Wednesday Bible Study: The Walk of John, part 10

 

So we are kind of at the turnstiles to the main event this week.  We haven't turned much to the Disciples so far, because in John's mind, most of the important teaching came at the Last Supper.  Today, I'm going to shift back again as we begin to see through John's eyes.  There are three things he notices (in particular) in our target passage (John 12) that Jesus then has a reaction to- and they tell the Disciples the structure of what will come next week and forward. 

First up is a familiar story- so familiar because Jesus himself predicted it would be told everywhere (in Matthew's version of the story, Matt. 26:13)- the woman who anoints Him with the expensive perfume.  John notices Judas Iscariot's protest, and then mentions something that perhaps the others didn't know:

Joh 12:4  But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,
Joh 12:5  "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"
Joh 12:6  He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

So if he knew this, did he tell Jesus?  Perhaps... but perhaps Jesus gave him an answer like He gave another John 3 years before...

Mat 3:13  Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
Mat 3:14  John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
Mat 3:15  But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.

Instead of reacting to the betrayer's dishonesty, Jesus gave a reply we'll call, "This is what is going to happen":

Joh 12:7  Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
Joh 12:8  For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." 

And:

Mar 14:8  She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.

Lesson- Jesus is about to die.  This isn't speculation based on the hatred of the Jews; this is His purpose.  He hits that again during our next phase.  Here the Triumphal Entry is all but skipped.  What John notices- as does Jesus and the Pharisees- is that Jesus's notoriety has broken the restraints of Judea:

Joh 12:19  So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him."
Joh 12:20  Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
Joh 12:21  So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
Joh 12:22  Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 

Another example of John not telling the story in exact timing; the important part wasn't that these Greeks had a question, but that the Pharisees saw it, and were exasperated by Jesus's reach.  Jesus's reaction this time we'll call, " Why it has to happen".  Jesus first related the story about a seed having to die to bear fruit.  Then came the crucial call to God:

Joh 12:27  "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Joh 12:28  Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 

 
Which we will address shortly.  But then, Jesus followed this up:

Joh 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 

So what we have here is Jesus explaining He HAS to die, to accomplish what He was sent here for- our salvation.  And now, John notices the mixed reactions of the people, first to God's voice:

Joh 12:29  The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 

And second, to the explanation of why He was to die:

Joh 12:37  Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
Joh 12:38  so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 

Joh 12:42  Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
Joh 12:43  for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. 

 

And because of this division, Jesus had to make it clear,  "What were the consequences of what He was to do":

Joh 12:47  If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
Joh 12:48  The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

This is the answer to that age old question: "Why would a loving God send people to hell?"  Answer: He doesn't ( If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him).  But the Word is the Facts; it is how you accept them that decides your path (the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.)

 

So now, the Disciples have a structure for what they are about to learn: First, that He is going to die; Second that His death will draw all men to Him- in other words, for those who are drawn and take it to heart, salvation; and Third, He has explained the facts- they sit there like a hot stove.  You don't get burned because the stove touched you; you touch the stove to get burned.  On these door posts Jesus will be painting the story of His blood for the Disciples- after all, it is nearly Passover...