JOHN 12

Overview

Chapter twelve begins with St. Mary anointing Jesus' feet with spikenard (12:3). Judas Iscariot hypocritically objected that the money should have been given to the poor (12:4-6), but Jesus responded that it was appropriate because it was preparing Him for His upcoming burial, and because—given the nearness of His Passion—such a loving act could not be performed later (12:7-8). Blessed Theophylact explains how we can live out the significance of this event in our own lives:

The feet of Christ represent the Apostle Book and the Gospel—in sum, the commandments by which Christ walks in us. To these commandments you should apply myrrh—a spiritual disposition blended of many virtues, the finest of which is faith, warm and pungent as precious spikenard. If you do not cling fervently and zealously to Christ's commandments and anoint them with your mortified members as with hair, the house of your soul will not be filled with divine fragrance.

The events we celebrate on Palm Sunday occurred the next day (12:12-15). St. Romanos the Melodist summarizes the meaning of these events in this way:

You have shown Your strength in choosing the humble, for it was a sing of poverty for You to sit on the ass; but as Glorious, You do shake Zion. The cloaks of the disciples pointed to frugality; But the song of the children and the throng of people was a sign of Your strength, As they cry out, 'Hosanna in the highest,' that, Save! You Who are on high, save the humbled; Heeding the palm branches, take pity on us, Look upon those who cry out: 'You are the blessed One Who comes to call up Adam.'

The interest in Jesus of a group of Gentiles who were converting to Judaism demonstrated that the time for Jesus' Passion had come (12:20-23). St. Proclus of Constantinople says that Christ used the word "glorified" because the word refers both "to the conversion of the Greeks; a glory that the Jews donned but the nations put on," and "to the cross. For from it the power of the Lord was made known" (see also 12:30-32).

Christ made it clear that He is not the only one Who must live sacrificially: all His followers are called to do the same (12:24-26). This means, Blessed Augustine says, "Christ's servants are those who look out for His things rather than their own. 'Let him follow me' means 'let him walk in My ways and not in his own,' as it is written elsewhere (1 John 2:6)...you yourselves should also serve Christ in your own way by good lives, by giving to the poor, by preaching His name and doctrine as best as you can too." This means, as Jesus said so many times previously in this book, that we are expected to walk in the light of Christ (12:35-36; see 1:4-5; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 11:9-10). Unfortunately, despite everything Jesus said and did, the people did not believe Him (12:37), fulfilling the prophesies of the Holy Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53:1 (John 12:38) and 6:10 (John 12:40).

In the end, whether we believe in Christ or reject Him demonstrates whether we put our faith in God the Father, because what Jesus said and did was done under the authority of the Father, Who gave Jesus the words to speak (12:44-50). In fact, Jesus came to glorify the name of the Father—a fact that God the Father confirmed to the people (12:27-28).