John 12 part A

John 12 (Mary Anoints Jesus) Texts from New American Standard Bible

1Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 5"Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" 6Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. 7Therefore Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8"For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me." 9The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. 10But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.

I. V.1Jesus probably arrived in Bethany on Friday afternoon_the Friday before the last Passover week. If we count backward six days before Thursday, excluding Thursday we come up with our date. Thursday puts us on the 14th of Nisan, the day the Passover Lamb was slain and eaten.

Arriving late in the Afternoon Jesus finds that some of His closest friends have gathered at the home of Simon the leper and are there preparing supper in His honor. It is in other gospel accounts that tell us the supper was at Simon's home. (Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9). We are not told about the state of Simon's leprosy. We are told that Lazarus, the one who Jesus raised from the dead is in attendance.

II. V. 2__ Martha serves and Mary gives Jesus a costly gift.

III.V.3__ This gives us a hint into the spontaneity of Mary's deed. There was spirit of love present at the supper and Mary wanted to express her gratefulness to the Master. She may not have been as good at cooking as her sister so she expressed herself another way. Suddenly, she thought of the expensive perfume she had bought for the Master's burial.

The language:

νάρδος(nardos, 3487), -ου, ἡ, (a Sanskrit word [cf. Fick as in Löw below]; Hebr. נֵרְדְּ, Cant. i. 12; iv. 13 sq.);

a.nard, the head or spike of a fragrant East Indian plant belonging to the genus Valeriana, which yields a juice of delicious odor which the ancients used (either pure or mixed) in the preparation of a most precious ointment; hence

b. nard oi or ointment; so Mk. xiv. 3; Jn. xii. 3. Cf.Winer,RWB. s. v. Narde; Rüetschi in Herzog x. p. 203; Furrer in Schenkel p. 286 sq.; [Löw, Aramäisehe Pflanzennamen (Leip. 1881), § 316 p. 368 sq.; Royle in Alex.'s Kitto s. v. Nerd;Birdwood in the “Bible Educator” ii. 152].*

As noticed above, the Greek word is nardos, (nard), produced from the stem of a plant that grows in India. On pound of it due to its genuine (pistikes) essence and the great distance with which one had to go to get it was worth 300 denari (cf. verse 5) (about $51.00 then, or multiplied by one hundred about $5,100.00 now) which was about one years wages 30 years ago. I shudder to think of the price today.

According to both Matthew and Mark she began to pour the precious litran murou (Greek for litre of myrth) on the Lord's head. This was the usual custom for anointing but John informs us that she used the entire pound and also anointed the feet of Jesus. She abandoned the customs of the day. It was bad enough to loosen her tresses in public but much worse to wipe a man's feet with them. She not only gave Jesus all she had but humbled herself and laid her pride open at his feet.

One can only imagine the smell that must have been throughout the house and no doubt this was one thing that attracted the attention of Judas.

IV. VV.4-6_ The other gospels tell us that all the disciples were indignant about what the perceived as a waste it is John who informs us that 'Judas' was the instigator of the murmuring. Judas had persuaded the others to criticize Mary as being extravagantly wasteful. Judas tried to make the case that this perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. In V.6John informs us that Judas was not at all interested in the poor but in fact he was a thief and according to John, had been stealing from the money box.

V. VV. 7-8___Jesus rebukes the disciples for carping at Mary. "Leave her alone." Matthew and Mark "why trouble her." It seems that Mary purchased this costly perfume for the very purpose of preparing the Lord's body for burial. The plain predictions Jesus Himself made concerning His death ( cf. Matt. 16:21; 20:17; Mark 10:32, 33; Luke 18: 31-34; John 7:33; 8:21-23; 10:11, 17,18) coupled with the hostility of the Jewish rulers gave Mary cause to expect the death of Jesus soon. The other two gospels tell us that Jesus said she was "anointing His body beforehand for burial."

The second part of His reply is even more interesting. "The poor you will have with you always." This of course is not what those in our society believe today. The modern idea is that all poverty can be done away with if we just spend enough money on the poor. Jesus did not believe in any earthly Utopian society. This isn't to say that we ought not to help the poor but it is to say that having the poor with us is now and will always be part of the human experience.

But the point here is that Jesus is claiming here that his anointing and burial are now more important than caring for the poor. It is always correct to adore and worship Jesus. There is not gift ever too extravagant. Matthew and Mark tell us Jesus promised Mary that she would be memorialized throughout the world for her faithful deed and indeed she has been. Her story lives on and on in the gospel records and on the lips of preachers and teachers throughout the ages.

VI. VV. 9-11___It seems that the raising of Lazarus was much talked about in the public. The raising of Lazarus was indeed an astonishing sign. People were intensely interested and came to see both Jesus and Lazarus. Word of the swelling tide of popularity of Jesus and His increased following now reached the Jewish rulers and the plot to kill the man who refused to die was hatched. The immediately meet in the council chambers and plotted to kill Lazarus, just as they plotted to kill Jesus. Killing Lazarus was a way to get rid of the evidence.

The Triumphal Entry (See the complete article Here)

12On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, "Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel."

14Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written,

15"FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY'S COLT."

16These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. 17So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. 18For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him."

I. V. 12-13On the next day of v.12 means Sundaythe day after the Sabbath. As stated above, the supper was probably on Friday evening and Jesus and His disciples observed Saturday as a day of rest (the Sabbath). It is most likely that "those who went out to meet Him" were large crowds of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the Passover. They were probably staying in Bethany and surrounding areas. I am sure that some of those even were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Lazarus. They had been telling the story over and over and the emotional tension was contagious. The crowd was caught up in the exuberance of the hour. Some of the more daring climbed the branches of the palms along the road and and flung branches down which others took and waved them at Jesus and company. Palm branches were waved for rejoicing and victory (cf. Leviticus 23:40); Rev. 7:9). Conquering kings and princes were usually honored in this manner but in the case, Jesus was taking the same route and behaving exactly as King David did centuries before (Here)

"Hosanna!" This expression literally means "save now, we pray." It seems to have been used as a prayer or an appeal for help from on high. In Psalm 118:25 that is exactly how it is used. In essence the crowd was shouting that the long awaited hour of salvation had arrived. The one who was to occupy the Throne of David was here.

Riding on a Donkey was symbolic for peace (cf. Judg. 10:4; 12:14; II Sam. 17:23; 19:26; Isa. 1:3) whereas the riding on a horse was symbolic for war (Ex. 15:1, 19, 21: Psa. 33:17; 76:6; 147:10; Prov. 21:31; Jer. 8:6; Rev. 6:4).

Jesus entering the city "riding" reinforced His messianic claims. God had predicted such and event hundreds of years before through His prophets.

Zechariah 9:9-10

9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
and the bow of war will be cut off
And He will speak peace to the nations;
And His dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.

also see Isaiah 62:11

To fully grasp the meaning of this context, the book of Zechariah should be studied in particular chapters 9 through chapter 13.

Our author (John) also borrows from Zephaniah. In v.15 John uses the words of Zephaniah 3:16. The crowd incorrectly used the words of Zephaniah 3:16 to greet Jesus as a conquering hero. John wants to show that Jesus comes as God in their midst and by doing so makes a renewed appeal to Zephaniah 3.

The shouting and rejoicing of the multitudes proceeded on into the city. The whole city was in a frenzy (Matt. 21:10-11). In return this caused the Pharisees to say to one another, "see, you are not doing any good, the entire world has gone after Him.

Jesus proceeds directly to the Temple. There as with the air of a person of authority, He looks around at the things going on in her courts. As the hour was late (Mark 11:11), He left the city with the twelve and returned to Bethany. He spent most of His night during the last week here.

The Triumphal Entry is most significant. It is the climax of His teaching ministry.

The Paradox of Life From Death

Greeks Seek Jesus

20Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them, saying, "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"He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26"If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

I. V. 20-21__We now reach a turning point in our story. There seems to have been three courts in temple of Jesus' day. The extreme outer court was known as the "court of the Gentiles." The next court was the "court of women." Then next there was the "court of Israel." Only Jewish males were allowed in the innermost court. The Gentiles were prohibited from all but the extreme outer court. Gentiles are often called proselytes. They are referred to in the Old Testament as "strangers" and in the New Testament as those who "fear God." (cf. 1 Kings 8:41-43; Isa. 56:3-8; Acts 10:1, 22, 35; 13:16,26, 43, 50; 17:4). The grammar indicates that these Greeks were worshipers of YHWH and practiced the Hebrew religion. The idea of one God and only one God was appealing to the Greeks whose minds had been prepared for this idea for centuries by Greek Philosophers such as Plato (see Plato and Christianity Here )

They had come to the temple to worship during the Passover week and may have eve seen Jesus do miracles. Jesus then may have been in the part of the Temple where they could not go and so they Philip.

(20)(Ἦσαν δὲ Ἕλληνές) It should be noticed that these were not Greek speaking Jews but Hellenes. Greek speaking Jews(Ἑλληνιστῶ) requires a different word. These were Greeks who at some point were converted to Judaism. These people represent the Gentile world thus fulfilling the accidental prophecy of the Pharisees found in 12:19.

II. VV. 22-25__The doctrine plainly taught here is one of substitutionary atonement. I am not so sure that it was as plain to those who heard Him as it is to us. Just as a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die to bear fruit, so must the Son of God give Himself up in death to make atonement for mankind. I think the Greeks sought an answer about the reign of the Messiah and Jesus informs them that He was to reign though His death. One cannot attain eternal life by loving the things of this world. The point that Jesus is making is that the things of this world must come "second" to the things of the Lord.

III. V. 26__Those who choose to follow Jesus even to death need not fear for where He is there will His servants be. Jesus dwelt even in the care of the Father and taught His disciples that ought to expect the same care. So in this short section of text we have the essence of the gospel message.

(1) the glorification and substitutionary atonement of Jesus in His death.

(2) the appropriation of that atonement by man through man's crucifixion of self and following the Word of Christ.

(3) the safety and reward promised by the Father.

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by Warren L Rogers