John 12 (Part 1) — Mary Anoints Jesus, the Plot Against Lazarus, and the Triumphal Entry Begins
Paul Woodley examines John 12, from Mary anointing Jesus with costly nard to the triumphal entry. He unpacks Jesus' statement "the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me" as a priority-of-Christ teaching, and explores the chief priests' plot to kill Lazarus because his resurrection was drawing crowds away from them.
Chapters
All right, so today's, uh, Bible study, we're picking up where we left off, and that is in the Gospel of John. Today we will be in John chapter 12, and we will review a little bit of where we came from, which was the previous chapter, John chapter 11. But in this chapter here, uh, we are looking at sections that involve Mary anointing Jesus at Bethany We'll see the plot to kill Lazarus. We mentioned that yesterday, how even though he was raised from the dead, and that sign was the biggest sign that Jesus apparently did that caused people to believe in him. We're going to see now that there's an actual plot to kill him. We're going to move into the triumphal entry in verse 12. We're going to see in verse 20 how there are some Greeks now that want to talk to Jesus. We'll talk about that. Verse 27 on, we'll talk about how Jesus says that the Son of Man must be lifted up. Then we'll end with the section starting in verse 44 where Jesus came to save the world, right? So there are 50 verses in this chapter, so plan on sticking around for an hour to an hour and a half. Of course, if you're seeing this chopped up and clipped, always go back to the YouTube channel. That is where we have the full video of the chapter that you could review later. All right, so let us begin. We are in John chapter 12. Now, before we move into there, let's see Let's set the scene. So in chapter 11, the chapter before that we went over yesterday, it ended with verse 55 where it says, now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and 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 should let them know so that they might arrest him. Right, and so that is where we ended yesterday's chapter. Now we kind of skip a little bit in time and we are going to pick it up in chapter 12, verse 1. It goes on to say, 6 days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, verse 5, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? And said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, quote, verse 7, leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. And that is the first section that we'll unpack verse by verse in a second. All right, so here we are. The scene is that there's the— there's a Passover. This is 6 days prior to, and we see the location. We're in Bethany. It says Jesus therefore came to Bethany and Why Bethany? Because Lazarus and his family was there. So it says in verse 1, where Lazarus was, the same Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead, in verse 1. And so verse 2, they're giving a dinner for Jesus, and we were— and it says Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. And this is a great scene because in the previous chapter, if you remember, emotions are high. There's a lot going on there. Lazarus was dead. He was sick. Martha and Mary, his sisters, sent word to Jesus that he was sick. Remember that their family— that they're close with Jesus. Jesus was friends with them. He was really fond of Lazarus. And Jesus, upon hearing the message that Lazarus was sick and to come because he was sick to heal him— if you remember, Jesus stayed where he was 2 extra days so that Lazarus would eventually die. And we learned that the purpose of that was to show the glory to show his glory revealed in the resurrection of Lazarus. And he said that, um, to his disciples. Now Jesus says in the previous chapter, in verse 11-14, it says, then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. And so the purpose of Jesus waiting for Lazarus to die is so that he can go to Lazarus' grave 4 days later, raise him from the dead with the purpose that he may believe. So he does that, he goes, and if you remember, we saw the two sisters. Now that when Jesus went over there to go raise Lazarus, we saw the sisters and their reactions. Remember, we see Mary who stayed in the house with the mourners, and we see Martha come out to outside the village because she heard Jesus was was close. And Martha goes all the way out to connect with Jesus, and she said the same thing that Mary said when she first connected with Jesus. Quote, this is verse 21, Martha talking to Jesus. She says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And then She confesses, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And then Jesus said in verse 23, your brother will rise again. And Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. And then Jesus goes into that major awesome statement where he says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And then he asked the question, do you believe this? And her confession, this is Martha, she said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world. Which is great. So she's tracking it. Not only is she saying, I believe you are the Christ, that is something that they were all looking for, the Messiah. But she's also importantly recognized him as the Son of God, which is one title that he wants people to fully grasp and understand. Just like you and me today, we need to understand the distinction of when he says that he is the Son of God. And so we go on to the story, and eventually Mary, um, Mary comes to see Jesus because Martha goes back to the house. She says, the teacher wants to talk to you. And so Mary goes to see Jesus. And Mary, now the only thing Mary said— she didn't make the same confession, if you remember, that Martha did in verses 25 onward. We see Mary saying in verse 32 the same exact words. You could tell the sisters were talking. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. That's all she said. And we see here that when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved. And he was moved in his spirit, he was greatly troubled, and he wept. It says in verse 35, Jesus wept. Now one thing I didn't mention yesterday about Jesus weeping was that, uh, and I did mention that it was a profound, deep weeping. He truly was sad. He truly was troubled because that's exactly what it says. But one thing that, um, I did not mention that is worth mentioning is the fact that according to Isaiah 53:3, that Jesus was quote, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Some commentators have suggested, and I agree, that his tears were not generated necessarily out of mourning since he was to raise Lazarus, right? So he already knows the outcome. So it's not necessarily there out of mourning, but out of grief for a fallen world entangled in sin-caused sorrow and death. And this references that Isaiah 53:3 I just mentioned about that he was a man of sorrows. So if you can imagine this, is we have to keep the main thing the main thing. We have to remember, try to at least, why did Jesus have to come to earth to rescue sinners like you and me? And we're— when we read our scripture and we come across something like Isaiah 53:3, which is a great chapter in Isaiah talking about him, prophesying about him, is that he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And so that is an example of him weeping of that. But was— but what if he's coming here to save us from something horrible, which is hell. And one thing that people don't talk about— I know it's a difficult subject, but he spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible spoke about hell. He was coming here to, to warn us, to tell us about a couple of things of what it means to be human and what it means to be saved. Because our existence right now is just a blip in time, per se. We're here on earth, you and me, in this body, in this flesh, basically two things. One is to grope for God, to— because that's what God wants. He wants all people to know him. So that's what the Father wants. He wants all people to know him. And it is his will that none perish. He loves everyone, but he wants us all to seek him. And the Bible says if we seek him, we will find him. If we knock, he will answer. But he did not create human beings as robots. We have free will, as you know. And the condition of humanity since the beginning, since the fall, has been corrupt and evil ever since. And of course, sin entered the world, as you know, and that's why death exists, because of the curse, because of the fact that, um, the wages of sin is death. Meaning that because things are decaying Like once you're born, you'll grow up, but that there'll come a point, as you— as we clearly see, there comes a point of decay, and that's why we get old and so forth and eventually pass away. The world is decaying. Rust happens on iron and so forth. So because we, we get sick and there's— we know this, we could, we could apply science to show the fact that decay exists. But decay exists because of the supernatural thing called the sin, or sin. So that's why there's death, and that is why he came. He came to give us life, right? So he's there, his friend is dead, Lazarus, And he's looking at all these people mourning, and he's sitting there. If you could put yourself in his shoes for a second, according to this, if you put it all, the context together, the mindset of Jesus is one in which he's troubled because he sees the massive situation that exists for all people. And this is just a snapshot of these people, but He is trying to save the world, and the world is huge. Billions of people on this planet, every single one of us struggling with sin. Every single one of us will eventually die, and he knows that. And he's seeing how corruption is working in people. Some are his, some are not, but he's grieved by that. And that's why we learn later how he says that the heart— that the fields are plentiful, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. That's kind of the illustration there, is that he's looking upon this massive work that needs to be done by his disciples, and it's a huge task, right? So he's greatly troubled. He's seen the effects of sin. He doesn't want people to die. God doesn't want people to perish, but yet that's what happens. So he doesn't want that, and but that's why he came. He knows he has to do his ministry. He has to get to that cross because that is the only way that people can live eternally. And it is not just the fact that he is going to be crucified and whipped and nailed to a cross. It is not just that. It is just the fact of who he is, and that is the reason why only he could be the one to be the unblemished Lamb of God. Because up until that point, Israel was doing their sacrificial system of lambs and oxen and bulls and so forth, but the only way a person can really be atoned for is if God himself was to take on that penalty, per se. You need a supernatural person. You need a divine being that has the power and authority to do that sacrifice. And he's designed it in such a way where science can't explain. Only the spirit can explain. This is where we call— we're talking about faith. Only the belief, the ability to have faith and belief, that supernatural communication, if you will, that supernatural gift, is the only way that that transaction will take place in which someone becomes saved. So that is a recap of how back in Jesus, when he was deeply moving, uh, he was deeply moved in the Spirit. That is the context of that. So as we're going into chapter 12 here, and by way of reminder, we're looking at Mary and Martha and Lazarus, right? At that time, they are— they're beyond themselves, just like we would be beyond ourselves when someone close to us passes away. But the good news is that he came and Lazarus is resurrected. So that is the scene. Lazarus is resurrected. Everyone believed in him, most of them. Some went to the Pharisees to talk about this because they want confirmation. Could this be the Messiah, right? And we see later on that chapter the emergency meeting of the Pharisees. Um, where they're like, what are we to do? This man is doing many miracles and everyone is believing in him. And they were concerned that the Romans will take away their position and their nation because of that, right? And we see Caiaphas, the high priest, he gets up and he prophesies that in so many words, we have to kill this one man. If we can kill this one man, we solve all our problems. That's their goal. If you can kill the shepherd, if we can get rid of Jesus, then all this will stop and things will get back to normal. That was the plan. And so we fast forward in the story, in the life of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and now we kind of pick it up 6 days before the Passover in chapter 12. So the scene is, okay, it's just like a movie. New scene, time has passed, and now everyone is happy, back to normal. We see here in verse 2 there's a dinner going on, right? There's a dinner for Jesus. He's the guest, the honored guest. And we see that Martha is serving, right? And we see Lazarus in the scene. What's Lazarus doing? Well, Lazarus, he's chilling. He's reclining with him at table. So Lazarus and Jesus, they're reclining at the table. Martha is serving. Now that's the scene. So we know Martha is serving. Now who is Martha? Remember Martha, it was the first sister that went outside the village to connect with Jesus in the previous chapter. She was the one that made that confession. She was also the one at the gravesite that said, you know, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he's been dead 4 days. That's verse 39 in the previous chapter. So Martha is a very interesting character in my opinion because she's willy-nilly, right? She's got this confession, she's got this belief system, but she's also— she seems very practical. She's a practical person. She's a very logical person, emotional person, but she has belief in Jesus, but not all the time. Not superhuman belief, right? Some folks have really, really strong faith, and others just need to be reminded every so often, or see, you know, a miracle every so often, just to remind them that they're good. It's good. So I say that because she made that confession, Martha, you know, um, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who's coming into the world, in verse 27. Yet despite that, when Jesus says, roll the stone away, she was the one that chimed in, but Lord, this time there will be an odor for he's been dead 4 days. Because she didn't realize, she didn't believe that he actually was going to raise Lazarus up right then and there. In her mind, you know, it's going to happen on the last day of resurrection. And So Jesus is basically saying, I am the resurrection and life, me. And since I am here, I'm going to resurrect Lazarus. So he does. So that's Martha. So Martha is serving, and now we're going to see Mary. So from what we know of Mary so far in what we've read in the previous chapter, is Mary was just really emotional. She was very sad, and she was the one that was crying. She was the one that was in the house, and when she left the house, all the mourners went with her because they thought she was going to go to the grave. When she went to meet Jesus, you know, she said the same thing that Martha had said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would have not died. And that's all we hear, the words from Mary. But now we see Mary in a different light. Here. And we see Mary and her heart, and that's what I want us to, to look at. Again, as I've mentioned before, try to put yourself into the scene. Try to put yourself into the mindset of the characters. And right now we have a few characters. We have Jesus, of course. We have Lazarus. We have Martha, and we have Mary, right? That is the characters in this beginning part of John chapter 12. So he goes on to say in verse 3 that Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. Now I will unpack what nard is in a second here, but just the very action of that, of any person doing that, what is that? What conclusion can we even think of? Obviously this is a person that is humble. This is a person that's doing— it seems to be an act of worship. Right? She's not even wiping his feet with towels or paper or whatever thing they had there. She's wiping it with her hair. It doesn't get any more humble than that, in my opinion. So let's borrow from some notes here just for context. In regards to a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, the term used for "pound" actually indicates a weight around 3/4 of a pound, which was approximately 12 ounces. Nard was an oil extracted from the root of a plant grown in India. And in regards to her anointing the feet of Jesus, the dinner guests were reclined at the table with their feet extended away from it, making it possible for Mary to anoint the feet of Jesus. The act symbolized Mary's humble devotion and love for him. And that's right, Middle Eastern tables that they ate on back then were about 18 inches high, right? So I'm at a table, but I'm sitting in a chair. But back then, and in many places still in the world, The table is actually 18 inches off the floor. So you were sitting down on the floor on a mat, probably, or a pillow, but you're only 18 inches off the floor. So that means that somebody else's feet is very close to you. Basically, you have to kind of sit sideways, right? And so that is why washing of feet was a thing back then. We wash our hands, but they had to definitely wash their feet because now your feet is in someone else's face. So the point here is that people's feet are exposed at the dinner table, and Mary takes it upon herself to, um, take this nard, um, which was an import because it came from India. It's very expensive to travel to Israel, Jerusalem, and she has this, and she is opening up this very expensive perfume, and she's putting it on Jesus. It says she anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. So then it goes on to say that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. So now we're introduced to another character that's famous to all of us. Verse 4, we're introduced to Judas Iscariot. Now it goes on to say, verse 4, Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, in parentheses, he who was about to betray him. So the scripture text is John is saying for the note, for the notation that this is the same Judas that was going to betray Jesus. It goes on to say in verse 5, he said, quote, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? So now we get a clue as to the mindset of Judas. Where here he's witnessing Mary with this very expensive ointment break it open and put it on someone's feet, of all places. Usually you don't perfume your feet. And he's also seen her wipe it away with her hair. In his mind, he's thinking a couple of things. First, he thinks that's foolish. Then he's probably looking at Mary with contempt. And then he's thinking that, hey, what a lost opportunity, what a waste, because we could have sold that for 300 denarii. Now remember, A denarii was a day's wage of laborers. So if you think about it, we're talking about he says, and who knows if he's correct, but he says this was worth 300 denarii, which is 300 days worth of work. So you do the math. Whatever an hourly wage person would make, these days, he's saying it was worth 300. So not that it matters, but let's just say you made in US $10 an hour and you worked 8 hours. You would have made yourself $80 for that one day. So then what we do is we calculate 80 times 300 which I believe is $24,000 in today's money. So it's a very, very expensive perfume. It's an import. And he's looking at it like, what are you doing? That is a complete waste. If you're going to put it on a man's feet, you might— you should have just sold it. I mean, he just can't fathom that waste. In his mind, it's a waste. Excuse me. Now he says this, and he's not being, um, what's the word, he's not being, um, honest. He's being a little deceptive in his statement. He says two things. He speaks out of his mouth. First, he says, what a waste. Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? Right? Because it says in verse 6, he said this not because he cared about the poor, But because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. So he doesn't care about the poor at all. He's trying to sound like he's a good guy. He's trying to sound like, hey, we should give this to the poor. But in reality, he was a thief, and what he— and he was the guy that was in charge of the money bag. So you may or may not know, when they went around doing missions, people would give him money, give them money, donate money perhaps. Or, because it doesn't clearly say, maybe they, um, worked, right? Paul was a tent maker, for example. Maybe they did jobs and they made money. But for the most part, it's assumed that people gave him an offering. Of course, he's healing everyone, so that's a, a good conclusion that people are grateful and are giving them money. So he's in charge of the money bag. And remember, we heard about this money bag once before kind of, when Jesus fed the 5,000. When Jesus says go into the towns to go buy some food for these people, and then it was Peter who said, well, we all— 200 denarii can't feed these people, right? So at least then they had about 200 days worth of wages. In their mobile bank account, per se. And here Judas is like, that is worth 300, what a waste. So he was insincere, is what I wanted to say earlier. He's an insincere guy. He would rather us— rather than sell this perfume so that he can, he can peel off some for himself. So he was a thief, and, um, and we'll learn later why Jesus even had him as a disciple in the first place, right? He's there for a reason. Jesus knows what's going on. Nothing is new to Jesus, but Jesus has Judas as one of the 12 for a reason, right? So we go on to read that verse 7, Jesus said to Judas, he said, leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. So he says One, leave her alone. Then he says, why leave her alone? So that she may keep it for the day of my burial. Okay, now I will borrow from some commentary here in regards to keeping this for the day of my burial. Mary performed this act to signal her devotion, but as in the case of Caiaphas, which we read in the previous chapter, chapter 11, verses 49-52, her act revealed more than she realized at the time. During the first century, lavish sums were spent on funerals, which included costly perfumes to cover the smell of decay. So this is a foreshadowing of Jesus' burial, right? And she's doing it out of worship. But what, in, in, in the grand scheme of things, the, the foreshadowing of this story is the fact— and what Jesus has concluded— is she's— it's a good thing because she is preparing me, she's preparing my body for death, for the day of my burial, so that she may keep it. So she can keep this, um, moment in her mind. And that's a good thing. What she's doing here is a good thing. He wants her to keep this experience. Don't bother her, don't interrupt her. This What she's doing here, this act of worship, I want her to keep this. And then he goes on to say, for the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. So we hear that all the time, give to the poor, and it is good to give to the poor. In fact, that was the message to the Apostle Paul when he went to the brothers Jerusalem to confirm his gospel that he received directly from Jesus on the road to Emmaus. And moving forward, he went back to Jerusalem to James, who is the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, and the brothers there to confirm his gospel with their gospel. They were in agreeance, and one of their instructions to him back then was give to the poor. So it's on the heart to give to the poor. But Jesus is saying you will always have the poor, okay? So just because poor people exist and people are poor doesn't mean you can't worship me. Don't let that be the moral obstruction to worshiping me. You will not always have me. So he's saying, I'm here right now in the flesh, which is more important than anything else. You always have the poor, but for now, now that I'm here in the flesh, you should do what she's doing and worship me. So now we go to another section of verse 9. The story continues. It says, when the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Okay, this is confirming and affirming what just happened in the previous chapter. Many Jews believed in Jesus because of this massive, major miracle in the raising of Lazarus. The scene goes, who knows, a couple days, maybe a couple weeks, but Jesus is back on the scene in this family's house having dinner. And now word got out that he's there, and a large crowd of the Jews came, but not only to see Jesus But they are also coming to see Lazarus because word is spreading all throughout Israel about Lazarus. Can you imagine this man that I just saw or I just heard? Is it true? Is this guy really alive? Was it a fake? So forth. So Lazarus as an object lesson and the recipient of massive grace but ultimately to illustrate the glory of God by, by this act for Jesus, has become a lightning rod of sorts. People want to see Lazarus. And so we see in verse 10, it says, so the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well. Can you imagine that? So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well. Ain't it amazing that the religious leaders of Israel, the ones that were supposedly meant to guard the gospel, guard the scripture. They were originally designed to be the lamp on the hill. They were given the Law of Moses, and now they've become this murderous crew where all they cared about was power, guys. Well, The power will— the— all they wanted was the power guised in true religion. And Jesus— that's why Jesus rails on them time and time again, because they're not seeking the true God, and more importantly, they're not recognized him as the true God, the true Son of God, right? Now they're murderous, this crew, these religious leaders. It says the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well because, verse 11, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. So it's not even what Jesus is doing anymore, at least now in this moment, But it's because of this witness Lazarus, because of this testimony, now his very life, his very testimony is causing a lot of people to believe. And now that he, he is— he's a target, right? Which unfortunately is the situation even today. And this is why we have to pray for each other, and we have to pray for our pastors, or we have to pray for anyone, including me. Please pray for me. Is it any time you are going to step out and proclaim the gospel, especially to religious people who don't believe in Jesus, you're going to be a target because The system, the world, which is in the clutches and the power of the devil, is— doesn't want this message to go forth. They don't want people to believe in Jesus. This is why Jesus talks about you have to count the cost to be his disciple. Right? It's not always sunshine and rainbows, as they say. And poor Lazarus here, he dies, he's back— how amazing is that? But now there's a plot to kill him. So what do we know? He's sitting there with his friend Jesus, reclining. At a dinner table watching his sister anoint his feet with perfume. And now this crowd is coming to see them both. Okay, that's the end of that scene. Now we go to the next day, verse 12. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. Very interesting crowd here. They're just following. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a colt! Now I'm going to borrow my notes here on that, verses 14 and 15. The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, give more information here regarding Jesus' selection of a young donkey, such as: in Matthew 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-10, and Luke 19:29-38. So if you want a complete picture of the scene, you can go to those other gospels. They convey the fact that Jesus deliberately planned to present himself to the nation in this manner as a conscious fulfillment of the messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, which is quoted here, right, in verse 15. The words, quote unquote, 'fear not' are not found in the Zechariah passage but were added from Isaiah 40:9. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 9. Only after his ascension Did the disciples grasp the meaning of the triumphal entry that we see in John 14:26? So the same crowd that went to Lazarus' house with Jesus eating there the night before are back on the scene, and it says that They took branches, verse 13, of palm trees. We've seen this in the movies. And they went out to meet him crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. Which is very alarming to the Pharisees and even King Herod, because now they're trying to make him king. Right? And he is king, and this is why he's going to allow this to happen, because he's fulfilling prophecy, which we see here in verse 15, which comes from Zechariah 9:9. So this going on a colt, a little young donkey, the way he did was to fulfill prophecy. Verse 16: His disciples did not understand these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. So when it says Jesus was glorified, right, we're talking about when he rose from the grave, when he came back from the grave and he had a glorified body. So from that point forward, when he rose from the grave is when we're talking about how he was glorified, right? So, but it was only after his resurrection himself that his disciples in verse 16 remembered what was written about him. But up until this point, they're in the scene and they, and they're, they're not putting two and two together. They're not realizing that Zechariah 9:9 is being fulfilled in this moment. They're not seeing Isaiah 49 happening where it's talking about fear not. They're not putting their scripture, their Old Testament, and seeing it. They're just going with the flow like everyone else. And verse 17, it says, the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness. So this is the next day, but that crowd, I mean, this crowd is just, they're just convinced now he is the Messiah. They were at the tomb, they're now at the, they saw with their own eyes again the next day, you know, at dinner. And now they're at a fever pitch where you're like, it is absolutely 100% proof positive this is the Messiah. They're believing it, and it's a crowd. And as crowds go, they just feed off each other's energy. They're feeding off their energy, and they continue to bear witness. They continue telling, did you hear? Did you see? And it's just spreading like wildfire. The gospel, Jesus raising of Lazarus, is just spreading across all of Israel like wildfire. It can't be contained. This is a problem for the Pharisees. So verse 18, it says the reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard He had done this sign. It was what we just mentioned. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they had heard he had done this sign. So not everyone was at the tomb, but now all friends and family are coming to see with their own eyes Lazarus. Did he really raise from the dead after being in the grave 4 days? So verse 19, so the Pharisees said to one another, quote, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. Now they're using the word the world has gone after him. Remember they had that emergency meeting with Caiaphas in the previous chapter where someone had said, what are we to do Everyone is believing in him. Right? In the previous chapter, chapter 11, verse 47 said, So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. That was the concern when they had their emergency meeting. And that's where Caiaphas says, hey, you do not understand anything. Verse 50, it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish. So now they're like, what are we to do? And then we fast forward a little bit in the story in this chapter, chapter 12. After they have taken out all of the palm branches and saying Hosannas, the Pharisees are looking on this now, and now they are desperate and they are saying language like this. Verse 19. "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." So they are talking amongst each other saying, We're doing nothing here. We got to do something here. Look, the world has gone after him. Everyone, right? Not some, but they're calling it the world. Now verse 20, the scene kind of changes, and it says, now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, quote, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." So the feast is attracting people from all over that area, in that region, and now we have non-Jews also coming because some have heard about Jesus. Some are actually believers in the Old Testament, but word, for the most part, his fame is spreading outside of Israel. His fame is spreading. And so now it says here that some Greeks are there. They're there. They were at the feast, and now they want to talk to Jesus. They want to see him. But to see Jesus, they have to get through his disciples, because he was always surrounded by his disciples. So they did the right thing. They went up to one of the disciples and asked, hey sir, we wish to see Jesus. The sir here is Philip in verse 22. So they went up to Philip and they said to Philip, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' And Philip went and told Andrew, and both Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. So it's very interesting just about the detail in this exchange, right? And Both the two disciples go up to Jesus, and it says in verse 23, and Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Verse 25: Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. So there's so much there to unpack, but we're going to do our best right now. So we have the Greeks here. That is really the only thing we hear about them. We don't know their name. All we know is that some Greeks— but we do see that Jesus goes on this, this message here And it's assumed the message was heard by these Greeks since they were in the story in the first place. But even if they were not, the message is going to Andrew and Philip, who are mentioned also here. And Jesus goes on to say in verse 23, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. So now he just got— he was riding on this colt, the crowd is saying, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. So they themselves are prophesying. They may have a different concept of what it means to be King of Israel, because remember, he didn't come to be a military ruler and take over Rome, take it back from Rome, which is what they were hoping for. But still, like Caiaphas, like Mary, we're seeing foreshadowing and we're seeing prophetic imagery here. And Jesus is seeing it all as fulfilling prophecy. And now that that has happened, Zechariah 9:9, and he's come on the colt, He is now saying with his mouth, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. So he's taken on that title, the Son of Man, again, and he says, and to be glorified, which we know is future tense, and this is after the resurrection. Now, I didn't hit on it before, but I will borrow my notes on the Son of Man I mentioned a little bit, but I do want to deep dive a little bit about this title that he uses. So this is Jesus's favorite self-designation, for it was mostly spoken by Jesus, who used it over 80 times. In the New Testament, it refers only to Jesus and appears mostly in the Gospels. Such as Acts 7:56. While the term at times may refer merely to a human being or as a substitute for "I," it especially takes on an eschatological significance referring to Daniel 7:13-14, where Son of Man, or Messiah, comes in glory to receive the kingdom from the Ancient of Days, example, the Father. Okay, let me see here. There's a note on Matthew 8:20. Matthew 8:20. Give me a second.
