Week 7: The Messiah's Death at Hand (John 12:20–50)

John 12:20–50

John 12:20–50 brings to a close the first major part of John’s Gospel, which has narrated Jesus’ mission to the Jews. With the arrival of some Greeks seeking Jesus, Jesus announces the climax of his mission, his substitutionary1 death, which is for both Jews and Gentiles. The remainder of John’s Gospel unfolds Jesus’ final meal with his disciples, his death, and his resurrection.

In John 12:20–50 Jesus announces his approaching death and reveals the broad extent of his mission—to reconcile both Jews and Gentiles to God.

Read through the complete passage for this study, John 12:20–50. Then review the questions below and write your notes on them concerning this phase of Jesus’ ministry. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2048–2050; also available online at www.esvbible.org.)

This section of John begins with some Greeks who have come to Jerusalem to worship at the Jewish festival. “Greeks” refers to Gentiles, not necessarily people from Greece. What is the difference between a Jew and a Gentile? From what you know of the Bible and first-century history, write out a definition for the word Jew, and for the word Gentile. How did they view one another?

These Gentiles approach Jesus’ disciple Philip, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Why do you think these Gentiles wished to see Jesus?

Jesus gives an interesting response to the Greeks’ desire to see him (John 12:23–26). What is Jesus’ response? How do you make sense of it?

Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man2 to be glorified” (John 12:23). He then gives an illustration about a grain of wheat. How does this sentence about a grain of wheat illustrate what Jesus came to accomplish with his life, and how does it illustrate what must happen in the lives of all who follow Jesus?

John 12:28 gives one of three instances in Jesus’ earthly ministry where a heavenly voice attests to his identity. Read Matthew 3:17 and 17:5 to note the other two instances. What is the significance of these three instances? In other words, why at these three junctures does a heavenly voice validate Jesus’ identity and mission? How does John 12:30 add to the discussion?

John 12:31 is an important verse: “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” The “ruler of this world” is Satan,3 and Jesus states that his death on the cross will result in defeat for Satan. Read Hebrews 2:14–15 and Colossians 2:13–15. How do these two passages further illuminate what Jesus says here in John?

Just as he did with the Greeks, Jesus again responds to a query with an interesting answer. How does Jesus reply to the crowd’s questions in John 12:34? What is Jesus saying here? Jesus has used similar phrasing in John 8:12, 9:4, and 11:9–10. How do these passages add color to what Jesus is saying here?

John 12:37 is startling. After all that Jesus has said and done, how have the people responded to him? John quotes the prophet Isaiah to explain what is going on. How do these passages from Isaiah explain the people’s reaction to Jesus?

According to John 12:47, why did Jesus come to the world?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to reflect on the Personal Implications these sections may have for your walk with the Lord.

HATING LIFE TO GAIN LIFE. At first glance, Jesus’ words in John 12:25 sound demanding and difficult: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” As difficult as these words are, however, they are even more profoundly filled with grace. Jesus is showing us the way to true life. He is offering freedom. Jesus invites us to love and trust him more than we love and trust ourselves, for true life—eternal life—is found when we let go of our life and trust God to take care of us and direct us. The issue is whom we declare as the “god” of our life. If we continue to operate as god of our own life, we will eventually lose our life, for we were never meant to run our own lives and we are incapable of doing so. But if we take ourselves off the throne and declare that God truly is sovereign over our life and the universe, we will discover the true and eternal life that God means for us to enjoy. As Jesus says in Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

FREED FROM SLAVERY. John 12 reports that some people began to believe in Jesus, but they kept this belief private because of fear. These people were afraid of being “put out of the synagogue” (John 12:42), an important place of social and communal standing at the time. John highlights the root of their fear: “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43). This sentence describes us. By nature we all love the glory, approval, and recognition that people bestow on us. In fact, we love it so much that we’re enslaved to it—we won’t do anything that would compromise this glory. Jesus came to set us free from this miserable slavery. He knows that our problem isn’t merely that we commit sins; our problem is that sin runs so deep in our hearts that we will worship anything other than God. We are enslaved to these false masters. Jesus is teaching us here how deep our slavery runs—so deep that it cost Jesus his life to set us free.

GOD OF THE NATIONS. Long ago, in Genesis 12, God called a man named Abram (Abraham) into a relationship with him. God told Abraham that he would use him and his descendants to “be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2-3) to the nations. Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, brings to a climax God’s calling on Abraham’s life. Here in John 12 we see Gentiles flocking to Jesus, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). God’s long-promised plan reached a new level of fulfillment as Jesus came to earth and exercised his ministry among both Jews and Gentiles. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the book of Acts further documents that God is a God of the nations as the gospel spreads from Jerusalem out to the ends of the earth, reaching many different cities, nations, and types of people. Today, the mission continues as the God of the nations uses us to reach new people groups with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

VISION AND BLINDNESS. John 12:38–41 picks up on a major theme that appears throughout the Bible: spiritual vision versus spiritual blindness. This motif first shows up in Genesis 3, as Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit “and the eyes of both were opened” to experience what sin, guilt, and shame really are (Gen. 3:7), and the motif runs right through the Bible to the end of Revelation, where the New Jerusalem requires no created light by which to see, “for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23). The prophet Isaiah gives prominent attention to this theme, and is quoted here in John 12 by Jesus (see also Matt. 13:14–15). Paul too quotes this same text from Isaiah in Acts 28:25–27 to explain rejection of God and his grace as blindness. John employs this theme of seeing versus blindness repeatedly throughout his Gospel as well as in his letters (e.g., John 3:3, 36; 6:30; 8:56; 9:1–41; 10:21; 11:37; 12:40; 14:19; 16:16–19; 1 John 2:11; 3:2). Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 12:46). Only Jesus can cure the blindness of the human heart.

UNBELIEF. The ultimate human sin is unbelief. Unbelief is what drives all other sin. Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden because of their unbelief, as they chose to not believe God’s word and voice and instead believed the voice of the serpent (Satan). Here in John 12 we see highlighted this sin that shows up on nearly every page of the Bible and in every human heart: “Though he [Jesus] had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him” (John 12:37).

RESCUE. Speaking of his death by crucifixion, Jesus says in John 12:32, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Here Jesus gets at the heart of the whole Bible. Jesus views people as captives to sin, people in need of a rescue. Jesus and the Scriptures repeatedly underscore that sinners are unable to save themselves. We are helpless unless someone helps us from the outside. Jesus came to rescue us, and he did it in the most shocking manner—he was lifted up on a cross so that we could be lifted up to God.

Take time to reflect on the implications of John 12:20–50 for your own life today. Make notes below on the personal implications for your walk with the Lord of (1) the Gospel Glimpses, (2) the Whole-Bible Connections, (3) the Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses

2. Whole-Bible Connections

3. Theological Soundings

4. John 12:20–50

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you engage in this study of John. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on a few key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and perhaps to highlight or underline these to review again in the future.

Definitions

1 Substitutionary atonement – The core reason for Jesus’ death on the cross: Jesus offered himself to die as a substitute for believers. He took upon himself the punishment they deserve and thereby reconciled them to God.

2 Son of Man – The title Jesus uses more than any other to refer to himself (e.g., Matt. 8:20; 11:19). While labeling himself this way may underscore Jesus’ humanity, the phrase is most significant in relation to the figure in Daniel 7 who receives supreme authority and an everlasting kingdom from God (compare Dan. 7:13–14 and Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62).

3 Satan – A spiritual being whose name means “accuser.” As the leader of all the demonic forces, he opposes God’s rule and seeks to harm God’s people and accuse them of wrongdoing. His power, however, is confined to the bounds that God has set for him, and one day he will be destroyed along with all his demons (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

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