Yohanes 5:18

5:18 For this reason the Jewish leaders ¹  were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

Yohanes 8:19

8:19 Then they began asking ²  him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.” ³ 

Yohanes 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ⁴  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ⁵  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ⁶  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

Yohanes 14:12

14:12 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁷  the person who believes in me will perform ⁸  the miraculous deeds ⁹  that I am doing, ¹⁰  and will perform ¹¹  greater deeds ¹²  than these, because I am going to the Father.

[5:18]  ¹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 10.

[8:19]  ² tn Grk “Then they were saying to him.” The imperfect verb has been translated with ingressive force here because of the introduction of a new line of questioning by the Pharisees. Jesus had just claimed his Father as a second witness; now his opponents want to know who his father is.

[8:19]  ³ sn If you knew me you would know my Father too. Jesus’ reply is based on his identity with the Father (see also John 1:18; 14:9).

[12:35]  ⁴ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ⁵ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ⁶ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[14:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[14:12]  ⁸ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “the works.”

[14:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “that I do.”

[14:12]  sn See the note on miraculous deeds in v. 11.

[14:12]  ¹¹ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ¹² tn Grk “greater works.”

[14:12]  sn What are the greater deeds that Jesus speaks of, and how is this related to his going to the Father? It is clear from both John 7:39 and 16:7 that the Holy Spirit will not come until Jesus has departed. After Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit to indwell believers in a permanent relationship, believers would be empowered to perform even greater deeds than those Jesus did during his earthly ministry. When the early chapters of Acts are examined, it is clear that, from a numerical standpoint, the deeds of Peter and the other Apostles surpassed those of Jesus in a single day (the day of Pentecost). On that day more were added to the church than had become followers of Jesus during the entire three years of his earthly ministry. And the message went forth not just in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, but to the farthest parts of the known world. This understanding of what Jesus meant by “greater deeds” is more probable than a reference to “more spectacular miracles.” Certainly miraculous deeds were performed by the apostles as recounted in Acts, but these do not appear to have surpassed the works of Jesus himself in either degree or number.