John 8:43

8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept ¹  my teaching. ² 

John 8:56

8:56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed ³  to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁴ 

John 17:13

17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience ⁵  my joy completed ⁶  in themselves.

John 14:27

14:27 “Peace I leave with you; ⁷  my peace I give to you; I do not give it ⁸  to you as the world does. ⁹  Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage. ¹⁰ 

John 17:24

17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, ¹¹  so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world ¹² .

[8:43]  ¹ tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.

[8:43]  ² tn Grk “my word.”

[8:56]  ³ tn Or “rejoiced greatly.”

[8:56]  ⁴ 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.

[17:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “they may have.”

[17:13]  ⁶ tn Or “fulfilled.”

[14:27]  ⁷ sn Peace I leave with you. In spite of appearances, this verse does not introduce a new subject (peace). Jesus will use the phrase as a greeting to his disciples after his resurrection (20:19, 21, 26). It is here a reflection of the Hebrew shalom as a farewell. But Jesus says he leaves peace with his disciples. This should probably be understood ultimately in terms of the indwelling of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who has been the topic of the preceding verses. It is his presence, after Jesus has left the disciples and finally returned to the Father, which will remain with them and comfort them.

[14:27]  ⁸ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[14:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “not as the world gives do I give to you.”

[14:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “distressed or fearful and cowardly.”

[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.”