that God might do as he willed in the world without breaking the Sabbath because the entire world was his private residence. So even the rabbis realized that God did not really cease to work on the Sabbath: Divine providence remained active on the Sabbath, otherwise, all nature and life would cease to exist. As regards men, divine activity was visible in two ways: Men were born and men died on the Sabbath. Since only God could give life and only God could deal with the fate of the dead in judgment, this meant God was active on the Sabbath. This seems to be the background for Jesus’ words in 5:17. He justified his work of healing on the Sabbath by reminding the Jewish authorities that they admitted God worked on the Sabbath. This explains the violence of the reaction. The Sabbath privilege was peculiar to God, and no one was equal to God. In claiming the right to work even as his Father worked, Jesus was claiming a divine prerogative. He was literally making himself equal to God, as 5:18 goes on to state explicitly for the benefit of the reader who might not have made the connection.

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “and makes them live.”

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “the Son makes whomever he wants to live.”

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Or “condemn.”

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”

[6:37]  ¹⁰ tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

[8:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “I am the one who testifies about myself.”

[8:53]  ¹⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[10:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Because of this the Father loves me.”

[10:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “die willingly.”

[14:6]  ²² tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:6]  ²³ tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”

[14:7]  ²⁵ tc There is a difficult textual problem here: The statement reads either “If you have known (ἐγνώκατε, egnwkate) me, you will know (γνώσεσθε, gnwsesqe) my Father” or “If you had really known (ἐγνώκειτε, egnwkeite) me, you would have known (ἐγνώκειτε ἄν or ἂν ἤδειτε [egnwkeite an or an hdeite]) my Father.” The division of the external evidence is difficult, but can be laid out as follows: The mss that have the perfect ἐγνώκατε in the protasis (Ì⁶⁶ [א D* W] 579 pc it) also have, for the most part, the future indicative γνώσεσθε in the apodosis (Ì⁶⁶ א D W [579] pc sa bo), rendering Jesus’ statement as a first-class condition. The mss that have the pluperfect ἐγνώκειτε in the protasis (A B C D¹ L Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï) also have, for the most part, a pluperfect in the apodosis (either ἂν ἤδειτε in B C* [L] Q Ψ 1 33 565 al, or ἐγνώκειτε ἄν in A C³ Θ Ë¹³ Ï), rendering Jesus’ statement a contrary-to-fact second-class condition. The external evidence slightly favors the first-class condition, since there is an Alexandrian-Western alliance supported by Ì⁶⁶. As well, the fact that the readings with a second-class condition utilize two different verbs with ἄν in different positions suggests that these readings are secondary. However, it could be argued that the second-class conditions are harder readings in that they speak negatively of the apostles (so K. Aland in TCGNT 207); in this case, the ἐγνώκειτε…ἐγνώκειτε ἄν reading should be given preference. Although a decision is difficult, the first-class condition is to be slightly preferred. In this case Jesus promises the disciples that, assuming they have known him, they will know the Father. Contextually this fits better with the following phrase (v. 7b) which asserts that “from the present time you know him and have seen him” (cf. John 1:18).

[14:13]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”

[14:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “may be praised” or “may be honored.”

[14:16]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.

[14:16]  ³² tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). Finding an appropriate English translation for παράκλητος is a very difficult task. No single English word has exactly the same range of meaning as the Greek word. “Comforter,” used by some of the older English versions, appears to be as old as Wycliffe. But today it suggests a quilt or a sympathetic mourner at a funeral. “Counselor” is adequate, but too broad, in contexts like “marriage counselor” or “camp counselor.” “Helper” or “Assistant” could also be used, but could suggest a subordinate rank. “Advocate,” the word chosen for this translation, has more forensic overtones than the Greek word does, although in John 16:5-11 a forensic context is certainly present. Because an “advocate” is someone who “advocates” or supports a position or viewpoint and since this is what the Paraclete will do for the preaching of the disciples, it was selected in spite of the drawbacks.

[14:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “will know in that day.”

[15:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “reside.”

[16:10]  ⁴⁰ tn There are two questions that need to be answered: (1) what is the meaning of δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosunh) in this context, and (2) to whom does it pertain – to the world, or to someone else? (1) The word δικαιοσύνη occurs in the Gospel of John only here and in v. 8. It is often assumed that it refers to forensic justification, as it does so often in Paul’s writings. Thus the answer to question (2) would be that it refers to the world. L. Morris states, “The Spirit shows men (and no-one else can do this) that their righteousness before God depends not on their own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them” (John [NICNT], 699). Since the word occurs so infrequently in the Fourth Gospel, however, the context must be examined very carefully. The ὅτι (Joti) clause which follows provides an important clue: The righteousness in view here has to do with Jesus’ return to the Father and his absence from the disciples. It is true that in the Fourth Gospel part of what is involved in Jesus’ return to the Father is the cross, and it is through his substitutionary death that people are justified, so that Morris’ understanding of righteousness here is possible. But more basic than this is the idea that Jesus’ return to the Father constitutes his own δικαιοσύνη in the sense of vindication rather than forensic justification. Jesus had repeatedly claimed oneness with the Father, and his opponents had repeatedly rejected this and labeled him a deceiver, a sinner, and a blasphemer (John 5:18, 7:12, 9:24, 10:33, etc.). But Jesus, by his glorification through his return to the Father, is vindicated in his claims in spite of his opponents. In his vindication his followers are also vindicated as well, but their vindication derives from his. Thus one would answer question (1) by saying that in context δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") refers not to forensic justification but vindication, and question (2) by referring this justification/vindication not to the world or even to Christians directly, but to Jesus himself. Finally, how does Jesus’ last statement in v. 10, that the disciples will see him no more, contribute to this? It is probably best taken as a reference to the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, who cannot come until Jesus has departed (16:7). The meaning of v. 10 is thus: When the Spirit-Paraclete comes he will prove the world wrong concerning the subject of righteousness, namely, Jesus’ righteousness which is demonstrated when he is glorified in his return to the Father and the disciples see him no more (but they will have instead the presence of the Spirit-Paraclete, whom the world is not able to receive).

[16:10]  ⁴¹ tn Or “that.”

[17:5]  ⁴³ tn Or “in your presence”; Grk “with yourself.” The use of παρά (para) twice in this verse looks back to the assertion in John 1:1 that the Word (the Λόγος [Logos], who became Jesus of Nazareth in 1:14) was with God (πρὸς τὸν θεόν, pro" ton qeon). Whatever else may be said, the statement in 17:5 strongly asserts the preexistence of Jesus Christ.

[17:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “before the world was.” The word “created” is not in the Greek text but is implied.