Yohanes 12:38

12:38 so that the word ¹  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ²  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ³  been revealed?” ⁴ 

Yohanes 18:9

18:9 He said this ⁵  to fulfill the word he had spoken, ⁶  “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” ⁷ 

Yohanes 19:28

Jesus’ Death

19:28 After this Jesus, realizing that by this time ⁸  everything was completed, ⁹  said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ¹⁰  “I am thirsty!” ¹¹ 

[12:38]  ¹ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ² tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ³ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[18:9]  ⁵ tn The words “He said this” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. There is an ellipsis in the Greek text that must be supplied for the modern English reader at this point.

[18:9]  ⁶ sn This expression is similar to John 6:39 and John 17:12.

[18:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “Of the ones whom you gave me, I did not lose one of them.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.

[18:9]  sn This action of Jesus on behalf of his disciples is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of Jesus’ own words: “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” Here it is Jesus’ own words, rather than the OT scriptures, which are quoted. This same formula will be used by the author again of Jesus’ words in 18:32, but the verb is used elsewhere in the Fourth Gospel to describe the NT fulfillment of OT passages (12:38, 13:18, 15:25, 17:12, 19:24, and 19:36). It is a bit difficult to determine the exact referent, since the words of Jesus quoted in this verse are not an exact reproduction of a saying of Jesus elsewhere in John’s Gospel. Although some have identified the saying with John 6:39, the closest parallel is in 17:12, where the betrayer, Judas, is specifically excluded. The words quoted here in 18:9 appear to be a free rendition of 17:12.

[19:28]  ⁸ tn Or “that already.”

[19:28]  ⁹ tn Or “finished,” “accomplished”; Grk “fulfilled.”

[19:28]  ¹⁰ sn A reference to Ps 69:21 or Ps 22:15.

[19:28]  ¹¹ sn In order to fulfill (τελειωθῇ [teleiwqh], a wordplay on the previous statement that everything was completed [τετέλεσται, tetelestai]) the scripture, he said, “I am thirsty.” The scripture referred to is probably Ps 69:21, “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Also suggested, however, is Ps 22:15, “My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth, and you [God] lay me in the dust of death.” Ps 22:1 reads “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?,” a statement Jesus makes from the cross in both Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34. In light of the connection in the Fourth Gospel between thirst and the living water which Jesus offers, it is highly ironic that here Jesus himself, the source of that living water, expresses his thirst. And since 7:39 associates the living water with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ statement here in 19:28 amounts to an admission that at this point he has been forsaken by God (cf. Ps 22:1, Matt 27:46, and Mark 15:34).