XII. (1) THEN JESUS SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER CAME TO BETHANY. — The whole question of the arrangement of days during this last great week depends upon the conclusion which we adopt with regard to the day on which our Lord was crucified. The discussion of this is reserved for a separate Note, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE THEY MADE HIM A SUPPER. — Comp. Notes on Matthew 26:6 _et seq.,_ and Mark 14:3 _et seq.,_ which are clearly accounts of the same supper. Here the details peculiar to St. John, who was an eyewitness, will be noted. St. Matthew gives no indication of the day. St. Mark seems to place it two days... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN TOOK MARY A POUND OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD. — Here, again, St. John alone gives the name of her whom St. Matthew and St. Mark call “a woman,” and here, too, she is true to the earlier character as we have it drawn in St. Luke (Luke 10:40; Luke 10:42). From this passage also we know that it was... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAITH ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES, JUDAS ISCARIOT. — Comp. Notes on John 6:70. St. Matthew tells us that the question was asked by “the disciples;” St. Mark, that it was asked by “certain persons;” St. John remembers that it was Judas who spoke, and he remembers that his words were characteristic of t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY WAS NOT THIS OINTMENT SOLD FOR THREE HUNDRED PENCE? — Both the earlier Gospels preface this estimate by a reference to the use which was made of the ointment as actual waste. St. Matthew says only “that it might have been sold for much.” St. Mark, “that it might have been sold for more than thre... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse which follows from the reference to Judas is of course, like it, peculiar to St. John. BUT BECAUSE HE WAS A THIEF, AND HAD THE BAG. — Comp. Notes on John 13:29 and Luke 8:1. We have to think of Judas as treasurer of the common fund which supplied the wants of the little band, and from wh... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAINST THE DAY OF MY BURYING HATH SHE KEPT THIS. — The majority of the better MSS. read, “that she keep this against the day of My burying.” Comp. Matthew 26:12 and Mark 14:8. The thought here differs from that in the earlier Gospels, and the common reading has therefore been adapted to harmonise w... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse occurs word for word in both of the first two Gospels. (See Notes there.)... [ Continue Reading ]
MUCH PEOPLE OF THE JEWS THEREFORE KNEW THAT HE WAS THERE. — Some of the pilgrims who had come from Jericho would have told this in Jerusalem, where those who had previously come up from the country were earnestly asking about Him (John 11:55). They go forth, then, in large numbers to Bethany to see... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE CHIEF PRIESTS CONSULTED. — The chief priests were for the most part Sadducees (Acts 5:17). They have been acting with the Pharisees from John 11:47 onwards. Their animus is shown in that, while no charge is brought against Lazarus, his life is a witness to the divinity of Him whom they have... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY OF THE JEWS WENT AWAY, AND BELIEVED ON JESUS. — Better, _were going away, and believing on Jesus._ The tenses mark the continuance of the secession, and the two words mark the two acts by which on the one hand they were going away from the authority of the priests and, on the other hand, were b... [ Continue Reading ]
In the section which follows (John 12:12), we again meet with matter which is common to St. John and the earlier Gospels. The Entry into Jerusalem is described by each of the evangelists, and the outer incidents are told more briefly by St. John than by any one of the others. (Comp. Notes on Matthew... [ Continue Reading ]
TOOK BRANCHES OF PALM TREES. — Better, _took branches of the palm trees._ Literally, the Greek means “the palm branches of the palm trees.” They were branches of the palms growing on the spot, or possibly such as were in general use at festivities. For the word rendered “branches,” comp. 1Ma. 13:51... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS, WHEN HE HAD FOUND A YOUNG ASS, SAT THEREON. — St. John simply mentions this to introduce the prophecy. The others all give the incidents in detail. “Having found,” does not imply that the colt was found without the search which the other Evangelists record. (Comp. the same word in John 9:... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF SION. — The quotation is made freely, and in an abbreviated form. (Comp. the fuller form in Matthew 21:5, and Note upon it there.) It is in the two Hebrew Gospels only that the connection of the fact with the prophecy is mentioned. SITTING ON AN ASS’S COLT. — The Greek (LXX.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE THINGS UNDERSTOOD NOT HIS DISCIPLES AT THE FIRST... — Comp. Notes on John 2:22; John 20:9. It is a touch peculiar to St. John, and exactly in his manner. He remembers the difference between the spiritual receptivity, before and after Pentecost, in the Apostolic band itself. He remembers how th... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE CALLED LAZARUS.... BARE RECORD. — Several MSS. and some of the oldest versions read, “bare record that He called Lazarus out of the grave, and raised him from the dead.” The difference in the texts is only that of one letter (ὅτε and ὅτι). If we take the reading which was adopted by our tran... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS CAUSE THE PEOPLE — _i.e._ (see last verse), the multitude of John 12:12. FOR THAT THEY HEARD... THIS MIRACLE. — The emphatic form of the sentence points out that the raising of Lazarus was the miracle which carried the entire conviction of the multitude. They had heard of and in some eases... [ Continue Reading ]
PERCEIVE YE HOW YE PREVAIL NOTHING? — The words may be also read, “Look how ye profit nothing” (imperative); or, _Ye perceive how ye profit nothing_ (indicative). Upon the whole this last is to be preferred. They blame each other for the failure of all their plans (comp. John 11:47), and prepare the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WERE CERTAIN GREEKS. — Comp. Note on John 7:35, where we have the same word in the original, and Acts 6:1; Acts 9:29; and Acts 11:20. They were not _Hellenists, i.e.,_ Greek Jews, but _Hellenes, i.e.,_ Gentiles. AMONG THEM THAT CAME UP TO WORSHIP AT THE FEAST. — The words imply that they w... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAME CAME THEREFORE TO PHILIP. — We have no indication of the time when, or of the place where, these words were spoken. St. John alone gives us this incident, and he gives us this incident only, of all that occurred, as we know from the earlier I Gospels, between the entry into Jerusalem and th... [ Continue Reading ]
PHILIP COMETH AND TELLETH ANDREW. — It is a striking coincidence, and perhaps more than this, that the Greeks thus came into connection with the only Apostles who bear Greek names; and may themselves have had some special connection by birth, or residence, or culture with Greek civilisation. The nam... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS ANSWERED THEM, SAYING. — The words are rather the utterance of the thoughts of His own mind, which this visit of the Greeks suggests, than an answer. They are spoken to the Apostles, but the narrative is too compressed for us to know whether any answer was given to the Greeks apart from th... [ Continue Reading ]
VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU. — He is passing to the deeper truth which underlies His words, and calls attention to what He is about to say by the usual and solemn “Verily, verily.” (Comp. Note on John 1:51.) EXCEPT A CORN OF WHEAT FALL INTO THE GROUND AND DIE. — The truth is one of those of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT LOVETH HIS LIFE SHALL LOSE IT. — The reading here is uncertain, and may be, perhaps with slightly more probability is, _He that loveth his life loses it_ — _i.e.,_ that the loss of life is not in the future only, but that in the present, in every moment when a man loves and seeks to save his... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN SERVE ME, LET HIM FOLLOW ME. — The close connection of John 12:23 make it certain that the spiritual law of sacrifice is there applied to the life of our Lord Himself. This verse makes it equally certain that the law is applied to those who follow Him. The point of the whole teaching is m... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW IS MY SOUL TROUBLED; AND WHAT SHALL I SAY? — The word rendered “soul” is the same word as that rendered “life” in John 12:25. (Comp. especially Matthew 16:25.) It is the seat of the natural feelings and emotions, and, as the fatal hour approaches, our Lord is in that region of His human life tro... [ Continue Reading ]
FATHER, GLORIFY THY NAME. — The pronoun “Thy” is emphatic. The Son’s will is one with that of the Father; the Son’s glory is in the glorifying the Father’s name. Comp. the opening clause of the Lord’s Prayer (Note on Matthew 6:9 _et seq._) and in this context Note on John 12:23. THEN CAME THERE A VO... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PEOPLE.... SAID THAT IT THUNDERED. — Better, _the multitude._ Nothing could be stronger testimony to the fact that this narrative was written by one who was present at the events of which he tells, than the way in which these thoughts of the people at the time are preserved to us. Their insertio... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS VOICE CAME NOT BECAUSE OF ME, BUT FOR YOUR SAKES. — More exactly, _not for My sake did this voice come, but for your sakes._ These words are an answer to the thoughts, spoken and unspoken, of the multitude. Jesus Himself knew that the Father heareth Him always, but this answer is a sign to othe... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW IS THE JUDGMENT OF THIS WORLD. — For the word “judgment” comp. Notes on John 3:17; John 16:11. There is here, following on the coming of the Greeks, which He reads as a sign, and upon the voice from heaven, which was a sign for the multitude, the thought of the Messianic kingdom, of which the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I, IF I BE LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH. — The pronoun is strongly emphatic. “And _I_,” in opposition to the prince of this world; the conqueror in opposition to the vanquished foe. The conditional form, “If I be lifted up,” answers to the “troubled soul” of John 12:27. He knows that it will be so,... [ Continue Reading ]
BY WHAT DEATH HE SHOULD DIE. — Better, _by what manner of death._.. (Comp. John 18:32.) The words are the Apostle’s interpretation of the saying of our Lord. He remembers it as he has recorded it twice before (John 3:14; John 8:28), but he adds here words (“from the earth”) which supply another thou... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE HEARD OUT OF THE LAW THAT CHRIST ABIDETH FOR EVER...... — The term “law” refers to the whole of the Old Testament Scripture, as we have seen in John 10:34. (Comp. Note there.) They may have referred to such passages as Psalms 89:36; Psalms 110:4; Isaiah 9:6; Daniel 7:13. This remark is an in... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, YET A LITTLE WHILE IS THE LIGHT WITH YOU. — It is better, as we have often seen, to read _Therefore_ for “Then.” The word connects what follows closely with what has gone before. It was because of their question that Jesus said this. And yet it is not said that “He answere... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE YE HAVE LIGHT, BELIEVE IN THE LIGHT. — Better, as above, _According as ye have the light._ The words are repeated and placed in the most emphatic position in the sentence. THAT YE MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT. — Better, _that ye may become sons of light._ (Comp. for this phrase Notes on John... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOUGH HE HAD DONE SO MANY MIRACLES BEFORE THEM. — The words “before them” mean “in their presence,” “before their eyes.” They refer to the multitude (John 12:34). St. John’s narrative implies, therefore, that the “signs” of the earlier Gospels were well known. He has himself recorded but six mi... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE SAYING OF ESAIAS THE PROPHET MIGHT BE FULFILLED. — This is the first instance in this Gospel of a phrase familiar to us already from its frequent occurrence in St. Matthew. We shall find it again in John 13:18; John 15:25; John 17:12; John 18:9; John 18:32; John 19:24; John 19:36. Its frequ... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THEY COULD NOT BELIEVE, BECAUSE. — The words refer to those which have gone before, not to those which follow, and then by an addition give the reason more fully. “It was on account of the divine will expressed in Isaiah’s prophecy.” “It was therefore, namely, because Isaiah said again.” T... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HARDENED THEIR HEART.... — These words are quoted three times in the New Testament. Our Lord, as we have seen, quotes them as explaining His own teaching (Matthew 13:14); St. John quotes them here to explain the rejection of that teaching; St. Paul quotes them in Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE THINGS SAID ESAIAS, WHEN HE SAW HIS GLORY. — The better text is,... _because he saw His glory._ (Comp. Note on the reading in John 12:17.) The result of seeing His glory was that he spake of Him. This is St. John’s interpretation of the prophecy. Isaiah himself tells us, “I saw also the Lord s... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him. — This is strongly asserted in opposition to the spiritual blindness of the nation. There were, notwithstanding, many even in the Sanhedrin itself who believed on Him. BUT BECAUSE OF THE PHARISEES THEY DID NOT CONFESS. — Comp. Note on Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY LOVED THE PRAISE OF MEN MORE THAN THE PRAISE OF GOD. — For “praise” read in both instances _glory._ “The glory which comes from men more than the glory which came from God.” Comp. Note on John 5:44, where the truth is put in the form of a question by our Lord. Here it explains the fact that... [ Continue Reading ]
The last few verses (John 12:37) have given us the thoughts of St. John as he looked back on the unbelief of Judaism. He had given our Lord’s closing word in John 12:36, and there stated that He hid Himself from them. He now gives other words of our Lord condemning the unbelief of which he had been... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, BELIEVETH NOT ON ME. — These words do not occur literally in any discourse of our Lord which we now have, but the thought has met us again and again. (Comp. John 5:36; John 7:16; John 7:29; John 8:19; John 10:38.) We are not to weaken the words “not on Me but,” into “not (on... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM COME A LIGHT INTO THE WORLD... — (Comp. Note on John 12:35 and John 3:19; John 8:12; John 9:5; John 9:39; John 12:35.) SHOULD NOT ABIDE IN DARKNESS. — But should by walking according as they had the light become sons of light (John 12:36).... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF ANY MAN HEAR MY WORDS, AND BELIEVE NOT. — The better reading is,... _and keep them not._ (Comp., for the words “hear” and “keep,” Notes on Luke 11:28; Luke 18:21.) For the thought of the verse comp. in this Gospel, Notes on John 3:17 _et seq.;_ 5:24, 45 _et seq.;_ 8:15 _ei seq.;_ and the appa... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT REJECTETH ME... — The word rendered “rejecteth” (more exactly _nullifieth_) occurs only here in St. John. (Comp. Luke 7:30, “The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves”; and John 10:16, “He that despiseth you despiseth Me.) HATH ONE THAT JUDGETH HIM. — Comp. Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I HAVE NOT SPOKEN OF MYSELF. — Comp. John 5:30; John 7:16; John 7:28; John 8:26; John 8:28; John 8:38. The word “for” connects this by way of reason with the condemnatory power of His word. THE FATHER WHICH SENT ME, HE GAVE ME A COMMANDMENT. — Comp. Note on John 10:18. The reference is to the c... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I KNOW THAT HIS COMMANDMENT IS LIFE EVERLASTING. — _i.e.,_ the commission of the Messianic work. It is better to read here, as before, _eternal life._ (Comp. John 3:15, _et al._) The Son speaks not of Himself, but He speaks as executing this commission, which brings spiritual and eternal life to... [ Continue Reading ]