10:7 So Jesus said to them again, “I tell you the solemn truth, 14 I am the door for the sheep. 15
11:11 After he said this, he added, 16 “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. 17 But I am going there to awaken him.”
1 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
2 tn Grk “seek me.”
3 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.
4 tn Grk “my word.”
5 tn Grk “I do not have a demon.”
6 tn “Yet” is supplied to show the contrastive element present in the context.
7 tn Grk “I am not seeking.”
8 tn Grk “my glory.”
9 tn Grk “who seeks.”
10 tn Or “will be the judge.”
11 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
12 tn Grk “before Abraham was.”
13 sn I am! is an explicit claim to deity. Although each occurrence of the phrase “I am” in the Fourth Gospel needs to be examined individually in context to see if an association with Exod 3:14 is present, it seems clear that this is the case here (as the response of the Jewish authorities in the following verse shows).
14 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
15 tn Or “I am the sheep’s door.”
16 tn Grk “He said these things, and after this he said to them.”
17 tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “asleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term, especially in light of the disciples’ confusion over what Jesus actually meant (see v. 13).
18 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
19 tn Grk “You do not know.”
20 tn Grk “you will know.”
21 tn Grk “Jesus answered.”
22 tn Grk “if you are seeking.”
23 tn The word “men” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The translation uses the word “men” here rather than a more generic word like “people” because in context Jesus referred only to the eleven remaining disciples who were loyal to him and were present at his arrest.
24 sn A second time Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he,” identifying himself as the one they are seeking. Jesus also added, “If you are looking for me, let these men go.” Jesus successfully diverted attention from his disciples by getting the soldiers and officers of the chief priests to admit (twice) that it is only him they were after. Even in this hour Jesus still protected and cared for his own, giving himself up on their behalf. By handing himself over to his enemies, Jesus ensured that his disciples went free. From the perspective of the author, this is acting out beforehand what Jesus will actually do for his followers when he goes to the cross.