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Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who sent Me.
John 12:44 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me.
  • KJV Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
  • NKJV Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.
  • NASB Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me.
  • NLT Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.

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

Jesus declares that to believe in Him is to believe in the Father who sent Him. It affirms His perfect unity with the Father and the seriousness of how people respond to Him.

Overview

In this final public summons, Jesus stresses that faith in Him is never a detour from God but the very way to the Father. Because He is the Father's sent one, believing or rejecting Jesus is believing or rejecting God Himself. This grounds the exclusivity of the gospel: there is no honoring of the Father apart from honoring the Son.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Matt 10:40He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.
  • John 5:24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
  • John 13:20Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
  • Mark 9:37“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not only Me, but the One who sent Me.”
  • Prov 8:1Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?
  • 1 Pet 1:21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
  • John 7:28Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him,
  • John 11:43After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
  • Isa 55:1–3“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
  • Prov 1:20Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 12:44YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 12:44 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.