John 12

Introduction

John 12 is the hinge between the Book of Signs (chapters 1–12) and the Book of Glory (chapters 13–21). Four scenes move in rapid succession: Mary's anointing at Bethany (vv. 1–11), the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (vv. 12–19), Greeks seeking Jesus and the coming of the hour (vv. 20–36), and a theological reflection on Israel's unbelief followed by Jesus' final public words (vv. 37–50). After this chapter, Jesus withdraws from public ministry entirely and speaks only to his disciples until the arrest.

The chapter's dominant theme is the hour. Jesus has been saying throughout the Gospel that his hour had not yet come. Now, when the Greeks approach and ask to see him, he declares: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Everything that follows — the grain of wheat dying, the voice from heaven, the prince of this world being cast out, the lifting up that draws all people — is the beginning of the end, and the end is a glory that passes through death. John 12 is the last moment before the curtain rises on the passion.

Mary's Anointing (vv. 1–11)

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. ² So they hosted a dinner for Jesus there. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him, asked, ⁵ "Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" ⁶ Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.

⁷ "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "She has kept this perfume in preparation for the day of My burial. ⁸ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me."

⁹ Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there. And they came not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus 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. ³ 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 — the one 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 money bag 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 he was there, they came not only on account of Jesus 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.

Notes

The ointment νάρδος πιστικῆς, "pure/genuine nard" — was imported from the Himalayan plant Nardostachys jatamansi, one of the most expensive aromatics in the ancient world. A pound (λίτρα) was approximately 327 grams. Three hundred denarii — ten months' wages — was an accurate valuation. Mary pours it all out on Jesus' feet. The extravagance is the point.

Mary's choice of the feet, and the wiping with her hair, intensifies the gift's intimacy. In a formal culture, loosing one's hair in public was unusual for a woman. This is an act of complete devotion that disregards social propriety. John notes that the whole house was filled with the fragrance — an olfactory testimony to the completeness of the anointing that no one in the room could ignore.

Judas's objection uses the language of care for the poor, but John's aside is blunt: he was a κλέπτης, a thief. The betrayer of Jesus manages the community's money and steals from it — a detail that retroactively colors every scene in which the disciples' common purse appears. John places this information here, not to explain Judas psychologically, but to unmask the moral bankruptcy behind "reasonable" objections to extravagant devotion.

Jesus' defense of Mary — "for the day of my burial she has kept it" — interprets the anointing as prophetic action. Whether Mary knew it or not, what she has done anticipates the burial of Jesus. The perfume that fills the house with fragrance is burial ointment. At the very dinner celebrating Lazarus's return from the grave, Jesus is anointed for his own.

The chief priests' plan to kill Lazarus (v. 10) is logically grotesque: a living man whose existence proves the miracle must be eliminated. A resurrection that cannot be denied must have its witness silenced. The logic of violence against truth is fully on display.

The Triumphal Entry (vv. 12–19)

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting: "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!"

¹⁴ Finding a young donkey, Jesus sat on it, as it is written: ¹⁵ "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion. See, your King is coming, seated on the colt of a donkey."

¹⁶ At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.

¹⁷ Meanwhile, many people who had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. ¹⁸ That is also why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to one another, "You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!"

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 the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had performed this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him."

Notes

The palm branches (βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων) carried significant political symbolism in first-century Judea. Palms appeared on coins of the Hasmonean rulers and later on coins of the Jewish revolt (66–70 AD). The crowd greeting Jesus with palms and the cry "Blessed is the King of Israel" is a royal, messianic, and potentially revolutionary welcome. They are hailing him as the deliverer they expect.

The acclamation ὡσαννά is a transliteration of the Hebrew הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא (hoshi'a na) from Psalm 118:25 — "Save, we pray!" or "Save now!" — a cry for deliverance that had become a liturgical exclamation of praise. The people are quoting a psalm associated with the Passover pilgrimage and with Israel's hope for divine rescue. The crowd means all of this; they do not yet understand what kind of rescue is coming.

Jesus deliberately chooses a donkey — quoting Zechariah 9:9: "your king is coming, seated on the colt of a donkey." In the ancient world, conquerors rode war horses; kings coming in peace rode donkeys. This is a counter-entry: a king who comes not to conquer militarily but to die. The crowd sees the royal arrival; the mode of arrival tells them what kind of king this is, if they have ears to hear.

John notes twice (vv. 16, 22) the pattern of disciples not understanding at the time but understanding after the glorification — after the cross and resurrection. This post-resurrection hermeneutic is a feature of Johannine narrative: events and scriptures become transparent only in the light of the end. The disciples' incomprehension is not a failure; it is the normal condition of those who follow before they have seen.

The Pharisees' exasperated complaint in v. 19 — "Look, the world has gone after him!" — functions as inadvertent prophecy. They mean it hyperbolically and negatively. John hears it literally and positively: the κόσμος (kosmos), the world, is precisely who Jesus has come to save (John 3:16). In the very next scene, the world arrives in the form of Greeks seeking Jesus.

The Hour Has Come (vv. 20–36)

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, "Sir, we want to see Jesus." ²² Philip relayed this appeal to Andrew, and both of them went and told Jesus.

²³ But Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Whoever loves his life will lose it, but 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, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷ Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? No, it is for this purpose that 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 standing there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.

³⁰ In response, Jesus said, "This voice was not for My benefit, but yours. ³¹ Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself." ³³ He said this to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.

³⁴ The crowd replied, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, "For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not 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, so that you may become sons of light."

After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.

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 my soul is 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.

Notes

The arrival of Greeks (Ἕλληνές τινες) — almost certainly Gentile God-fearers or proselytes who have come up to worship at the feast — is the trigger for Jesus' declaration that the hour has come. The Pharisees just said "the world has gone after him"; now the world literally arrives. The nations seeking the light of Israel (Isaiah 60:3) have come to Philip and Andrew. When the disciples relay this to Jesus, he does not go to meet the Greeks. He speaks instead of his death — because it is through his death that all people, including the nations, will be drawn to him.

The grain of wheat saying (v. 24) is Jesus' own commentary on his death. κόκκος σίτου — a single grain — if it stays in the bag, remains μόνος, alone. But if it falls into the earth and dies (ἀποθάνῃ), it bears πολὺν καρπόν, much fruit. This is the logic of incarnation and atonement: the Son of God "alone" produces only one; the Son of God dying produces the new humanity. The principle immediately generalizes in v. 25: this pattern of losing-to-gain applies to every disciple. Loving (φιλῶν) one's ψυχή (psychē, soul/life) in self-preservation loses it; hating (μισῶν) it — holding it loosely, not making its preservation the supreme value — keeps it for eternal life.

The voice from heaven in v. 28 is the third divine attestation in John's Gospel: at the baptism (implied in John's account), at the transfiguration (not in John), and here. The crowd's varied responses — thunder, or an angel — reflect the reality that divine speech is not always heard as such. The voice says "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again" — past and future, the ministry already completed and the glory about to come through the cross.

"The ruler of this world will be cast out" — ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου is John's term for the devil (cf. John 14:30, John 16:11). The cross is not merely Jesus' death; it is the decisive defeat of the one whose domain is death. The judgment of the world (κρίσις τοῦ κόσμου τούτου) means that at the cross the nature of the world stands revealed and its ruler condemned.

The third and final ὑψόω saying (v. 32) — "when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself" — is the most expansive. The lifting up is the crucifixion; the drawing is universal. ἑλκύσω is the same word used in John 6:44: the Father draws people to Jesus; now the lifted-up Son draws all people to himself. The two drawing actions are one.

Unbelief and Isaiah (vv. 37–43)

³⁷ Although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: "Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

³⁹ For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says, ⁴⁰ "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them."

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about Him.

⁴² Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. ⁴³ For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

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 Isaiah again 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.

Notes

John reaches for Isaiah twice to account for the pattern of unbelief. First, Isaiah 53:1 — the opening of the Servant Song: "who has believed what we heard?" The one through whom God's arm (saving power) is revealed is not recognized. Then Isaiah 6:10 — God's commissioning of Isaiah himself, where the prophet is told his message will harden rather than soften: "blind their eyes, harden their heart." John reads both passages as prophetic description of the response to Jesus.

The hardening in v. 40 is theologically sensitive. The grammar of Isaiah 6:10 in both Hebrew and LXX allows different readings: "Make the heart of this people fat" (God commanding Isaiah to cause hardening) or a description of what will happen as a result of the preaching. John uses the third person: "He has blinded their eyes." Whether "he" is God directly or the instrumentality of unbelief producing its own blindness has been debated since Origen. What is clear is that the pattern was not unforeseen: it was written. God's purposes are not frustrated by unbelief; unbelief itself is contained within what Isaiah saw.

John's striking claim in v. 41 — that Isaiah "saw his glory" — refers to the vision of Isaiah 6:1-5, where Isaiah saw the Lord (יהוה) seated on his throne, high and exalted. John is saying that what Isaiah saw in that theophany was the pre-incarnate glory of Jesus. This is one of the most explicit instances of pre-existence Christology in the Gospels.

The "secret believers" among the leaders in vv. 42–43 introduce a theme that will recur. They believe but do not confess — out of fear of the synagogue ban. John's diagnosis is sharp: they love τὴν δόξαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, the glory/honor that comes from people, more than τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ, the glory/honor from God. The same word δόξα (doxa) covers both: in one direction it means human approval, reputation, social standing; in the other it is the radiance of God himself. The choice between them defines the chapter.

Jesus' Final Public Words (vv. 44–50)

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, "Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And whoever sees Me sees the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.

⁴⁷ As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

⁴⁹ I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say."

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 just as the Father has told me."

Notes

These verses have no explicit setting — Jesus has hidden himself (v. 36) — and function as a theological summary of the public ministry, a final cry (ἔκραξεν) before the silence. Three themes are gathered:

First, the inseparability of the Son and the Father: believing in Jesus is believing in the one who sent him; seeing Jesus is seeing the one who sent him. This mutual transparency — the Son as the Father's perfect image — has been the backbone of the entire Gospel.

Second, the purpose of the coming: light, not judgment. "I did not come to judge the world but to save it" ἵνα σώσω τὸν κόσμον. The cross will accomplish what judgment cannot: not condemnation but rescue. Yet the word itself becomes the eschatological judge: those who reject the light are not immediately condemned by Jesus, but the word they have refused will stand as testimony on the last day.

Third, the authority of the words: everything Jesus has said has been commanded by the Father. ἐντολή, "commandment" — the same word used for Jesus' command to his disciples to love one another — is here applied to the Father's mandate to the Son: what to say and how to say it. And the commandment is ζωὴ αἰώνιος — eternal life. The words Jesus has spoken throughout chapters 1–12 are not doctrine for its own sake; they are the medium through which eternal life comes.

With this, the public ministry ends. The next scene is the upper room, and the foot washing, and the long farewell.