Yohanes 4:34

4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me ¹  and to complete ²  his work. ³ 

Yohanes 7:17

7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ⁴  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ⁵ 

Yohanes 15:16

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you ⁶  and appointed you to go and bear ⁷  fruit, fruit that remains, ⁸  so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Mazmur 40:8

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ⁹  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 143:10

143:10 Teach me to do what pleases you, ¹¹ 

for you are my God.

May your kind presence ¹² 

lead me ¹³  into a level land. ¹⁴ 

Ibrani 10:7

10:7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: ¹⁵  I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” ¹⁶ 

Ibrani 10:1

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ¹⁷ 

Yohanes 3:21-22

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. ¹⁸ 

Further Testimony About Jesus by John the Baptist

3:22 After this, ¹⁹  Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing.

[4:34]  ¹ sn The one who sent me refers to the Father.

[4:34]  ² tn Or “to accomplish.”

[4:34]  ³ tn The substantival ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as an English infinitive clause.

[4:34]  sn No one brought him anything to eat, did they? In the discussion with the disciples which took place while the woman had gone into the city, note again the misunderstanding: The disciples thought Jesus referred to physical food, while he was really speaking figuratively and spiritually again. Thus Jesus was forced to explain what he meant, and the explanation that his food was his mission, to do the will of God and accomplish his work, leads naturally into the metaphor of the harvest. The fruit of his mission was represented by the Samaritans who were coming to him.

[7:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[15:16]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “and yield.”

[15:16]  ⁸ 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.

[40:8]  ⁹ tn Or “your will.”

[40:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.

[143:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “your will.” See Ps 40:8.

[143:10]  ¹² tn Heb “your good spirit.” God’s “spirit” may refer here to his presence (see the note on the word “presence” in Ps 139:7) or to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).

[143:10]  ¹³ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. Taking the statement as a prayer fits well with the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:10]  ¹⁴ sn A level land (where one can walk free of obstacles) here symbolizes divine blessing and protection. See Pss 26:12 and 27:11 for similar imagery.

[10:7]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

[10:7]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”

[10:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “those who approach.”

[3:21]  ¹⁸ 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).

[3:22]  ¹⁹ tn This section is related loosely to the preceding by μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta). This constitutes an indefinite temporal reference; the intervening time is not specified.