John 12

CHAPTER 12THEME: Witness of Jew and Gentile to Jesus; Jesus comes to Bethany for supper; Jesus comes to Jerusalemtearful entry; Jesus comes to Greeks; Jesus comes to His hour; Jesus comes to end of His public ministry

John 12:1

WITNESS OF JEW AND GENTILE TO JESUSAs we come to this twelfth chapter, we are going with Jesus to make a visit to a home, the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha of Bethany. In this Gospel of John, He opened His public ministry at a wedding in Cana of Galilee; He closes His public ministry by a visit to this home. Our Lord put an emphasis upon the home, the Christian home, the godly home. Marriage has the blessing of God upon it. So we come now to this lovely picture. JESUS COMES TO BETHANY FOR SUPPERIn Jerusalem they were plotting and planning His death but, here in Bethany, His friends plan a dinner party for Him. Right in the shadow of the Cross, those who loved Him made Him a dinner. We want to study the whole picture of this lovely dinner. Lazarus, the man who has been raised from the dead was in fellowship with Christ. Jesus had said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (Joh_11:25). This was true of Lazarus in a physical sense. He had been raised from the dead. It is true of you and of me in a spiritual sense. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We had no knowledge of Him nor did we have any fellowship with Him. So for us He said, “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (Joh_11:26). What a picture we have here! There is Lazarus alive from the dead and in fellowship with Christ. Then we see Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet, growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Then, thirdly, we see Martha serving, putting on a meal. That is her gift and she is exercising it. These are the three essentials in the church today: new life in Christ, worship and adoration, and service. This home at Bethany should be a picture of your church and mine. All this is in the home where Jesus is with His own. As you know, the church began in the home. It may end in the home. Many of our churches are turning away from God and the things of God. They are no longer places of delightful fellowship and blessing. So perhaps the church will return to homes where true fellowship with Christ will be found. Then we notice the devotion and adoration, the unutterable attachment and deep affection of this woman, Mary. She anointed the feet of Jesus with costly spikenard and wiped them with her hair. Some people think this is the same story as the harlot who washed Jesus’ feet. I think you will have trouble with Mary someday if you think that. She is an altogether different person. The only thing that is the same in both cases is that the hair was used to wipe His feet. The odor of the ointment filled the house. Delightful!

John 12:4

Judas Iscariot is revealing his true nature. He is the treasurer of the group. He doesn’t care for the poor; he cares for himselfhe is a thief. He was taking some money out on the sly. He wants Mary’s money given to the poor so he can handle it and take out his percentage. May I say to you today, the real test of a Christian, the hard-coin test, is the way he handles his finances. The real test of a church or a Christian organization is the way it handles its finances. Is the money used for the cause for which it was given, or is it shifted and used in some other way? Three hundred pence was the annual wage of a laboring man of that day. Because the spikenard was too costly for Mary to use on herself, she poured it all out on Jesus. Friend, if we would learn to sit at His feet, we would give more to Him, too. Mary had saved this precious ointment in an alabaster box. It came out of India, where the herbs grow high in the Himalayas, and was very expensive. Do you know why she had bought it and saved it? So that when she died it could be used on her body! Now she pours it all out on Him. This is absolute affection, adoration, and attachment to His Person. The odor of that ointment filled the house, and it still fills the world today.

John 12:7

This is a really remarkable incident. The Lord here reveals that this woman anoints Him to let Him know that she enters into His death. She senses that He is to die for the sins of the world and she anoints Him ahead of time. Matthew recorded that Jesus said that wherever the gospel would be preached, this incident would be told. This is true. Even today the wonderful fragrance of this thing that she did fills the world. What a contrast we find here between her and Judas Iscariot. Here is where light and darkness are coming together. Judas is the darkness and Mary is the light. There is an application for us today. Jesus says that the poor are always with us and that He will not always be with us. He is not contradicting His statement that He is with us always, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. What He is saying here is that we can always be of service to the poorbut they are always with usbut that our service should not be a substitute for sitting at His feet. There comes a day when it is too late to absorb all He has for us. I get letters saying, “Dr. McGee, I never had Bible teaching; if only I had had Bible teaching when I was young.” My friend, learn about Him now. Do not substitute activity for sitting at His feet.

John 12:9

These people are curiosity seekers. The chief priests wanted to get Lazarus out of the way. I personally believe that the people came out of curiosity to see Lazarus rather than to see Jesus and that the faith described here is much like the faith exhibited when Jesus first came up to Jerusalem. Remember that they believed on Him, but He would not commit Himself to them. It was a belief based on curiosity.

John 12:12

JESUS COMES TO JERUSALEMTEARFUL ENTRYNotice how John gears this One who came out of eternity into the calendar of the world. It is the time before the Feast of the Passover, and the crowd is expectant. Remember that in Matthew’s record Jesus was born and sought by the wise men who called Him the King of the Jews. Now, at the end of His ministry, He is again presented as the King of the Jews.

John 12:13

This is the public offer of Himself as their King and the rulers, of course, reject it. He is no longer mixing among the people and teaching them. That had already ceased. This is now an act which He performs as a fulfillment of prophecy. He is offering Himself to the nation. This is not really a triumphal entry. He came in through the sheep gate, quietly, during His public ministry. All through His public ministry, He tended to withdraw from the crowds. Now, when His public ministry is over, He does the most public thing He has ever done. He steps out publicly and presents Himself. He does this to fulfill prophecy. “As it is written.” He rides into Jerusalem to fulfill the Word of God and to fulfill the will of God. John gives us a very brief account of this entry of Jesus, but he does say that if fulfills the prophecy of Zec_9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Jesus presents Himself publicly to Jerusalem as the Messiah. They acclaim Him with “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” What will Israel do with their King? They will crucify Him.

John 12:16

John is writing this many years later, and he admits that he didn’t understand what Jesus was doing that day. Probably he asked James and Peter and Andrew, and they didn’t understand either. Mary was the only one who had entered into His death. The others didn’t understand until after His death and resurrection. “When Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him.”

John 12:17

Here is a situation loaded with dynamite. The crowd is enthusiastic because of His miracle; their interest is centered on Lazarus and not on the person of Christ. The Pharisees are out to kill Him. Jerusalem is crowded with people for the feast. Obviously, Jesus Christ could have had the crown without first going to the Cross. However, if He had gone directly to the crown, if He were the ruler today, you and I would never have been saved. He had to go to the Cross to save you and me. Although this was a brief moment of triumph before His death, it was not His triumphal entry. In the future when He enters as Lord of lords and King of kings, that will be His triumphal entry. My favorite painting of the Crucifixion shows three empty crosses. The bodies of the crucified have been taken down from the crosses and lie in the tombs. In the background is a little donkey eating on a palm frond. What a message! The discarded palm branch and the Cross are the tokens of His so-called triumphal entry. Where is the crowd that cried, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord”? They may be the same crowd that on the next day shouted, “Crucify Him!” Now they are gone, and He is in the tomb. You see, He offered Himself to them publicly as their King, but He was rejected.

John 12:20

JESUS COMES TO GREEKSApparently Jesus has gone into the temple. Since there is a court for the women and a court for the Gentiles, these Greeks cannot go in where Jesus is. Philip has a Greek name and may have spoken Greek, which is probably the reason they came to him. Philip is a modest and retiring fellow and he goes to Andrew for help. Together they bring the Greeks to Jesus.

John 12:23

When our Lord says “verily,” He is about to say something very important to hear. And when He says, “verily, verily,” it is of supreme importance.

John 12:25

“Jesus answered them"I think “them” includes both the disciples and the Greeks. It seems that Jesus went out to speak to them. I do not believe He would refuse to come to anyone who was asking for Him. The Greeks want to see Jesus because they had heard about Him, probably about His miracles, and especially His raising of Lazarus from the dead. Now He directs the attention of the Greeks to His Cross. He is in the shadow of the Cross. He tells them, “The hour is come.” What hour? The hour of crisis for which He came out of eternity and toward which His entire life has moved. You remember that He had said to His mother early in His ministry, “mine hour is not yet come” (Joh_2:4). Now His hour is come. He is going to the Cross. His conception of the Cross was far different from that held by the Roman populace. To them it was an instrument of infamy and disgrace and shame. It was the hangman’s noose, the electric chair, and the gas chamber. He became obedient to death, even the death of the Cross. Why? “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal_3:13). Then on the third day He was raised from the dead and crowned with glory and honor “…for the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb_12:2).

The glory of God is seen in that Cross. That is why He could say that the time had come for Him to be glorified. Friend, He was glorified when He died for you and me. He was glorified when He came forth from that tomb. Mercy and pardon and forgiveness are found at that Cross. Then our Lord states a great principle using the physical analogy of a grain of wheat. Although a grain of wheat in the ground dies, it produces the blade, the ear, and the harvest. It must die to bring forth fruit. Many people think they have seen Jesus because they have read the Gospels and they have studied His life. They see the historical Jesus, but they have never seen Jesus until they comprehend His death and His resurrection. He died a redemptive death. He gave His life in death so that we might have life. You haven’t seen Jesus until you have seen that He is the One who died for you on the Cross. He is the One who died for the sins of the world. This seems a strange thing to be saying to the Greeks who had come to see Him. He is telling them that there is more than just seeing Him physically. The important thing for them to see is that He is going to die. He is going to be put into the ground. When that grain of wheat died, it produced life. He died, but He rose again. That is so important to see. He goes on to explain a great axiom to the Greeks. There are two kinds of life and they are put in contrast here. There is what is known as the psychological life, the life of the psyche, life that enjoys the things of this world and finds satisfaction in the gratification of the senses. It is the kind of life that really whoops it up down here. “He that loveth his life” refers to this physical, natural life that we have. You can really live it up, drink it up, take drugs, paint the town red, but do you know what is going to happen? One day you are going to die. You’ll lose it. I’m sorry, but you will lose it, friend. I heard of a sensational preacher down in Texas who was asked to preach at the funeral of a rich man of the town who had been a church member but had broken every law of God and man and was living in sin and in drunkenness. This was in the oil section of Texas and a lot of rich people, the fast crowd, the jet set, came to the funeral. Now this preacher did something I wouldn’t do, but maybe I should do it, although I never have done it. He preached a gospel message! Then he stepped down to the casket and he preached on what sin will do for an individual and that it will finally send a man to hell. I tell you, the folks were getting uneasy.

Then when he invited them to view the remains, he said, “His life is past; he lived it up; he is through. He despised God and he turned his back on Jesus Christ.” Then he looked at that crowd and said, “This is the way each one of you is going to end up unless you turn to Jesus Christ.” Now, friend, that is making it very plainmaybe a little too plain. We do need to tell it like it is. This is what our Lord says. “He that loveth his life shall lose it.” That is, if you live it up down here, you’ll lose it. Then our Lord makes a contrast. “He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” This means that if you do not live for this world or for the things of this world, you keep your life unto life eternal. And eternal life comes from what? It comes through the death of that grain of wheat that fell onto the ground and rose again, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the way you can save your lifethe only way you can save it.

John 12:26

He tells them to follow Him, and He is on His way to the Cross. He promises that where He is, His servants will also be. “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”

John 12:27

JESUS COMES TO HIS HOURThere is a suffering that is connected with the Cross of Christ that you and I cannot comprehend. He didn’t suffer at the hands of men only. That was bad enough, but He suffered beyond that. Your sin and my sin were put upon Him. He was “…a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief …” (Isa_53:3) there on the Cross. He bore the sin of the world, not His own sin. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows …” (Isa_53:4).

Our sin was put upon Him. He was made sin for usnot in some academic mannerHe actually was made sin for us. “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief …[He made] his soul an offering for sin” (Isa_53:10). Although He was holy and undefiled and separate from sinners, He was made sin for you and for me. This involved a suffering that you and I cannot comprehend. But none of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed; Or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through Ere He found His sheep that was lost. “The Ninety and Nine” Elizabeth C. Clephane His soul stood in horror; He was aghast before that Cross. Yet He had come into the world for the purpose of going to the Cross and enduring the shame of it. Also there was glory in the Cross, friend. We ought to think more about it and thank Him more. Paul says, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal_6:14). Do you see how this ties in with the two preceding verses? Our Lord is facing the supreme sacrificeshortly He will give His life as a ransom for the human family. And He has put this challenge to those who are following Him: “He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me.” You can tell where a person is going by the way that person is living. Someone may say, “I thought we are saved by faithyou always emphasize faith rather than works.” That’s right. I surely do.

If you are going to be saved, you will have to put your trust in Him”…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …" (Act_16:31). But I want to say that if you truly trust Him, it is going to change your life. If it doesn’t change your life, then you aren’t really trusting Him. When I see a Christian who mortgages every dime he has just to own every gadget to live in luxury down here, I wonder how he can be waiting for the Lord to come, and hoping for it with real anticipation. “He that loveth his life shall lose it.” Notice also how this ties in with His saying, “Where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” It is not a question of the Lord going with us, but of our being where the Lord is. One man said to me, “Well, you know, I’m a member of a liberal church, but I take the Lord with me.” My friend, I have news for you. The Lord doesn’t go to church there. The Lord is not going to go your way. You are to go where the Lord is. Our salvation is not cheap. This “hour” is repulsive to our Lord. If it were possible, He would want the Father to spare Him from the horror of being made sin, although He knows this is the reason He came into the world. Then He says, “Father, glorify thy name.”

John 12:28

His supreme desire is the glory of God. What a lesson that is for us! We tend to whimper and cry and complain and ask God why He lets unpleasant things happen to us. With Christ, we should learn to say, “Father, through this suffering and through this pain, glorify Thyself.” Heaven couldn’t remain silent but had to respond. God answered audibly. Have you noticed that God spoke to Him from out of heaven on three occasions: at the beginning, midway, and at the end of His ministry? Have you noticed that all three occasions are related to the death of Christ? The first was at His baptism when He was identifying Himself with sinful humanity. The second time was at His transfiguration when Elijah, Moses, and the Lord Jesus were talking about His decease which He should accomplish in Jerusalem (see Luk_9:30-31). This third time, at the conclusion of His ministry, the Lord is talking about His death because His hour has come.

John 12:29

Now which group was right? Neither was right. It wasn’t an angel; it was the Father speaking to Him. One group did believe it was supernatural; they knew it was articulate. They knew about the ministry of angels in the Old Testament and understood that God’s messages for man generally came through “the angel of the Lord.” They did not, however, understand that “the angel of the Lord” was the pre-incarnate Christ. They did acknowledge that the voice from heaven brought a message from God. The other group said it thundered. They gave it a natural explanation. That is the same reaction many people still have today. They say God’s Word is full of errors and the miracles recorded can’t be accurate. Because they don’t believe in them, they say it just “thundered.” Some folk who were attending a Bible class where they were listening to my tapes on Revelation were told by a liberal preacher that nobody could understand the Book of Revelation, that it didn’t make sense. He revealed his own ignorance because the Book of Revelation is a very logical book and probably the most systematic book in the Bible. But, you see, to him it was thunder. It was just noise. The Word of God says that His birth was supernatural. His life was filled with miracles, and His death was like a grain of wheat. He didn’t stay in the ground, friend; He came up just like the grain of wheat. The liberal who said, “The bones of Jesus sleep somewhere beneath Syrian skies” has a problem on his hands. Where are the bones? Christ’s resurrection was not spiritual but actual. It was His body that was raisedHis bones just don’t happen to be anywhere on earth. Yet, this is the same old gag that has been used down through the years, “it thundered.” It is no mark of intelligence to say that. We need spiritual perception and appreciation to hear and to know and to see the Word of God. We need to recognize that the Spirit of God must enlighten us when we come to the Word of God.

John 12:31

Christ’s death on the Cross was the judgment of the world and of the prince of this world. That is one of the things the Holy Spirit will bear witness to, according to Joh_16:7-11. We live in a world that is judged. He came to die a judgment death for the sins of the world. If the world will not accept this, the world is judged. How is Satan, the prince of this world, cast out? I believe it is done gradually. When Christ died on the Cross, I am convinced that Satan did not understand what was happening. What he thought would be a defeat turned out to be a victory. He lost the battle at the Cross which is the reason the Lord can say that the prince of this world is cast out. Then in Rev_12:10 we are told that Satan will be cast out of heaven, which is the second stage. Then in Rev_20:3, he will be cast into the bottomless pit, and in Rev_20:10, he will be cast into the lake of fire. That is the last stage of his defeat. At the Cross, his doom was sealed. The Cross marks the victory of Christ and the defeat of Satan. Jesus puts the emphasis on His redemptive death. His death will draw all men unto Him. Those who believe will be saved. Those who reject Him will be lost. Consider how important it is to lift up Jesus before men, to put the emphasis on His redemptive death. There are multitudes passing by the church today who are not hearing the Word. Think of the laborers, the students, the men in the uniform of our country, the white-collar group, the rich. They do not hear. Jesus, the crucified Lord, is not being lifted up in the churches today. Friend, the gospel needs to be preached, and the gospel is about a Christ who was crucified.

John 12:34

The crowd is really confused. They say, “When Christ comes, He will reign forever, and now You say that You are not abiding but are going to die.” They just did not understand. What was wrong?

John 12:35

Jesus now withdraws and this ends His public ministry. He will never appear publicly again until He comes to this earth to establish His Kingdom.

John 12:37

JESUS COMES TO THE END OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRYNow we learn what was wrong. Although they were standing in the presence of the Light of the World, they would not open their eyes. The prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled. This quotes the great redemptive chapter of Isaiah 53 which speaks of the death of Christ. Christ’s death was presented to them, and they rejected Him. They were blinded to the light which was being presented to them.

They were like a man who wakes up in the morning and says to himself, “Today I won’t see and I will keep my eyes closed all day.” He is just as blind as the man who cannot see. The next quotation is from Isaiah, chapter 6. You may point out that it says, “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart.” That is very true, but this must be taken in its context. Jesus has presented Himself to them as the Messiah and as their King. They have rejected Jesus personally. Now He rejects them!

Listen to me carefully. Because they would not accept Him, there came the day when they could not accept Him. My friend, the most dangerous thing in the world is to hear the gospel and then turn your back on it. If you just go on listening and listening and do not accept it and act upon it, there comes the time when you cannot hear and you cannot see. God is God, and it is He who has the final word.

John 12:42

That is unfortunate. They were like secret believers today who are cowards. However, we will find two of these secret believers taking down the body of Jesus from the cross.

John 12:44

Jesus repeats His amazing statement that He is the Light of the World. This is an extension of the time that He opened the eyes of the blind man. He will open the eyes of any who are willing to admit that they are blind and that they need the Light of the World.

John 12:47

Friend, we are going to be judged by the Word of God. We will not be judged by our little good works. We will not be judged by what we think religion is. No, we will be judged by the Word of God. Jesus came the first time as the Savior: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” The next time He will come as the Judge. The voice from heaven is still saying to us, “…This is my beloved Son …hear ye him” (Mat_17:5). This concludes this section of the Gospel of John. Men had turned their backs on that voice; they had rejected the King. When they had done this, the King rejected them. He is always the King!