Yohanes 4:34

4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me ¹  and to complete ²  his work. ³ 

Yohanes 8:29

8:29 And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, ⁴  because I always do those things that please him.”

Yohanes 12:49

12:49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, ⁵  but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me ⁶  what I should say and what I should speak.

Yohanes 14:31

14:31 but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know ⁷  that I love the Father. ⁸  Get up, let us go from here.” ⁹ 

Yohanes 17:4

17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing ¹⁰  the work you gave me to do. ¹¹ 

[4:34]  ¹ sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.

[4:34]  ² tn Or “to accomplish.”

[4:34]  ³ tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.

[4:34]  sn No one brought him anything to eat, did they? In the discussion with the disciples which took place while the woman had gone into the city, note again the misunderstanding: The disciples thought Jesus referred to physical food, while he was really speaking figuratively and spiritually again. Thus Jesus was forced to explain what he meant, and the explanation that his food was his mission, to do the will of God and accomplish his work, leads naturally into the metaphor of the harvest. The fruit of his mission was represented by the Samaritans who were coming to him.

[8:29]  ⁴ tn That is, “he has not abandoned me.”

[12:49]  ⁵ tn Grk “I have not spoken from myself.”

[12:49]  ⁶ tn Grk “has given me commandment.”

[14:31]  ⁷ tn Or “may learn.”

[14:31]  ⁸ tn Grk “But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded me, thus I do.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation to conform to contemporary English style.

[14:31]  ⁹ sn Some have understood Jesus’ statement Get up, let us go from here to mean that at this point Jesus and the disciples got up and left the room where the meal was served and began the journey to the garden of Gethsemane. If so, the rest of the Farewell Discourse took place en route. Others have pointed to this statement as one of the “seams” in the discourse, indicating that the author used preexisting sources. Both explanations are possible, but not really necessary. Jesus could simply have stood up at this point (the disciples may or may not have stood with him) to finish the discourse before finally departing (in 18:1). In any case it may be argued that Jesus refers not to a literal departure at this point, but to preparing to meet the enemy who is on the way already in the person of Judas and the soldiers with him.

[17:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “by finishing” or “by accomplishing.” Jesus now states that he has glorified the Father on earth by finishing (τελειώσας [teleiwsas] is best understood as an adverbial participle of means) the work which the Father had given him to do.

[17:4]  sn By completing the work. The idea of Jesus being sent into the world on a mission has been mentioned before, significantly in 3:17. It was even alluded to in the immediately preceding verse here (17:3). The completion of the “work” the Father had sent him to accomplish was mentioned by Jesus in 4:34 and 5:36. What is the nature of the “work” the Father has given the Son to accomplish? It involves the Son’s mission to be the Savior of the world, as 3:17 indicates. But this is accomplished specifically through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross (a thought implied by the reference to the Father “giving” the Son in 3:16). It is not without significance that Jesus’ last word from the cross is “It is completed” (19:30).

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the work that you gave to me so that I may do it.”