John 11:45–12:11
45 11:45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 11:46but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 11:47So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 11:48If 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.” 49 11:49But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 11:50Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 11:51He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 11:52and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 11:53So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
54 11:54Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 11:55Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 11:56They were looking for 1 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?” 57 11:57Now 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.
12 12:1Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 12:2So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 12:3Mary therefore took a pound 2 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. 4 12:4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 12:5“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii 3 and given to the poor?” 6 12:6He 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. 7 12:7Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it 4 for the day of my burial. 8 12:8For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
9 12:9When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus 5 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 12:10So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 12:11because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Section Overview: When Jesus Wasn’t Wanted
In the first part of John 11, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. In 11:45–12:11 John shows us what people choose when they do not want Jesus. Some opt for political power while others value money. John writes so that his audience will feel the appalling injustice done to Jesus as he depicts this most shocking outrage.
Section Outline
- VI. The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified (11:45–17:26)
- A. Approaching the Final Passover (11:45–12:50)
- 1. When Jesus Wasn’t Wanted (11:45–12:11)
- A. Approaching the Final Passover (11:45–12:50)
Response
How do we respond to the work of God in the lives of others? Does it make us want to embrace them, or to obliterate them? We must celebrate the work of God that we see in people’s lives. Whether it is faith, patience, joy, perseverance, growth in holiness, abstaining from some past sin, willingness to sacrifice for others in imitation of Jesus and from devotion to Jesus—whatever work of God that we see in the lives of others, our response must be to celebrate it. Sinful jealousy has no place in the Christian heart.
Think of the choice made by the Jewish leadership and Judas. What are we choosing instead of Jesus? What do we fear we will lose if we accept Jesus? Do we think we will succeed by rejecting Jesus? Will what we try to keep for ourselves ever compare with what God promises to do for us? If we acclaim Jesus in faith, everything in our lives will deepen in sacred significance. If we reject Jesus, we will unwittingly aid God in the accomplishment of his purposes, yet we will only harm ourselves.
Judas loved money more than Jesus, but money is not God. Money is not alive. Money cannot raise the dead. Money cannot love you back. Money is meant to represent value. It is currency. We gain money for what we provide or how we serve, and then we exchange the reward we gained by our ingenuity or effort for things we need or want. Money will not shepherd us. Money will not teach us truth. Money will not give itself in our place. Money is not at the right hand of God interceding for us. Money will not give us its righteousness so that we are justified before God. Mary understood this. Judas did not. Money is a means to an end. Jesus is an end in himself.
1 John here uses the same verb that Jude employs to say that Enoch prophesied (Jude 14). This seems to indicate that Jude thought Enoch had said something prophetic rather than indicating that Jude considered 1 Enoch to be prophecy.
2 Specifically, Judas asks, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” Assuming this is not hyperbole, we can attempt to translate the value into today’s terms. A footnote in the ESV text observes that a denarius was a day’s wages. A worker today earning $10 an hour for eight hours would earn $80 (I will not attempt to account for what he might pay in taxes and other sorts of fees and withholdings). If he made $80 for 300 days, his gross pay would come to $24,000. Even if Judas spoke hyperbolically or otherwise exaggerated the ointment’s value, Mary’s gift was an expensive one.