Yohanes 8:21-24

Where Jesus Came From and Where He is Going

8:21 Then Jesus ¹  said to them again, ²  “I am going away, and you will look for me ³  but will die in your sin. ⁴  Where I am going you cannot come.” 8:22 So the Jewish leaders ⁵  began to say, ⁶  “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” 8:23 Jesus replied, ⁷  “You people ⁸  are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world. 8:24 Thus I told you ⁹  that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, ¹⁰  you will die in your sins.”

Yohanes 13:33-36

13:33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, ¹¹  and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ¹²  ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ ¹³  now I tell you the same. ¹⁴ 

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ¹⁵  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ¹⁶  13:35 Everyone ¹⁷  will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.”

13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, ¹⁸  “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”

Yohanes 14:3

14:3 And if I go and make ready ¹⁹  a place for you, I will come again and take you ²⁰  to be with me, ²¹  so that where I am you may be too.

Yohanes 14:6

14:6 Jesus replied, ²²  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ²³  No one comes to the Father except through me.

Yohanes 17:24

17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, ²⁴  so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world ²⁵ .

[8:21]  ¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:21]  ² tn The expression οὖν πάλιν (oun palin) indicates some sort of break in the sequence of events, but it is not clear how long. The author does not mention the interval between 8:12-20 and this next recorded dialogue. The feast of Tabernacles is past, and the next reference to time is 10:22, where the feast of the Dedication is mentioned. The interval is two months, and these discussions could have taken place at any time within that interval, as long as one assumes something of a loose chronological framework. However, if the material in the Fourth Gospel is arranged theologically or thematically, such an assumption would not apply.

[8:21]  ³ tn Grk “you will seek me.”

[8:21]  ⁴ tn The expression ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖσθε (en th Jamartia Jumwn apoqaneisqe) is similar to an expression found in the LXX at Ezek 3:18, 20 and Prov 24:9. Note the singular of ἁμαρτία (the plural occurs later in v. 24). To die with one’s sin unrepented and unatoned would be the ultimate disaster to befall a person. Jesus’ warning is stern but to the point.

[8:22]  ⁵ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; 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 Jewish authorities or leaders in Jerusalem. It was the Pharisees who had begun this line of questioning in John 8:13, and there has been no clear change since then in the identity of Jesus’ opponents.

[8:22]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force (“began to say”) because the comments that follow were occasioned by Jesus’ remarks in the preceding verse about his upcoming departure.

[8:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “And he said to them.”

[8:23]  ⁸ tn The word “people” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “thus I said to you.”

[8:24]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “unless you believe that I am.” In this context there is an implied predicate nominative (“he”) following the “I am” phrase. What Jesus’ hearers had to acknowledge is that he was who he claimed to be, i.e., the Messiah (cf. 20:31). This view is also reflected in English translations like NIV (“if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be”), NLT (“unless you believe that I am who I say I am”), and CEV (“if you don’t have faith in me for who I am”). For a different view that takes this “I am” and the one in 8:28 as nonpredicated (i.e., absolute), see R. E. Brown, John (AB), 1:533-38. Such a view refers sees the nonpredicated “I am” as a reference to the divine Name revealed in Exod 3:14, and is reflected in English translations like NAB (“if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins”) and TEV (“you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’”).

[8:24]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[13:33]  ¹¹ tn Or “You will seek me.”

[13:33]  ¹² 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.

[13:33]  ¹³ sn See John 7:33-34.

[13:33]  ¹⁴ 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.

[13:34]  ¹⁵ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

[13:34]  ¹⁶ sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1, 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16, 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.

[13:35]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “All people,” although many modern translations have rendered πάντες (pantes) as “all men” (ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV). While the gender of the pronoun is masculine, it is collective and includes people of both genders.

[13:36]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”

[14:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “prepare.”

[14:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “bring you.”

[14:3]  ²¹ tn Grk “to myself.”

[14:6]  ²² tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[14:6]  ²³ tn Or “I am the way, even the truth and the life.”

[17:24]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”

[17:24]  ²⁵ tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”