John 12 - CSB Tony Evans Study Bible

12:4-6 Three hundred denarii was about a year’s wages (12:5). Adding such a sum to the piggy bank would’ve meant more cash in Judas’s pocket.

12:7 Jesus’s burial was only a few days away.

12:8 Providing for the poor is a biblical mandate for God’s people (see Lev 19:9-10; Prov 19:17; 2 Cor 9:7; Eph 4:28). (Of course, the Bible is talking about those who are legitimately poor, not those who are poor through their own laziness; see 2 Thess 3:10.) But dealing with poverty is an unending reality in this sinful, fallen world. And this reality was not to prevent Jesus’s followers from honoring their long-awaited Lord and Messiah who would only be with them a short while longer.

12:9-11 When they learned that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, crowds of people wanted to get a glimpse of the ex-corpse (12:9). Because of Jesus’s miraculous deed, many of the Jews were deserting the Jewish religious leaders and believing in Jesus (12:11). How did the chief priests respond to this? They decided to kill Lazarus too (12:10)! Their wickedness knew no bounds.

12:13 Hosanna is Hebrew for “save us”—it’s a cry of deliverance. By applying Psalm 118:25-26 to Jesus and identifying him as their King, they were hailing Jesus as the Messiah who would deliver them from Roman domination.

12:14-16 Jesus fulfilled Scripture and entered Jerusalem in exactly the manner foretold in Zechariah 9:9. Fulfilled prophecies like this one testify to the divine inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. The many Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah were written hundreds of years before his birth, yet they were fulfilled in his life accurately and in detail. This should encourage all believers to trust that the Bible is indeed the authoritative Word of God.

12:19 The Gospels make clear that the religious leaders in Jerusalem were motivated in their hatred of Jesus by jealousy (see Matt 27:18; Mark 15:10).

12:20-21 These Greeks were Gentile proselytes who worshiped the God of Israel (12:20). Earlier Jesus had said, “I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also” (10:16). By “other sheep” he meant Gentiles. Jesus came to be the Savior of the world (see 3:16). And now the world was starting to come to him, saying, We want . . . Jesus (12:21).

12:23 We’ve seen repeatedly in John’s Gospel that it was not Jesus’s time or that his hour had not yet come (see 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). Jesus operated on a divine clock. But when his disciples told him that these Greeks wanted to see him, Jesus finally said, “It’s time”—the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The Son’s glorification involves his death, resurrection, and ascension back to the Father.

12:24 In the same way that a single grain produces much wheat, Jesus’s death would yield much spiritual fruit—salvation and eternal life for all who trust in him.

12:25 To hate your life in this world means not living in a self-centered way but being a servant of others. The one who lives a life of service in the name of the Lord Jesus will be rewarded in this life and in the life to come.

12:27 Jesus’s soul was troubled because he knew the suffering that would be required. He would die for the sins of the world, enduring separation from his Father. Nevertheless, his grief didn’t cause him to flee from his task. To suffer and die for sinners is why [Jesus] came.

12:28 Throughout the Son’s ministry, the Father had been glorified through the miraculous signs. But the ultimate glorification was coming in the cross and resurrection.

12:30 The Father validated the Son so that they might believe.

12:31 Adam and Eve were given the responsibility to rule the world on God’s behalf. Instead, they chose to sin against God and thereby granted rule to Satan (see 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 1 John 5:19). So the Son of God became a man to defeat the devil. The cross guarantees the enemy’s defeat because Satan achieves victory through accusing sinners. But through the cross, Jesus Christ would deal with sin once and for all (see Heb 7:26-27; 9:12; 10:10).

12:32-33 When Jesus spoke of being lifted up (12:32), he was speaking about the kind of death he was about to die—crucifixion (12:33). The message of the cross draws people to the Savior. That’s why we are to share the gospel with everyone in the world.

12:35 Jesus himself is the light (see 1:9; 8:12). If you reject him, your life will consist of darkness. This, in fact, is why we live in such a dark and sin-scarred world.

12:36 To believe in the light is to trust in Jesus Christ. Do this and God will grant you understanding so that you may walk in his ways.

12:40 When Pharaoh repeatedly and willfully hardened his heart against God, the Lord eventually cooperated with Pharaoh and hardened his heart further (see Exod 8:32; 9:12). If a person persists in pursuing darkness, eventually God will confirm his desire.

12:43 May that never be said of us.

12:44-45 To reject Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is to reject the Father who sent him. And the opposite is also true: The one who believes in [him] believes in the one who sent [him] (12:44). Salvation is a package deal. You cannot say you believe in God while simultaneously rejecting Jesus. We only truly come to God through the Son.

12:47 Jesus powerfully summarizes why he came into the world. He did not come to judge the world but to save it.