Please forgive this rough draft format, as these are my raw study notes on the Gospel of John, although they are a bit better formatted than former efforts. I felt a great sense of urgency to publish them rather than waiting until I had the time to pretty them up. Thank you and I pray that God blesses and encourages you through this material. I’m not sure of the condition of the world at the time of this publication. But at the time of its writing, fall 2009 through late spring 2010, things are looking increasingly bleak with the economy, health care and unemployment, there is a renewal and increase of racism, and godly principles of living being disregarded, there are floods in India, earthquake and tsunami in Samoa. Are these the first stages of birth pains? The last? God only knows. And He is very busy these days. Seek His wisdom. Encourage each other. Pray. Jesus is coming to deliver His people and judge the wicked…Stacey
Take a few minutes to pray and savor chapter 12 of the book of John. Then return here and ponder the thoughts, answer the questions, and be sure to leave comments about your own revelations…
12:1-8 – Compare this account with Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; and Luke 7:37-39. What similarities did you find? What differences? What does this tell you about the perspective of the writer, John? How does this knowledge enhance your understanding of the event?
12:1-3 – KJV implies that Mary helped Martha make the supper.
12:1 – These are Jesus’ last days.
12:4-8 – Judas’ turning point.
12:6 – How did John know Judas was a thief? Did he learn this after Judas’ death? If the apostles knew before, did they try to deal with it?
Remember that John wrote this gospel account as an old man, so he would be able to provide these details.
12:7 – Jesus defended Mary’s action and said this was the intended purpose for the perfume.
Is there some area of your life where you are certain that you are fulfilling God’s intended purpose?
12:9 – Lazarus’ resurrection was bringing attention to Jesus.
12:10-11 – People don’t acknowledge Christ out of fear of persecution.
The chief priests decided to kill Lazarus, too. They had already decided to kill Jesus in 11:50.
12:12-16 – The disciples didn’t understand the fulfillment of the OT scriptures until after Jesus’ death.
12:12-15 – See Matthew 21:4-9; Mark 11:7-10; Luke 19:35-38. What similarities exist in these parallel accounts? What additional information do you glean from these passages? What does this tell you about the perspective of the writer, John? How does this knowledge enhance your understanding of the event?
12:13 – See Leviticus 23:40 and Psalm 118:25-26.
12:15 – See Zechariah 9:9
12:19 – What might the Pharisees have been doing to advance their agenda? Whatever it was, it wasn’t working.
12:20-24 – The time has come for Jesus to suffer and die so that by His death, He would produce many seeds.
Take a few minutes to really think about this. There is no other way that we could be thoroughly reconciled to God. Jesus had to die.
12:20 – Why would the Greeks approach Philip? He was Greek!
12:23-26 – How are Jesus’ words in this passage an appropriate response to the disciples bringing the Greeks to see Jesus?
12:25 – the man who loves his life – philantos.
12:26 – People don’t acknowledge Christ out of fear of where they may have to go to follow Him.
12:29 – God’s voice sounds like thunder. So, the “sons of thunder” were to be His mouthpieces? James was the first martyr. John was the last to die – of old age.
12:42 – People don’t acknowledge Christ out of fear of being put out of the synagogue.
12:43 – People don’t acknowledge Christ because they love the praise of men.
Do you prefer the compliments of people over the praise of God?
• The book of John is called the “Love Gospel”. How have you seen God’s love at work in this chapter of scripture and how will you apply it to your life this week?
• What attributes of God do you see in this book?
• What verse of scripture seemed to be God speaking directly to you? What is He teaching you in these verses? How does He want you to respond?
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