John 12

John 12:1

VII. THE SON OF GOD’S MINISTRY TO HIS OWN (Chaps. 12-17) A. Jesus Anointed at Bethany (12:1-8) 12:1 The home in Bethany was a place where Jesus loved to be. There He enjoyed sweet fellowship with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. In coming to Bethany at this time, He was, humanly speaking, exposing Himself to danger because nearby Jerusalem was headquarters for all the forces that were arrayed against Him. 12:2 In spite of the many who were opposed to Jesus, there were still a few hearts which beat true to Him. Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with the Lord, and Martha served. The Scripture does not say anything about what Lazarus saw or heard from the time he died until he was raised again. Perhaps he had been forbidden by God to divulge any such information. 12:3 Several instances are recorded in the Gospels where the Lord Jesus was anointed by a woman. No two incidents are exactly alike, but this incident is generally thought to parallel Mar_14:3-9. Mary’s devotion to Christ caused her to take this pound of very costly oil of spikenard and anoint His feet. She was saying in effect that there was nothing too valuable to give to Christ. He is worthy of everything that we have and are. Each time we meet Mary, she is at the feet of Jesus. Here she is wiping His feet with her hair. Since a woman’s hair is her glory, she was laying her glory, as it were, at His feet. Needless to say, Mary herself would have carried the fragrance of the perfume for some time after this. Thus when Christ is worshiped, the worshipers themselves carry away something of the fragrance of that moment. No house is so filled with pleasant aroma as the house where Jesus is given His rightful place. 12:4, 5 Here the flesh is seen intruding into this most sacred of occasions. The one who was about to betray his Lord could not stand to see precious oil used in this way. Judas did not consider Jesus to be worth three hundred denarii. He felt that the perfume should have been sold and given to the poor. But this was sheer hypocrisy. He cared no more for the poor than he did for the Lord. He was about to betray Him, not for three hundred denarii, but for a tenth of that amount. Ryle well says: That anyone could follow Christ as a disciple for three years, see all His miracles, hear all His teaching, receive at His hand repeated kindnesses, be counted an apostle, and yet prove rotten at heart in the end, all this at first sight appears incredible and impossible! Yet the case of Judas shows plainly that the thing can be. Few things, perhaps, are so little realized as the extent of the fall of man. 12:6 John was quick to add that Judas did not say this because he had any real love for the poor, but because he was a thief and was greedy. Judas had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.12:7 The Lord answered in effect, Do not prevent her from doing this. She has kept this oil for the day of My burial. Now she wants to lavish it on Me in an act of affection and worship. She should be permitted to do so.12:8 There would never be a time when there would not be poor people on whom others might lavish their kindness. But the Lord’s ministry on earth was swiftly drawing to a close. Mary would not always have the opportunity to use this oil upon Him. This should remind us that spiritual opportunities are passing. We should never delay doing what we can for the Savior.

John 12:9

B. The Plot Against Lazarus (12:9-11) 12:9 The word quickly spread that Jesus was near Jerusalem. It was no longer possible to keep His presence secret. Many of the Jews came to Bethany to see Him, and others came to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 12:10, 11 The insane hatred of the human heart is again pictured in this verse. The chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also. One would think that he had committed high treason by being raised from the dead! It was nothing over which he had control, and yet they considered him worthy of death. Because of Lazarus, many of the Jews … believed in Jesus. Lazarus was therefore an enemy to the Jewish establishment, and he must be put out of the way. Those who bring others to the Lord are always made the target for persecution and even martyrdom. Some commentators suggest that because the chief priests were Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, they wanted to get rid of the evidence by destroying Lazarus.

John 12:12

C. The Triumphal Entry (12:12-19) 12:12, 13 We now come to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It was the Sunday before His crucifixion. It is difficult to know exactly what this multitude thought about Jesus. Did they really understand that He was the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel? Or did they merely look upon Him as a King who would deliver them from Roman oppression? Were they carried away with the emotion of the hour? Doubtless some in the group were true believers, but the general impression is that most of the people had no real heart interest in the Lord. Palm branches are a token of rest and peace after sorrow (Rev_7:9). The word Hosanna means Save now, we pray you. Putting these thoughts together, it would seem as if the people were acknowledging Jesus to be the One sent from God to save them from Roman cruelty and to give them rest and peace after the sorrow of their long years of Gentile oppression. 12:14, 15 Jesus rode into the city on a young donkey, a common mode of transportation. More than that, however, the Lord was fulfilling prophecy in riding in this manner. This quotation was taken from Zec_9:9. There the prophet predicted that when the King came to Israel, He would be sitting on a donkey’s colt. The daughter of Zion is a figurative expression referring to the Jewish people, Zion being a hill in the city of Jerusalem. 12:16 The disciples did not realize that what was happening was in exact fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy, that Jesus was actually entering Jerusalem as the rightful King of Israel. But after the Lord had gone back to heaven to be glorified at the right hand of the Father, it dawned on the disciples that these events were in fulfillment of the Scriptures. 12:17, 18 In the crowd that watched Jesus entering Jerusalem were people who had seen Him raise Lazarus … from the dead. These told the others around them that this One riding on the colt was the same One who had brought Lazarus back to life again. As the report of this notable sign spread, a great throng of people came out to meet Jesus. Unfortunately, their motive was curiosity rather than true faith. 12:19 As the crowd grew in size, and interest in the Savior mounted, the Pharisees were beside themselves. Nothing they could say or do had the slightest effect. With frenzied exaggeration, they cried out that the whole world had gone after Jesus. They did not realize that the interest of the crowd was but a passing thing, and that those who really were willing to worship Jesus as the Son of God were very few.

John 12:20

D. Certain Greeks Wish to See Jesus (12:20-26) 12:20 The Greeks who came to Jesus were Gentiles who had become converts to Judaism. The fact that they came up to worship at the feast shows that they were no longer carrying on the religious practices of their ancestors. Their coming to the Lord Jesus at this occasion pictures the fact that when the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus, the Gentiles would hear the gospel and many of them would believe. 12:21 No reason is given why they came to Philip. Perhaps his Greek name and the fact that he was from Bethsaida of Galilee made him attractive to those Gentile proselytes. Their request was a noble one indeed. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. No one who has this sincere desire in his heart is ever turned away unrewarded. 12:22 Perhaps Philip was not too sure as to whether the Lord would see these Greeks. Christ had previously told the disciples not to go to the Gentiles with the gospel, so Philip went to Andrew, and together they told Jesus. 12:23 Why did the Greeks want to see Jesus? If we read between the lines, we can surmise that the wisdom of Jesus appealed to them and that they wanted to exalt Him as their popular philosopher. They knew that He was on a collision course with the Jewish leaders and wanted Him to save His life, perhaps by going to Greece with them. Their philosophy was Spare yourself, but Jesus told them that this philosophy was directly opposed to the law of harvest. He would be glorified in His sacrificial death and not by a comfortable life. 12:24 Seed never produces grain until first it falls into the ground and dies. The Lord Jesus here referred to Himself as a grain (or kernel) of wheat. If He did not die, He would abide alone. He would enjoy the glories of heaven by Himself; there would be no saved sinners there to share His glory. But if He died, He would provide a way of salvation by which many might be saved. The same applies to us, as T. G. Ragland says: If we refuse to be corns of wheatfalling into the ground, and dying; if we will neither sacrifice prospects, nor risk character, and property, and health; nor, when we are called, relinquish home, and break family ties, for Christ’s sake; then we shall abide alone. But if we wish to be fruitful, we must follow our Blessed Lord Himself, by becoming a corn of wheat, and dying, then we shall bring forth much fruit. 12:25 Many people think that the important things in life are food, clothing, and pleasure. They live for these things. But in thus loving their lives, they fail to realize that the soul is more important than the body. By neglecting their soul’s welfare, they lose their lives. On the other hand, there are those who count all things loss for Christ. To serve Him, they forego things highly prized among men. These are the people who will keep their lives for eternal life. To hate one’s life means to love Christ more than one loves his own interests. 12:26 To serve Christ, one must follow Him. He would have His servants obey His teachings and resemble Him morally. They must apply the example of His death to themselves. All servants are promised the constant presence and protection of their Master, and this applies not only to the present life but to eternity as well. Service now will receive God’s approval in a coming day. Whatever one suffers of shame or reproach here will be small indeed compared to the glory of being publicly commended by God the Father in heaven!

John 12:27

E. Jesus Faces Imminent Death (12:27-36) 12:27 Increasingly, the Lord’s thoughts were upon the events that lay immediately before Him. He was thinking of the cross, and contemplating the time when He would become the Sin Bearer, and endure the wrath of God against our sins. In thinking of His hour of heartbreak (JBP), His soul was troubled. How should He pray in such a moment? Should He ask His Father to save Him from the hour? He could not pray for this because the purpose of His coming into the world was to go to the cross. He was born to die. 12:28 Instead of praying that He might be saved from the cross, the Lord Jesus rather prayed that the name of His Father might be glorified. He was more interested that honor should come to God than in His own comfort or safety. God now spoke from heaven, saying that He had glorified His Name and would glorify it again. The Name of God was glorified during the earthly ministry of Jesus. The thirty silent years in Nazareth, the three years of public ministry, the wonderful words and works of the Saviorall of these greatly glorified the Name of the Father. But still greater glory would be brought to God through the death, burial, resurrection, and Ascension of Christ. 12:29 Some of those standing by mistook the voice of God for thunder. Such people are always trying to put a natural explanation on spiritual things. Men who are unwilling to accept the fact of miracles try to explain the miracles away by some natural law. Others knew it was not thunder, and yet they did not recognize it as the voice of God. Realizing it must have been superhuman, they could only conclude that it was the voice of an angel. God’s voice can only be heard and understood by those who are helped by the Holy Spirit. People can listen to the gospel over and over, and yet it might be ever so meaningless to them unless the Holy Spirit speaks to them through it. 12:30 The Lord explained to the listeners that this voice did not need to be audible in order for Him to hear it. Rather, it was made audible for the sake of those who were standing by. 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world, He said. The world was about to crucify the Lord of life and glory. In doing so, it would condemn itself. Sentence would be passed upon it for its awful rejection of Christ. That is what the Savior meant here. Condemnation was about to be passed on guilty mankind.

The ruler of this world is Satan. In a very real sense, Satan was utterly defeated at Calvary. He thought he had succeeded in doing away with the Lord Jesus once for all. Instead, the Savior had provided a way of salvation for men, and at the same time had defeated Satan and all his hosts. The sentence has not yet been carried out on the devil, but his doom has been sealed. He is still going through the world carrying on his evil business, but it is just a matter of time before he will be cast into the lake of fire. 12:32 The first part of this verse refers to Christ’s death on the cross. He was nailed to a cross of wood and lifted up from the earth. The Lord said that if He were thus crucified, He would draw all peoples to Himself. Several explanations have been given for this. Some think that Christ draws all people either to salvation or to judgment. Others think that if Christ is lifted up in the preaching of the gospel, then there will be a great power in the message, and souls will be drawn to Him. But probably the correct explanation is that the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus resulted in all kinds of people being drawn to Him. It does not mean all people without exception, but people from every nation, tribe, and language. 12:33 When the Lord Jesus spoke of being lifted up, He signified the kind of death He would die, that is, by crucifixion. Here again we have evidence of the all-knowledge of the Lord. He knew in advance that He would not die in bed or by accident, but that He would be nailed to a cross. 12:34 The people were puzzled by this statement of the Lord about being lifted up. They knew that He claimed to be the Messiah, and yet they knew from the OT that the Messiah would live forever (see Isa_9:7; Psa_110:4; Dan_7:14; Mic_4:7). Notice that the people quoted Jesus as saying, The Son of Man must be lifted up. Actually, He had said, I, if I be lifted up from the earth. Of course, the Lord Jesus had referred to Himself many times as the Son of Man, and perhaps He had even spoken previously of the Son of Man being lifted up, so it was not difficult for the people to put the two thoughts together. 12:35 When the people asked Jesus who the Son of Man was, He spoke of Himself again as the light of the world. He reminded them that the light would only be with them for a short while. They should come to the Light and walk in the Light; otherwise darkness would soon overtake them, and they would stumble around in ignorance. The Lord seemed to liken Himself to the sun and to the daylight it offers. The sun rises in the morning, reaches its peak at noon, and descends over the horizon in the evening. It is only with us for a limited number of hours. We should avail ourselves of it while it is here, because when the night comes, we do not have the benefit of it. Spiritually, the one who believes on the Lord Jesus is the one who walks in the light. The one who rejects Him walks in darkness and does not know where he is going. He lacks divine guidance, and stumbles through life. 12:36 Again the Lord Jesus warned His listeners to believe on Him while there was still opportunity. By doing so, they would become sons of light. They would be assured of direction through life and into eternity. After speaking these words, the Lord departed from the people and remained in obscurity for a while.

John 12:37

F. Failure of Most Jews to Believe (12:37-43) 12:37 John paused at this time to express amazement that although the Lord Jesus had done so many mighty signs, yet the people did not believe in Him. As we have mentioned before, their unbelief was not caused by any lack of evidence. The Lord had given the most convincing proofs of His deity, but the people did not want to believe. They wanted a king to rule over them, but they did not want to repent. 12:38 The unbelief of the Jews was in fulfillment of the prophecy in Isa_53:1. The question, Lord, who has believed our report? calls for the answer, Not very many! Since the arm in Scripture speaks of power or strength, the arm of the Lord speaks of the mighty power of God. God’s power is only revealed to those who believe the report concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, because not many accepted the announcement concerning the Messiah, the power of God was not revealed to many. 12:39 When the Lord Jesus presented Himself to the nation of Israel, they rejected Him. Over and over again, He came back to them with the offer of salvation, but they kept saying no to Him. The more men reject the gospel, the harder it becomes for them to receive it. When men close their eyes to the Light, God makes it more difficult for them to see the Light. God causes them to be struck with what is known as judicial blindness, that is, a blindness which is God’s judgment on them for refusing His Son. 12:40 This quotation was from Isa_6:9-10. God blinded the eyes of the people of Israel and hardened their hearts. He did not do this at first, but only after they had closed their eyes and hardened their own hearts. As a result of Israel’s stubborn and willful rejection of the Messiah, they cut themselves off from sight, understanding, conversion, and healing. 12:41 In Isaiah 6 the prophet was described as seeing the glory of God. John now added the explanation that it was Christ’s glory which Isaiah saw, and it was of Christ that he spoke. Thus, this verse is another important link in the chain of evidence that proves Jesus Christ to be God. 12:42 Many of the rulers of the Jews became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. However, they did not dare to share their conviction with the others lest they be excommunicated. We would like to think that these men were genuine believers in the Lord Jesus, but it is doubtful. Where there is true faith, there will be confession of Christ, sooner or later. When Christ is really accepted as Savior, one does not hesitate to make it known, regardless of the consequences. 12:43 It was obvious that these men were more interested in the praise of their fellow men than they were in the praise of God. They thought more of man’s approval than of God’s. Can a person like this really be a genuine believer in Christ? See chapter 5, verse 44, for the answer.

John 12:44

G. The Peril of Unbelief (12:44-50) 12:44 A paraphrase of verse 44 is as follows: The one who believes in Me actually believes not only in Me, but also in My Father who sent Me. Here again the Lord taught His absolute union with God the Father. It was impossible to believe in One without believing in the Other. To believe in Christ is to believe in God the Father. One cannot believe in the Father unless he gives equal honor to the Son. 12:45 In one sense, nobody can see God the Father. He is Spirit, and therefore invisible. But the Lord Jesus had come into the world to let us know what God is like. By this we do not mean that He lets us know what God is like physically, but morally. He has revealed the character of God to us. Therefore, whoever has seen Christ has seen God the Father. 12:46 The illustration of light was apparently one of our Lord’s favorites. Again He referred to Himself as a light coming into the world in order that those who believe in Him should not abide in darkness. Apart from Christ, men are in deepest darkness. They do not have a right understanding of life, death, or eternity. But those who come to Christ in faith no longer grope about for the truth, because they have found the truth in Him. 12:47 The purpose of Christ’s First Coming was not to judge the world but to save. He did not sit in judgment on those who refused to hear His words or believe on Him. This does not mean that He will not condemn these unbelievers in a coming day, but that judgment was not the object of His First Advent. 12:48 The Lord now looked forward to a coming day when those who rejected His words will stand before the judgment bar of God. At that time, the words or teaching of the Lord Jesus will be sufficient to condemn them. 12:49 The things He taught were not things He had made up Himself or learned in the schools of men. Rather, as the obedient Servant and Son, He had only spoken those things which the Father commissioned Him to speak. This is the fact that will condemn men at the last day. The word that Jesus spoke was the Word of God, and men refused to hear it. The Father had told Him not only what to say but what He should speak. There is a difference between the two. The expression what I should say refers to the substance of the message; what I should speak means the very words which the Lord should use in teaching the truth of God. 12:50 Jesus knew the Father had commissioned Him to give everlasting life to those who would believe on Him. Therefore, Christ delivered the message as it was given to Him by the Father. We now come to a distinct break in the narrative. Up to this point the Lord has presented Himself to Israel. Seven distinct signs or miracles are recorded, each one illustrating an experience which will result when a sinner puts his faith in Christ. The signs are:

1. Changing the water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee (2:1-12). This pictures the sinner who is a stranger to divine joy being transformed by the power of Christ.
2. Healing the nobleman’s son (4:46-54). This pictures the sinner as being sick and in need of spiritual health.
3. Healing the cripple at the pool of Bethesda (chap. 5). The poor sinner is without strength, helpless, and unable to do a thing to remedy his own condition. Jesus cures him of his infirmity.
4. Feeding the five thousand (chap. 6). The sinner is without food, hungry, and in need of that which imparts strength. The Lord provides food for his soul so that he never needs to hunger.
5. Calming the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21). The sinner is seen in a place of danger. The Lord rescues him from the storm.
6. Healing a man blind from birth (chap. 9). This man pictures the blindness of the human heart until it is touched by the power of Christ. Man cannot see his own sinfulness, or the beauties of the Savior, until enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
7. Raising Lazarus from the dead (chap. 11). This, of course, reminds us that the sinner is dead in trespasses and in sins and needs life from above. All these signs are intended to prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.