John 3:29

3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete.

John 5:24

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.

John 12:47

12:47 If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

John 16:13

16:13 But when he, 10  the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide 11  you into all truth. 12  For he will not speak on his own authority, 13  but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you 14  what is to come. 15 

tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

tn Or “obeys.”

tn Or “word.”

tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

tn Grk “And if anyone”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been left untranslated here for improved English style.

tn Or “guard them,” “keep them.”

sn Cf. John 3:17.

10 tn Grk “that one.”

11 tn Or “will lead.”

12 sn Three important points must be noted here. (1) When the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide the disciples into all truth. What Jesus had said in 8:31-32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” will ultimately be realized in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to the disciples after Jesus’ departure. (2) The things the Holy Spirit speaks to them will not be things which originate from himself (he will not speak on his own authority), but things he has heard. This could be taken to mean that no new revelation is involved, as R. E. Brown does (John [AB], 2:714-15). This is a possible but not a necessary inference. The point here concerns the source of the things the Spirit will say to the disciples and does not specifically exclude originality of content. (3) Part at least of what the Holy Spirit will reveal to the disciples will concern what is to come, not just fuller implications of previous sayings of Jesus and the like. This does seem to indicate that at least some new revelation is involved. But the Spirit is not the source or originator of these things – Jesus is the source, and he will continue to speak to his disciples through the Spirit who has come to indwell them. This does not answer the question, however, whether these words are addressed to all followers of Jesus, or only to his apostles. Different modern commentators will answer this question differently. Since in the context of the Farewell Discourse Jesus is preparing the twelve to carry on his ministry after his departure, it is probably best to take these statements as specifically related only to the twelve. Some of this the Holy Spirit does directly for all believers today; other parts of this statement are fulfilled through the apostles (e.g., in giving the Book of Revelation the Spirit speaks through the apostles to the church today of things to come). One of the implications of this is that a doctrine does not have to be traced back to an explicit teaching of Jesus to be authentic; all that is required is apostolic authority.

13 tn Grk “speak from himself.”

14 tn Or will announce to you.”

15 tn Grk “will tell you the things to come.”