Jesus has been doomed to death (John 11:53; John 11:57), and the hour
is at hand when He shall be seized, and the sentence executed. But the
malice of man cannot interfere with the purposes of God. In the midst
of dangers, under sentence of death, the redeemer pursues His path of
glory. Three pictur... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:1. JESUS THEREFORE, SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER, CAME TO
BETHANY, WHERE LAZARUS WAS, WHOM JESUS HAD RAISED FROM THE DEAD. The
word _therefore_ marks a close connection with the preceding chapter,
not however with its concluding words. The 56 th and 57 th verses of
chap. 11, describing how t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:2. THERE THEREFORE THEY MADE HIM A SUPPER; AND MARTHA SERVED:
BUT LAZARUS WAS ONE OF THEM THAT SAT AT THE TABLE WITH HIM. Two points
only are mentioned by John, that a feast was given in honour of Jesus,
and that every member of the family so signally blessed was present.
By whom, when, and... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:3. MARY THEREFORE TOOK A POUND OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD, VERY
PRECIOUS. By ointment we are to understand rather a liquid perfume
than what we commonly know as ointment. The precise description of
ointment or perfume that is here indicated is a question that has been
much controverted. The wo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:4. BUT JUDAS ISCARIOT, ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES, HE THAT was ABOUT
TO BETRAY HIM, SAITH. After the picture of the highest loving homage
to Him whom the Jewish rulers had adjudged to death, the Evangelist
gives the contrasted view of an apostle, who, apostle as he was, would
shortly be seeking to... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:5. WHY WAS NOT THIS OINTMENT SOLD FOR THREE HUNDRED PENCE AND
GIVEN TO THE POOR? Care for the poor is the mask which the murmuring
protest of Judas wears. Thus sin, that it may the better extinguish
the virtue by which at the moment it is offended, is wont to pay
reverence to some other virt... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:6. BUT THIS HE SAID, NOT BECAUSE HE CARED FOR THE POOR; BUT
BECAUSE HE WAS A THIEF, AND, HAVING THE BAG, BARE AWAY WHAT WAS PUT
THEREIN. Matthew mentions the murmuring on the part of _some_ of the
disciples: evidently, therefore, the plausible remonstrance of Judas
led more honest and guilel... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:7. JESUS THEREFORE SAID, LET HER ALONE, THAT FOR THE DAY OF
THE PREPARATION FOR MY BURIAL SHE MAY KEEP IT. The meaning of the word
which in the Authorised Version is rendered ‘burial' is made clear
by chap. John 19:40 (where substantially the same word is used);
‘they took the body of Jesus... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:8. FOR THE POOR ALWAYS YE HAVE WITH YOU, BUT ME YE HAVE NOT
ALWAYS. The duty of giving to the poor is fully recognised: it must
never be forgotten. But there are moments when what may seem lavish
waste upon objects visible only to the eye of faith are to be
commended for the faith that is pr... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:9. THE COMMON PEOPLE OF THE JEWS THEREFORE LEARNED THAT HE WAS
THERE: AND THEY CAME, NOT FOR JESUS' SAKE ONLY, BUT THAT THEY MIGHT
SEE LAZARUS ALSO, WHOM HE HAD RAISED FROM THE DEAD. Faith and unbelief
have revealed them SELVES IN the case of the friends and the enemies
of Jesus, and especia... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:10-11. BUT THE CHIEF PRIESTS CONSULTED THAT THEY MIGHT PUT
LAZARUS ALSO TO DEATH; BECAUSE THAT BY REASON OF HIM MANY OF THE JEWS
WENT AWAY, AND BELIEVED IN JESUS. When the rulers found that even
their own adherents were deserting them (comp. chap. John 11:48),
their rage knew no bounds. Laza... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:12. THE NEXT DAY, that is, the day following the feast in
Bethany (see on John 12:2), and therefore our Sunday; the day, it may
be observed, fixed in the tradition of the Church for the triumphal
entry, tradition thus confirming the exegesis of the text, and finding
in the latter support for... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:13. TOOK THE BRANCHES OF THE PALM TREES. The word rendered
‘branches' occurs only here in the New Testament. It is the top of a
palm tree where the fruit is produced. We are to understand by the
word, therefore, not branches only, but fruit-bearing branches, those
from which in due season th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:14-15. AND JESUS, WHEN HE HAD FOUND A YOUNG ASS, SAT THEREON:
AS IT IS WRITTEN, FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF SION, BEHOLD, THY KING COMETH,
SITTING ON AN ASS'S COLT. Jesus ‘found' the ass, having taken means
to find it (comp. Matthew 21:2; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:30; comp. also
chap. John 1:43). It is a... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:16. THESE THINGS UNDERSTOOD NOT HIS DISCIPLES AT THE FIRST.
What was it that the disciples did not understand at the time? The
true application of the prophecy of Zechariah now pointed out?
Certainly not. It was the events themselves now occurring that were
dark to them. They were not seen i... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:17-18. THE MULTITUDE THEREFORE THAT WAS WITH HIM WHEN HE
CALLED LAZARUS OUT OF THE TOMB AND RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, BARE
WITNESS. FOR THIS CAUSE ALSO THE MULTITUDE WENT TO MEET HIM, BECAUSE
THEY HEARD THAT HE HAD DONE THIS SIGN. These verses are not a
returning to the story after a digress... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:19. THE PHARISEES THEREFORE SAID AMONG THEMSELVES, BEHOLD HOW
THAT YE PREVAIL NOTHING. LO, THE WORLD IS GONE AWAY AFTER HIM. The
exaggeration of their words illustrates the alarm and hopelessness of
the Pharisees. The impression made is too great to permit them to look
at the facts only as t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:20. AND THERE WERE SOME GREEKS FROM AMONG THEM THAT CAME UP TO
WORSHIP AT THE FEAST. A third illustration of the homage paid to
Jesus. The account is given by John alone, and the time is left by him
indeterminate. From John 12:36 we may perhaps infer that it was
considerably later in the wee... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:21. THESE CAME THEREFORE TO PHILIP, WHICH WAS OF BETHSAIDA OF
GALILEE, AND ASKED HIM SAYING, SIR, WE WOULD SEE JESUS. To suppose
that their object is to ask Jesus to institute a mission to the
Gentiles, or to come to them Himself, is to misapprehend the nature of
the situation. It is their o... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:22. PHILIP COMETH AND TELLETH ANDREW: ANDREW COMETH, AND
PHILIP, AND THEY TELL JESUS. Why these Greeks should particularly
address themselves to Philip; why Philip should be here described as
‘from Bethsaida of Galilee;' why Philip should tell Andrew; and why
Andrew, as appears from the pecu... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:23. AND JESUS ANSWERETH THEM, SAYING; THE HOUR IS COME, THAT
THE SON OF MAN SHOULD BE GLORIFIED. The glorification here spoken of
must be that of chap. John 13:31-32, and John 17:1; John 17:5, the
latter of which also follows a moment designated exactly as the
present one, ‘The hour is come.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:24. VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU. There is a general
principle lying at the root of the glorification of the ‘ _Son of
man_,' This is now to be explained and illustrated.
EXCEPT THE CORN OF WHEAT FALL INTO THE GROUND AND DIE, IT ABIDETH
ITSELF ALONE; BUT IF IT DIE, IT BRINGETH FORTH MUCH... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:25. HE THAT LOVETH HIS SOUL LOSETH IT; AND HE THAT HATETH HIS
SOUL IN THIS WORLD SHALL KEEP IT UNTO LIFE ETERNAL. The law of the
physical world just spoken of illustrates the law of the moral and
spiritual world. ‘Soul' is here the personality, the self, in man:
yet not the self in the sense... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:26. IF ANY ONE SERVE ME, LET HIM FOLLOW ME. The words apply
the law just spoken of as the law of nature and of man, and therefore
also as the law of Jesus, to every individual. The ‘following' is
neither general nor outward, but specific and inward, a following in
that path of suffering and... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:27. NOW IS MY SOUL TROUBLED. There is no want of connection
between these words and the immediately preceding verses. The
connection, on the contrary, is of the closest kind. Because this is
the moment of highest exaltation in the contemplation of the universal
triumph symbolized in the comi... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:28. FATHER, GLORIFY THY NAME. ‘Let Thy glory shine forth in
Thy name, in Thy character, as Father and in all that is involved in
establishing Thy fatherly relation to men.'
THERE CAME THEREFORE A VOICE OUT OF HEAVEN, SAYING, I HAVE BOTH
GLORIFIED IT, AND WILL GLORIFY IT AGAIN. The answer is... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:29. THE MULTITUDE THEREFORE, THAT STOOD BY, AND HEARD IT, SAID
THAT IT HAD THUNDERED: OTHERS SAID, AN ANGEL HATH SPOKEN TO HIM. That
a real voice had been heard is obvious from the fact that the words
are actually given by the Evangelist in John 12:28, and that some at
least of the multitude... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:30. JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID, NOT FOR MY SAKE HATH THIS VOICE
COME, BUT FOR YOUR SAKES. He needed not the voice, for he knew that He
was one with the Father, and that He was carrying out the Father's
will. But they might not comprehend His sufferings, the agony of soul
they now beheld, the de... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:31. NOW IS THERE JUDGMENT OF THIS WORLD. The ‘now' is the
‘now' of John 12:27, the ‘hour' of John 12:23; and the primary
thought to be taken into it is that of the suffering and death in the
midst of which Jesus stood, and which in the purpose of God, and to
the eye of faith, were so differe... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:32-33. AND I, IF I BE LIFTED ON HIGH OUT OF THE EARTH, WILL
DRAW ALL MEN UNTO MYSELF. BUT THIS HE SAID, SIGNIFYING BY WHAT MANNER
OF DEATH HE SHOULD DIE. ‘Myself' is used in emphatic contrast with,
and opposition to, the ‘prince of this world.' To Himself Jesus will
‘draw' men; and any diffi... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:34. THE MULTITUDE THEREFORE ANSWERED HIM, WE HAVE HEARD OUT OF
THE LAW THAT THE CHRIST ABIDETH FOR EVER: AND HOW SAYEST THOU, THE SON
OF MAN MUST BE LIFTED ON HIGH? The ‘multitude,' who are Jews not
Greeks, have rightly understood the words of Jesus in John 12:32 to
mean a lifting on high by... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:35. JESUS THEREFORE SAID UNTO THEM, YET A LITTLE WHILE IS THE
LIGHT AMONG YOU. Not so much words of pity and tenderness in order to
clear away the doubts of a sincere desire to learn, as words of solemn
warning that they had a day of grace granted them, but that it was now
drawing to a close... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:36. AS YE HAVE THE LIGHT, BELIEVE IN THE LIGHT. Nay, not only
let them come to the light, but let them take a higher step and
‘believe in' the light, that is, commit in trust their whole being
to the light.
THAT YE MAY BECOME SONS OF LIGHT, light your father, the element of
your being, and... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:37. BUT THOUGH HE HAD DONE SO MANY SIGNS BEFORE THEM, THEY
BELIEVED NOT IN HIM. The words of chap. John 1:10-11 seem to echo in
our cars, ‘He was in the world, and the world came into being
through Him, and the world knew Him not He came unto His own home, and
His own accepted Him not.' All... [ Continue Reading ]
The public ministry of Jesus has been brought to a close, and the
moment has been marked by words the melancholy pathos of which can
hardly be mistaken, ‘Having gone away, He was hidden from then'
(John 12:36). These words, applied in the first instance to the
outward circumstances of the Saviour, r... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:38. THAT THE WORD OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET MIGHT BE FULFILLED,
WHICH HE SAID, LORD, WHO BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM WAS THE ARM
OF THE LORD REVEALED. I The quotation is from Isaiah 53:1; and one or
two expressions in it require notice before we endeavour to ascertain
its exact force and me... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:39-40 . FOR THIS CAUSE THEY COULD NOT BELIEVE, BECAUSE ISAIAH
SAID AGAIN, HE HATH BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART,
THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR
HEART, AND BE TURNED, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM. ‘For this cause' does
not refer so much to the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:41. THESE THINGS SAID ISAIAH, BECAUSE HE SAW HIS GLORY; AND HE
SPAKE CONCERNING HIM. When we remember that the chapter of Isaiah from
which the quotation of John 12:39-40 is taken is that in which the
prophet sees the glory of the Lord, it may appear at first sight as if
it were only the glo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:42. NEVERTHELESS, EVEN FROM AMONG THE RULERS MANY BELIEVED IN
HIM. The language which John has used is general: as a nation Israel
has rejected Jesus. But His mission has not been without effect on
many individuals (comp. chaps. John 1:11-12; John 3:32-33): even from
among the members of the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:43. BECAUSE THEY LOVED THE GLORY OF MEN MORE THAN THE GLORY OF
GOD. It may seem at first sight as if these words were inconsistent
with those of chap. John 5:44, and the apparent inconsistency is not
to be removed either by giving to the word translated ‘glory' its
etymological signification... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:44. BUT JESUS CRIED AND SAID. In what sense are we to
understand the cry and utterance about to be mentioned? Was it public
or private? Or is it strictly speaking no utterance of Jesus at all,
but only a summary by the Evangelist himself of the main points of
that teaching of Jesus which he... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:45. AND HE THAT BEHOLDETH ME, BEHOLDETH HIM THAT SENT ME. In
chap. John 6:40 (see note) we have the same combination as in these
verses: ‘He that beholdeth the Son and believeth in Him.' A little
later the same thought finds fuller expression in words addressed to
disciples (chap. John 14:9)... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:46. AS LIGHT I HAVE COME INTO THE WORLD, THAT EVERY ONE THAT
BELIEVETH IN ME MAY NOT ABIDE IN THE DARKNESS. Here we have the
substance of the Saviour's last words to the multitude (John 12:35-36)
and the earlier sayings of chap. 2 John 1:9; 2 John 1:9:5; but nowhere
has it been as clearly ta... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:47. AND IF ANY ONE SHALL HAVE HEARD MY SAYINGS AND HAVE
GUARDED THEM NOT. It is necessary here to introduce an unusual word in
the translation. To ‘keep' the sayings or words of Jesus is a phrase
which often meets us in this Gospel (chap. John 8:51, etc.): ‘guard'
is an un common word with t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:48. HE THAT REJECTETH ME, AND RECEIVETH NOT MY SAYINGS, HATH
ONE THAT JUDGETH HIM: THE WORD THAT I SPAKE, THE SAME SHALL JUDGE him
IN THE LAST DAY. From the ‘forgetful hearer' whose carelessness or
indifference has let slip the words he should have ‘guarded,' Jesus
passes to the man who sets... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:49. BECAUSE I SPAKE NOT OF MYSELF; BUT THE FATHER WHICH SENT
ME, HE HATH GIVEN ME A COMMANDMENT, WHAT I SHOULD SAY, AND WHAT I
SHOULD SPEAK. With the first words compare chap. John 3:34; John 5:19;
John 7:16-17; John 8:28; John 14:24. Of receiving a ‘commandment'
from the Father Jesus has sp... [ Continue Reading ]
John 12:50. AND I KNOW THAT HIS COMMANDMENT IS ETERNAL LIFE:
WHATSOEVER I SPEAK THEREFORE, EVEN AS THE FATHER HATH SAID UNTO ME, SO
I SPEAK. The substance of the Divine commandment is contained in the
word of Jesus, and His word gives life eternal, His word is life
(chap. John 5:24; John 6:63; John... [ Continue Reading ]