These seem to be unrelated topics, but they can be put together because of this passage in the Gospel of John. First, we explain why Mary anointed Jesus because she believed in His prophecies, and emphasized the difference between the resurrection of Lazarus and the resurrection of Jesus. Second, we saw Jesus humbly riding into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt. It wasn’t until Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of God to clean up the temple, instead of going to the administrative center, that they realized that He did not come to be a king in this world. Here we mention that Christians need to look back to the past to determine how the Triune God is working in us. Third, some Greeks seek an audience with Jesus and know that His reputation is not only among the Jews, but reaches far beyond to the Gentiles. I couldn’t understand this paragraph at first, but I understood it in preparation for this topic-wise Bible study! Fourth, Christians must have a life like wheat, take up their cross and follow Jesus. We also explained where Jesus said that Christians should cherish life. Fifth, God the Father speaks directly from heaven about Jesus glorifying His name, and briefly discusses the number of times there are voices in heaven in the four Gospels and what the voice is for in this time. Finally, we discussed where in the Old Testament it was recorded that Isaiah did see the glory of Jesus, mentioned the fulfillment of his prophecies, talked about the purpose of signs and wonders is to prove His grace, and gave an example to discuss that some of the officials did believe in Him.
1. Mary anointed Jesus because she believed in His prophecies
“Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. So they were seeking for Jesus, 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. Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, 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, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, 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?” 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. Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. 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 Jesus.”(John 11:55-12:11)
From the beginning, it shows that from a human perspective, Jesus is expected to come to celebrate the Passover, and He indeed arrived before it. We see that Jesus resurrected Lazarus first, and then Mary anointed Jesus. Some people say that she anointed Jesus because she saw Jesus resurrecting Lazarus. This is wrong, because Jesus clearly said, “…Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.”(John 12:7) So this ointment was originally reserved for the day of Jesus’ burial. Mary used this ointment now. She used it before she actually saw the burial of the Lord, which means that she believed Jesus’ prophecies that He will die and be resurrected (e.g., see Matthew 20:19). The other apostles and disciples did not believe in Jesus’s prophecy until they saw His resurrection. She was the only one who anointed Jesus for His burial since it was in advance. The others made preparations, but had no chance to anoint Jesus. As the scripture says, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”(Luke 24:1-3)
We want to emphasize here that the resurrection of Lazarus is different from that of Jesus. Lazarus will eventually die. Although the Bible does not describe his death, we know very clearly, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”(Hebrews 9:27) And after Jesus’ resurrection, He will exist in heaven forever, “…Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”(Romans 8:34) Here, the resurrected Lazarus did not say a word during the banquet. He really did not need to speak. He himself was the living testimony. There is no doubt that he was raised from the dead, since “…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.”(John 12:17) No wonder “because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.”(John 12:11) So “…the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also.”(John 12:10) Obviously, there are unbelievers, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
2. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt
“On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. 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. For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.””
(John 12:12-19)
Jesus arrived six days before the Passover, and the next day was five days before the Passover. By that time, everyone knew that Jesus had performed many miracles, and thought that He came to reign over Israel in the name of the Lord on earth, especially after those testified, so they knew with certainty that He had performed the miracle of raising the completely dead Lazarus to life. Of course, according to the custom at that time, they went out to meet Him with palm branches. They felt like that doing this was right. Only later will we realize that His first coming isn’t to be the king on earth, but to complete salvation.
Here, we also see the true meaning of the scriptures quoted. The true meaning is very important, just like Jesus kept the true meaning of the Sabbath, giving us an example to illustrate that what we have to keep now is the true meaning of the Law rather than the literal Law. So He would say, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”(Matthew 5:18) Here, the original scripture quoted is longer, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”(Zechariah 9:9)
He is humble and rides on a donkey’s colt, not like other earthly kings who ride on a big horse. If He came to be the king of the earth and had to ride a donkey, He should at least ride a grown donkey! But everyone was so happy that they did not notice this. It was not until Jesus entered Jerusalem that they realized that He did not come to be the king on earth, because He went to the temple of God to clean up the temple, not to the administrative center. As the scripture says, “When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”(Matthew 21:10-12)
It says here, “These things His disciples did not understand at the first; …”(John 12:16), which seems to indicate that the disciples later had foresight. In fact, this shows that Christians should look back and reflect afterwards, looking back on the past to determine how the Triune God works in us, because just like the last time in “6. Political considerations of the Pharisees and high priests” of “1127 Death and resurrection of Lazarus and politics caused – John (11) 1-54,” the way He works is often surprising. When the surprised happens, we will certainly not know it in advance. For example, some people have testified that sometimes things have happened exactly according to the results of prayers, but sometimes they are completely opposite. In this case, they later realize that the results of the latter prayers are not from God. You really need to be discerning, especially when people often think that the results of prayers are definitely from God. That is, the thoughts that come from the mind must come from God. But this isn’t true. For example, Eliphaz the Temanite in the Book of Job said, ““Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it.”(Job 4:12) He thought that what he received came from God, but he did not realize that the words that mixed right and wrong could only come from Satan. (See Job 4:12-21)
On the contrary, the reaction of the Pharisees was quite unanimously against Him, “So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.””(John 12:19) Isn’t this their worry? “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”(John 11:48)
3. The Greeks asked to see Jesus
“Now there were some Greeks 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 Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.”(John 12:20-22)
From these verses we know that these Greeks knew Philip, but not Jesus. They only knew Philip who could tell Jesus directly about those Greeks. I never knew why Philip went with Andrew before. In this topic-wise bible study preparation, I realized, “But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.””(Matthew 15:24) Philip knew this, so Philip did not dare to tell Jesus directly so that he would work with Andrew to do what seemed to be a good thing from the perspective of human.
You must know that His completed salvation plan is for all peoples, because “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”(John 3:16-17) When “…a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.””(Matthew 15:22) The Jews at that time likened the Gentiles to dogs. According to the principle of Jesus was sending by Father, “…He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.””(Matthew 15:26) “But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.””(Matthew 15:27) “Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.”(Matthew 15:28) So there are exceptions. We see that Jesus is a merciful and gracious God who is not limited by words, but what He does is the true meaning of everything. We also see the importance of faith. As for whether those Greeks finally saw Jesus or not, we don’t know because the Bible doesn’t say it clearly and we can’t guess. The point is that we have seen that His reputation for performing miracles spread not only among the Jews, but also among Gentiles such as the Greeks.
4. Wheat-like life
”And Jesus answered them, saying, “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. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.””
(John 12:23-26)
Jesus truly told us that life should be like a grain of wheat. He didn’t just talk about it. This was a portrayal of His life. He truly went to the cross for us, died, completed salvation, and bore much) fruit. Jesus came and many people believed and were saved and received eternal spiritual life. From these verses, we also see why “…Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.””(Matthew 16:24-25)
This does not mean that Christians should commit suicide. On the contrary, Christians should cherish life, even though “…the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”(John 17:14) But Jesus said very clearly, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”(John 17:15) So the Lord’s Prayer only says, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. …”(Matthew 6:13) And we see, ““I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.”(John 17:20) Therefore, Christians must cherish life.
5. God the Father spoke from heaven that Jesus glorified His name
““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. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 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.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.”(John 12:27-36)
First of all, we see why there is a prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.””(Matthew 26:39) He knew very clearly, “…But for this purpose I came to this hour.”(John 12:27)
In the four Gospels, there are voices from heaven. The well-known records we know are when Jesus was baptized (see Matthew 3:17) and on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 3:17). The latter was what Peter said, “For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”(2 Peter 1:17-18) These are all saying that Jesus is the beloved Son of God.
It should be that some people, like me, have not noticed this record before. Everyone obviously did not hear what the words were saying. This time the voice is for “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”(John 12:31) Jesus also told them in advance that He would be lifted up and die in order to complete salvation and “…will draw all men to Myself.”(John 12:32) Everyone responded by looking at things from a human perspective. He did not directly answer the question regarding who the Son of Man is. He once again said in a hidden way that He was the light of the world, because it is said that people should take advantage of the opportunity to watch the day and believe in this light which is to believe in Himself and become sons of Light.
6. Isaiah sees the glory of Jesus and the fulfillment of his prophecies
“But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 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?” 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.” These things Isaiah said because he saw (G1492) His glory, and he spoke of Him. Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, 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.”(John 12:37-43)
It is clearly stated here that if someone sees a miracle but still does not believe, the most important thing is to be able to believe in His word. We see this in this scripture, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants (Peter and John) may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.””(Acts 4:29-30) The purpose of signs and wonders is to prove His grace, as the scripture says, “Therefore they (Paul and Barnabas) spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.”(Acts 14:3) It is also very clear in the book of Hebrews, “…After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”(Hebrews 2:3-4)
We see here that the Word is the main one, and signs and wonders are the supplement. We have to emphasize the need to discern again, and do not think that supernatural things must come from God. Yes, because Satan can also do some supernatural things, such as in the book of Job, “While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.””(Job 1:16) The man thought it was God who did it, but we knew it was Satan who did it if looking at verses in this chapter. In the New Testament it says, “for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.”(Mark 13:22) So we must know, “…the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; …”(Romans 1:17) We have to grow up even slowly, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”(Hebrews 5:14)
We previously discussed John 12:38-40 in “4. How hard is the human heart!” of “1117 Truly truly, logic, truth, and hardness – John (5) 19-47,” please go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.
As for John 12:41, we see in the Old Testament that Isaiah did see His glory, and not in a vision or dream. The scripture says, “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw (H7200) the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”(Isaiah 6:1-4)
That Jehovah refers to Jesus, because he really saw it and not in a vision or dream. Seeing the Father God Jehovah cannot live, just as Jehovah said to Moses: “…You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”(Exodus 33:20) The Holy Spirit is invisible, so we can see from logical deduction that He can only be Jesus, the one in the Trinity.
There were indeed some among the officials who believed in Him. For example, Nicodemus was with the chief priests and Pharisees at that time, because the scripture says, “Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them.”(John 7:50) It is more obvious since it is said directly, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”(John 3:1) He was a disciple secretly at that time, because of the Pharisees he was “… 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.”(John 12:42-43) This was his situation at that time. When Jesus was crucified, he without any hesitation disclosed his identity because the scripture says, “Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”(John 19:39-40) We don’t know when he changed, but this proves that some of the leaders did believe in him.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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