John 12

1 – 2

Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from death.) There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus.

This happened at the house of Simon. Simon was a leper that Jesus had healed (Mark 14:3). We see Martha serving again but this time she is not worried about it. Luke 10:38 – 42

3. Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus' feet, and then she wiped His feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

The original word for this perfume is “faithful” nard. Mary gave her life savings in exchange for honoring Christ. Maybe Mary had heard about the woman in Luke Chapter 7 and was showing that she did not think of herself as any better than that sinful woman?

4 – 8

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' followers, was there. (He was the one who would later turn against Jesus.) Judas said, “This perfume was worth an entire year's wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole money from it.

Jesus answered, “Let her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for Me to be prepared for burial. The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have Me.”

Mark 14:4 shows us that not only Judas was saying this but this shows how Judas may have been trying to lead the other disciples in a wrong direction. Loyalty to Christ cannot be measured by how much money is being spent. Whenever somebody wants to serve the Lord in a living sacrifice, somebody will speak evil about it. The disciples were confused about Jesus saying that He was going to die but Mary understood it.

9 – 11

A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but also Lazarus. Lazarus was the one Jesus raised from death. So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too.

If they can kill Lazarus then nobody will be able to say that he came back from the dead and Lazarus would not be there to speak at the trial of Jesus.

11 – 12

Because of Lazarus many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus. The next day a great crowd in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the people who had come to the Passover Feast.

This had been predicted exactly to the day by Daniel. March 30, 33 A.D. (Daniel 9:26)

13. They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They were singing the Psalms, “Praise God! God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!”

Some people say, “Yes, I want Jesus, but only under certain conditions. What will He be king of? ” Hosanna means “save now.” Psalm 118:25-26

14 - 15

Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as Zechariah says, “Do not be afraid, people of Jerusalem! Your King is coming. He is sitting on the colt of a donkey.”

Remember that the devil had already tempted Jesus to come as a king. Matthew 4:9, Zechariah 9:9

16. The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about Him. And they remembered that they had done these things to Him.

John is saying that the disciples did not think about it at the time and did not set this up.

17 – 19

There had been many people with Jesus when He raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle. So the Pharisees said to each other, “You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following Him.”

This was not the first or the last time that people have seen God do a miracle in a man's life. Some want to hear about it only because they are curious and some are angry because they do not think God should have done this.

20 – 22

There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. They went to Philip. (Philip was from Bethsaida, in Galilee.) They said, “ Sir, we would like to see Jesus .” Philip told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

The Jews want to see more miracles, the Greeks just want to see Jesus. There are some pulpits which have these words written on them. It is good for people to see these words while they are listening to a Bible lesson. Here is Andrew bringing people to Jesus again.

23 – 24

Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive His glory.
I tell you the truth. A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die. Then it makes many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed.”

Maybe this is why you are alone sometimes in the things that you take a stand for? Maybe you need to let it go and allow God to water it.

25. The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliott

26. Anyone who serves Me must follow Me. Then My servant will be with Me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves Me.

The Pharisees asked had asked if He was going to bring the Gospel to the Greeks. They may have seen the Greeks talking to Jesus, and understood that Jesus is saying that anyone can come to the Father.

27. “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father, save Me from this time'? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer.”

If our heart is troubled we can say the same thing. We can say, “Father, I gave my daily life to You, but if You need it, You can have my body also.”

28 – 30

Father, bring glory to your Name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.” The crowd standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder. But others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus said, “That voice was for you, not for Me.

Even if God spoke directly to us from heaven people will still not understand and accept it. If you are not friends with the Lord, talking to Him every day and reading His words then you may not recognize His voice.

And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. Revelation 14:6

31. Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown down.

God's voice was a judgment against the devil.

32 – 33

I will be lifted up from the earth, and when this happens, I will draw all people to me.” Jesus said this to show how He would die.

When we see the way they answered Him, they must have understood that the words “lifted up” meant that He would die on the cross.

34. The crowd said, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this ‘Son of Man'?”

His rule will go on forever ; His kingdom will endure as the sun. Psalm 89:36

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Daniel 2:44

35. Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for a little longer. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.”

But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! Matthew 6:23

36 - 37

“So believe in the light while you still have it. Then you will become sons of light.” When Jesus had said this, He left and hid Himself from them. Though Jesus had done many miracles before the people, they still did not believe in Him.

Jesus is showing that after He dies on the cross, their confusion will be removed. Jesus is hidden from those who reject Him. If you only understand a little bit of God's light then follow it as far as you can.

38 – 41

This was to make clear the full meaning of what Isaiah the prophet said: “Lord, who believed the things we told them? Who has seen the Lord's power?” This is why the people could not believe .

Isaiah also said, “He has blinded their eyes. He has closed their minds. This is so that they will not see with their eyes nor understand in their minds. This is so they will not come back to me and be forgiven.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about Him.

When a man refuses to hear the gospel, God may say to him, “You can have your own way. You have made your decision and you can stay with it.” If you have not made up your mind about Christ, do not let yourself go too far.

Who has believed our message? Isaiah 53:1

He was despised and rejected. Isaiah 53:3

Look for the Lord while He may be found. Isaiah 55:6

Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to Me for healing. Isaiah 6:10

42. But many people believed in Jesus, even many of the leaders. But because of the Pharisees, they did not say that they believed in Him. They were afraid that they would be put out of the synagogue.

Do not be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

43. They loved praise from men more than praise from God.

People who tell you how good you are today may stab you in the back tomorrow. Proverbs 27:6

44 – 45

Then Jesus cried out, “He who believes in Me is really believing in the One who sent Me. He who sees me sees the One who sent Me.

The religions of the world say that they can only point the way to God. Jesus says that you can know God personally and experience His presence in your life.

46 I have come as light into the world. I came so that whoever believes in Me would not stay in darkness.

You will be judged by God's Word.

47 – 48

If anyone hears My words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

There is a judge for the one who refuses to believe in Me and does not accept My words. The word I have taught will be his judge on the last day.

People who are controlled by fear will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Revelation 21:8

49 – 50

The things I taught were not from Myself. The Father who sent Me told me what to say and what to teach. And I know that eternal life comes from what the Father commands. So whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.

Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions. These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! Deuteronomy 32:46 – 47