John 12 - The Dramatic Entry
Overcome the drama & confusion you'll face this week by spending quiet time reading God's Word.
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John 12 (ESV)
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 So they gave a dinner for him there.
Martha served,
and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
Mary therefore
took a pound of
expensive ointment
made from pure nard,
and
anointed the feet of Jesus
and wiped his feet with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But Judas Iscariot,
one of his disciples
(he who was about to betray him),
said,
5 “Why was this ointment not sold
for three hundred denarii
and given to the poor?”
6 He said this,
not because he cared about the poor,
but because he was a thief,
and having charge of the moneybag
he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 Jesus said,
“Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
8 For
the poor you always have with you,
but you do not always have me.”
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came,
not only on account of him
but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans
to put Lazarus to death as well,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews
were going away
and believing in Jesus.
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord,
even the King of Israel!”
14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold,
your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first,
but when Jesus was glorified,
then they remembered that these things
had been written about him
and had been done to him.
17 The crowd that had been with him
when he called Lazarus
out of the tomb
and raised him from the dead
continued to bear witness.
18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him
was that they heard he had done this sign.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another,
“You see that you are gaining nothing.
Look, the world has gone after him.”
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
21 So these came to Philip,
who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip
went and told Andrew;
Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 Whoever
loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves me,
he must follow me;
and where I am, there will my servant be also.
If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
29 The crowd that stood there and heard it
said that it had thundered.
Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus answered,
“This voice has come for
your sake,
not mine.
31 Now is the judgment of this world;
now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
32 And I,
when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself.”
33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
34 So the crowd answered him,
“We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever.
How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?
Who is this Son of Man?”
35 So Jesus said to them,
“The light is among you for a little while longer.
Walk
while you have the light,
lest darkness overtake you.
The one
who walks in the darkness
does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light,
believe in the light,
that you may become sons of light.”
When Jesus had said these things,
he departed
and hid himself from them.
37 Though he had done so many signs before them,
they still did not believe in him,
38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe.
For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart,
and turn, and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because
he saw his glory
and spoke of him.
42 Nevertheless,
many even of the authorities believed in him,
but for fear of the Pharisees
they did not confess it,
so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved
the glory that comes from man
more than the glory that comes from God.
44 And Jesus cried out and said,
“Whoever believes in me,
believes
not in me
but in him who sent me.
45 And whoever
sees me
sees him who sent me.
46 I have come into the world as light,
so that whoever believes in me
may not remain in darkness.
47 If anyone
hears my words
and does not keep them,
I do not judge him;
for I did not come
to judge the world
but to save the world.
48 The one who rejects me
and does not receive my words has a judge;
the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority,
but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
What I say, therefore,
I say as the Father has told me.”
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Previous DIG DEEPER posts on John
John 12 Summary
Jesus is heading back towards Jerusalem now, knowing there's a price on His head, and knowing that the cross awaits Him there. On the way, He stops by to see His good friends, Mary, Martha & Lazarus, and they hold a dinner in His honor.
Mary, more emotional than her sensible older sister Martha, breaks open a jar of pure nard and pours it as an offering onto the only pure man, Jesus. Jesus, showing that He is God, accepts Mary's worship.
The next day, Jesus enters into Jerusalem in what's often referred to as the Triumphal entry, but perhaps it would be better described as the Dramatic entry. Certainly many of the people there gave genuine praise to Jesus, but then there were others who just wanted to glimpse Jesus' as a celebrity, and lurking behind all the others are the establishment, who are becoming more and more desperate.
To add to the drama, God's voice booms from heaven in a way that all could hear - though not all believed - answering Jesus' prayer that the Father's name be glorified (v28).
Finally, the scene ends with Jesus - at the height of His popularity - disappearing from the crowd of people who had flocked there to praise Him, gawk at Him, and plot to kill Him. The tension is beginning to ratchet up.
In between all of this drama, John records several statements from Jesus that form the bedrock of our faith.
Dig Deeper
Do you ever feel like you're the one person in the crowd who doesn't get what's going on? Maybe it's just me, but probably not.
Jesus' disciples felt this way often, and as Jesus enters into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey, confusion settles over them once again. John puts it this way:
His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him (v16).
Notice here how the disciples find clarity; it doesn't come in the moment, but rather later (in this case, months later) when they've had time to slow down and meditate on what they've seen & heard. Secondly, the lights come on as they study scripture (the things that had been written).
The best way for you to clear the confusion in your life is to find quiet times often to meditate (think deeply) about what's going on and to know scripture so well that you begin to recognize God working in what's going on around you.
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose name is most glorified through His Son (v28)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to equip you to follow Jesus, and to be where Jesus is (v26)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
