Yohanes 7:28

7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, ¹  cried out, ²  “You both know me and know where I come from! ³  And I have not come on my own initiative, ⁴  but the one who sent me ⁵  is true. You do not know him, ⁶ 

Yohanes 5:31

More Testimony About Jesus

5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

Yohanes 12:32

12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people ⁷  to myself.”

Yohanes 17:19

17:19 And I set myself apart ⁸  on their behalf, ⁹  so that they too may be truly set apart. ¹⁰ 

[7:28]  ¹ tn Grk “the temple.”

[7:28]  ² tn Grk “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying.”

[7:28]  ³ sn You both know me and know where I come from! Jesus’ response while teaching in the temple is difficult – it appears to concede too much understanding to his opponents. It is best to take the words as irony: “So you know me and know where I am from, do you?” On the physical, literal level, they did know where he was from: Nazareth of Galilee (at least they thought they knew). But on another deeper (spiritual) level, they did not: He came from heaven, from the Father. Jesus insisted that he has not come on his own initiative (cf. 5:37), but at the bidding of the Father who sent him.

[7:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “And I have not come from myself.”

[7:28]  ⁵ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[7:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”

[12:32]  ⁷ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).

[17:19]  ⁸ tn Or “I sanctify.”

[17:19]  sn In what sense does Jesus refer to his own ‘sanctification’ with the phrase I set myself apart? In 10:36 Jesus referred to himself as “the one whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world,” which seems to look at something already accomplished. Here, however, it is something he does on behalf of the disciples (on their behalf) and this suggests a reference to his impending death on the cross. There is in fact a Johannine wordplay here based on slightly different meanings for the Greek verb translated set apart (ἁγιάζω, Jagiazw). In the sense it was used in 10:36 of Jesus and in 17:17 and here to refer to the disciples, it means to set apart in the sense that prophets (cf. Jer 1:5) and priests (Exod 40:13, Lev 8:30, and 2 Chr 5:11) were consecrated (or set apart) to perform their tasks. But when Jesus speaks of setting himself apart (consecrating or dedicating himself) on behalf of the disciples here in 17:19 the meaning is closer to the consecration of a sacrificial animal (Deut 15:19). Jesus is “setting himself apart,” i.e., dedicating himself, to do the will of the Father, that is, to go to the cross on the disciples’ behalf (and of course on behalf of their successors as well).

[17:19]  ⁹ tn Or “for their sake.”

[17:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “they may be truly consecrated,” or “they may be truly sanctified.”