Yohanes 2:23-24

Jesus at the Passover Feast

2:23 Now while Jesus ¹  was in Jerusalem ²  at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. ³  2:24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. ⁴ 

Yohanes 4:39

The Samaritans Respond

4:39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the report of the woman who testified, ⁵  “He told me everything I ever did.”

Yohanes 6:14-15

6:14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus ⁶  performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet ⁷  who is to come into the world.” ⁸  6:15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone. ⁹ 

Yohanes 8:30-32

8:30 While he was saying these things, many people ¹⁰  believed in him.

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ¹¹  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ¹²  you are really ¹³  my disciples 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ¹⁴ 

Yohanes 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ¹⁵  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ¹⁶  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ¹⁷  so that they would not be put out of ¹⁸  the synagogue. ¹⁹ 

Matius 12:23

12:23 All the crowds were amazed and said, “Could this one be the Son of David?”

Lukas 8:13

8:13 Those ²⁰  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ²¹  but ²²  in a time of testing ²³  fall away. ²⁴ 

Kisah Para Rasul 8:13

8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to ²⁵  Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. ²⁶ 

Yakobus 2:26

2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

[2:23]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:23]  ³ sn Because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. The issue here is not whether their faith was genuine or not, but what its object was. These individuals, after seeing the miracles, believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They most likely saw in him a political-eschatological figure of some sort. That does not, however, mean that their concept of “Messiah” was the same as Jesus’ own, or the author’s.

[2:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” has been supplied for clarity, since the Greek word πάντας (pantas) is masculine plural (thus indicating people rather than things).

[4:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “when she testified.”

[6:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁷ sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief.

[6:14]  ⁸ sn An allusion to Deut 18:15.

[6:15]  ⁹ sn Jesus, knowing that his “hour” had not yet come (and would not, in this fashion) withdrew again up the mountainside alone. The ministry of miracles in Galilee, ending with this, the multiplication of the bread (the last public miracle in Galilee recorded by John) aroused such a popular response that there was danger of an uprising. This would have given the authorities a legal excuse to arrest Jesus. The nature of Jesus’ kingship will become an issue again in the passion narrative of the Fourth Gospel (John 18:33ff.). Furthermore, the volatile reaction of the Galileans to the signs prepares for and foreshadows the misunderstanding of the miracle itself, and even the misunderstanding of Jesus’ explanation of it (John 6:22-71).

[8:30]  ¹⁰ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity and smoothness in the translation.

[8:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), 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; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ¹² tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ¹³ tn Or “truly.”

[8:32]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the truth will release you.” The translation “set you free” or “release you” (unlike the more traditional “make you free”) conveys more the idea that the hearers were currently in a state of slavery from which they needed to be freed. The following context supports precisely this idea.

[8:32]  sn The statement the truth will set you free is often taken as referring to truth in the philosophical (or absolute) sense, or in the intellectual sense, or even (as the Jews apparently took it) in the political sense. In the context of John’s Gospel (particularly in light of the prologue) this must refer to truth about the person and work of Jesus. It is saving truth. As L. Morris says, “it is the truth which saves men from the darkness of sin, not that which saves them from the darkness of error (though there is a sense in which men in Christ are delivered from gross error)” (John [NICNT], 457).

[12:42]  ¹⁵ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

[12:42]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[12:42]  ¹⁷ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

[12:42]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[12:42]  ¹⁸ tn Or “be expelled from.”

[12:42]  ¹⁹ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[8:13]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:13]  ²¹ sn This time of temporary faith represented by the description believe for a while is presented rather tragically in the passage. The seed does not get a chance to do all it can.

[8:13]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:13]  ²³ tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.

[8:13]  ²⁴ sn Fall away. On the idea of falling away and the warnings against it, see 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 3:12; Jer 3:14; Dan 9:9.

[8:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “he kept close company with.”

[8:13]  ²⁶ sn He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed, showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.