John 12

Part of The Raising of Lazarus📖 John introduction

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¹Therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ✦ ²So they made Him a dinner there, and Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. ✦ ³Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ✦ ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to betray Him, *said, ✦ ⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?” ✦ ⁶Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he kept the money box, he used to steal from what was put into it. ✦ ⁷Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. ✦ ⁸For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” ✦ ⁹The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. ✦ ¹⁰But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, ✦ ¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. ✦ ¹²On the next day, when the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ✦ ¹³they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed, the King of Israel!” ✦ ¹⁴Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ✦ ¹⁵“Do not fear, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ✦ ¹⁶These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. ✦ ¹⁷So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. ✦ ¹⁸For this reason also the people went to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. ✦ ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not accomplishing anything; look, the world has gone after Him!” ✦ ²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; ✦ ²¹these people then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ✦ ²²Philip *came and *told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. ✦ ²³But Jesus *answered them by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ✦ ²⁴Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ✦ ²⁵The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. ✦ ²⁶If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. ✦ ²⁷“Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ✦ ²⁸Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ✦ ²⁹So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him!” ✦ ³⁰Jesus responded and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. ✦ ³¹Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ✦ ³²And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” ✦ ³³Now He was saying this to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. ✦ ³⁴The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” ✦ ³⁵So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ✦ ³⁶While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and hid Himself from them. ✦ ³⁷But though He had performed so many signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. ✦ ³⁸This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ✦ ³⁹For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ✦ ⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and so I will not heal them.” ✦ ⁴¹These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him. ✦ ⁴²Nevertheless many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue; ✦ ⁴³for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God. ✦ ⁴⁴Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. ✦ ⁴⁵And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ✦ ⁴⁶I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. ✦ ⁴⁷If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ✦ ⁴⁸The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day. ✦ ⁴⁹For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ✦ ⁵⁰And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 11 ·29 John 12 ·21 John 1 ·15 John 5 ·12 Matt 26 ·12 John 8 ·12 John 13 ·10 John 6 ·10

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 12YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 12David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 12Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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