NOTES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 

 John 1:13 This is like God miraculously opening wombs in Genesis.

John 1:21 also see John 6:14 and John 7:40.  The concept of the prophet in the likeness of Moses 

comes from Deuteronomy 18:15,18.

John 1:31 This answers question of 1:25 the next day. "Did not recognize" must mean "did not 

recognize him as the Christ" since they were cousins.

John 1:46 See John 7:40-42 for the possible meaning to Nathanael's statement. Philip copies Christ's 

answer in verse 39.

John 1:47 Purposeful irony since Israel/Jacob was a deceiver. Another reference to the Jacob story is 

foun in v. 51.

John 1:51 The imagery comes from Genesis 28:12. 

Jen Wilkin, CT, Nov. 2019): “The span between God and man is not horizontal, requiring a bridge, but 

vertical, requiring a stairway of miraculous length. Indeed, our stairway to heaven is not a 'what' but a 

'who.'”

John 2:1 The time was possibly counting from 1:43. It was at least a two-day journey to get to Cana. A 

6-day period is recorded by John at the start of Christ's ministry (see John 12).

John 2:6 The only known production site for chalkstone vessels was located at Einot Amitai, only a 

little more than a mile from Cana. (BAR 42 (5), p. 60) Stone rather than pottery was used due to 

Leviticus 11:33.

John 3:3-4 “Like babies in the womb, we can do nothing to bring about this new birth.” (Matthew 

Barrett CT, July/Aug 2020, p. 76)

John 3:5 Born of water = (1) physical birth (womb), (2) see John 7:30, or (3) baptism.

John 3:15 This is the first of 12 uses of the phrase “life eternal” in the gospel (ending with the reversed 

order in 17:3).

John 4 This illustrates the principles of evangelism: v. 7-make contact, take initiative; v. 10-find an 

area of common interest; v. 16-find what is blocking their response to God; v. 20-avoid getting 

sidetracked; v. 26-confront them with the person of Christ.

Paul Duke: The bridegroom is mentioned in John 2:1-11 and John 3:29. It prepares the reader for 

Chapter 4, which is almost a parody of the classic story of bride meeting groom by well (Genesis 24, 

29; Exodus 2) containing the same story elements.

Sam Chan, CT, June 2018: We approach this story through Western eyes and condemn the woman for 

being an adulteress, but in some cultures people might interpret the story to mean that she has been 

abandoned by five men unfairly and she now lives with another man for protection who doesn't even 

have the decency to marry her.

John 4:4 This contains the possible nuance of "had to", i.e. it was ordained.

John 4:7 The humanity of Christ is soon followed by an example of his divinity in John 4:17.

John 4:20-26 Jesus redirects the question about the “where” of worship to talking about who, why and 

how.

John 4:22-24 You must not only worship in spirit, but must know whom you are worshiping. Head and 

heart? 

See Psalm 47:7.

John 5:14-18 v.14. The man was sinning in carrying a pallet since he did not know who Jesus was. 

This is similar to the man who called Christ "good"without realizing his divine nature.

v. 18 See Philippians 2:6.

John 5:37 & 46 demonstrate that the Bible was written by God and by man at the same time.

John 5:39 Biblidolatry. Remember the lines of the old hymn: "Beyond the sacred page I seek thee 

Lord."

John 6:9 This was common food "not fit to eat" according to Josephus.

John 6:13 This was a test for  the apostles (v. 6) as much as for people--one basket for each apostle.

John 6:27 Parallel to woman at the well (John 4:7-15) and having water.

John 6:60 Perhaps this was made purposely hard for the Jews in order to discourage the wrong type of 

followers. See John 6:15.

This is not a proof passage for transubstantiation but refers to spiritual food provided only by Christ. 

There are numerous other instances in John's Gospel where Christ's words were wrongly taken literally.

John 7:37-39 Metzger notes that there are numerous textual variations here. They are best explained 

by an original text reading "for as yet the Spirit was not, for Jesus was not yet glorified." Since this 

statement could be easily misunderstood, others attempted to clarify it.

John 7:49 Hillel-"no ignorant person is pious..."

John 8 look at the dualistic language in this chapter.

John 8:8 What did Jesus write? Jesus was possibly alluding to Jeremiah 17:13 and was writing down 

the names of those present who had committed the same sin.

John 8:8 Only writing that was impermanent was allowed on the Sabbath. Whatever Jesus wrote, he 

was demonstrating his obedience to the law.

John 9:6-7 This was not a mere healing, but the creation of something new. The story is similar to

the creation of man in Genesis 7. Each case has dirt plus something of the divine (spit and wind/breath.

John 10:1-11 These verses apply not only to the Great Shepherd but also to us as undershepherds over 

other Christians and non-Christians.

Characteristics of shepherd are given:

    must be saved (vv. 1-2)

    communicate God's word (v. 3)

    have deep, caring relationship (v. 3)

    meet their needs (pastureland) (v. 3)

    lead by example (vv. 3-4)

    sacrificially give (v. 11)

John 11:3 see the note to John 13:23

John 11:37 "When the divine man Jesus draws near Lazarus' rotting corpse, either the divine must 

retreat from the stench or the stench must retreat from the divine: that is, death must turn into life." 

(Winn Leith)

John 11:33-38 The word in vv. 33,38 is a down-to-earth one usually applied to the snorting of horses.

It may express disgust or be an expression of another deep emotion.

v. 35. There is a parallel in Genesis 50:17("death, distrust").

John 11:49 i.e. "that fateful year," not for just one year.

John 12:1 There is a six-day period recorded by John at the end of Christ's ministry (see note to John 

 2:1).

John 12:5 Judas may have been the brother of Mary and Martha (through other scriptures) and 

therefore knew the cost of the perfume.

John 12:26a The Greek word translated “follow” means literally “together in the way.” This is parallel 

to the statement in 26b.

John 12:39-43 John's paradoxical view of glory. The quotation says that Isaiah saw glory in Jesus' 

acceptance of the way of rejection and suffering.

John 13:8 Peter's statement is emphatic in the Greek.

John 13:23 Usually this position (next to the honored guest) was occupied by the owner of the house. 

The same language is used in John 11:3 to describe Lazarus. It has been proposed that he was the 

Beloved Disciple. This would also explain why the Beloved Disciple was at the cross (John 19:26) 

even though elsewhere (Mark 14:50) the Twelve are stated to have deserted Jesus.

John 13:29 Giving alms was a regular feature of Passover.

John 14 Gary Collins: principles for dealing with stress are found in this chapter such as recognizing it 

will occur, understanding the cause, accepting the help of the Holy Spirit, etc.

John 14:4. "and mine is not the word which you hear" = "that which Christ teaches is not realized or 

served by the individual words alone, butr rather in the context of the Word before all words, the 

configuration of God's full discourse with humanity." (David Jeffrey)

John 14:8b equates Christ with the Holy Spirit

John 14:12-14 Not just a magic formula (see the story in Acts 19:14). Compare John 15:16-17. Look at 

who is doing what and compare discrepancies.

John 14:16 "another" = allon; not hetero-- of the same sort = deity.

John 15:1 "takes away, cut off" is literally "lifts up" in the Greek.

John 16 Look at the various predictions in this chapter: 

    vv. 1-6 persecution,

    vv. 7-15 Holy Spirit

    vv. 16-24 Jesus' Second Coming

    vv. 25-33 God's continuing love.

The Trinity is contained in these last three elements.

John 17 provides a good pattern for our own prayers:

    vv. 1-5 prayer for himself

    vv. 6-15 prayer for the Twelve

    vv. 16-26 prayer for the church

John 17:3 There have been eleven mentions of “life eternal” up to this point, beginning at John 3:15. 

This verse ends the series of twelve with the inverted order: "eternal life."

John 18:1 This is a reference to the Garden of Eden and mankind's sin, which is now going to be 

atoned for.

John 18:37 This is the only time Jesus talks about his birth.

John 19:15 The priests’ response is a parody of “We have no God but the God.”

John 19:26 see note to John 13:23

John 19:28-30 Andrew Wilson (CT, Nov. 2020, p. 32) points out that in these three verses, John uses 

the word fill or fulfill five times, each one signifying something different. “John, it seems, wants us to 

see Christ's death not merely as a conclusion, but as a culmination.” The first one looks back to the 

previous verses where Jesus joins the Beloved Apostle and Mary in what could be called the beginning 

of the church. Fulfilling the scriptures refers specifically to Psalm 69:21 but also to the fulfillment of 

all the promises in the OT. “Full of sour wine” (2x) harkens back to the cup in John 18:11 that Jesus 

must drink. And the final example summarizes that all Christ's work on earth has been accomplished.

John 19:31 Day of Preparation and High Day do not fit normal Saturday Sabbath observances and

may refer to the 15th day of Nisan, a day of rest during Passover observance. This occurred on Friday, 

giving rise to two Sabbaths and thus allowing three full days and nights for Christ to be in tomb. .

John 19:34 See Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p. 206 for a pathologist's point of view.

John 19:38 There is a supreme irony here of two secret followers coming out in the open while his 

open followers were in hiding. Remember Jesus' story of two sons: one says he will obey but doesn't,

 and the other one does the reverse.

John 19:39-40 We can read these verses as a lack of faith in the resurrection or as an act of extreme 

devotion like the woman with the perfume.

John 20:1-18 begins and ends with Mary Magdalene going somewhere and "seeing."

John 20:15 Jesus appears as a gardener, being an image of the second Adam, “back on the job where 

the old Adam failed – dressing and keeping the garden. His invitation to us in the Bible's last chapter is 

to keep his commandments, so that we can meet him at a tree – the Tree in Life before God's throne, 

with branches that bear fruit in every season and leaves that heal the nations.” (Matthew Sleeth, CT 

Oct. 2018, p. 56)

John 20:22 Here is a new creation as in Genesis 2 when Adam is made alive by breath.

John 20:29 There is a parallel in I Peter 1:8.

John 21 Jesus revives Peter's faith by repeating the scene (recorded in Luke) of Peter's calling.

John 21:1-9 This best fits what is called the veranda method, in which one boat forms a barrel of mesh

with a net while a second boat lays out a trammel net on the water's surface which is kept afloat with 

reeds. This explains Peter diving in the water.

An ancient mosaic has been uncovered showing two men in a boat fishing in the nude. Verse 7 says 

that Peter was gymnos (i.e. nude).

John 21:23-24 Some have proposed that this refers, not to John, but to Lazarus.