John 12 Study Notes

12:24 The principle of life through death is illustrated by an agricultural example.

12:25 Following Christ involves self-sacrifice, shown supremely at the cross.

12:26 This truth extends beyond a disciple’s earthly life to his eternal destiny (7:34,36; 14:3; 17:24).

12:27 Jesus’s expression of anguish may invoke Davidic psalms such as Ps 6:3 or 42:5,11.

12:28 This is one of only three times during Jesus’s earthly ministry when a heavenly voice attested to his identity (cp. his baptism and his transfiguration, Mt 3:13-17; 17:1-13 and parallels).

12:29 God’s revelation through thunder and angels is well documented in the OT. Thunder was part of God’s appearance at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:16,19). Angels (or the angel of God) spoke to Hagar (Gn 21:17), Abraham (Gn 22:11), Moses (Ac 7:38), Elijah (2Kg 1:15), and Daniel (see Dn 10:4-11).

12:30-31 The ruler of this world in its fallen, sinful state is Satan (14:30; 16:11; 1Jn 5:19). Now, at the cross, the devil would be cast out, or decisively defeated (Lk 10:18; Col 2:14-15).

12:32 This most explicit lifted up saying completes the earlier references in 3:14-15 (see note there) and 8:28. Very likely, the terminology echoes Is 52:13. All people, in the present context, means “all kinds of people”—both Jews and Gentiles (10:16; 11:52; cp. 12:20-21).

12:33 On the kind of death Jesus was about to die, see note at 21:19.

12:34 This is the final of several messianic misunderstandings featured in John’s Gospel (cp. 7:27,31,41-42; see note at 7:25-44). This reference may find its basis in passages such as Ps 89:4,36-37 (which in turn is grounded in 2Sm 7:12-16); Ps 110:1; Is 9:7; and Dn 7:14.

12:35-36 Jesus’s answer was indirect (see v. 46). In light of the fact that the light would be with people only a little longer, his crucifixion was near (7:33; 16:16-19). He urged that they believe in the light (9:4; 11:10; see note at 8:12) while there was still time.

12:36 When Jesus hid from them, he illustrated God’s imminent judgment and completed his revelatory work to the people of Israel (1:18).

12:37-50 This indictment identified Israel’s wilderness generation with the unbelieving Jews in Jesus’s day. Just as the ancient Jews saw God’s power (performed through Moses) at the exodus (Dt 29:2-4) and turned away, so the Jews in Jesus’s day watched miraculous signs (performed by Jesus) and responded with grumbling (Jn 6:41,61; cp. Ex 17:3; Nm 11:1) and unbelief (Jn 12:39).

12:38-40 John cited Is 53:1 and 6:10 to indicate that the Jewish rejection of Jesus was predicted by Scripture and thus served to confirm rather than thwart God’s plan. Is 53:1 referred to the Servant of the Lord who was rejected by the people but exalted by God. Is 6:10 attributed people’s hardening ultimately to God himself (similar to Pharaoh’s; see notes at Rm 9:17,18). These verses are the first in a series of fulfillment quotations in the second half of John’s Gospel.

12:41 The reference to Isaiah seeing his (Jesus’s) glory may indicate that Isaiah foresaw that God would be pleased with a Suffering Servant who would be “raised and lifted up and greatly exalted” (Is 52:13). Like Abraham, Isaiah saw “Jesus’s day” (cp. Jn 8:58).

12:42-43 Among the rulers who believed in Jesus were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (see 7:50-57; 19:38-42). On fear of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, see note at 7:13.

12:44-50 This section summarizes Jesus’s message and conveys his final appeal, bringing closure to the first major section of John’s Gospel. Sent me presupposes the Jewish idea of representation, according to which a messenger’s identity is inseparable from that of the one who sent him. Verses 48-50 echo Deuteronomy (Dt 18:19; 31:19,26).