John 12:20-50
Yesterday’s three readings from the Synoptic Gospels and today’s reading from John all end at the end of a chapter. The next chapter in each of the four Gospels is Maundy Thursday, the Last Supper – with a couple of other incidents reported in Matthew and Mark before the actual Passover meal. So we will spend a full month on Jesus’ last two days – Maundy Thursday and Good Friday – prior to His resurrection appearances as reported in one chapter each by the Synoptic writers and two chapters in John. Today we have Jesus’ final comments in what my Study Bible calls His “public ministry”. John will spend the next five chapters (13-17) with Jesus and His disciples at the Last Supper.
John quotes Isaiah 53:1 in the following verse: Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? (v. 38b) That entire chapter in Isaiah along with Psalm 22 are the most striking Old Testament prophetic accounts of Jesus’ death. So when John quotes 53:1 He is likely referring to the entire passage from Isaiah.
Two items struck me today as they had two years ago when we first read through the Gospels as an RTB group. The first is verse 36b, When Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid Himself from them. This verse is of no particular consequence, except that we wonder why He hid Himself. I commented on that in the third link below, but this time I was wondering if He was hiding Himself from the Pharisees, knowing that He still needed some time alone with His disciples and did not want to be apprehended just yet.
The second item has to do with some of the Jewish leaders believing in Him: Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. (v. 42) I want to believe that these leaders came around to professed belief later, but we do not have that reported. Still I can imagine the torment within their hearts – wanting to follow Him and to say something, but afraid to go public. But even Jesus’ closest friends were afraid to go public – recall Peter’s denial during Jesus’ trial and the disciples hiding in the Upper Room after His crucifixion. We don’t face those kinds of societal pressures as we live our beliefs, but my heart goes out to those would-be believers in Islamic countries who are also afraid of rejection (and even for their very lives) if they were to go public. Let’s remember to pray for the persecuted church.
See also: October 12 / John 12:20-26; October 13 / John 12:27-36; October 14 / John 12:37-43; October 15 / John 12:44-50