Reflections on John 12

John 12 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Six days before Passover Jesus went back to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from death.
   
2. A meal had been prepared for Jesus. Martha was doing the serving, and Lazarus himself was there.
   
3. Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured it on Jesus' feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house.
   
4. A disciple named Judas Iscariot was there. He was the one who was going to betray Jesus, and he asked,
   
5. "Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?"
   
6. Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it.
   
7. Jesus replied, "Leave her alone! She has kept this perfume for the day of my burial.
   
8. You will always have the poor with you, but you won't always have me."
   
9. A lot of people came when they heard that Jesus was there. They also wanted to see Lazarus, because Jesus had raised him from death.
   
10. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus.
    
11. He was the reason that many of the Jewish people were turning from them and putting their faith in Jesus.
    
12. The next day a large crowd was in Jerusalem for Passover. When they heard that Jesus was coming for the festival,
    
13. they took palm branches and went out to greet him. They shouted, "Hooray! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!"
    
14. Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the Scriptures say,
    
15. "People of Jerusalem, don't be afraid! Your King is now coming, and he is riding on a donkey."
    
16. At first, Jesus' disciples did not understand. But after he had been given his glory, they remembered all this. Everything had happened exactly as the Scriptures said it would.
    
17. A crowd had come to meet Jesus because they had seen him call Lazarus out of the tomb. They kept talking about him and this miracle.
    
18. (SEE 12:17)
    
19. But the Pharisees said to each other, "There is nothing that can be done! Everyone in the world is following Jesus."
    
20. Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover.
    
21. Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee was there too. So they went to him and said, "Sir, we would like to meet Jesus."
    
22. Philip told Andrew. Then the two of them went to Jesus and told him.
    
23. Jesus said: The time has come for the Son of Man to be given his glory.
    
24. I tell you for certain that a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat.
    
25. If you love your life, you will lose it. If you give it up in this world, you will be given eternal life.
    
26. If you serve me, you must go with me. My servants will be with me wherever I am. If you serve me, my Father will honor you.
    
27. Now I am deeply troubled, and I don't know what to say. But I must not ask my Father to keep me from this time of suffering. In fact, I came into the world to suffer.
    
28. So Father, bring glory to yourself. A voice from heaven then said, "I have already brought glory to myself, and I will do it again!"
    
29. When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder. Others thought an angel had spoken to Jesus.
    
30. Then Jesus told the crowd, "That voice spoke to help you, not me.
    
31. This world's people are now being judged, and the ruler of this world is already being thrown out!
    
32. If I am lifted up above the earth, I will make everyone want to come to me."
    
33. Jesus was talking about the way he would be put to death.
    
34. The crowd said to Jesus, "The Scriptures teach that the Messiah will live forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"
    
35. Jesus answered, "The light will be with you for only a little longer. Walk in the light while you can. Then you won't be caught walking blindly in the dark.
    
36. Have faith in the light while it is with you, and you will be children of the light." After Jesus had said these things, he left and went into hiding.
    
37. He had worked a lot of miracles among the people, but they were still not willing to have faith in him.
    
38. This happened so that what the prophet Isaiah had said would come true, "Lord, who has believed our message? And who has seen your mighty strength?"
    
39. The people could not have faith in Jesus, because Isaiah had also said,
    
40. "The Lord has blinded the eyes of the people, and he has made the people stubborn. He did this so that they could not see or understand, and so that they would not turn to the Lord and be healed."
    
41. Isaiah said this, because he saw the glory of Jesus and spoke about him.
    
42. Even then, many of the leaders put their faith in Jesus, but they did not tell anyone about it. The Pharisees had already given orders for the people not to have anything to do with anyone who had faith in Jesus.
    
43. And besides, the leaders liked praise from others more than they liked praise from God.
    
44. In a loud voice Jesus said: Everyone who has faith in me also has faith in the one who sent me.
    
45. And everyone who has seen me has seen the one who sent me.
    
46. I am the light that has come into the world. No one who has faith in me will stay in the dark.
    
47. I am not the one who will judge those who refuse to obey my teachings. I came to save the people of this world, not to be their judge.
    
48. But everyone who rejects me and my teachings will be judged on the last day by what I have said.
    
49. I don't speak on my own. I say only what the Father who sent me has told me to say.
    
50. I know that his commands will bring eternal life. That is why I tell you exactly what the Father has told me.
    
    

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    Following Jesus' raising of Lazarus from the dead His fame soared. By the time He entered the city of Jerusalem for the last time, the crowds, receiving word of His approach to the city, thronged the gates waiting to honor Him. But these throngs of people were not driven by belief in Jesus as the Messiah. (12:37) They sought after Him because of the miraculous signs He performed seeking some personal gain from Him, but they did not accept Him as the Son of Man, sent from God, who could save them.
    
    The thronging crowds illustrate the tendency of all people to seek personal gain while missing those things with eternal value. We grasp at the sensational but temporary gain rather than the greater and eternal gain. We are all a selfish humanity thinking only of ourselves. But Jesus taught in this passage that the life of meaning and fulfillment is gained, not by being served, but by serving: "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him." (12:26) But we must catch the key here. It is not in serving just anyone, but in serving Christ. Serving that does not begin with serving Christ, has no eternal value. It may be beneficial and it may give us good feelings about helping someone else rather than thinking only of ourselves, but it misses the mark eternally and it fails to give those we serve the help that will lift them out of their situation.
    
    Again Christ clarifies that there is no separation between Him and the Father. Anyone who serves Him, serves the Father, and any who believe in Him, "believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me." Furthermore, "the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me." (12:44-45)