5:19 So Jesus answered them, 4 “I tell you the solemn truth, 5 the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, 6 but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father 7 does, the Son does likewise. 8
5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, 9 the one who hears 10 my message 11 and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, 12 but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, 13 a time 14 is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, 18 it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.
9:24 Then they summoned 22 the man who used to be blind 23 a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. 24 We know that this man 25 is a sinner.”
10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, 26 the one who does not enter the sheepfold 27 by the door, 28 but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
“I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you. 49
16:25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; 57 a time 58 is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you 59 plainly 60 about the Father.
1 tn The recitative ὅτι (Joti) after λέγετε (legete) has not been translated.
2 tn Grk “lift up your eyes” (an idiom). BDAG 357 s.v. ἐπαίρω 1 has “look up” here.
3 tn That is, “ripe.”
4 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
5 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
6 tn Grk “nothing from himself.”
7 tn Grk “that one”; the referent (the Father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 sn What works does the Son do likewise? The same that the Father does – and the same that the rabbis recognized as legitimate works of God on the Sabbath (see note on working in v. 17). (1) Jesus grants life (just as the Father grants life) on the Sabbath. But as the Father gives physical life on the Sabbath, so the Son grants spiritual life (John 5:21; note the “greater things” mentioned in v. 20). (2) Jesus judges (determines the destiny of people) on the Sabbath, just as the Father judges those who die on the Sabbath, because the Father has granted authority to the Son to judge (John 5:22-23). But this is not all. Not only has this power been granted to Jesus in the present; it will be his in the future as well. In v. 28 there is a reference not to spiritually dead (only) but also physically dead. At their resurrection they respond to the Son as well.
9 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
10 tn Or “obeys.”
11 tn Or “word.”
12 tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”
13 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
14 tn Grk “an hour.”
15 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
16 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
17 tn Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”
18 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
19 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
20 sn Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. These words are at the heart of the discourse on the Bread of Life, and have created great misunderstanding among interpreters. Anyone who is inclined toward a sacramental viewpoint will almost certainly want to take these words as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist, because of the reference to eating and drinking. But this does not automatically follow: By anyone’s definition there must be a symbolic element to the eating which Jesus speaks of in the discourse, and once this is admitted, it is better to understand it here, as in the previous references in the passage, to a personal receiving of (or appropriation of) Christ and his work.
21 tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).
22 tn Grk “they called.”
23 tn Grk “who was blind.”
24 tn Grk “Give glory to God” (an idiomatic formula used in placing someone under oath to tell the truth).
25 tn The phrase “this man” is a reference to Jesus.
26 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
27 sn There was more than one type of sheepfold in use in Palestine in Jesus’ day. The one here seems to be a courtyard in front of a house (the Greek word used for the sheepfold here, αὐλή [aulh] frequently refers to a courtyard), surrounded by a stone wall (often topped with briars for protection).
28 tn Or “entrance.”
29 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
30 tn Or “it remains only a single kernel.”
31 tn Or “bears.”
32 tn Grk “much fruit.”
33 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
34 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
35 tn Or “nor is the apostle” (“apostle” means “one who is sent” in Greek).
36 tn Or “You will seek me.”
37 tn Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general, or to the Jewish religious leaders in particular, who had sent servants to attempt to arrest Jesus on that occasion (John 7:33-35). The last option is the one adopted in the translation above.
38 sn See John 7:33-34.
39 tn The words “the same” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
40 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
41 tn Or “will do.”
42 tn Grk “the works.”
43 tn Or “that I do.”
sn See the note on miraculous deeds in v. 11.
44 tn Or “will do.”
45 tn Grk “greater works.”
sn What are the greater deeds that Jesus speaks of, and how is this related to his going to the Father? It is clear from both John 7:39 and 16:7 that the Holy Spirit will not come until Jesus has departed. After Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit to indwell believers in a permanent relationship, believers would be empowered to perform even greater deeds than those Jesus did during his earthly ministry. When the early chapters of Acts are examined, it is clear that, from a numerical standpoint, the deeds of Peter and the other Apostles surpassed those of Jesus in a single day (the day of Pentecost). On that day more were added to the church than had become followers of Jesus during the entire three years of his earthly ministry. And the message went forth not just in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, but to the farthest parts of the known world. This understanding of what Jesus meant by “greater deeds” is more probable than a reference to “more spectacular miracles.” Certainly miraculous deeds were performed by the apostles as recounted in Acts, but these do not appear to have surpassed the works of Jesus himself in either degree or number.
46 tn The first half of v. 4 resumes the statement of 16:1, ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν (tauta lelalhka Jumin), in a somewhat more positive fashion, omitting the reference to the disciples being caused to stumble.
47 tn Grk “their hour.”
48 tn The words “about them” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
49 sn This verse serves as a transition between the preceding discussion of the persecutions the disciples will face in the world after the departure of Jesus, and the following discussion concerning the departure of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit-Paraclete. Jesus had not told the disciples these things from the beginning because he was with them.
50 tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.
51 tn Grk “that one.”
52 tn Or “will lead.”
53 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.
54 tn Grk “speak from himself.”
55 tn Or will announce to you.”
56 tn Grk “will tell you the things to come.”
57 tn Or “in parables”; or “in metaphors.” There is some difficulty in defining παροιμίαις (paroimiai") precisely: A translation like “parables” does not convey accurately the meaning. BDAG 779-80 s.v. παροιμία suggests in general “proverb, saw, maxim,” but for Johannine usage “veiled saying, figure of speech, in which esp. lofty ideas are concealed.” In the preceding context of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus has certainly used obscure language and imagery at times: John 13:8-11; 13:16; 15:1-17; and 16:21 could all be given as examples. In the LXX this word is used to translate the Hebrew mashal which covers a wide range of figurative speech, often containing obscure or enigmatic elements.
58 tn Grk “an hour.”
59 tn Or “inform you.”
60 tn Or “openly.”
61 tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”