John 12:50

Verse

And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”

American Standard Version (1901)

And I know that his commandment is life eternal; the things therefore which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak.

Bible in Basic English

And I have knowledge that his order is eternal life: so that the things which I say, I say them even as the Father says them to me.

Free Bible Version

I know that what he told me to say brings eternal life—so whatever I say is what the Father told me.”

Geneva Bible 1599

And I knowe that his commandement is life euerlasting: the thinges therefore that I speake, I speake them so as the Father sayde vnto me.

King James (Authorized) Version

And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

One Unity Resource Bible

I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as haAbba ·the Father· has said to me, so I speak.”

Plain English Version

I know that his words have the power to get people to live with him for ever, so I tell you the words that he told me.”

Translation for Translators

I know that paying attention to what he has instructed us leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is exactly (OR, only) what my Father has told me to say.”

Unlocked Literal Bible

I know that his command is eternal life, so that is what I say—just as the Father has spoken to me, so I speak.”

Noah Webster Bible

And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatever I speak therefore, even as the Father said to me, so I speak.

World English Bible

I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.”

Young's Literal Translation

and I have known that His command is life age-during; what, therefore, I speak, according as the Father hath said to me, so I speak.'

Context

Belief and Unbelief

⁴⁹I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.⁵⁰And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”

Sermons

(Radical Jesus) 15 Radical Surrender

Glenn Meldrum

442

We Will Be Like Him

K.P. Yohannan

Summary

In John 12:50, Jesus affirms that His teachings are not His own but come directly from God the Father. He emphasizes that His words are a commandment from the Father, revealing the divine authority behind His message. This statement underscores the unity between Jesus and the Father, highlighting the importance of obedience to His teachings as a means of receiving eternal life. By acknowledging the source of His words, Jesus establishes the foundation of His authority and the significance of following His instructions for spiritual life and salvation.

Commentary

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

I know that this commandment is life everlasting - These words of our Lord are similar to that saying in St. John's first epistle, Jo1 5:11, Jo1 5:12. This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. God's commandment or commission is, Preach salvation to a lost world, and give thyself a ransom for all; and whosoever believeth on thee shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Every word of Christ, properly credited, and carefully applied, leads to peace and happiness here, and to glory hereafter. What an amiable view of the Gospel of the grace of God does this give us? It is a system of eternal life, Divinely calculated to answer every important purpose to dying, miserable man. This sacred truth Jesus witnessed with his last breath. He began his public ministry proclaiming the kingdom of God; and he now finishes it by asserting that the whole commission is eternal life; and, having attested this, he went out of the temple, and retired to Bethany. The public work of our Lord was now done; and the remnant of his time, previously to his crucifixion, he spent in teaching his disciples - instructing them in the nature of his kingdom, his intercession, and the mission of the Holy Spirit; and in that heavenly life which all true believers live with the Father, through faith in the Son, by the operation of the Holy Ghost. Many persons are liberal in their condemnation of the Jews, because they did not believe on the Son of God; and doubtless their unbelief has merited and received the most signal punishment. But those who condemn them do not reflect that they are probably committing the same sort of transgression, in circumstances which heighten the iniquity of their sin. Will it avail any man, that he has believed that Christ has come in the flesh to destroy the works of the devil, who does not come unto him that he may have life, but continues to live under the power and guilt of sin? Paradoxical as it may seem, it is nevertheless possible, for a man to credit the four evangelists, and yet live and die an infidel, as far as his own salvation is concerned. Reader, it is possible to hold the truth in unrighteousness. Pray to God that this may not be thy condemnation. For a farther improvement of the principal subjects of this chapter, see the notes on Joh 12:24 (note), Joh 12:32 (note) and Joh 12:39 (note).