John 12

The Voice

12 Six days before the Passover feast, Jesus journeyed to the village of Bethany, to the home of Lazarus who had recently been raised from the dead, ²where they hosted Him for dinner. Martha was busy serving as the hostess, Lazarus reclined at the table with Him, ³and Mary took a pound of fine ointment, pure nard (which is both rare and expensive), and anointed Jesus’ feet with it; and then she wiped them with her hair. As the pleasant fragrance of this extravagant ointment filled the entire house, ⁴Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (who was plotting to betray Jesus), began to speak.

Judas Iscariot: ⁵How could she pour out this vast amount of fine oil? Why didn’t she sell it? It is worth nearly a year’s wages;^[a] the money could have been given to the poor.

⁶This had nothing to do with Judas’s desire to help the poor. The truth is he served as the treasurer, and he helped himself to the money from the common pot at every opportunity.

Jesus: ⁷Leave her alone. She has observed this custom in anticipation of the day of My burial. ⁸The poor are ever present, but I will be leaving.

⁹Word spread of Jesus’ presence, and a large crowd was gathering to see Jesus and the formerly deceased Lazarus, whom He had brought back from the dead. ¹⁰The chief priests were secretly plotting Lazarus’s murder since, ¹¹because of him, many Jews were leaving their teachings and believing in Jesus.

¹²The next day, a great crowd of people who had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem; ¹³so they gathered branches of palm trees to wave as they celebrated His arrival.

Crowds (shouting): Hosanna!

He who comes in the name of the Lord is truly blessed^[b]
and is King of all Israel.

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey, sat on it, and rode through the crowds mounted on this small beast. The Scriptures foretold of this day:

¹⁵    Daughter of Zion, do not be afraid.
        Watch! Your King is coming.
        You will find Him seated on the colt of a donkey.^[c]

¹⁶The disciples did not understand any of this at the time; these truths did not sink in until Jesus had been glorified. As they reflected on their memories of Jesus, they realized these things happened just as they were written. ¹⁷Those who witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus enthusiastically spoke of Jesus to all who would listen, ¹⁸and that is why the crowd went out to meet Him. They had heard of the miraculous sign He had done.

His followers may suspect during their time with Jesus that He is more than a man, but it takes the power and glory of the resurrection to convince them completely that Jesus is divine. When they see Him, touch Him, and hear the sound of His voice thunder in their souls, the disciples know they are face-to-face with God’s immense glory, the unique Son of God. Reading and rereading the Scriptures in light of their experiences of Him, it becomes clear that Jesus’ life and story are the climax of God’s covenants with His people.

Pharisees (to one another): ¹⁹Our efforts to squelch Him have not worked, but now is not the time for action. Look, the world is following after Him.

²⁰Among the crowds traveling to Jerusalem were Greeks seeking to follow God and worship at the great feast. ^21-22Some of them came to Philip with an important request.

Greek Pilgrims (to Philip): Sir, we are hoping to meet Jesus.

Philip, a disciple from the Galilean village of Bethsaida, told Andrew that these Greeks wanted to see Jesus. Together Andrew and Philip approached Jesus to inform Him about the request.

Jesus (to Philip and Andrew): ²³The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴I tell you the truth: unless a grain of wheat is planted in the ground and dies, it remains a solitary seed. But when it is planted, it produces in death a great harvest. ²⁵The one who loves this life will lose it, and the one who despises it in this world will have life forevermore. ²⁶Anyone who serves Me must follow My path; anyone who serves Me will want to be where I am, and he will be honored by the Father. ²⁷My spirit is low and unsettled. How can I ask the Father to save Me from this hour? This hour is the purpose for which I have come into the world. But what I can say is this: ²⁸“Father, glorify Your name!”

Suddenly a voice echoed from the heavens.

The Father: I have glorified My name. And again I will bring glory in this hour that will resound throughout time.

²⁹The crowd of people surrounding Jesus were confused.

Some in the Crowd: It sounded like thunder.

Others: A heavenly messenger spoke to Him.

Jesus: ³⁰The voice you hear has not spoken for My benefit, but for yours. ³¹Now judgment comes upon this world, and everything will change. The tyrant of this world, Satan, will be thrown out. ³²When I am lifted up from the earth, then all of humanity will be drawn to Me.

³³These words foreshadowed the nature of His death.

Crowd: ³⁴The law teaches that the Anointed is the One who will remain without end. How can You say it is essential that the Son of Man be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man You are talking about?

Jesus: ³⁵Light is among you, but very soon it will flicker out. Walk as you have the light, and then the darkness will not surround you. Those who walk in darkness don’t know where they are going. ³⁶While the light is with you, believe in the light; and you will be reborn as sons and daughters of the light.

After speaking these words, Jesus left the people to go to a place of seclusion. ³⁷Despite all the signs He performed, they still did not believe in Him. ³⁸Isaiah spoke of this reality, saying,

Lord, who could accept what we’ve been told?
And who has seen the awesome power of the Lord revealed?^[d]

³⁹This is the reason they are unable to believe. ⁴⁰Isaiah also said,

God has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts
So that their eyes cannot see properly
    and their hearts cannot understand
    and be persuaded
    by the truth to turn to Me
    and be reconciled by My healing hand.^[e]

⁴¹Isaiah could say this because he had seen the glory of the Lord with his own eyes and declared His beauty aloud. ⁴²Yet many leaders secretly believed in Him but would not declare their faith because the Pharisees continued their threats to expel all His followers from the synagogue; ⁴³here’s why: they loved to please men more than they desired to glorify God.

Jesus (crying out before the people): ⁴⁴Anyone who believes in Me is not placing his faith in Me, but in the One who sent Me here. ⁴⁵If one sees Me, he sees the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶I am here to bring light in this world, freeing everyone who believes in Me from the darkness that blinds him. ⁴⁷If anyone listening to My teachings chooses to ignore them, so be it: I have come to liberate the world, not to judge it. ⁴⁸However, those who reject Me and My teachings will be judged: in the last day, My words will be their judge ⁴⁹because I am not speaking of My own volition and from My own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. ⁵⁰I know His command is eternal life, so every word I utter originates in Him.