17: Moving toward Jerusalem — John 11:45–12:19

11 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” ⁵¹ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home  of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ² There they  gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.
³ Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
⁶ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸ You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

⁹ When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. ¹⁷ So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.^{a  18} It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹ The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How do the people in the crowd respond to Lazarus’ resurrection? Which part of the crowd would you have been in?

2. Why would the chief priests and Pharisees be so upset at this miracle? What makes it different from the other miracles Jesus had performed? 

3. How does Caiaphas analyze the situation? What is his suggestion? How does it make sense for the Jewish leaders?

How does John characterize Caiaphas’ statement? What makes it prophecy? What makes it ironic?

4. Where does Jesus go after this? What is going on when he returns to Bethany? Who are the principle people involved and what is their relationship to Jesus?

5. What is significant about Mary’s actions? Do you think Jesus was at all embarrassed by the attention? How does he respond to the objection?

6. What is the reaction to Jesus’ presence in town? What is the reaction of the leaders? Why would they include Lazarus in their plans?

7. Why was the crowd waving palm branches for Jesus’ entry [see notes]? Why did Jesus ride into town on a donkey colt? Why didn’t the disciples understand these symbols?

Get Personal

How does God help you understand what he is doing in your life? How does he help you “see” the evidence of his presence and his actions? How often do you realize he was active after the incident?

11:47. Council — the Jewish governing body under the Romans. Its 71 members were split between priests (“Sadducees”) and teachers of the law (“Pharisees”) and was led by the high priest.
11:48. Roman army — Jewish leaders’ goal was to keep the peace so the Romans would not destroy their power and position.
11:49. Caiaphas — followed his father, Annas, as high priest (Annas presides at Jesus’ “trial” for blasphemy, [18:12-13]).
11:50. It’s better . . . — Caiaphas’ statement is politically accurate – silencing Jesus should keep Rome from destroying Jerusalem; but the high priest is really describing God’s salvation plan for the entire world. John makes sure his readers get the point in verse 51.
12:3. Nard — very expensive perfume from India.
12:7. Leave her alone — Jesus undoubtedly knows 

about Judas’ thievery but he focuses on the symbolic meaning of Mary’s gift and action. Jesus then echoes Moses: There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need, [Deut 15:11].
12:13. Palm branches — victorious returning military commanders were often greeted by people waving palm branches – the Jews had the wrong perspective on Jesus’ “triumph.”
12:14. Donkey . . . prophecy — John is referring to Zechariah 9:9: Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey –riding on a donkey’s colt.
12:16. Didn’t understand — the disciples continue to miss the spiritual point, until the Holy Spirit shows them the ultimate meaning after the resurrection, [also 14:26, and Luke 24:25-35].