but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
- KJV But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
- BSB But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”
- NASB but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
- NLT But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Even if they will not believe Him, Jesus urges them to believe the works, so they may know the Father is in Him and He in the Father. His miracles attest the mutual indwelling of Father and Son.
Overview
Jesus offers His works as a ladder to faith, that they might come to grasp His unity with the Father. The mutual indwelling He describes restates the truth of His deity. He patiently presses them toward belief even amid their hostility.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 14:20In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
- John 10:30I and the Father are one.”
- John 10:25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.
- John 14:9–11Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
- Acts 2:22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know,
- John 17:21–23that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
- John 3:2The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”
- John 17:11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
- Acts 4:8–12Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
- John 5:36But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 10:38 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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