Yohanes 2:4

2:4 Jesus replied, ¹  “Woman, ²  why are you saying this to me? ³  My time ⁴  has not yet come.”

Yohanes 2:6

2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, ⁵  each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁶ 

Yohanes 3:6

3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ⁷  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Yohanes 3:17

3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, ⁸  but that the world should be saved through him.

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. ⁹ 

Yohanes 5:34

5:34 (I do not accept ¹⁰  human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.)

Yohanes 6:7

6:7 Philip replied, ¹¹  “Two hundred silver coins worth ¹²  of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.”

Yohanes 6:25

Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life

6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, ¹³  they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ¹⁴ 

Yohanes 7:15

7:15 Then the Jewish leaders ¹⁵  were astonished ¹⁶  and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?” ¹⁷ 

Yohanes 8:3-4

8:3 The experts in the law ¹⁸  and the Pharisees ¹⁹  brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them 8:4 and said to Jesus, ²⁰  “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.

Yohanes 8:13

8:13 So the Pharisees ²¹  objected, ²²  “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” ²³ 

Yohanes 9:26

9:26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?” ²⁴ 

Yohanes 11:17

Speaking with Martha and Mary

11:17 When ²⁵  Jesus arrived, ²⁶  he found that Lazarus ²⁷  had been in the tomb four days already. ²⁸ 

Yohanes 12:14

12:14 Jesus found a young donkey ²⁹  and sat on it, just as it is written,

Yohanes 15:13

15:13 No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life ³⁰  for his friends.

Yohanes 21:4

21:4 When it was already very early morning, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

[2:4]  ¹ tn Grk “and Jesus said to her.”

[2:4]  ² sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? It probably indicates that a new relationship existed between Jesus and his mother once he had embarked on his public ministry. He was no longer or primarily only her son, but the “Son of Man.” This is also suggested by the use of the same term in 19:26 in the scene at the cross, where the beloved disciple is “given” to Mary as her “new” son.

[2:4]  ³ tn Grk “Woman, what to me and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι (ti emoi kai soi, gunai) is Semitic in origin. The equivalent Hebrew expression in the Old Testament had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) implies merely disengagement. Mere disengagement is almost certainly to be understood here as better fitting the context (although some of the Greek Fathers took the remark as a rebuke to Mary, such a rebuke is unlikely).

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “my hour” (referring to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and return to the Father).

[2:4]  sn The Greek word translated time (ὥρα, Jwra) occurs in John 2:4; 4:21, 23; 5:25, 28, 29; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:25; and 17:1. It is a reference to the special period in Jesus’ life when he was to leave this world and return to the Father (13:1); the hour when the Son of man is glorified (17:1). This is accomplished through his suffering, death, resurrection (and ascension – though this last is not emphasized by John). John 7:30 and 8:20 imply that Jesus’ arrest and death are included. John 12:23 and 17:1, referring to the glorification of the Son, imply that the resurrection and ascension are included as part of the “hour.” In John 2:4 Jesus’ remark to his mother indicates that the time for this self-manifestation has not yet arrived; his identity as Messiah is not yet to be publicly revealed.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “for the purification of the Jews.”

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “holding two or three metretes” (about 75 to 115 liters). Each of the pots held 2 or 3 μετρηταί (metrhtai). A μετρητῆς (metrhths) was about 9 gallons (40 liters); thus each jar held 18-27 gallons (80-120 liters) and the total volume of liquid involved was 108-162 gallons (480-720 liters).

[2:6]  sn Significantly, these jars held water for Jewish ceremonial washing (purification rituals). The water of Jewish ritual purification has become the wine of the new messianic age. The wine may also be, after the fashion of Johannine double meanings, a reference to the wine of the Lord’s Supper. A number have suggested this, but there does not seem to be anything in the immediate context which compels this; it seems more related to how frequently a given interpreter sees references to the sacraments in John’s Gospel as a whole.

[3:6]  ⁷ sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature – a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

[3:17]  ⁸ sn That is, “to judge the world to be guilty and liable to punishment.”

[3:21]  ⁹ 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).

[5:34]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I do not receive.”

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Philip answered him.”

[6:7]  ¹² tn Grk “two hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about eight months’ pay.

[6:25]  ¹³ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

[6:25]  ¹⁴ sn John 6:25-31. The previous miracle of the multiplication of the bread had taken place near the town of Tiberias (cf. John 6:23). Jesus’ disciples set sail for Capernaum (6:17) and were joined by the Lord in the middle of the sea. The next day boats from Tiberias picked up a few of those who had seen the multiplication (certainly not the whole 5,000) and brought them to Capernaum. It was to this group that Jesus spoke in 6:26-27. But there were also people from Capernaum who had gathered to see Jesus, who had not witnessed the multiplication, and it was this group that asked Jesus for a miraculous sign like the manna (6:30-31). This would have seemed superfluous if it were the same crowd that had already seen the multiplication of the bread. But some from Capernaum had heard about it and wanted to see a similar miracle repeated.

[7:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.

[7:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “began to be astonished.” This imperfect verb could also be translated ingressively (“began to be astonished”), but for English stylistic reasons it is rendered as a simple past.

[7:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “How does this man know learning since he has not been taught?” The implication here is not that Jesus never went to school (in all probability he did attend a local synagogue school while a youth), but that he was not the disciple of a particular rabbi and had not had formal or advanced instruction under a recognized rabbi (compare Acts 4:13 where a similar charge is made against Peter and John; see also Paul’s comment in Acts 22:3).

[7:15]  sn He has never had formal instruction. Ironically when the Jewish leaders came face to face with the Word become flesh – the preexistent Logos, creator of the universe and divine Wisdom personified – they treated him as an untaught, unlearned person, without the formal qualifications to be a teacher.

[8:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “The scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[8:3]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[8:4]  ²⁰ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:13]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[8:13]  ²² tn Grk “Then the Pharisees said to him.”

[8:13]  ²³ sn Compare the charge You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true! to Jesus’ own statement about his testimony in 5:31.

[9:26]  ²⁴ tn Grk “open your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[11:17]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Then when.”

[11:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “came.”

[11:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he had already had four days in the tomb” (an idiom).

[11:17]  sn There is no description of the journey itself. The author simply states that when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. He had died some time before this but probably not very long (cf. Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:6,10 who were buried immediately after they died, as was the common practice of the time). There is some later evidence (early 3rd century) of a rabbinic belief that the soul hovered near the body of the deceased for three days, hoping to be able to return to the body. But on the fourth day it saw the beginning of decomposition and finally departed (Leviticus Rabbah 18.1). If this belief is as old as the 1st century, it might suggest the significance of the four days: After this time, resurrection would be a first-order miracle, an unequivocal demonstration of the power of God. It is not certain if the tradition is this early, but it is suggestive. Certainly the author does not appear to attach any symbolic significance to the four days in the narrative.

[12:14]  ²⁹ sn The author does not repeat the detailed accounts of the finding of the donkey recorded in the synoptic gospels. He does, however, see the event as a fulfillment of scripture, which he indicates by quoting Zech 9:9.

[15:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “one dies willingly.”