Yohanes 11:31

11:31 Then the people ¹  who were with Mary ²  in the house consoling her saw her ³  get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep ⁴  there.

Yohanes 14:12

14:12 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁵  the person who believes in me will perform ⁶  the miraculous deeds ⁷  that I am doing, ⁸  and will perform ⁹  greater deeds ¹⁰  than these, because I am going to the Father.

Yohanes 14:28

14:28 You heard me say to you, ¹¹  ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad ¹²  that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. ¹³ 

Yohanes 16:7

16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate ¹⁴  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

Yohanes 20:17

20:17 Jesus replied, ¹⁵  “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

[11:31]  ¹ 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 and “the Jewish people of the region” in v. 19.

[11:31]  ² tn Grk “her”; the referent (Mary) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:31]  ³ tn Grk “Mary”; the proper name (Mary) has been replaced with the pronoun (her) in keeping with conventional English style, to avoid repetition.

[11:31]  ⁴ tn Or “to mourn” (referring to the loud wailing or crying typical of public mourning in that culture).

[14:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[14:12]  ⁶ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “the works.”

[14:12]  ⁸ tn Or “that I do.”

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

[14:12]  ⁹ tn Or “will do.”

[14:12]  ¹⁰ 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.

[14:28]  ¹¹ tn Or “You have heard that I said to you.”

[14:28]  ¹² tn Or “you would rejoice.”

[14:28]  ¹³ sn Jesus’ statement the Father is greater than I am has caused much christological and trinitarian debate. Although the Arians appealed to this text to justify their subordinationist Christology, it seems evident that by the fact Jesus compares himself to the Father, his divine nature is taken for granted. There have been two orthodox interpretations: (1) The Son is eternally generated while the Father is not: Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius, Hilary, etc. (2) As man the incarnate Son was less than the Father: Cyril of Alexandria, Ambrose, Augustine. In the context of the Fourth Gospel the second explanation seems more plausible. But why should the disciples have rejoiced? Because Jesus was on the way to the Father who would glorify him (cf. 17:4-5); his departure now signifies that the work the Father has given him is completed (cf. 19:30). Now Jesus will be glorified with that glory that he had with the Father before the world was (cf. 17:5). This should be a cause of rejoicing to the disciples because when Jesus is glorified he will glorify his disciples as well (17:22).

[16:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

[20:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”