Yohanes 14:1

Jesus’ Parting Words to His Disciples

14:1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. ¹  You believe in God; ²  believe also in me.

Yohanes 11:33

11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people ³  who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved ⁴  in spirit and greatly distressed. ⁵ 

Yohanes 13:21

13:21 When he had said these things, Jesus was greatly distressed ⁶  in spirit, and testified, ⁷  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁸  one of you will betray me.” ⁹ 

Yohanes 5:7

5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, ¹⁰  I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, ¹¹  someone else ¹²  goes down there ¹³  before me.”

Yohanes 12:27

12:27 “Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me ¹⁴  from this hour’? ¹⁵  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour. ¹⁶ 

Yohanes 14:27

14:27 “Peace I leave with you; ¹⁷  my peace I give to you; I do not give it ¹⁸  to you as the world does. ¹⁹  Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage. ²⁰ 

[14:1]  ¹ sn The same verb is used to describe Jesus’ own state in John 11:33, 12:27, and 13:21. Jesus is looking ahead to the events of the evening and the next day, his arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death, which will cause his disciples extreme emotional distress.

[14:1]  ² tn Or “Believe in God.” The translation of the two uses of πιστεύετε (pisteuete) is difficult. Both may be either indicative or imperative, and as L. Morris points out (John [NICNT], 637), this results in a bewildering variety of possibilities. To complicate matters further, the first may be understood as a question: “Do you believe in God? Believe also in me.” Morris argues against the KJV translation which renders the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative on the grounds that for the writer of the Fourth Gospel, faith in Jesus is inseparable from faith in God. But this is precisely the point that Jesus is addressing in context. He is about to undergo rejection by his own people as their Messiah. The disciples’ faith in him as Messiah and Lord would be cast into extreme doubt by these events, which the author makes clear were not at this time foreseen by the disciples. After the resurrection it is this identification between Jesus and the Father which needs to be reaffirmed (cf. John 20:24-29). Thus it seems best to take the first πιστεύετε as indicative and the second as imperative, producing the translation “You believe in God; believe also in me.”

[11:33]  ³ tn Or “the Judeans”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the friends, acquaintances, and relatives of Lazarus or his sisters who had come to mourn, since the Jewish religious authorities are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the notes on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8, “the Jewish people of the region” in v. 19, and the word “people” in v. 31.

[11:33]  ⁴ tn Or (perhaps) “he was deeply indignant.” The verb ἐνεβριμήσατο (enebrimhsato), which is repeated in John 11:38, indicates a strong display of emotion, somewhat difficult to translate – “shuddered, moved with the deepest emotions.” In the LXX, the verb and its cognates are used to describe a display of indignation (Dan 11:30, for example – see also Mark 14:5). Jesus displayed this reaction to the afflicted in Mark 1:43, Matt 9:30. Was he angry at the afflicted? No, but he was angry because he found himself face-to-face with the manifestations of Satan’s kingdom of evil. Here, the realm of Satan was represented by death.

[11:33]  ⁵ tn Or “greatly troubled.” The verb ταράσσω (tarassw) also occurs in similar contexts to those of ἐνεβριμήσατο (enebrimhsato). John uses it in 14:1 and 27 to describe the reaction of the disciples to the imminent death of Jesus, and in 13:21 the verb describes how Jesus reacted to the thought of being betrayed by Judas, into whose heart Satan had entered.

[13:21]  ⁶ tn Or “greatly troubled.”

[13:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “and testified and said.”

[13:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[13:21]  ⁹ tn Or “will hand me over.”

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Lord.” The Greek κύριος (kurios) means both “Sir” and “Lord.” In this passage the paralytic who was healed by Jesus never acknowledges Jesus as Lord – he rather reports Jesus to the authorities.

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “while I am going.”

[5:7]  ¹² tn Grk “another.”

[5:7]  ¹³ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[12:27]  ¹⁴ tn Or “save me.”

[12:27]  ¹⁵ tn Or “this occasion.”

[12:27]  sn Father, deliver me from this hour. It is now clear that Jesus’ hour has come – the hour of his return to the Father through crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension (see 12:23). This will be reiterated in 13:1 and 17:1. Jesus states (employing words similar to those of Ps 6:4) that his soul is troubled. What shall his response to his imminent death be? A prayer to the Father to deliver him from that hour? No, because it is on account of this very hour that Jesus has come. His sacrificial death has always remained the primary purpose of his mission into the world. Now, faced with the completion of that mission, shall he ask the Father to spare him from it? The expected answer is no.

[12:27]  ¹⁶ tn Or “this occasion.”

[14:27]  ¹⁷ sn Peace I leave with you. In spite of appearances, this verse does not introduce a new subject (peace). Jesus will use the phrase as a greeting to his disciples after his resurrection (20:19, 21, 26). It is here a reflection of the Hebrew shalom as a farewell. But Jesus says he leaves peace with his disciples. This should probably be understood ultimately in terms of the indwelling of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who has been the topic of the preceding verses. It is his presence, after Jesus has left the disciples and finally returned to the Father, which will remain with them and comfort them.

[14:27]  ¹⁸ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[14:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “not as the world gives do I give to you.”

[14:27]  ²⁰ tn Or “distressed or fearful and cowardly.”