#john 12

An Act of Love as the End Approaches

1-5 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the village of Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a supper for him there, and Martha waited on the party while Lazarus took his place at table with Jesus. Then Mary took a whole pound of very expensive perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet and then wiped them with her hair. The entire house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (the man who was going to betray Jesus), burst out, “Why on earth wasn’t this perfume sold? It’s worth thirty pounds, which could have been given to the poor!”

6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was dishonest, and when he was in charge of the purse used to help himself to the contents.

7-8 But Jesus replied to this outburst, “Let her alone, let her keep this for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always—you will not always have me!”

9-11 The large crowd of Jews discovered that he was there and came to the scene—not only because of Jesus but to catch sight of Lazarus, the man whom he had raised from the dead. Then the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus as well, because he was the reason for many of the Jews’ going away and putting their faith in Jesus.

Jesus experiences a temporary triumph

12-13 The next day, the great crowd who had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, and went to meet him with palm branches in their hands, shouting, “God save him! ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’, God bless the king of Israel!”

14-15 For Jesus had found a young ass and was seated upon it, just as the scripture foretold—‘Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt’.

16 (The disciples did not realise the significance of what was happening at the time, but when Jesus was glorified, then they recollected that these things had been written about him and that they had carried them out for him.)

17-19 The people who had been with him, when he had summoned Lazarus from the grave and raised him from the dead, were continually talking about him. This accounts for the crowd who went out to meet him, for they had heard that he had given this sign. Seeing all this, the Pharisees remarked to one another, “You see?—There’s nothing one can do! The whole world is running after him.”

20-21 Among those who had come up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They approached Philip with the request, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”

22 Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew went with Philip and told Jesus.

23-26 Jesus told them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you truly that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain of wheat; but if it does, it brings a good harvest. The man who loves his own life will destroy it, and the man who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. If a man wants to enter my service, he must follow my way; and where I am, my servant will also be. And my Father will honour every man who enters my service.

27-28 “Now comes my hour of heart-break, and what can I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very purpose that I came to this hour. ‘Father, honour your own name!’” At this there came a voice from Heaven, “I have honoured it and I will honour it again!”

29 When the crowd of bystanders heard this, they said it thundered, but some of them said, “An angel spoke to him.”

30-33 Then Jesus said, “That voice came for your sake, not for mine. Now is the time for the judgment of this world to begin, and now will the spirit that rules this world be driven out. As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to myself.” (He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.)

34 Then the crowd said, “We have heard from the Law that Christ lives for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be ‘lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

35-36a At this, Jesus said to them, “You have the light with you only a little while longer. Go on while the light is good, before the darkness come down upon you. For the man who walks in the dark has no idea where he is going. You must believe in the light while you have the light, that you may become the sons of light.”

36b-38 Jesus said all these things, and then went away, out of their sight. But though he had given so many signs, yet they did not believe in him, so that the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, when he said, ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’

39-40 Thus, they could not believe, and he hardened their heart: ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, lest they should turn, so that I should heal them’.

41-43 Isaiah said these things because he saw the glory of Christ, and spoke about him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities did believe in him. But they would not admit it for fear of the Pharisees, in case they should be excommunicated. They were more concerned to have the approval of men than to have the approval of God.

44-50 But later, Jesus cried aloud, “Every man who believes in me, is believing in the one who sent me; and every man who sees me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that no one who believes in me need remain in the dark. Yet, if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him—for I did not come to judge the world but to save it. Every man who rejects me and will not accept my sayings has a judge—at the last day, the very words that I have spoken will be his judge. For I have not spoken on my own authority: the Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and what to speak. And I know that what he commands means eternal life. All that I say I speak only in accordance with what the Father has told me.” — John 12 | J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Cross References: Exodus 19:16; Isaiah 6:1-10; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 53:1; Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 3:17; Matthew 10:14-15; Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:24; Matthew 21:8-9; Matthew 26:9; Matthew 26:11-12; Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:3; Mark 14:34; Luke 19:35-38; John 1:38-42; John 3:14; John 3:16-17; John 5:19-20; John 8:12; John 8:28; John 11:1-2; John 11:42-46; John 11:53; John 13:29; John 14:1; John 14:9; John 16:11; John 17:1; Acts 8:27; 1 Corinthians 15:36-38; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 John 1:5-7

Monday, 3/30 — John 12:1-11

Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him... - vv. 1-2a

Read John 12:1-11. Then, read John 11.

In today’s gospel, Mary anoints Jesus after he raises her brother Lazarus from death. Martha and Mary sought Jesus’ help, and he came — from Jerusalem to Bethany — to raise Lazarus from the dead. It’s a salvific story of both miracles and devotion.

In 2013 I took my first trip to Palestine. With the guidance of a local activist group, I walked paths Jesus walked during Lent. When we reached this passage – “Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.” – our guide stopped us at the Israeli apartheid wall separating these historic Palestinian towns. We could not get to Bethany.

These days, I feel stuck between Jerusalem and Bethany. I don’t yet see resurrection; my road feels blocked by empire. And still, God is with me. 

If you’re not feeling up for a story of anointing today, how about the story just before this one? In John 11, we see Jesus responding to Martha and Mary’s worry with shared tears. Despite the fact that Jesus knows he will raise Lazarus from the dead, he takes the time to cry with his friends. By reading John 11 in tandem with John 12, we get a fuller picture of liberation – it involves partying and resurrection, yes – but also stages where we feel blocked and full of tears. In all stages, Jesus accompanies us. We go nowhere alone.

Wanting to see Jesus needs to become more than a desire to meet a celebrity, or to fawn over him as a fan or a groupie following him around.

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.  Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and…

9 Ἔγνω οὖν [ὁ] ὄχλος πολὺς ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐστιν καὶ ἦλθον οὐ διὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μόνον, ἀλλʼ ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἴδωσιν ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. 10 ἐβουλεύσαντο δὲ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτείνωσιν, 11 ὅτι πολλοὶ διʼ αὐτὸν ὑπῆγον τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἐπίστευον εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. 

My translation: 

9 Therefore a great crowd of the Judeans knew that he is there and they came not on account of Yeshua only, but in order that also Lazarus they might see whom he raised out of the dead. 10 And the chief priests resolved that they kill Lazarus also, 11 for many of the Judeans on account of him were going and believing in Yeshua. 

Notes:

12:9 

οὖν is transitional (“Now”, NET; “Then”, HCSB; “Meanwhile”, NIV). 

The subject of the 3s 2nd aorist έγνω (from γινὠσκω) is [ὁ] ὄχλος πολὺς and partitive prepositional phrase ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων. The aorist-tense of the verb is ingressive (most translations: “learned”; NIV: “found out”). Many manuscripts omit ὁ before ὄχλος, in which case πολὺς is attributive. But if ὁ ὄχλος πολὺς is the right reading (as it is the harder reading), then the adjective is predicate, which would be an odd construction here, giving a meaning something like, “the crowd which was great” or, “the crowd, great as it was” (EGGNT). 

ὅτι introduces indirect discourse after a verb of cognition. 

The spatial adverb ἐκεῖ modifies the present ἐστιν (from εἰμί), whose unexpressed subject is Jesus. The present-tense is retained in indirect discourse. 

The οὐ μόνον ... ἀλλʼ ἵνα καὶ construction emphasizes the dual attraction of Jesus and Lazarus; The same construction occurred in 11:52. 

ὁ ὄχλος above is also the subject of the 2nd aorist ἦλθον (from ἔρχομαι). The verb is modified by the negated causal prepositional phrase οὐ διὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μόνον (“not on account of Jesus only”). 

ἵνα + subjunctive indicates purpose. 

καὶ is adjunctive (“also”). τὸν Λάζαρον is the direct object of the 2nd aorist subjunctive ἴδωσιν (from ὁράω). 

The antecedent of the relative pronoun ὃν is τὸν Λάζαρον. ὃν is the direct object of the liquid aorist ἤγειρεν (from ἐγείρω), modified by the partitive prepositional phrase ἐκ νεκρῶν. The unexpressed subject of the verb is Jesus. 

12:10 

The subject of the aorist ἐβουλεύσαντο (from βουλεύω “I resolve, decide”; see note on 11:53) is οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς. ἵνα + subjunctive indicates the content of the resolution, equivalent to a complementary infinitive. καὶ is adjunctive (“also, too”). τὸν Λάζαρον is the direct object of the nasal aorist ἀποκτείνωσιν (from ἀποκτείνω). The unexpressed subject of the verb is the chief priests. NIV: “So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well”. 

12:11 

ὅτι is causal (“because”). 

And on the next day, a great multitude that was come to the festival day, when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried: Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel.

I wonder if in this moment, when Jesus is being loved with a grace upon grace kind of love, an abundance of love, a love that you could even smell, with a fragrance that would linger for days, that Jesus remembered his mother. Three years ago. Back in Cana. At that wedding. His mother, who loved him, who knew who he was and what he was capable of doing. His mother, without whom, I wonder, when Jesus’ ministry would have actually gotten started.

...Now, in Bethany, Jesus finds himself in the same kind of position, the same kind of transition, the same kind of situation. Immediately after Mary anoints Jesus, he will enter the city of Jerusalem. And so, Jesus needs that same encouragement, that same love, to do what he must do.

Mary’s extravagant love for Jesus makes it possible for Jesus to show extravagant love in what follows — washing the feet of his disciples, handing himself over to be arrested in the garden, carrying his own cross, dying, rising, and ascending. Mary loves Jesus into his future as the fulfillment of, “for God so loved the world.”

In other words, Jesus needed Mary’s love as much as she needed to show Jesus how much she loved him. That’s pretty much how love works. How relationships work. Because, here’s the thing. To what extent you cannot do what you need to do, have to do, even want to do, without another saying, “yes, you can do this;” without another loving you into your future. Jesus is loved into his future by these two remarkable women — his mother and his friend.

...But we also know those who object to this kind of love. Who find it unnecessary, a little over-the-top, in fact. Those who dismiss such love as wasteful, who think people are better off fending for themselves; that real strength means relying on individual fortitude rather than the faithfulness of others. That real power comes from trusting in your own autonomy and self-made success, rather than believing in the confidence of others. ...Or, those persons who, for reasons we will never know, never experienced a Mary kind of love and have never known what a difference it can make — all the difference in the world.

I think Jesus took Mary’s love with him into Jerusalem. I think he acted out her love when he washed the feet of his disciples, especially when he washed the feet of Judas about to betray him and Peter who would deny him. I think he felt once again Mary’s love, her gentle touch, when he was beaten. I think he held on to Mary’s love, desperately, when he hung on that cross. And, I think he remembered Mary’s love and then, once again, his mother’s love when he looked into her eyes one last time and said, “It is finished.” And, then, I think Jesus took all of that love into the tomb, all of that love that would then love him into his future as the resurrection and the life.