Yohanes 5:36

5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds ¹  that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds ²  I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.

Yohanes 8:42

8:42 Jesus replied, ³  “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. ⁴  I ⁵  have not come on my own initiative, ⁶  but he ⁷  sent me.

Yohanes 14:10

14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? ⁸  The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, ⁹  but the Father residing in me performs ¹⁰  his miraculous deeds. ¹¹ 

Yohanes 15:16

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you ¹²  and appointed you to go and bear ¹³  fruit, fruit that remains, ¹⁴  so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Yohanes 17:21

17:21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray ¹⁵  that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

Yohanes 18:28

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

18:28 Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s residence. ¹⁶  (Now it was very early morning.) ¹⁷  They ¹⁸  did not go into the governor’s residence ¹⁹  so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal.

[5:36]  ¹ tn Or “works.”

[5:36]  ² tn Grk “complete, which I am now doing”; the referent of the relative pronoun has been specified by repeating “deeds” from the previous clause.

[8:42]  ³ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:42]  ⁴ tn Or “I came from God and have arrived.”

[8:42]  ⁵ tn Grk “For I.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[8:42]  ⁶ tn Grk “from myself.”

[8:42]  ⁷ tn Grk “that one” (referring to God).

[14:10]  ⁸ tn The mutual interrelationship of the Father and the Son (ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν, egw en tw patri kai Jo pathr en emoi estin) is something that Jesus expected even his opponents to recognize (cf. John 10:38). The question Jesus asks of Philip (οὐ πιστεύεις, ou pisteuei") expects the answer “yes.” Note that the following statement is addressed to all the disciples, however, because the plural pronoun (ὑμῖν, Jumin) is used. Jesus says that his teaching (the words he spoke to them all) did not originate from himself, but the Father, who permanently remains (μένων, menwn) in relationship with Jesus, performs his works. One would have expected “speaks his words” here rather than “performs his works”; many of the church fathers (e.g., Augustine and Chrysostom) identified the two by saying that Jesus’ words were works. But there is an implicit contrast in the next verse between words and works, and v. 12 seems to demand that the works are real works, not just words. It is probably best to see the two terms as related but not identical; there is a progression in the idea here. Both Jesus’ words (recall the Samaritans’ response in John 4:42) and Jesus’ works are revelatory of who he is, but as the next verse indicates, works have greater confirmatory power than words.

[14:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “I do not speak from myself.”

[14:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “does.”

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “his mighty acts”; Grk “his works.”

[14:10]  sn Miraculous deeds is most likely a reference to the miraculous signs Jesus had performed, which he viewed as a manifestation of the mighty acts of God. Those he performed in the presence of the disciples served as a basis for faith (although a secondary basis to their personal relationship to him; see the following verse).

[15:16]  ¹² sn You did not choose me, but I chose you. If the disciples are now elevated in status from slaves to friends, they are friends who have been chosen by Jesus, rather than the opposite way round. Again this is true of all Christians, not just the twelve, and the theme that Christians are “chosen” by God appears frequently in other NT texts (e.g., Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4ff.; Col 3:12; and 1 Pet 2:4). Putting this together with the comments on 15:14 one may ask whether the author sees any special significance at all for the twelve. Jesus said in John 6:70 and 13:18 that he chose them, and 15:27 makes clear that Jesus in the immediate context is addressing those who have been with him from the beginning. In the Fourth Gospel the twelve, as the most intimate and most committed followers of Jesus, are presented as the models for all Christians, both in terms of their election and in terms of their mission.

[15:16]  ¹³ tn Or “and yield.”

[15:16]  ¹⁴ sn The purpose for which the disciples were appointed (“commissioned”) is to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains. The introduction of the idea of “going” at this point suggests that the fruit is something more than just character qualities in the disciples’ own lives, but rather involves fruit in the lives of others, i.e., Christian converts. There is a mission involved (cf. John 4:36). The idea that their fruit is permanent, however, relates back to vv. 7-8, as does the reference to asking the Father in Jesus’ name. It appears that as the imagery of the vine and the branches develops, the “fruit” which the branches produce shifts in emphasis from qualities in the disciples’ own lives in John 15:2, 4, 5 to the idea of a mission which affects the lives of others in John 15:16. The point of transition would be the reference to fruit in 15:8.

[17:21]  ¹⁵ tn The words “I pray” are repeated from the first part of v. 20 for clarity.

[18:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to the praetorium.”

[18:28]  sn The permanent residence of the Roman governor of Palestine was in Caesarea (Acts 23:35). The governor had a residence in Jerusalem which he normally occupied only during principal feasts or in times of political unrest. The location of this building in Jerusalem is uncertain, but is probably one of two locations: either (1) the fortress or tower of Antonia, on the east hill north of the temple area, which is the traditional location of the Roman praetorium since the 12th century, or (2) the palace of Herod on the west hill near the present Jaffa Gate. According to Philo (Embassy 38 [299]) Pilate had some golden shields hung there, and according to Josephus (J. W. 2.14.8 [2.301], 2.15.5 [2.328]) the later Roman governor Florus stayed there.

[18:28]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:28]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[18:28]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “into the praetorium.”