John (Part 45): Summary (ch 12)

Jesus did not say he would die in explicit terms. He said he would be lifted up. But the crowd immediately understands this expression to say that he would die, presumably connecting it with Roman crucifixion. And John notes that Jesus said “this” to signify what kind of death he was about to die. What is John telling us in this comment?

Jesus used the expression “lifted up” three times in this Gospel (3:14, 8:28, and12:32). But it is only here—the third time—that John makes a comment about it signifying the type of death. Normally, an explanatory comment is made the first time you use the expression, not the last. Perhaps, instead of John misplacing the comment, we are the ones understanding it incorrectly. We typically understand his comment to refer to the lifting up as the type of death—crucifixion—that he was to have. But John tells us that Jesus says that to signify his type of death. Why would Jesus believe it necessary to signify to this crowd that he would be crucified? I’m sure we can stretch our imaginations to come up with some theological answer for that, but maybe if we stick to the chapter’s context, it won’t be that difficult to understand. Yes, in one sense, Jesus is indicating he will die by crucifixion, and crucifixion meant a Roman death because it was the Romans who practiced crucifixion. To a certain extent, this fits with the crowd’s understanding. Jesus, as Messiah, would oppose Rome! But surely this is not the extent of what Jesus is trying to indicate, is it? Perhaps in the type of death, Jesus is not referring only to crucifixion. In the statement we’re examining, Jesus says that if he is lifted up (or, if he is exalted in death), “I will draw all people to Myself.” This is the part of the statement that indicates type of death. He says that to let people know he is not dying for Israel, he is dying for the world. The type of death sacrifice he is making is worldwide, not nationalistic.

Even with the crowd’s confusion over the purpose of the Messiah, they do understand certain things. They understand first that Jesus is being hailed as Messiah. They connect the Messiah to the Son of Man mentioned in Daniel 7. And so, they also understand Jesus to be the Son of Man. So when Jesus says that the Son of Man must be lifted up, they understand Jesus saying that he must die, and particularly by a Roman death. And this gives them pause. They are looking for victory over Rome not a failed attempt at revolution resulting in death! They understand an everlastingness associated with the Messiah / Son of Man based on OT prophecy. That is one of the reasons they are so sure Jesus is the Son of Man Messiah. Didn’t he just prove he held control over death by raising Lazarus? But if the OT Son of Man remains forever and Jesus is saying he must die, “Who is this Son of Man (12:34) that Jesus is supposed to be? He doesn’t match with the Son of Man of Scripture!”

Without answering their question directly, Jesus tells them to stop leaning on their own misguided interpretation, and listen to him. He is the Word of God made flesh. He is the ultimate and final revelation of the whole restoration plan. He has the words of life. “Listen to me!” Jesus seems to shout as he says, “The light—[Me]—will be with you only a little longer” (12:35). Jesus explains that without him they are stumbling in the darkness of misunderstanding because they are walking without relationship with God. He urges them to listen to him by which they may become sons of light—understanding righteousness. But then John says he hid from them. In one sense he hides from their intent just as in John 6:15. There he had fed the 5000. They wanted to make him king. But he withdrew from them to the mountain (hid from them). But also, he hides in his actions. The next day, we learn in the Synoptics, he cleansed the temple. That violently contrasted with the crowd’s expectations. They wanted a Messiah that overturned Rome. Instead Jesus was overturning tables, ransacking the very center of what should become, in their minds, the control point of the nations of the earth! Although that’s not hiding in a literal sense, it doesn’t fit into their scenario at all. They face a crisis. Will they continue in their messianic beliefs, or will they seek out this hidden Messiah, understanding him to be the true light?

John then presents a sort of summary to this section on Jesus’s hour. He does so by appealing to a couple of passages in Isaiah. The Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53 actually begins at the end of Isaiah 52. There we see God’s Servant as appalling to the world. The world had not received the revelatory messages that Israel had. But they see a beaten, disfigured criminal, hanging on a cross. And as the apostles hold this figure up to them, they learn and believe that this one saves (Is 52:15). But Israel?—those who had the oracles of God presented to them all along? Isaiah 53:1 asks, “Who has believed what we (Israel) have heard (OT prophecies)?” They’ve received revelation all along, and now the ultimate climax of the revelation comes before them, and they reject him. In their rejection, they harden their hearts. And God blinds their eyes with the truth, making the truth appear in obvious contradiction to what they want to believe so that their rejection is heightened and strengthened.

Some Jewish leaders believed—to an extent. A contrast is established. Isaiah received revelation. Isaiah believed God. Isaiah spoke of God’s truth. And Isaiah glorified God. These Jewish leaders received revelation. The Jewish leaders believed. But the Jewish leaders do not speak of God’s truth. The Jewish leaders wanted the approval of men.

The chapter (and introduction) ends with another summary of all that has gone on before. Jesus had preached that he was the Way to relationship with God. They were in darkness. He was the light. He was the Word of truth. Receiving his light and his words would lead people to God. But those rejecting his light and his word were rejecting, not only Jesus, but God.

The next section in this third part of the Gospel (Jesus is the Light) covers the whole of chapter 13. However, before we get into the details of the chapter, we must discuss some timing issues. The first phrase of chapter 13 mentions the Passover. It is Passover week—begun with the triumphal entry. Passover is a single day celebrating the protection of God during the 10^th plague in Egypt, which resulted in the children of Israel being sent away by Pharaoh. Passover immediately precedes the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. One question that has puzzled and divided scholars is whether the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover meal or simply the last supper of Jesus with his disciples on the night before the Passover meal was to be eaten. One of the difficulties in deciding this question is the different ways that it seems the Gospel writers presented the Passover time during this last week of Jesus’s earthly life.

John seems to imply that the meal with the disciples was prior to the Passover. In John 18:28 we read that the priests did not enter Pilate’s headquarters (a Gentile building) because they did not wish to become ceremonially unclean which would have made them “unable to eat the Passover.” Obviously, if this scene takes place after the Last Supper, the Last Supper could not have been the Passover meal. Another verse, John 13:26, indicates that the disciples thought Jesus was sending Judas away to buy what was needed for the festival—for Passover. Since they were gathered together already eating the Last Supper, it would seem that they still considered the Passover as something still in the future.

But the Synoptics for the most part, seem to indicate that the meal with the disciples actually was a Passover meal. We read in Mark 14:12, “On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb, His disciples asked Him, ‘Where do You want us to go and prepare the Passover so You may eat it.’” And this would indicate that the disciples said this on the 14^th of Nisan (Passover) when the lamb was to be slain. Furthermore, in Luke 22:15, Jesus himself says, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” So, Jesus considered that last supper a Passover meal.

Some scholars have stated that John and/or the others altered the timing to present their particular emphasis. John wanted Jesus to appear as the Passover lamb, and so John had Jesus killed on Nissan 14 just as the lambs were killed. The others wanted a connection between Passover for the Jews and Communion for Christians and so tied those two events together. But can we really believe that the writers are putting words in Jesus’s mouth that he did not say or manipulating activity that Jesus did not do simply for emphasis? Does the Bible merely present an idea and not really recount what Jesus actually said or did? I don’t think so. But if not, we need to understand how these seemingly contradictory statements could actually present consistent truth.

We must start this examination back in the OT where Passover was first instituted. In Exodus chapter 12 we read in verse 3 that on the 10^th of Nisan, the Hebrews were to select an unblemished lamb for the Passover meal. They kept the lamb three more days until the 14^th. Verse 6 says that on the 14^th, “the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.” Here is the first bit of vagueness. We must remember that the Hebrew day began at twilight. Therefore, evening began the day, followed by night, and followed by the dawn and the daylight hours. The day ended as twilight approached again.

Since twilight marks the division of the day from one to the next, when God says in verse 6 to keep the lamb until the 14^th day and slaughter it at twilight, is that twilight at the beginning of the 14^th day, or is it the twilight at the end of the 14^th day? Verse 8 says to eat the slaughtered lamb that evening. So were they to eat it at the evening starting the 14^th day or, having slaughtered the lamb at the end of the 14^th day, were they eating the meal during the evening starting the 15^th day? It appears, based on the Talmud and current Jewish practice, that the lamb is prepared on the 14^th, at the end of the day, and is eaten in the evening starting the 15^th day.

Here’s another bit of confusion. Does the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread include the Passover as the first day, or do the seven days follow the one day of Passover, resulting in a total festival period of eight days? Verse 15 says that they must eat unleavened bread for seven days. But previously, verse 8 said to eat unleavened bread on Passover. Merging those two verses, it would seem that the Passover is the first of the seven days of Unleavened Bread. However, jumping over to Leviticus 23, we learn this in verses 5 and 6: “The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month. The Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.” At first glance, this passage seems to draw distinction showing that the whole festival period is eight days. But at second glance, considering the mention of the Passover on the 14^th at twilight, if we think the twilight mentioned is the twilight at the end of the 14^th, we’re back to only seven days of festival.

Today, most Jews believe that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is seven days, which begins with and includes the Passover. Thus, the Passover meal is eaten on the evening starting the 15^th of Nisan it is at the end of the day on the 14^th that the lamb was to be slaughtered, and the meal is eaten at the beginning of the 15^th. This is important in our consideration because it makes the 14^th of Nisan the preparation day—the day the animal is killed. The evening starting the 15^th, when the Passover lamb meal is eaten, begins the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread—that first day, the 15^th, as a Sabbath holy day, and the 21^st—the 7^th day—is also a Sabbath holy day.

Now let’s look at the specific week we’re focusing on in John.

 The top larger row represents daylight hours. The bottom thinner row represents evenings. Thus, you’ll notice, for example, the date of 11 in the first evening box marked “Mon,” signifiies the start of Monday, Nisan 11 (although we, with our calendar, would consider it Sunday evening—the end of the day). The completion of Nisan 11 occurs during the daylight hours of Monday. 

In the chart, then, during the daylight hours of Sunday, Nisan 10, Jesus had his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This corresponds with the Passover picture of Exodus 12 in which the lamb is chosen (Ex 12:3). If we follow the activity of Christ through this week (best viewed from the Gospel of Mark), we see this result:

Sun 10 day – Leaving Bethany for Jerusalem; triumphal entry (Mk 11:1-11)

Mon 11 evening – Return to Bethany for the night (Mk 11:11)

Mon 11 day – Leaving for Jerusalem; cursing the fig tree; and temple cleansing (Mk 11:12-18)

Tue 12 evening – Leaving Jerusalem (presumably for Bethany) (Mk 11:19)

Tue 12 day – Leaving Bethany for Jerusalem; shriveled fig tree; questioning of Jesus; temple teaching; leaving temple; Olivet discourse; mention of 2 days to Passover; plot against Christ (Mk 11:20 – 14:2)

Wed 13 evening – Mary anoints Jesus (Mk 14:3-11)

Wed 13 day – Passover preparation (Mk 14:12-16)

Thu 14 evening – Last Supper; Gethsemane; trial; Peter’s denials (Mk 14:17-72)

Thu 14 day – Jesus before Pilate; crucifixion; burial (Mk 15:1-47)

Fri 15 evening – Jerusalem eats Passover meal; Jesus in tomb

Fri 15 day – Jesus in tomb

Sat 16 eve – Jesus in tomb

Sat 16 day – Jesus in tomb

Sun 17 evening – Jesus in tomb

Sun 17 day – Jesus arose (Mark 16:1-8)

Now let’s go back to our Gospel verses mentioning the Passover meal and see whether we can find some consistency. John 18:28 appears to fit quite easily. As the priests take Jesus to Pilate early Thursday morning (Nisan 14), they do not want to enter the governor’s headquarters because if they do, they would become unclean for seven days. Since they want to eat the Passover meal—eaten, according to our chart, on Friday evening (at twilight beginning Nisan 15), they remain outside and thus maintain their ceremonial cleanness.

And, likewise, we have consistency with the disciples reaction as Jesus sends Judas out in John 13:26. This occurred on Thursday evening (beginning of Nisan 14), before the time the Jews ate the Passover on Friday evening (beginning of Nisan 15).

Next time we will discuss why I think we can still understand the verses in Mark and Luke as consistent with the above charted events of that week.