John 12

We are approaching the final events of the Lord’s life on Earth. The first 11 chapters cover three or four years of Yeshua’s life. The last 10 chapters of the Book cover the last two weeks of His life. That tells us that these final events, these final teachings, these final prayers, are of particular importance.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. Many of the more religious Jewish people would leave early, and arrive in Jerusalem to get ritually clean by being sprinkled with the water that contained the ashes of the red heifer, and by washing their bodies and clothes.

So they - these more religious Jewish people, were seeking for Yeshua, and were saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, "What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?" Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.

By this time, after three or four years of serving the Lord in the sight of all Israel, Yeshua had made a tremendous impact on the entire nation. Everyone knew about the young miracle-working prophet from Nazareth, and many of these more religious Jews were curious if Yeshua would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, since they knew the Jewish leaders were trying to arrest Him.

Yeshua too, reentered Judea early. Yeshua, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany - which was only two miles from Jerusalem - where Lazarus was, whom Yeshua had raised from the dead. Yeshua had friends in Bethany, like Simon the leper, and one family in particular who were especially grateful to Him, and loved Him and were loyal to Him.

So they made Him a supper there in the home of Simon the leper, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard - made from a rare plant, and worth about a year’s salary - maybe 35,000 dollars and anointed the feet of Yeshua and wiped His feet with her hair - out of love and utmost devotion for good and courageous Rabbi Yeshua, who she believed to be the Messiah and the Son of God; out of gratitude for healing her brother Lazarus; and we will be told shortly, there was another reason why she anointed Yeshua; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume from her sacrificial gift and her sacrificial act.

But Judas of Keriot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" That’s a lot of money that was just wasted all at once. Think of all the good it could have accomplished for the poor. But John, inspired by the Spirit of God, and having knowledge of the true motivation of Judas, tells us that (Now) 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.

I think it’s informative that wicked men can use religion and charity and concern for the poor as a smokescreen to accomplish their own evil agendas. So let’s not be naive - just because someone claims they want to do something for a good cause, doesn’t necessarily mean that we should go along with it. There might be an evil agenda at the heart of it.

Therefore Yeshua said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial - indicating that Yeshua knew that the time of His death and burial were very near. And, we know from elsewhere in the Scriptures that Mary, alone of all of Yeshua’s followers, understood that the Lord was about to die. After all, Yeshua told the disciples that He was going to go to Jerusalem, where He would be arrested, and suffer and die. They didn’t believe Him, but Mary alone seems to have heard the Rabbi’s prophecy about His death, and believed Him. And because of this, Yeshua said that Mary’s deed of humility, which was a mixture of great love, deep sorrow, outstanding faith, and profound understanding, should always be told and remembered - as it has over during this age.

What a contrast between Mary and Judas - Mary, full of faith and light and understanding, and sacrificial love for Yeshua, and Judas, who was coldly interested in using Yeshua to accomplish his own agenda, and get ahead in this world. Which one are you more like?

Yeshua continued speaking to Judas: For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me." Unfortunately, before the Millennium, there will be poverty, and hence ample opportunity for Judas to help them, if he was genuinely concerned for them. But time was short for Yeshua, and frankly, even though Mary’s gesture was extravagant, who better could that perfume been used for? The mistress of some rich Roman official perhaps?

The large crowd of the Jews  - the more religious, who were close by in Jerusalem getting ready for Passover, then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Yeshua' sake only - but in part to get closer to Yeshua, since His wisdom and His miracles had made a great impact on them, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. That miracle of miracles - the resurrection of Lazarus - after being dead for four days, done publicly, done so powerfully, had gripped the entire nation. Nothing had been done in Israel like that since the days of Elijah and Elisha, and the people wanted to actually see Lazarus himself, and perhaps talk to him.

This additional popularity for young rabbi Yeshua, especially from among some of the more religious Jewish people, greatly disturbed and threatened the religious leaders:

But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Yeshua.

The human heart is very hard, my friends, especially among religious functionaries who think that their religion is right, as we see here in Judaism, and as we have seen over the centuries particularly in Catholicism, and also in other religions as well.

It’s hard to imagine the thinking that would go into a decision like this - to put Lazarus to death. Maybe it went something like this: Yeshua is a false prophet and a danger to Israel. Lazarus is his friend and an accomplis. Both are under the power of Satan. We must destroy them both, before even more follow them. Of course, they were wrong - Yeshua was a true prophet, and operating by the power of God, and the resurrection of Lazarus was a great miracle that glorified God. That clarifies that bad theology is so dangerous, and can lead us to do terrible things in the name of God, and so, we had better make sure that our theology is right.

The proper or improper knowledge of God and His Son will affect our moral, ethical, judicial and political decisions, and determine whether we do what is right, or engage in things that are terribly wrong.

That brings us to the next day, some five days before the beginning of Yeshua’s final Passover: On the next day the large crowd - hundreds, perhaps thousand of the more religious of the Jewish people, who had come to the feast, when they heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout the words from Psalm 118, "Hoshe-ah-nah! Please save us! Save us now! Baruch HaBa b’shem Adonai - blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." We welcome You to Jerusalem, Yeshua of Nazareth, and acknowledge that you are the Messiah that God sent to save us, and that you are the rightful King of Israel! We wave these lulovs - these palm branches, as part of our joyous welcome! We come to meet you in this way because we believe in You!

Yeshua, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written in the book of the prophet Zechariah, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." So, by riding on this young donkey, and not on a white horse like a triumphant conqueror, in fulfillment of this very specific 500 year old prophecy, Yeshua affirms that He is indeed the King of Israel, but a humble King, coming the first time in weakness, with humility, to suffer and die, in order to reconcile mankind to God.

These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. The disciples certainly didn’t manipulate these events and try to fulfill prophecy on their own. In fact John tells us that they didn’t understand them until later, in retrospect.

So 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. There were quite a number of reliable eyewitnesses, religious leaders, who, several months back, were there when Yeshua raised Lazarus back to life.  For this reason also the people went and met Him,  - not only because they believed Yeshua was the Messiah, but also because they heard that He had performed this sign- this miracle of miracles that brings such hope to humanity - that Yeshua will one day raise those who believe in them back to life - everlasting life - as well.

So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him." All of our plans to entrap Yeshua, or have Him arrested, and dissuade the people from believing in Him aren’t working. It’s starting to look like everyone, even some of our key people, are following Him. They are feeling increasing desperate, and desperate men will do desperate deeds.

Now there were some Greeks - Gentiles, God-fearers, perhaps from the Galilee or the Decapolis region, the ten predominantly Gentile cites east of Galilee, among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Yeshua." We’re requesting an audience with the Rabbi. We Greeks are interested in the amazing young Rabbi from Nazareth, and want to have more contact with Him too! There’s many more things we’d like to find out about Him and from Him.

Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Yeshua. And Yeshua answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The events that will very quickly transpire have been planned by My Father and I from eternity. It’s My time to accomplish the mission I can for, to die and be resurrected, to restore mankind to God. My great sacrifice will being Me honor forever.

Truly, truly, I say to you - I’m speaking to you with the utmost sincerity and truthfulness, so you can trust that what I am about to say is utterly reliable - unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies - if that one grain of wheat is buried in soil, it will grow a wheat plant, that will bear much fruit. Just as wheat must be buried in order to multiply itself, so must I. I am willing to die because I know that much good will come from it - that millions of My fellows sons and daughter of mankind, Jews and Greeks, will come alive! My death will allow the genesis of a new mankind, righteous and holy.

He who loves his life loses it -  because God demands more than selfishness from us, more than just looking out for ourselves. He demands that our duty and love to God and man comes first, ahead of love of self, and self-interest. If we love ourselves about God and our responsibility to our fellow man, we will ruin ourselves. And the opposite is likewise true - he who hates his life in this world - by placing himself, and his own interests, and his own desires, and his own priorities above all else - will keep it to life eternal.

“I’ve got My priorities in order” says Yeshua - “I am here not to please Myself, because what is about to happen to Me will be anything but pleasing.” If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me - My loyal servants must follow My example. And, if they do, where I am, there My servant will be also - because I love and serve God and mankind, death will not be the end for Me. I will come back to life, and I will ascend back to Heaven, alive forever, and victorious and greatly honored by God Himself; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

I want to be honored by God Himself. Isn’t that the greatest possible honor of all? So, I’ve decided to serve Yeshua, and follow Him. How about you?

But, this is not going to be easy, even for Me, the Son of God. Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. No, I don’t choose to pray that I won’t undergo the horrible suffering that I know I am about to experience. O, I could pray to be saved from what awaits, but that would mean the utter destruction of mankind. And, I know that’s the very reason why I am here - to rescue mankind from utter destruction. Instead, I will pray that I am successful, and that God is glorified through My sacrifice. Father, glorify Your name." May Your Name - who You really are, Your great character, Your noble reputation, be even greater because of what is about to happen to Me.

Then, for one of the few and rare times in history, a voice came out of Heaven - the voice of the Creator: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." Yeshua - You are My Son - I acknowledge You before these human beings, and I commend You and am very pleased to accept Your suffering and Your sacrifice, and My name - who I am, and My power and authority and character, and My reputation, will only increase because of what You are about to do.

Yeshua clearly heard the voice of God saying these words, and perhaps some others, but not all. So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him."

But Yeshua knew that it was the voice of the Creator of the universe - not thunder or even the voice of an angel, and why that supreme voice had spoken.

Yeshua answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake - since I already know that God loves Me and commends and confirms everything that I do, but for your sakes - so that you may know and understand God’s approval of Me and My sacrificial death.

Now judgment is upon this world - My Chosen People, something dramatic is about to take place. Things are about to change around here. God is about to intervene in the world; now the ruler of this world - Satan, who controls this world, much of its culture and its institutions and its perverted values, will be cast out. Because of My death, God is about to act, to begin retaking the rulership of Planet Earth that was forfeited when Adam fell. And I, if I am lifted up from the Earth, will draw all men to Myself." It’s My death on the cross which will enable mankind - anyone who believes in Me, to be united to Myself, and I am united to God. But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.

But hardly anyone understood what Rabbi Yeshua was talking about. The crowd then answered Him, "We have heard out of the Torah that the Messiah is to remain forever; that’s our understanding, and we think that you may be the Messiah. And how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Are you being lifted up to go somewhere else? Maybe like Elijah was lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Is that You or are You referring to someone else?

So Yeshua said to them, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. My people, I am the light. I bring God's Presence, and wisdom, truth  revelation, understanding, knowledge, victory and salvation. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; Live in such a way so that you will benefit by the truth. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. So, don’t ignore Me, otherwise you will be headed for disaster. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." Listen carefully to what I am saying. Trust Me. Believe in Me. Try to understand what I am teaching you, and then put it into practice. If you do, you will be sons of light - men and women who are full of truth and victory and salvation and life and the presence of God. These things Yeshua spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them - because this ends Yeshua’s public service to Israel as their Rabbi and Teacher and Healer. The majority haven’t responded as they should have, and he will in just a few days, be arrested, suffer greatly, be unfairly condemned, and die - and He knows it.

And, in a short commentary, in which you can sense John’s disappointment in his people, this great sha-lee-ach (emissary) summarizes the nation’s response to Messiah Yeshua: But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. There was plenty of evidence, supernatural evidence that could only be understood to mean that Yeshua was God’s Messiah. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the Arm of the Lord been revealed?" It’s exactly as Isaiah, 700 years ago, told us - in chapter 53, one of the most powerful Messianic prophecies, that the majority of Israel wouldn’t believe in the Messiah.

Why wouldn’t they believe, in spite of so much evidence? For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them" - quoting the book of Isaiah, chapter 6.

But did God blind the people arbitrarily, and harden their hearts capriciously? Doesn’t He want all men to be saved and come to a saving knowledge of the truth? Yes - He does. I think He blinded us so that we couldn’t see the Messiah, and hardened our hearts, much as He hardened Pharaoh’s heart - as punishment, after Pharaoh had already hardened his own heart. Sin leads to more sin. Unbelief leads to more unbelief. To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.

It’s a terrible fearful thing to ignore God, to ignore all the many evidences for the truth of the Word of God, and the truth about Yeshua. You will go from darkness to darkness, weakness to weakness, death to death.

These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. In his visions, in his prophecies, Isaiah saw Yeshua, and the book of Isaiah has more prophecies about the Messiah than any other.

Another important point: John, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us that it was the same Isaiah who wrote chapters 1-39, and 40 through 46. There is no First Isaiah and Second Isaiah, like higher-critical unbelievers claim. All of Isaiah, and the entire Word of God is true, and inspired by God, my friends.

But, not everyone totally rejected Yeshua. Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, That’s good. But there is a “but” - but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. Some leaders did believe that Yeshua was the Messiah at this point, before His death, but their belief wasn’t what it should be, what it needed to be, what it must be. It wasn’t the kind of belief that would stand up boldly for the truth, that would withstand human disapproval, that would courageously go against the majority.

I would say that this “secret believer” kind of faith, that denies Him before men, wasn’t the genuine kind of faith that saves anyone. But, perhaps, some of these leaders, after Yeshua’s death, and His incredible resurrection, were willing to publicly identify with Yeshua, and come out and declare their faith in Him, so that they could be saved, and set an example of true faith. We know from the book of Acts that many leaders and priests did become Messianic Jews in the following decades.

There are some final words of Yeshua that are recorded for their benefit, and for us, but for that we will have to wait for a couple of weeks, Lord willing.