Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me.
Parallel translations
- KJV Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
- BSB Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who 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 him who sent me.
- John 5:24“Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
- John 13:20Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”
- Mark 9:37“Whoever receives one such little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, doesn’t receive me, but him who sent me.”
- Prov 8:1Doesn’t wisdom cry out? Doesn’t understanding raise her voice?
- 1 Pet 1:21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
- John 7:28Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know.
- John 11:43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
- Isa 55:1–3“Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
- Prov 1:20Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.
Resources, by level
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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.