John 12 - The Moody Bible Commentary

12:1-3 It was just six days before the Passover (i.e., Saturday), presumably in the evening after the Sabbath was over. For Bethany, see comment on 11:1. True to her character (v. 2; see comment on 11:20) Martha was serving (diakoneo). The same Greek word will be used shortly of “serving” Christ by following Him (v. 26). Lazarus was reclining at the table with Jesus. The custom was to lie on one’s side on a low couch or on the floor with the head at a low table and feet pointing away (see comment on 13:23). Mary (v. 3) poured a large amount (Gk., litra, a Roman pound, about 12 ounces) of very costly perfume over Jesus’ feet and in a supremely humble act wiped His feet with her hair. In ordinary burials, ointment masked the odor of decomposition. So anointing Jesus’ feet prophesied Jesus’ coming death. Since wiping off the ointment would never be done at an ordinary burial, this act may prophesy His rising incorrupt (note both the anointing and wiping in 11:2).

b Anointing of Jesus’ Feet (12:1-11)

Chapter 12 begins the final week of Jesus’ life and climaxes His public ministry. Mary’s anointing of Jesus is also recorded in Mt 26:6-13 and Mk 14:3-9 (see the comments there). The story in Luke 7:36-50 is not the same event.

12:4-5 Mary’s supreme act of devotion is set in contrast to Judas Iscariot, the one who was consciously intending to betray Jesus. Although debated, this contrast may imply Mary consciously anointed Jesus for His coming death. Judas asked (v. 5) why the perfume was not sold for three hundred denarii, the equivalent of about an average year’s wages, and given to poor people. In the Synoptics, other disciples joined in Judas’s indignation at the expensive waste of perfume (Mt 26:8; Mk 14:4).

12:6 Judas disguised his thievery by implying that he was concerned about the poor. The Eleven trusted Judas with the money box containing the financial contributions of those who gave to Jesus’ ministry (Mt 27:55; Lk 8:3). If the perfume had been sold and entrusted to Judas, he would have had more money from which to pilfer.

12:7-8 Verse 7 could read, “Leave her alone. She has kept it [not so that she may keep it] for the day of my burial” (NET). This act of anointing perfume as burial preparation indicates that Mary was probably one of only a few who realized Christ was soon to die (cf. Mt 26:12; Mk 14:8). Jesus’ words (v. 8) You [pl.] always have the poor with you have been true for 2,000 years. Charitable opportunities will never cease until Christ returns. But you do not always have Me referred to His death just six days away.

12:9 Jesus’ fame could not prevent curiosity seekers. The large crowd of the Jews (in this case the general populace, not the rulers) who came to Jerusalem for the Passover (11:55) also came to Bethany to see Jesus. But they wanted to see the resurrected Lazarus too.

12:10-11 One sin leads to another. Not only did the chief priests plot to kill Jesus, they now planned to put Lazarus to death also. Lazarus stood as a living testimony of Christ’s messianic power, and He had to be eliminated also. Too many Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. “Going away” could mean the Jews were “deserting” the Jewish leaders (HCSB) or that the Jewish people were “going over to” Jesus (NIV).

12:12-13 On the next day identifies the day as the Sunday before the Passover feast and Jesus’ death. The palm branches the crowd waved to greet Jesus entering Jerusalem symbolized the victory or triumph of the Messiah-King. Hosanna! is a Hebrew term meaning “Save [us] now!” but came to be used as an expression of praise. The people cried out words from Ps 118, a psalm sung at the Passover meal. Their shouts that Jesus was the King of Israel (Cf. 1:49) showed that they understood the psalm to speak of the Messiah.

c Presentation of the Messiah-King (12:12-19)

The event described in 12:12-19 is traditionally known as the triumphant entry (Palm Sunday in Christian history) and is found in all four Gospels (Mt 21:1-11; Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:28-40; see the comments there). The attention aroused by the resurrection of Lazarus (chap. 11) intensified the celebration.

12:14-15 Unfortunately, many in the crowd thought of Jesus only as a political deliverer and not a spiritual Savior. Instead of riding in on a horse like a warrior, Jesus chose a donkey—a burden-bearing animal. OT prophecy had identified the Messiah-King (Zch 9:9; see the comments there) as coming to the DAUGHTER OF ZION (v. 15; a common OT idiom for the people of Jerusalem) SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT. The donkey was also a symbol of peace and humility (2Sm 19:26).

12:16 Although well taught by Jesus, the disciples still did not fully understand the OT prophecies about the Messiah. After the resurrection, when Jesus was glorified (Cf. 7:39), the resurrected Lord taught them the messianic significance of the Hebrew Scriptures (see Lk 24:25-27, 44-46). Moreover, afterward the Holy Spirit assisted them to recall the details of Jesus’ life and to match them with the OT prophecies that were written of Him (Jn 16:13-14).

12:17-18 The people who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb are distinguished from the crowd in v. 18. Most of the former group witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus and continued to testify about Jesus and this miracle. The people who went and met Him had not witnessed the miracle but went to meet Jesus because they heard how Jesus had resurrected Lazarus.

12:19 Jesus’ popularity provoked the Pharisees to criticize each other. You … are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him. Though they meant a multitude of Jews were turning to Jesus, John saw an ironic “fulfillment” in the Greeks (likely Gentile God-fearers in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast) who came to see Jesus (v. 20).

12:20-22 Along with the Jews traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem were some Greeks—Gentiles who abandoned paganism in favor of believing in the God of Israel (“God-fearers”). It is unlikely that they submitted to circumcision (as proselytes) because they would then have been fully accepted as Jews and not called Greeks. These Greeks came first to Philip, probably because he had a Greek name and because he was from Bethsaida of Galilee. They may have come from the Gentile territory of the Decapolis, named for its ten Gentile cities, which lay east and south of Galilee. These Greeks wanted to see Jesus. For John, “seeing” Jesus often pictured faith (1:39, 46; 4:29; 8:56; 9:39). Philip told Andrew, and together they came to Jesus. Philip and Andrew were known to bring people to Jesus (Cf. 1:41, 45).

d Gentile Openness and Israel’s Blindness (12:20-50)

The coming of the Greeks (i.e., Gentiles) to Jesus marks the climax of Jesus’ ministry to the Jews, and closes the first major section of the Fourth Gospel (1:19-12:50), which dealt primarily with Jesus’ public ministry of performing miracles and teaching the people. John shortly would concentrate on Jesus’ private ministry to the disciples in the upper room (chaps. 13–17).

12:23-24 Up to this point in the Fourth Gospel, Jesus’ “hour” was said to be future. Now the “hour” is said to have arrived. At the height of Jewish rejection of Jesus, Gentiles were seeking Him. The coming of the Greeks was a sign that the hour of Jesus’ death had now come (Cf. 7:33-35)—possibly because finally, at this point, the door was cracked open a bit for the inclusion of the Gentiles, something not seen clearly in John’s gospel prior to this. For “hour,” see comments on 2:4 and 4:21. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus would be glorified. For truly, truly (v. 24), see comments on 1:51. Jesus likened His death to the paradox that a grain of wheat is unable to produce life unless it first dies (i.e., is buried in the ground as if it had no life). When it “dies,” a great harvest comes from its “death.”

12:25-26 Jesus applied to His followers the principle of dying to self. Anyone who lived life for himself (loves his life) destroyed the potential of his earthly life for eternal reward (cf. Mt 16:24-27; Mk 8:34-38; Lk 9:23-26). But if he hates his life in this world, i.e., rejects self-centered choices, his life will be rewarded in eternity. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me (v. 26) shows that following Christ includes service. Moreover, to serve the Lord Jesus, the disciple must walk closely and attend to Him, so that wherever Jesus leads, there His servant will be also. The rewards God’s servants will receive include commendation and honor from the Father (Mt 25:21, 23), resulting in leadership responsibilities in the world to come (Lk 12:44; 19:17; Rv 2:26, 27).

12:27-28 Much like during His later agony in the garden (Mt 26:38; Mk 14:34), Jesus’ heart became troubled as He contemplated taking on the sin of humanity at the cross. Jesus could have prayed for the Father to save Him from the hour of His death. But that would be contrary to His whole mission in the world. So He prayed instead (v. 28) for the Father to be glorified. This is the last of three occasions in the life of Christ that a voice came out of heaven (Mt 3:17; 17:5) through which the Father expressed His satisfaction with the Son.

12:29-30 Some in the crowd were unprepared to receive revelation and thought only that it had thundered. Others thought of some spiritual reality behind the voice, supposing that an angel had spoken something to Christ. But as Jesus explained, the voice did not come for His sake, but for the sake of the people. He needed no proof that the Father would glorify Him (v. 28). But the Father graciously provided to the crowd further confirmation of Jesus’ authority and Sonship. Yet they missed its significance.

12:31 Beside forgiveness, the cross (implied in the word now) accomplished the judgment of the world and the defeat of Satan, the ruler of this world (Cf. 14:30; 16:11; Eph 2:2; 2Co 4:4). Satan was cast out at the cross. This was not spatial, as if the Devil were driven out of heaven (cf. Rv 12:10). Instead, his power was permanently broken and his destiny was fixed. His complete destruction awaits Christ’s return (Rv 20:10).

12:32-33 The thought that Christ will draw all men to Himself could mean He will draw all groups of people (not necessarily every single person), as opposed to only Jewish people. The reference to the Greeks (v. 20) may support this. But to the contrary, John has shown a universal perspective throughout his book (1:29; 3:16, 17; 4:42; 6:33, 51) and “all [people]” is usually all-inclusive (1:7, 9; 2:24; 5:23, 28; 10:29; 17:2). Everyone who hears the message of the cross will be “drawn” to, or brought closer to, the Savior by that message. But this is no promise of a universal salvation. John and Jesus have made it clear that one must believe (Cf. 3:16). Lifted up (v. 32; Cf. 3:14; 8:28) refers to the method of Jesus’ death (i.e., crucifixion), as is confirmed by the words He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. “Lifted up” also depicts the glory that would come to Christ by His death (12:23; 13:31-32; 17:1).

12:34 The crowd understood the Law to say that when the Messiah came, He was to remain alive forever as their King. The “Law” here probably means the entire OT as in 10:34. Many OT passages indicated that the Messiah’s reign would be forever (2Sm 7:13; Ps 89:35-37; Is 9:7; Dn 7:13-14).

12:35-36 Jesus indirectly answered their question (v. 34) by referring to Himself as the Light that is among them a little while longer. The Jewish people needed to walk while they had the Light so that darkness (spiritual blindness) would not overtake them. Verse 36 defines “walk in the light” as believe in the Light and the sons of Light as believers. That Jesus went away and hid Himself from them (Cf. 10:40; 11:54) anticipates symbolically the blindness that is about to come on Israel for their unbelief (vv. 37-40).

12:37-38 Jesus had performed so many signs, but the majority did not find the miracles convincing. As a result, the people were not believing in Jesus. John cited (v. 38) a well-known messianic passage about God’s Suffering Servant (Is 53:1) as now fulfilled in Christ. The ARM OF THE LORD is a figure of speech for God’s power, displayed in Jesus’ sign-miracles (v. 37). The rhetorical questions of the OT prophecy suggest that only a remnant in Israel would believe the message of the Messiah.

12:39-40 Israel’s refusal to believe (v. 37) finally led to hardening (they could not believe any longer; but see v. 42). Corporately, Israel became BLINDED (v. 40) by God as a judgment for their unbelief (see the comments on Rm 11:11-24), even as all people are blinded by unbelief (1Co 2:14; 2Co 4:4). As with Isaiah’s ministry (Is 6:9-11), Jesus’ teaching resulted in desensitizing the Jewish people rather than leading them to faith. These are hard verses and will challenge one’s theology: in v. 36, Jesus commanded the Jewish people to believe. They were thus morally responsible for believing. Verses 37-38 say they did not believe, committing the sin of unbelief. Verses 39-40 say why they do not believe—because God HARDENED THEIR HEART (see the comments on Rm 9:14-18) so that Israel might not BE CONVERTED from sin and unbelief and God HEAL THEM. The interchange between divine sovereignty over sin (in this case unbelief) and human responsibility is mystifying, but one does not cancel out the other. Both doctrines are equally true, and one passage may well emphasize one over the other. Here John emphasized God’s sovereignty over their unbelief, but in other places their moral responsibility is foremost. For the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human sin, see the comments on Rm 9:22-23, and the comments introducing Rm 9:30.

12:41 When Isaiah saw His glory, and he spoke of Him, the prophet was referring to Yahweh, the God of the OT (Is 6:3). But John revealed that the glory of Yahweh was also the glory of the preincarnate Christ (Cf. 1:1, 14; 8:58; 10:30; 20:28). This is confirmed by the personal pronoun in v. 42, “many … believed in Him” (italics added).

12:42-43 Nevertheless, despite the blindness that came on Israel, many even of the rulers (not just of the crowd) believed in Him. The “rulers” were members of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are two of the rulers identified in John as believing in Jesus as the Messiah (3:1; 19:38-39). In this early stage of their new faith, these rulers were not confessing Christ publicly for fear of being excluded from the synagogue (Cf. 9:22). Their love for human approval (v. 43) subverted their witness. For the theme of the “secret disciple,” see 19:38-40.

12:44-46 In the following verses, Jesus gave the final teaching of His public ministry. Although it is not clear when or where Jesus delivered these words, they are placed here as the culmination of Jesus’ proclamation to Israel. Afterward, the book will shift to the private ministry of the Messiah to His disciples (Jn 13–17). Jesus cried out shows the importance of these teachings. He who believes … does not believe in Me means “does not believe only in Me.” The unity of the Son and the Father is repeated three times in these verses. The second is expressed in v. 45: He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. Jesus is the perfect revelation and expression of God (1:18; 14:9). Jesus (v. 46) as the Light of the world (1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 12:35) and the need to believe in Him are themes John accentuated elsewhere in the book (see Introduction: Purpose and Theme).

12:47-48 Judgment (3:17-19; 5:22-30; 16:8, 11) and the words of Jesus (4:41, 50; 5:24; 6:63, 68; 14:23; 15:7) are also major themes in John. All future judgment has been given to Jesus (5:22, 27). But Jesus’ purpose in coming to the world was not to judge it at that time, but instead to save the world (3:17; 8:15). Final judgment is self-imposed and fixed in this life by a person’s response to the gospel message (3:18; 5:24; 12:48). Therefore, if anyone (v. 48) does not receive Jesus’ sayings, His word will judge him at the last day (the final judgment; Cf. 6:39-40). Jesus’ “words” tie into His identity as the Word (1:1, 14).

12:49-50 Jesus made it clear repeatedly that He did not speak by His own authority or initiative (5:30; 8:28, 42; 12:49; 14:10). So his message about eternal life is the Father’s message as well. His commandment is eternal life (v. 50) means that God commands everyone to believe, and believing leads to eternal life. It is thoroughly appropriate that Jesus’ public ministry in the Fourth Gospel ended with a comment about the need for faith in the Messiah.