The Gospel of John 12:1-50

Jesus Annointed at Bethany

12:1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus -the man He had raised from the dead.
2 A dinner as prepared in Jesus' honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with Him.
3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus feet with it, wiping His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.
4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray Him, said,
5 "That perfume was worth a year's wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor."
6 Not that he cared for the poor -he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some for himself. 
7 Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 
8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." 
9 When all the people heard of Jesus' arrival, they flocked to Him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 
10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too,
11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.

12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors
13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted, "Praise God!" Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel.
14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15 "Don't be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look your King is coming, riding on a donkey's colt.
16 His disciples didn't understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into His glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that that these things had been written about Him.
17 Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling other about it.
18 That's the reason so many went out to meet Him -because they had heard about this miraculous sign.
19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, "There's nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after Him!"

20 Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration
21 paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, "Sir, we want to meet Jesus."
22 Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, "Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory.
24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels -a plentiful harvest of new lives.
25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
26 Anyone who wants to be My disciple must follow Me, because My servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves Me.
27 Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, "Father save Me from this hour"? But this is the very reason I came!
28 Father, bring glory to Your name." Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, "I have already brought glory to My name, and I will do so again."
29 When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to Him.
30 Then Jesus told them, "The voice was for your benefit, not Mine.
31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.
32 And when I am lifted up from the earth,  will draw everyone to Myself."
33 He said this to indicate how He was going to die.
34 The crowd responded, "We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is the Son of Man, anyway?"
35 Jesus replied, "My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.
36 Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light." After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

37 But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of them still did not believe in Him.
38 This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: "Lord who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed His powerful arm?"
39 But the people couldn't believe, for Isaiah also said,
40 "The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts -so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them."
41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah's glory.
42 Many people did believe in Him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn't admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue.
43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.
44 Jesus shouted to the crowds, "If you trust Me, you are trusting not only Me, but also God who sent Me.
45 For when you see Me, you are seeing the one who sent Me.
46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark.
47 I will not judge those who hear Me but don't obey Me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.
48 But all who reject Me and My message will be judged on the day of judgement by the truth I have spoken.
49 I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.
50 And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells Me to say." ~John 12:1-50

Many events occurred in these passages so let me go through them one by one.

Part 1 (1-11)

First off, who put Judas in charge of the communal cash? He was a thief -and I don't know if they knew that about him beforehand, but still -and if I were Jesus  would have whopped him on the head for saying to give money to the poor when in reality he st would have pocketed it for himself. Whop!
Secondly, Jeus said, "The poor will always be among you". Like in Hinduism with karma, people have used this as an excuse to call being poor a given that should not be pittied or taken care of. Wrong. Just because the poor aren't going anywhere doesn't mean they don't need help and compassion and it doesn't mean God doesn't want us to care for others.
Thirdly, those Pharisees are so funny. They remind e of the Inquisitioners who were writing about all the crazy things people could be accused of involving "witchcraft". If she floats -witch, if she drowns -innocent person. Only with the Pharisees it was like, "We're going to kill Jesus. And that Lazarus guy. He started this. He just had to be raised from the dead. If he hadn't answered to Jesus' call and he had stayed dead, none of this would be as mad as it is. We need to rekill Lazarus."

Part 2 (12-19)

The happiest part of Jesus life on earth. It lasts 7 verses before going downhill again. John 12:12 begins it. Coincidence?
Now I know where they got the phrase "King of Israel" that I keep hearing in the Noel song. Now if only I knew where they came up with the word "Noel"...?

Part 3 (20-36)

First -some Greeks pretty much demanded strait out that their friend take them to go see Jesus. Jesus had sort of become an attraction at this point for all to come and see, and I think the other disciples were aware of this and wanted to make sure Jesus was alright before they introduced Him to people who just wanted to glimpse Him for opportunities sake.
But Jesus was "preoccupdo" with other things. "Preoccupado" in Spanish actually means "Worried" and I like it because your mind does become preoccupied when you worry.
Jesus explains that He knows He has to die because when someone sacrifices their own well being for the good of the world, they create real change in it and inspire people to change and come together for a common goal. Nobody sacrifices their life just for anything -it has to be something that means everything. And when people see the value of the cause and that it is worth somebody's own life -then they fully realize and appreciate the cause for themselves.
But Jesus still fears death -even though He knows it's what He came for.
Then God speaks -and some hear it as thunder while others hear His voice clearly. I think this is because some people are "deaf to God" and they don't ear, understand, or see His messages. That's why some could hear and others could not.
Then because Jesus said He would die, people started doubing Him again because they didn't understand what "live forever" meant.

31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Myself."

So Satan WAS the ruler of the world. And then he was cast out -but maybe hi demons still stayed on the fringes where they can enter into the world when invited in by Satanists.
"I will draw everyone to Myself" in a way leading upward. Reminds me of water -because you draw water. Maybe that's why people float upward spiritually when they die.

35 Jesus replied, "My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light." After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

Yes. When people are lost and don't know where they're going they do stupid things -like you would stumbling around a room with the lights off. "while you can" and "while there's still time" -it's hard to tell if Jesus meant the time when He walked the earth or all time before Final Judgment. I'm getting the sense more and more it's the trials before Final Judgment.
And then He hid from them -I think He did this to let them reflect on the things He had said.

Part 4 (37-50)

40 "The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts -so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them."

"The Lord has..." I think what was implied was life experiences had hardened and blinded them. God may have seen it coming, but it makes no sense for God to purposely cause people to be incapable of understanding His Word. Usually when people are close-minded and ignorant it's because they choose not to see so they can enjoy the "bliss" of pretending not to know any better. It's easy to do Wrong when you ignorantly claim to know what is Right and refuse to hear anyone disagree with you.

43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

Yah, that one will screw up your life.

47 I will not judge those who hear Me but don't obey Me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.
48 But all who reject Me and My message will be judged on the day of judgement by the truth I have spoken.

It's official in my mind. We have come hear to be tested and to learn. School is never over and is a smaller institution on earth than the spiritual one we are in. I'll explain more in a later post. Jesus didn't come here to judge -more people should remember that when they say they follow His example. He came hear to pass out the reading materials to study and practice for the Final Exam. We have to continuously practice by His example in order to pass.

"I know His commands lead to eternal life"

You will get an "A" grade in spiritual life (the only life that matters) if you follow His teachings.

25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
26 Anyone who wants to be My disciple must follow Me, because My servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves Me.

It's like those weird people who are adults who keep talking about their life in high school as if they haven't moved on from it. Or teens who act like high school is the only life they will ever know and college will never happen anytime soon. They have no vision for the future and can't see past the end of their own nose. Like those who think they'll never get old or those who seem to think they'll never die. They keep putting off the inevitable. Only spiritual after life isn't the inevitable, it's what you're suppose to be focuing on the whole time. It's like teaking the study material for that test next week and play video games saying the test will never come. It's stange. This life is for learning and growing. Those who fail it will have to stay behind to try it again until they pass -while others get taken to detention for purposely trying to cheat.