John 1:15

1:15 John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’”

John 5:7

5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me.”

John 8:9

8:9 Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

John 9:24

9:24 Then they summoned 10  the man who used to be blind 11  a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. 12  We know that this man 13  is a sinner.”

John 13:1

Washing the Disciples’ Feet

13:1 Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time 14  had come to depart 15  from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. 16 

John 17:24

17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, 17  so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world 18 .


sn John refers to John the Baptist.

tn Or “bore witness.”

tn Grk “and shouted out saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.

tn Or “has a higher rank than I.”

tn Or “Lord.” The Greek κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage the paralytic who was healed by Jesus never acknowledges Jesus as Lord – he rather reports Jesus to the authorities.

tn Grk “while I am going.”

tn Grk “another.”

tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

tn Or “beginning from the eldest.”

10 tn Grk “they called.”

11 tn Grk “who was blind.”

12 tn Grk “Give glory to God” (an idiomatic formula used in placing someone under oath to tell the truth).

13 tn The phrase “this man” is a reference to Jesus.

14 tn Grk “his hour.”

15 tn Grk “that he should depart.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause in Koine Greek frequently encroached on the simple infinitive (for the sake of greater clarity).

16 tn Or “he now loved them completely,” or “he now loved them to the uttermost” (see John 19:30). All of John 13:1 is a single sentence in Greek, although in English this would be unacceptably awkward. At the end of the verse the idiom εἰς τέλος (eis telos) was translated literally as “to the end” and the modern equivalents given in the note above, because there is an important lexical link between this passage and John 19:30, τετέλεσται (tetelestai, “It is ended”).

sn The full extent of Jesus’ love for his disciples is not merely seen in his humble service to them in washing their feet (the most common interpretation of the passage). The full extent of his love for them is demonstrated in his sacrificial death for them on the cross. The footwashing episode which follows then becomes a prophetic act, or acting out beforehand, of his upcoming death on their behalf. The message for the disciples was that they were to love one another not just in humble, self-effacing service, but were to be willing to die for one another. At least one of them got this message eventually, though none understood it at the time (see 1 John 3:16).

17 tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”

18 tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”