John 5:17

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

John 5:34

5:34 (I do not accept ⁴  human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.)

John 7:33

7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer, ⁵  and then ⁶  I am going to the one who sent me.

John 8:46

8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty ⁷  of any sin? ⁸  If I am telling you ⁹  the truth, why don’t you believe me?

John 8:50

8:50 I am not trying to get ¹⁰  praise for myself. ¹¹  There is one who demands ¹²  it, and he also judges. ¹³ 

John 9:29

9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man ¹⁴  comes from!”

John 10:7

10:7 So Jesus said to them again, “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁵  I am the door for the sheep. ¹⁶ 

John 11:15-16

11:15 and I am glad ¹⁷  for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. ¹⁸  But let us go to him.” 11:16 So Thomas (called Didymus ¹⁹ ) ²⁰  said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.” ²¹ 

John 13:19

13:19 I am telling you this now, ²²  before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe ²³  that I am he. ²⁴ 

John 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ²⁵  and my Father is the gardener. ²⁶ 

John 16:5

16:5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, ²⁷  and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ²⁸ 

John 17:10

17:10 Everything ²⁹  I have belongs to you, ³⁰  and everything you have belongs to me, ³¹  and I have been glorified by them. ³² 

[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.

[5:34]  ⁴ tn Or “I do not receive.”

[7:33]  ⁷ tn Grk “Yet a little I am with you.”

[7:33]  ⁸ tn The word “then” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:46]  ¹⁰ tn Or “can convict me.”

[8:46]  ¹¹ tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

[8:46]  ¹² tn Or “if I tell you.”

[8:50]  ¹³ tn Grk “I am not seeking.”

[8:50]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “my glory.”

[8:50]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “who seeks.”

[8:50]  ¹⁶ tn Or “will be the judge.”

[9:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “where this one.”

[10:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[10:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “I am the sheep’s door.”

[11:15]  ²² tn Grk “and I rejoice.”

[11:15]  ²³ sn So that you may believe. Why does Jesus make this statement? It seems necessary to understand the disciples’ belief here in a developmental sense, because there are numerous references to the disciples’ faith previous to this in John’s Gospel, notably 2:11. Their concept of who Jesus really was is continually being expanded and challenged; they are undergoing spiritual growth; the climax is reached in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28.

[11:16]  ²⁵ sn Didymus means “the twin” in Greek.

[11:16]  ²⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[11:16]  ²⁷ sn One gets the impression from Thomas’ statement “Let us go too, so that we may die with him” that he was something of a pessimist resigned to his fate. And yet his dedicated loyalty to Jesus and his determination to accompany him at all costs was truly commendable. Nor is the contrast between this statement and the confession of Thomas in 20:28, which forms the climax of the entire Fourth Gospel, to be overlooked; certainly Thomas’ concept of who Jesus is has changed drastically between 11:16 and 20:28.

[13:19]  ²⁸ tn Or (perhaps) “I am certainly telling you this.” According to BDF §12.3 ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι (ap’ arti) should be read as ἀπαρτί (aparti), meaning “exactly, certainly.”

[13:19]  ²⁹ tn Grk “so that you may believe.”

[13:19]  ³⁰ tn Grk “that I am.” R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:555) argues for a nonpredicated ἐγώ εἰμι (egw eimi) here, but this is far from certain.

[15:1]  ³¹ sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ³² tn Or “the farmer.”

[16:5]  ³⁴ sn Now the theme of Jesus’ impending departure is resumed (I am going to the one who sent me). It will also be mentioned in 16:10, 17, and 28. Jesus had said to his opponents in 7:33 that he was going to the one who sent him; in 13:33 he had spoken of going where the disciples could not come. At that point Peter had inquired where he was going, but it appears that Peter did not understand Jesus’ reply at that time and did not persist in further questioning. In 14:5 Thomas had asked Jesus where he was going.

[16:5]  ³⁵ sn Now none of the disciples asks Jesus where he is going, and the reason is given in the following verse: They have been overcome with sadness as a result of the predictions of coming persecution that Jesus has just spoken to them in 15:18-25 and 16:1-4a. Their shock at Jesus’ revelation of coming persecution is so great that none of them thinks to ask him where it is that he is going.

[17:10]  ³⁷ tn Grk And all things.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “Everything I have is yours.”

[17:10]  ³⁹ tn Or “everything you have is mine.”

[17:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “I have been honored among them.”