John 12 - Introduction

The Judgment

We now enter upon the third section of the first main division of this Gospel. It may be useful to state the divisions once more. The Prologue, John 1:1-18; The Ministry, John 1:19 to John 12:50, thus divided (1) The Testimony, John 1:19 to John 2:11; (2) The Work, John 2:13 to John 11:57; (3) The judgment, 12. This third section, which now lies before us, may be subdivided thus

(α) the Judgment of men, John 12:1-36;

(β) the Judgment of the Evangelist, John 12:37-43;

(γ) the Judgment of Christ, John 12:44-50.

We must be content to leave the precise method of harmonizing this later portion of S. John's narrative with that of the Synoptists in uncertainty. "It is best to hold fast to the general scheme given by S. John, and to treat the Synoptic sections, especially those in S. Luke (Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:35), as fragments of a great picture which are more or less fortuitously thrown together, and are no longer capable of an exact reconstruction." S. p. 191.