For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.
27 Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, deliver me from this hour? But for this cause I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name. Then there came a voice from heaven: I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 Then the people that stood by and heard said, It thundered! Others said an angel spoke to him. 30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
- As his inevitable execution approaches, Jesus is in anguish (v.27ff).
- Although this passage is much shorter than Matthew 26:36-46, we should not underestimate the difficulty for Jesus of submitting fully to the will of the Father.
- God responds thunderously, affirming that his name will be glorified through what is to happen.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples unto me. 33 This Jesus said signifying what death he would die.
34 The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.
- The Prince of this world, the devil (v.31) is now driven out.
- See Luke 10:18 for a similar vision of the downfall of Satan.
- The fall of Satan (v.31) has parallels in other scriptures. Isaiah 14 (referring to the King of Babylon) and Ezek 28 (referring to the King of Tyre) utilize the imagery of the fall of Satan. For a "cartoon" picture of the event, see Rev 12:10.
- This does not mean that the world is ending, or that there is no need for the church and its mission. And yet in a real sense, Judgment Day has begun; salvation is being brought down; history is moving towards its conclusion.
- Jesus' death will draw "all men" to himself (v.32) -- not all human beings, but only those who accept the truth. The Father draws us to the Son (6:44) through the Cross.
- Jesus' death will also enable the fulfillment of Genesis 12:3 -- that all nations might be blessed.
- Being "lifted up" denotes crucifixion. The original Aramaic zeqaph means "set up; lift up; hang up." Crucifixion is a kind of hanging, since the hapless soul was suspended from a tree, stake, pole, etc.
- The notion violates the crowd's sensibilities (v.34).
- They are scandalized by the idea that the Messiah might be killed (1 Corinthians 1:23).
- After all, didn't Psalm 89:36-37 promise that the Davidic Messiah would be established forever? (Yes, but they have misinterpreted the passage.)
- Jesus urges them to decide to follow the truth (light) before it is too late (v.35ff).
- 12:37-50 forms the conclusion to the entire account of the public ministry of Jesus in chapters 2-12.
37 Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.
- Isaiah "saw" Jesus' glory, even if he did not fully grasp its meaning (see 1 Pet 1:10-12). This probably refers to a number of passages in Isaiah (6:1-7; 7:14; 9:1-6; 11:1ff; 42:1ff; 52:13-53:12; 601ff; 61:1ff; etc). Note the parallel with chapter 8, where Jesus says Abraham rejoiced at his day.
- Certainly many Jews believed in Christ, including many of the religious authorities (v.42)! Nicodemus was not alone.
- Despite all the signs (like the seven highlighted in this gospel, and many more), most people did not believe. This gives the lie to the common supposition that miracles make the difference as to whether people come to faith. If we are unwilling to follow the truth (7:17; 12:47ff), no miracle is likely to convince us.
- The widespread rejection of Jesus as Messiah fulfilled the words of Isaiah 6:9-10, a passage referred to in all four gospels as well as the book of Acts.
- This does not mean that God willed their stubbornness, even if he foreknew it.
- It is abundantly clear in the gospel of John that Jesus holds accountable those who reject him of their own free will.
- Vs.42-43 would have spoken to original readers of John, who may have been tempted to retain both their Jewish identity and their membership in the synagogue. (9:22, 12:42, and 16:2 all reflect significant tension between church and synagogue.)
- In the later 1st century, the synagogue liturgy took aim at the Christians. The 12th of the 18 Benedictions was revised about 80 AD to read: "For apostates let there be no hope, and the dominion of arrogance so speedily root out. Let the Nazarenes and Minim [heretics] be destroyed in a moment, and let them be blotted out of the book of life and not be inscribed with the righteous. Blessed are you, O Lord, who humbles the arrogant." The added parts are in italics. This is valuable background information for understanding John 12:42 and 16:2.
- Then as now, we must choose between human praise and divine glory (v.43).
44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.
- Jesus' primary mission was not to judge the world, but to bring salvation.
- Strictly speaking, the word (vv.47-48) is the message of Jesus, not the Bible, as is often taught. This is not to say that the Bible as a whole is less important than the message of Christ, or that we need only focus on the "red-letter" words of Jesus. Of course the whole Bible is God's message to us.
- All will be judged by the truth (v.47), therefore we must accept the truth about Jesus (v.48) -- this is equivalent to accepting Christ (1:12-13).
- Jesus did not speak on his own (v.49); his words carry full divine authority.
- God's commandment is eternal life (v.50). This means simply that obeying it leads to life. See Deuteronomy 30:11ff.