Yohanes 3:11

3:11 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but ²  you people ³  do not accept our testimony. ⁴ 

Yohanes 5:24-25

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵  the one who hears ⁶  my message ⁷  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ⁸  but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  a time ¹⁰  is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Yohanes 6:26

6:26 Jesus replied, ¹¹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹²  you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. ¹³ 

Yohanes 14:12

14:12 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁴  the person who believes in me will perform ¹⁵  the miraculous deeds ¹⁶  that I am doing, ¹⁷  and will perform ¹⁸  greater deeds ¹⁹  than these, because I am going to the Father.

Yohanes 16:23

16:23 At that time ²⁰  you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, ²¹  whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ²² 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:11]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to show the contrast present in the context.

[3:11]  ³ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:11]  ⁴ sn Note the remarkable similarity of Jesus’ testimony to the later testimony of the Apostle John himself in 1 John 1:2: “And we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us.” This is only one example of how thoroughly the author’s own thoughts were saturated with the words of Jesus (and also how difficult it is to distinguish the words of Jesus from the words of the author in the Fourth Gospel).

[5:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ⁶ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ⁷ tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[5:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:25]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “an hour.”

[6:26]  ¹¹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[6:26]  ¹² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[6:26]  ¹³ tn Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”

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

[14:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the works.”

[14:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “that I do.”

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

[14:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ¹⁹ 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.

[16:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And in that day.”

[16:23]  ²¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:23]  ²² sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.