John 12 | |
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Book | Gospel of John |
Category | Gospel |
Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Order in the Christian part | 4 |
John 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It narrates an anointing of Jesus' feet, attributed to Mary of Bethany, as well as an account of the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. [1] The author of the book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel. [2]
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 50 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Koine Greek are:
Events recorded in this chapter refer to the following locations:
The narrative suggests that Jesus and His disciples travelled to Bethany from Ephraim, where Jesus had been staying to avoid the Jewish leaders who were plotting to kill him (John 11:53–54). He dined with Lazarus, Martha and Mary, a family well known to Jesus (John 11:1–3). This family group had been introduced to the readers of John's Gospel in chapter 11, with Mary being described in John 11:2 as "that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair", the event recounted in John 12:3.
Verse 12:3 is curiously foretold in verse 11:2, and shows many striking similarities with, but also differences from, various traditions narrated in the other canonical gospels, which has created much scholarly controversy. [16] New Testament scholars try to establish how John's narrative of the raising of Lazarus and the subsequent feet-anointing of Jesus by Mary of Bethany (John 11:1–12:11,17) was composed by seeking to explain its apparent relationships with the older textual traditions of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke). The author of John seems[ citation needed ] to have combined elements from several – apparently originally unrelated – stories into a single narrative. These include the unnamed woman's head-anointing of Jesus in Bethany (Mark 14, Matthew 26), the sinful woman's feet-anointing (and hair-wiping) of Jesus in Galilee (Luke 7; these first two may have a common origin, the Lukan account likely being derived from Mark), Jesus' visit to Martha and Mary in the unnamed Galilean village (Luke 10), Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16), and possibly others involving Jesus' miraculous raising of the dead (the raising of Jairus' daughter and the raising of the son of the widow of Nain). Meanwhile, other elements were removed [ citation needed ] or replaced; for example, Simon the Leper/Simon the Pharisee was replaced[ citation needed ] by Lazarus as the host of the feast in Jesus' honour, and Bethany in Judea was chosen as the setting, while most elements of John's narrative correspond to traditions that the Synoptics set in Galilee. Scholars[ citation needed ] pay particular attention to verse John 11:2 (and John 11:1), which may represent an effort by the author or a later redactor to stress a connection between these stories that is, however, not found in the older canonical gospels. [11] [17] [18] [19] They further argue that the actual anointing will not be narrated until verse 12:3, and that neither Mary, nor Martha, nor the village of these sisters, nor any anointing is mentioned in the Gospel of John before this point, suggesting that the author (or redactor) assumes the readers already have knowledge of these characters, this location and this event, and wants to tell them that these were connected (which he apparently knew the readers did not commonly know/believe yet) long before giving the readers more details. [16] [11] Esler and Piper (2006) posited that verse 11:2 is evidence that the author of the Gospel of John deliberately mixed up several traditions in an 'audacious attempt (...) to rework the collective memory of the Christ-movement'. According to Esler, the author did not strive to give a historically accurate account of what had happened, but instead, for theological purposes, combined various existing narratives in order to construct Lazarus, Mary and Martha of Bethany as a prototypical Christian family, whose example is to be followed by Christians. [11]
Judas Iscariot, described as "one of [Jesus'] disciples" and "Simon’s son, who would betray Him", asks “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii (Greek : δηναρίων τριακοσίων) and the money given to poor people (or the poor)?” The New International Version, New King James Version and New Living Translation all equate this amount to a year's wages. In Mark 14:5 the oil is also valued at three hundred denarii; in Matthew 26:9 it could have been sold for "a high (but unspecified) price". H W Watkins computes that, since in John 6:7, two hundred denarii would purchase food for 5,000, three hundred denarii would have fed 7,500 people. [20]
John's Gospel is the only one which observes that Judas was responsible for the disciples' "common fund" or "money box", both here in verse 6 and again in John 13:29. The word το γλωσσοκομον (glōssokomon) "means literally "a case for mouthpieces" of musical instruments, and hence any portable chest. It occurs in the Septuagint texts of 2 Chronicles 24:8,11. [21]
The New Revised Standard Version, differing from other translations, reads "She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial". [23]
A great many of the Jews came to Bethany, "not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. The wording of verse 9 suggests that Jesus remains a while in the town. [24] But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus" (John 12:9–11). Augustine comments on "the folly of the priests — as if Christ could not raise Lazarus a second time!" [25] Matthew Poole asks, "What had Lazarus done?" [26] The plot to put Lazarus to death may be read alongside the developing plot to kill Jesus (John 10:31, 39; John 11:53) as if there were parallel plots "to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus", [27] or even to kill Lazarus first - as Albert Barnes suggests: "as it was determined to kill Jesus, so they consulted about the propriety of removing Lazarus first, that the number of his followers might be lessened, and that the death of Jesus might make less commotion". [28] But the observation that "on account of [Lazarus] many of the Jews went away (from the Pharisees) and believed in Jesus (John 12:10) could indicate that in the early church Lazarus was influential in converting many Jews to the belief that Jesus was the Messiah.
John 12:12 states that on "the next day", a great multitude who had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, "heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem", and so they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. John 12:1 presents Jesus in Bethany "six days before the Passover", so His entry into Jerusalem can be understood as taking place five days before the Passover, on "the tenth day of the Jewish month Nisan, on which the paschal lamb was set apart to be 'kept up until the fourteenth day of the same month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel were to kill it in the evening'. [29]
Some ethnic Greeks (Greek : Ἕλληνές) [30] had also made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast (John 12:20). Jesus' interest in teaching the Greeks of the diaspora has already proved a matter of some intrigue in chapter 7 (John 7:35). Bengel's Gnomen notes that "it is not clear that they were circumcised: certainly, at least, they were worshippers of the One God of Israel" - they were present in Jerusalem "that they might worship at the feast (Greek : ἵνα προσκυνήσωσιν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ). John uses the same word, προσκυνειν, proskunein, literally to kneel and kiss the ground, [31] in John 4:20–24 in relation to the Jewish-Samaritan debate over the sacred place "where one ought to worship" (John 4:20; NKJV translation), where He announces that "the hour is coming when you will [worship] neither on this mountain (Mount Gerizim), nor in Jerusalem".
Meyer's New Testament Commentary and the Expanded Bible (2011) [32] both state that these pilgrims were "gentiles". They had presumably "heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem" on the same basis as the Jewish multitude mentioned in John 12:12, although Meyer raises the possibility that "they came to Philip accidentally". [24] The evangelist raises the question of whether they can see (meet) [33] (or believe in) [34] Jesus (John 12:21). "They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus'. Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. The evangelist repeats the information already provided at John 1:44, that Philip came from Bethsaida in Galilee, which was "also the city of Andrew and Peter". Both Philip and Andrew have Greek names. Watkins considers it "a striking coincidence, and perhaps more than this, that the Greeks thus came into connection with the only Apostles who bear Greek names". [20]
Watkins observes that the coming of the Greeks is mentioned "not for the sake of the fact itself, but for that of the discourse which followed upon it", [20] while Swedish-based commentator René Kieffer notes that it is to them, along with the rest of his audience, that Jesus reveals the mystery of his imminent death: [35]
Jesus' discourse, set out in John 12:24–27, leaves readers "in doubt as to the result of the Greeks’ request": [21]
The evangelist addresses directly the issue that the Messiah had died: "Strange as it may seem to you that the Messiah should die, yet this is but the course of nature: a seed cannot be glorified unless it dies". [21] Paul refers to the same idea in 1 Corinthians 15:36: "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies".
Theologian Harold Buls suggests that the grain of wheat which "falls into the ground and dies" (John 12:24) refers to Jesus alone, whereas the teaching that "he who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25) applies "to all people, Jews and Gentiles". [38] The Greek : ἀπολλύει, apollyei (loses) is written as ἀπολέσει, apolesei (will lose) in the Byzantine Majority Text, but Watkins argues that the present text has "slightly more probability":
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that in John 12:25, two Greek words, ψυχὴν, psychēn and ζωὴν, zōēn, are both translated into English as "life": "in the first two cases (ψυχὴν), 'life' means the life of the individual, in the last (ζωὴν), life in the abstract. By sacrificing life in the one sense, we may win life in the other". [20] This work also comments that Matthew 10:39, Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24 and Luke 17:33 all express the same idea, and that a "comparison of the texts will show that most of them refer to different occasions, so that this solemn warning must have been often on [Jesus'] lips". [20] The Living Bible makes the distinction clearer by paraphrasing ζωὴν as "eternal glory". [39]
Jesus goes on to make the following statement:
"Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
The meaning of this teaching (especially verse 32) has been the subject of much exegetical and theological dispute. Some have interpreted Christ's promise here (that "all" will be drawn to him) in light of his teaching in John 6:44 that those drawn to him will be "raised up on the last day," so as to imply eventual universal salvation. [40] Others have appealed to the contextual detail in verse 20 ("some Greeks" sought Jesus), so as to infer that Christ only means that people of all kinds (Gentiles as well as Jews) will be drawn to him, rather than every individual without exception. [41] Still others have suggested that he means only that all will be 'invited' or 'summoned' to Christ, not that all will necessarily be effectually regenerated and saved. [42] Much of this depends upon how one understands the meaning of the Greek words πᾶς ("all") and ἕλκω ("to draw"), as they are used in this context.
The evangelist relates Jesus' teaching and its reception to two passages taken from the prophet Isaiah, whose words Jesus had also used in the synoptic gospels at the commencement of Jesus' public ministry (Luke 4:18). The two passages quoted are Isaiah 6:10 and 53:1, both relating to belief and resistance:
Meyer identifies these words with "the close of the public ministry of Jesus", a point at which there is an assessment of the results of His teaching "in respect to faith in Him". [24]
Verses 44–50 represent the close of Jesus' public ministry. He "cries out" (verse 44), a phrase which the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says "implies public teaching". [43] Verse 36 ("These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them") indicate that the final verses of the chapter act as an "epilogue and recapitulation", [44] "a sort of summary and winding up of His whole testimony", [45] or "the thoughts of St. John as he looked back on the unbelief of Judaism". [20]
The evangelist summarises Jesus' mission: he was sent by God the Father to offer eternal life (John 12:50). "With this the first main division of the Gospel ends. Christ’s revelation of Himself to the world in His ministry is concluded. The Evangelist has set before us the Testimony to the Christ, the Work of the Christ, and the Judgment respecting the work, which has ended in a conflict, and the conflict has reached a climax". [21]
Mary of Bethany is a biblical figure mentioned by name in the Gospel of John and probably the Gospel of Luke in the Christian New Testament. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, she is described as living in the village of Bethany, a small village in Judaea to the south of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem.
Luke 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. It contains an account of the preaching of John the Baptist as well as a genealogy of Jesus. From the start of this chapter until Luke 9:50, the "shape and outlook" of Luke's Gospel follow closely those of the other synoptic gospels, Matthew and Mark. The Expositor's Greek Testament states that in this chapter "the ministry of the new era opens".
Luke 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. This chapter details Jesus' three temptations, the start of his "Galilean Ministry", and his rejection at Nazareth, which Luke contrasts with his acclaim in nearby Capernaum.
Luke 24 is the twenty-fourth and final chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. This chapter records the discovery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his appearances to his disciples and his ascension into heaven.
Matthew 13 is the thirteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. This chapter contains the third of the five Discourses of Matthew, called the Parabolic Discourse, based on the parables of the Kingdom. At the end of the chapter, Jesus is rejected by the people of his hometown, Nazareth.
Luke 10 is the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the sending of seventy disciples by Jesus, the famous parable about the Good Samaritan, and his visit to the house of Mary and Martha. This Gospel's author, who also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, is not named but is uniformly identified by early Christian tradition as Luke the Evangelist.
Matthew 26 is the 26th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter covers the beginning of the Passion of Jesus narrative, which continues to Matthew 28; it contains the narratives of the Jewish leaders' plot to kill Jesus, Judas Iscariot's agreement to betray Jesus to Caiphas, the Last Supper with the Twelve Apostles and institution of the Eucharist, the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and the subsequent vindication of Jesus' predictions, of betrayal by one of the twelve Apostles, and that he will, in the Denial of Peter, be disowned by his closest follower, Saint Peter.
John 11 is the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the raising of Lazarus from the dead, a miracle of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent development of the chief priests' and Pharisees' plot against Jesus. The author of the book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel.
John 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Jesus' continued Farewell Discourse to his disciples, set on the last night before his crucifixion. In this chapter, Jesus speaks about the work of the Holy Spirit, the joy of the believers and his victory over the world. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel.
John 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter records the events on the day of the Crucifixion of Jesus, starting with the arrest of Jesus the evening before. The three denials of Peter are interwoven into the narrative concerning the trials of Jesus.
John 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel. This chapter records the events on the day of the crucifixion of Jesus, until his burial.
Luke 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the records of two great miracles performed by Jesus, his reply to John the Baptist's question, and the anointing by a sinful woman. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys, composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke 12 is the 12th chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records a number of teachings and parables told by Jesus Christ when "an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together", but addressed "first of all" to his disciples. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records one miracle performed by Jesus Christ on a Sabbath day, followed by his teachings and parables, where he "inculcates humility ... and points out whom we should invite to our feasts, if we expect spiritual remuneration". The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the teachings and parables of Jesus Christ, including the account of the "rich man and Lazarus". There is an "overriding concern with riches" in this chapter, although other topics are also covered. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Jesus' arrival in Jericho and his meeting with Zacchaeus, the parable of the minas and Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the teaching of Jesus Christ in the temple in Jerusalem, especially his responses to questions raised by the Pharisees and Sadducees. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the observations and predictions of Jesus Christ delivered in the temple in Jerusalem, and his exhortation "to be watchful". The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
The anointings of Jesus’s head or feet are events recorded in the four gospels. The account in Matthew 26, Mark 14, takes place on Holy Wednesday, while the account in John 12 takes place 6 days before Passover in Bethany, a village in Judaea on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, where Lazarus lived. In Matthew and Mark, he is anointed by an unnamed woman. In John, the woman is identified as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany. The event in Luke features an unnamed sinful woman, and is in the northern region, as Luke 7 indicates Jesus was ministering in the northern regions of Nain and Capernaum. The honorific anointing with perfume is an action frequently mentioned in other literature from the time; however, using long hair to dry Jesus's feet, as in John and Luke, is not recorded elsewhere, and should be regarded as an exceptional gesture. Considerable debate has discussed the identity of the woman, the location, timing, and the message.
Acts 1 is the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke. This chapter functions as a transition from the "former account" with a narrative prelude, repeated record of the ascension of Jesus Christ with more detail and the meeting of Jesus' followers, until before Pentecost.
These weren't Greek speaking Jews, these were ethnic Greeks or gentiles.
Preceded by John 11 | Chapters of the Bible Gospel of John | Succeeded by John 13 |