John 12:26

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. IF ANY MAN SERVE ME, LET HIM FOLLOW ME; AND WHERE I AM, THERE SHALL ALSO MY SERVANT BE: IF ANY MAN SERVE ME, HIM WILL MY FATHER HONOUR. Jesus, it will be observed, here claims the same absolute subjection to Himself as the law of men's exaltation to honour, as he yielded to the Father....

26._If any, man serve me_. That death may not be exceedingly bitter and disagreeable to us, Christ invites us by his example to submit to it cheerfully; and certainly we shall be ashamed to refuse the honor of being his disciples. But on no other condition does he admit us into their number, except that we follow the path which he points out. He leads the way to us to suffer death. The bitterness of death is therefore mitigated, and is in some measure rendered agreeable, when we have in common with the Son of God the condition of submitting to it. So far is it from being proper that we should shrink from Christ on account of the cross, that we ought rather to desire death for his sake. To the same purpose. pose is the statement which immediately follows: _And where I am, there shall also my servant be. _For he demands that his servants should not refuse to submit to death, to which they...

20-26 In attendance upon holy ordinances, particularly the gospel passover, the great desire of our souls should be to see Jesus; to see him as ours, to keep up communion with him, and derive grace from him. The calling of the Gentiles magnified the Redeemer. A corn of wheat yields no increase unless it is cast into the ground. Thus Christ might have possessed his heavenly glory alone, without becoming man. Or, after he had taken man's nature, he might have entered heaven alone, by his own perfect righteousness, without suffering or death; but then no sinner of the human race could have been saved. The salvation of souls hitherto, and henceforward to the end of time, is owing to the dying of this Corn of wheat. Let us search whether Christ be in us the hope of glory; let us beg him to make us indifferent to the trifling concerns of this life, that we may serve the Lord Jesus with a willi...

Verse 26. _IF ANY MAN SERVE ME_] Christ is a _master_ in a twofold sense: 1. To _instruct_ men. 2. To _employ_ and _appoint_ them their work. He who wishes to _serve_ Christ must become: 1. His _disciple_ or _scholar_, that he may be _taught_: 2. His _servant_, that he may be _employed_ by and _obey_ his master. To such a person a twofold promise is given: 1. He shall be _with Christ_, in eternal fellowship with him; and 2. He shall be _honoured by the Lord_: he shall have an abundant _recompense_ in glory; but how great, eye hath not seen, ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. How similar to this is the saying of _Creeshna_ (an _incarnation_ of the supreme _God_, according to the _Hindoo_ theology) to his disciple _Arjoon_! "If one whose ways were ever so evil _serve me alone_, h

SERVE ME - Will be my disciple, or will be a Christian. Perhaps this was said to inform the Greeks John 12:20 of the nature of his religion. LET HIM FOLLOW ME - Let him imitate me; do what I do, bear what I bear, and love what I love. He is discoursing here particularly of his own sufferings and death, and this passage has reference, therefore, to calamity and persecution. “You see me triumph - you see (me enter Jerusalem, and you supposed that my kingdom was to be set up without opposition or calamity; but it is not. I am to die; and if you will serve me, you must follow me even in these scenes of calamity; be willing to endure trial and to bear shame, looking for future reward.” WHERE I AM - See John 14:

EXPOSITION The twelfth chapter neither belongs intrinsically to that which precedes nor to that which follows. It is a paragraph of high significance, as bearing on the construction of the Gospel. It is the transition between the public and the private ministry, the great pause between the two classes of manifestation forming the climax of the public ministry. III. CONSUMMATION OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY. JOHN 12:1 1. _The feast of love and gratitude_. JOHN 12:1 JESUS THEREFORE, SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER. Every preliminary of that solemn feast is memorable to our evangelist. The coincidence of the

IF ANY MAN SERVE, ME,.... Or is willing to be a servant of Christ, and to be esteemed as such; LET HIM FOLLOW ME; as in the exercise of the graces of love, humility, patience, self-denial, and resignation of will to the will of God, and in the discharge of every duty, walking as he walked, so in a way of suffering; for as the master, so the servants, as the head, so the members, through many tribulations, must enter the kingdom; to which he encourages by the following things: AND WHERE I AM; in heaven, as he now was, as the Son of God; or "where I shall be", as the Syriac and Persic versions render it, even as man, in the human nature, when raised from the dead: THERE SHALL ALSO MY SERVANT BE; when he has done his work, and the place is prepared for him, and he for that, and where he shall ever abide; and as a further encouragement, he adds, IF ANY MAN SERVE ME, HIM WILL [MY] FATHER...

John 12:1. _Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead._ The days Christ was to spend upon the earth were getting to be very few so he paid another visit to that Bethany home where he was always so welcome, and more so than ever since he had raised Lazarus from the dead. John 12:2. _There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment._ All the members of the re-united family were present, Martha busy as usual with the domestic duties which fell to her share, La

CHAPTER 12 1. The Feast at Bethany. (John 12:1 .) 2. The Entrance into Jerusalem. (John 12:9 .) 3. The Inquiring Greeks and His Answer. (John 12:20 .) 4. His Final Words. (John 12:34 .) From the close of the previous chapter we learn that the Lord had gone with His disciples to a city called Ephraim. Six days before the Passover He came to Bethany again. They made Him a feast. Lazarus is especially mentioned as well as Martha, who served; Mary also was present with others who were of His disciples. It is a beautiful type of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when He will have His own with Him. Lazarus represents the Saint

THE REQUEST OF THE GREEKS. This incident is chosen to illustrate the Lord's consciousness that only through death could the final success of His work be brought about. If it was invented to gain His authority for the admission of the Gentiles, it must again be confessed that it is very badly done. The Greeks are apparently not even admitted to His presence. The mention of Philip and Andrew is natural if their home Was Bethsaida (John 1:45), in a region largely Hellenic in population. The incident seems to bring before the Lord's mind the vision of a wider mission accomplished without the dreaded sacrifice. But it is put aside. The seed must die if it is to bring forth fruit. On earth He was confined to Judaism; only through death could the wider mission be accomplished. And if His disciples would serve they must follow even through death, to gain the support of His presence in their true...