John 7:33

7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer, ¹  and then ²  I am going to the one who sent me.

John 8:46

8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty ³  of any sin? ⁴  If I am telling you ⁵  the truth, why don’t you believe me?

John 8:56

8:56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed ⁶  to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁷ 

John 14:1

Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

14:1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. ⁸  You believe in God; ⁹  believe also in me.

John 14:16

14:16 Then ¹⁰  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate ¹¹  to be with you forever –

John 15:11

15:11 I have told you these things ¹²  so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.

John 15:18

The World’s Hatred

15:18 “If the world hates you, be aware ¹³  that it hated me first. ¹⁴ 

John 16:5

16:5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, ¹⁵  and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ¹⁶ 

[7:33]  ¹ tn Grk “Yet a little I am with you.”

[7:33]  ² tn The word “then” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:46]  ³ tn Or “can convict me.”

[8:46]  ⁴ tn Or “of having sinned”; Grk “of sin.”

[8:46]  ⁵ tn Or “if I tell you.”

[8:56]  ⁵ tn Or “rejoiced greatly.”

[8:56]  ⁶ tn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement that the patriarch Abraham “saw” his day and rejoiced? The use of past tenses would seem to refer to something that occurred during the patriarch’s lifetime. Genesis Rabbah 44:25ff, (cf. 59:6) states that Rabbi Akiba, in a debate with Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, held that Abraham had been shown not this world only but the world to come (this would include the days of the Messiah). More realistically, it is likely that Gen 22:13-15 lies behind Jesus’ words. This passage, known to rabbis as the Akedah (“Binding”), tells of Abraham finding the ram which will replace his son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice – an occasion of certain rejoicing.

[14:1]  ⁷ sn The same verb is used to describe Jesus’ own state in John 11:33, 12:27, and 13:21. Jesus is looking ahead to the events of the evening and the next day, his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death, which will cause his disciples extreme emotional distress.

[14:1]  ⁸ tn Or “Believe in God.” The translation of the two uses of πιστεύετε (pisteuete) is difficult. Both may be either indicative or imperative, and as L. Morris points out (John [NICNT], 637), this results in a bewildering variety of possibilities. To complicate matters further, the first may be understood as a question: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” Morris argues against the KJV translation which renders the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative on the grounds that for the writer of the Fourth Gospel, faith in Jesus is inseparable from faith in God. But this is precisely the point that Jesus is addressing in context. He is about to undergo rejection by his own people as their Messiah. The disciples’ faith in him as Messiah and Lord would be cast into extreme doubt by these events, which the author makes clear were not at this time foreseen by the disciples. After the resurrection it is this identification between Jesus and the Father which needs to be reaffirmed (cf. John 20:24-29). Thus it seems best to take the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative, producing the translation “You believe in God; believe also in me.”

[14:16]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.

[14:16]  ¹⁰ 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.

[15:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “These things I have spoken to you.”

[15:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “know.”

[15:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “it hated me before you.”

[16:5]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.