Yohanes 3:13

3:13 No one ¹  has ascended ²  into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man. ³ 

Yohanes 3:21

3:21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God. ⁴ 

Yohanes 7:25

Questions About Jesus’ Identity

7:25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem ⁵  began to say, “Isn’t this the man ⁶  they are trying ⁷  to kill?

Yohanes 7:44

7:44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. ⁸ 

Yohanes 7:50

7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus ⁹  before and who was one of the rulers, ¹⁰  said, ¹¹ 

Yohanes 8:4

8:4 and said to Jesus, ¹²  “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.

Yohanes 11:19

11:19 so many of the Jewish people of the region ¹³  had come to Martha and Mary to console them ¹⁴  over the loss of their brother.) ¹⁵ 

Yohanes 11:45-46

The Response of the Jewish Leaders

11:45 Then many of the people, ¹⁶  who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus ¹⁷  did, believed in him. 11:46 But some of them went to the Pharisees ¹⁸  and reported to them ¹⁹  what Jesus had done.

Yohanes 11:52

11:52 and not for the Jewish nation ²⁰  only, ²¹  but to gather together ²²  into one the children of God who are scattered.) ²³ 

Yohanes 12:23

12:23 Jesus replied, ²⁴  “The time ²⁵  has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁶ 

Yohanes 13:25

13:25 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved ²⁷  leaned back against Jesus’ chest and asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

Yohanes 15:25

15:25 Now this happened ²⁸  to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’ ²⁹ 

Yohanes 18:29

18:29 So Pilate came outside to them and said, “What accusation ³⁰  do you bring against this man?” ³¹ 

Yohanes 21:14

21:14 This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

[3:13]  ¹ tn Grk “And no one.”

[3:13]  ² sn The verb ascended is a perfect tense in Greek (ἀναβέβηκεν, anabebhken) which seems to look at a past, completed event. (This is not as much of a problem for those who take Jesus’ words to end at v. 12, and these words to be a comment by the author, looking back on Jesus’ ascension.) As a saying of Jesus, these words are a bit harder to explain. Note, however, the lexical similarities with 1:51: “ascending,” “descending,” and “son of man.” Here, though, the ascent and descent is accomplished by the Son himself, not the angels as in 1:51. There is no need to limit this saying to Jesus’ ascent following the resurrection, however; the point of the Jacob story (Gen 28), which seems to be the background for 1:51, is the freedom of communication and relationship between God and men (a major theme of John’s Gospel). This communication comes through the angels in Gen 28 (and John 1:51); but here (most appropriately) it comes directly through the Son of Man. Although Jesus could be referring to a prior ascent, after an appearance as the preincarnate Son of Man, more likely he is simply pointing out that no one from earth has ever gone up to heaven and come down again. The Son, who has come down from heaven, is the only one who has been ‘up’ there. In both Jewish intertestamental literature and later rabbinic accounts, Moses is portrayed as ascending to heaven to receive the Torah and descending to distribute it to men (e.g., Targum Ps 68:19.) In contrast to these Jewish legends, the Son is the only one who has ever made the ascent and descent.

[3:13]  ³ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (A^[*^] Θ Ψ 050 Ë^1,13 Ï latt sy^c,p,h), have at the end of this verse “the one who is in heaven” (ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, Jo wn en tw ouranw). A few others have variations on this phrase, such as “who was in heaven” (e sy^c), or “the one who is from heaven” (0141 pc sy^s). The witnesses normally considered the best, along with several others, lack the phrase in its entirety (Ì^66,75 א B L T W^s 083 086 33 1241 pc co). On the one hand, if the reading ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ is authentic it may suggest that while Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus he spoke of himself as in heaven even while he was on earth. If that is the case, one could see why variations from this hard saying arose: “who was in heaven,” “the one who is from heaven,” and omission of the clause. At the same time, such a saying could be interpreted (though with difficulty) as part of the narrator’s comments rather than Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus, alleviating the problem. And if v. 13 was viewed in early times as the evangelist’s statement, “the one who is in heaven” could have crept into the text through a marginal note. Other internal evidence suggests that this saying may be authentic. The adjectival participle, ὁ ὤν, is used in the Fourth Gospel more than any other NT book (though the Apocalypse comes in a close second), and frequently with reference to Jesus (1:18; 6:46; 8:47). It may be looking back to the LXX of Exod 3:14 (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν). Especially since this exact construction is not necessary to communicate the location of the Son of Man, its presence in many witnesses here may suggest authenticity. Further, John uses the singular of οὐρανός (ourano", “heaven”) in all 18 instances of the word in this Gospel, and all but twice with the article (only 1:32 and 6:58 are anarthrous, and even in the latter there is significant testimony to the article). At the same time, the witnesses that lack this clause are very weighty and must not be discounted. Generally speaking, if other factors are equal, the reading of such mss should be preferred. And internally, it could be argued that ὁ ὤν is the most concise way to speak of the Son of Man in heaven at that time (without the participle the point would be more ambiguous). Further, the articular singular οὐρανός is already used twice in this verse, thus sufficiently prompting scribes to add the same in the longer reading. This combination of factors suggests that ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ is not a genuine Johannism. Further intrinsic evidence against the longer reading relates to the evangelist’s purposes: If he intended v. 13 to be his own comments rather than Jesus’ statement, his switch back to Jesus’ words in v. 14 (for the lifting up of the Son of Man is still seen as in the future) seems inexplicable. The reading “who is in heaven” thus seems to be too hard. All things considered, as intriguing as the longer reading is, it seems almost surely to have been a marginal gloss added inadvertently to the text in the process of transmission. For an argument in favor of the longer reading, see David Alan Black, “The Text of John 3:13,” GTJ 6 (1985): 49-66.

[3:13]  sn See the note on the title Son of Man in 1:51.

[3:21]  ⁴ sn John 3:16-21 provides an introduction to the (so-called) “realized” eschatology of the Fourth Gospel: Judgment has come; eternal life may be possessed now, in the present life, as well as in the future. The terminology “realized eschatology” was originally coined by E. Haenchen and used by J. Jeremias in discussion with C. H. Dodd, but is now characteristically used to describe Dodd’s own formulation. See L. Goppelt, Theology of the New Testament, 1:54, note 10, and R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:cxvii-cxviii) for further discussion. Especially important to note is the element of choice portrayed in John’s Gospel. If there is a twofold reaction to Jesus in John’s Gospel, it should be emphasized that that reaction is very much dependent on a person’s choice, a choice that is influenced by his way of life, whether his deeds are wicked or are done in God (John 3:20-21). For John there is virtually no trace of determinism at the surface. Only when one looks beneath the surface does one find statements like “no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

[7:25]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:25]  ⁶ tn Grk “Is it not this one.”

[7:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “seeking.”

[7:44]  ⁸ sn Compare John 7:30 regarding the attempt to seize Jesus.

[7:50]  ⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who was one of them”; the referent (the rulers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:50]  ¹¹ tn Grk “said to them.”

[8:4]  ¹² tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ¹³ tn Or “many of the Judeans” (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e); Grk “many of the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding area in general (those who had been friends or relatives of Lazarus or his sisters would mainly be in view) since the Jewish religious authorities (“the chief priests and the Pharisees”) are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8.

[11:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to comfort them” or “to offer them sympathy.”

[11:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to comfort them concerning their brother”; the words “loss of” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[11:19]  sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[11:45]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the Judeans”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the friends, acquaintances, and relatives of Lazarus or his sisters who had come to mourn, since the Jewish religious authorities are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the notes on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8 and “the Jewish people of the region” in v. 19, as well as the notes on the word “people” in vv. 31, 33 and the phrase “people who had come to mourn” in v. 36.

[11:45]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:46]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[11:46]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “told them.”

[11:52]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “nation” in the previous verse.

[11:52]  ²¹ sn The author in his comment expands the prophecy to include the Gentiles (not for the Jewish nation only), a confirmation that the Fourth Gospel was directed, at least partly, to a Gentile audience. There are echoes of Pauline concepts here (particularly Eph 2:11-22) in the stress on the unity of Jew and Gentile.

[11:52]  ²² tn Grk “that he might gather together.”

[11:52]  ²³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:23]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Jesus answered them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:23]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the hour.”

[12:23]  ²⁶ sn Jesus’ reply, the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, is a bit puzzling. As far as the author’s account is concerned, Jesus totally ignores these Greeks and makes no further reference to them whatsoever. It appears that his words are addressed to Andrew and Philip, but in fact they must have had a wider audience, including possibly the Greeks who had wished to see him in the first place. The words the time has come recall all the previous references to “the hour” throughout the Fourth Gospel (see the note on time in 2:4). There is no doubt, in light of the following verse, that Jesus refers to his death here. On his pathway to glorification lies the cross, and it is just ahead.

[13:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the disciple Jesus loved) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:25]  ²⁸ tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.

[15:25]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 35:19 and Ps 69:4. As a technical term law (νόμος, nomos) is usually restricted to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT), but here it must have a broader reference, since the quotation is from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4. The latter is the more likely source for the quoted words, since it is cited elsewhere in John’s Gospel (2:17 and 19:29, in both instances in contexts associated with Jesus’ suffering and death).

[18:29]  ³⁰ tn Or “charge.”

[18:29]  ³¹ sn In light of the fact that Pilate had cooperated with them in Jesus’ arrest by providing Roman soldiers, the Jewish authorities were probably expecting Pilate to grant them permission to carry out their sentence on Jesus without resistance (the Jews were not permitted to exercise capital punishment under the Roman occupation without official Roman permission, cf. v. 31). They must have been taken somewhat by surprise by Pilate’s question “What accusation do you bring against this man,” because it indicated that he was going to try the prisoner himself. Thus Pilate was regarding the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin as only an inquiry and their decision as merely an accusation.