Titus 1:3

1:3 But now in his own time ¹  he has made his message evident through the preaching I was entrusted with according to the command of God our Savior.

Luke 2:11

2:11 Today ²  your Savior is born in the city ³  of David. ⁴  He is Christ ⁵  the Lord.

John 4:42

4:42 They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one ⁶  really is the Savior of the world.” ⁷ 

John 4:2

4:2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), ⁸ 

John 1:11

1:11 He came to what was his own, ⁹  but ¹⁰  his own people ¹¹  did not receive him. ¹² 

John 2:20

2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ¹³  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ¹⁴  for forty-six years, ¹⁵  and are you going to raise it up in three days?”

John 3:2

3:2 came to Jesus ¹⁶  at night ¹⁷  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ¹⁸  that you do unless God is with him.”

John 3:18

3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. ¹⁹  The one who does not believe has been condemned ²⁰  already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only ²¹  Son of God.

John 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ²²  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ²³ 

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, ²⁴  lest anything worse happen to you.”

[1:3]  ¹ tn The Greek text emphasizes the contrast between vv. 2b and 3a: God promised this long ago but now has revealed it in his own time.

[2:11]  ² sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).

[2:11]  ³ tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.

[2:11]  ⁴ tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:42]  ⁶ tn Or “this.” The Greek pronoun can mean either “this one” or “this” (BDAG 740 s.v. οὗτος 1).

[4:42]  ⁷ sn There is irony in the Samaritans’ declaration that Jesus was really the Savior of the world, an irony foreshadowed in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (1:11): “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Yet the Samaritans welcomed Jesus and proclaimed him to be not the Jewish Messiah only, but the Savior of the world.

[4:2]  ⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “to his own things.”

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn “People” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[1:11]  ¹² sn His own people did not receive him. There is a subtle irony here: When the λόγος (logos) came into the world, he came to his own (τὰ ἴδια, ta idia, literally “his own things”) and his own people (οἱ ἴδιοι, Joi idioi), who should have known and received him, but they did not. This time John does not say that “his own” did not know him, but that they did not receive him (παρέλαβον, parelabon). The idea is one not of mere recognition, but of acceptance and welcome.

[2:20]  ¹³ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ¹⁴ tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ¹⁵ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “during the night.”

[3:2]  ¹⁸ sn The reference to signs (σημεῖα, shmeia) forms a link with John 2:23-25. Those people in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because of the signs he had performed. Nicodemus had apparently seen them too. But for Nicodemus all the signs meant is that Jesus was a great teacher sent from God. His approach to Jesus was well-intentioned but theologically inadequate; he had failed to grasp the messianic implications of the miraculous signs.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “judged.”

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “judged.”

[3:18]  ²¹ tn See the note on the term “one and only” in 3:16.

[3:1]  ²² sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ²³ tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:14]  ²⁴ 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.