To obey the will is literally “to do the will,” but in biblical language “do” in such a context is equivalent to obey. In many languages, though one can readily say “to obey a person,” it is difficult to say “to obey the will of him who sent me.” However, to obey the will of the one who sent me can be translated “to do what the one who sent me told me to do” or “… wanted me to do.” While it may be difficult to relate this kind of expression to my food, this relation can sometimes be expressed by saying “When I do what the one who sent me wanted me to do, then it is just as though I had eaten food.”

Throughout the Gospel of John, God is frequently referred to as the one who sent Jesus (see 3.17,34; 5.36,38; 6.29,57; 7.28-29; 8.42; 10.36; 11.42; 17.8,18,21,23,25; 20.21).

Good News Translation makes explicit the meaning of the Greek phrase “his work” by translating the work he gave me to do; otherwise it would sound as though Jesus had been sent to finish some work that God had left undone. And to finish the work he gave me to do is essentially an amplification of to obey the will of the one who sent me. It may be made clear in some languages by translating “to do what the one who sent me wanted me to do, that is, to finish the work which he gave me to do.” The translation must not imply a contradiction between “obeying the will” and “finishing the work.” They are two aspects of essentially the same act of obedience.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .