The two halves of John 12 have a very different tone, as Jesus moves from the private eye into the public sphere. Lazarus and his two sisters remain in the narrative as well. One major theme that can be noted in this particular Chapter is the hostility that those who are associated with Jesus face simply for having experienced the benefits of his way. Lazarus is threatened. The Greeks are threatened. John’s rendition of the classic “triumphal entry” narrative is full of sorry, in that regard. The parallels that we can draw, here, from characters in Israel’s history (Adonijah, Solomon, Simon Maccabeus, etc. ) are present for all.
Yet Jesus will act very differently than all of them – he and his followers will experience rejection from the very people who should be accepting them. 12:1-11 Jesus’ relationship with Lazarus and his sisters continue to develop in this chapter, as we see Jesus dining with them. The moment between him and Mary, in particular, is very interesting. It is a highly personal moment, and one that not everyone is comfortable with (judging by Judas’ reaction). While Tam not trying to propose The DaVinci Code’s theory that Mary fathered Jesus’ child, I do believe that the possibility of a relationship between the two existed.
Jesus runs out of time to have a family and children, but I am sure that he would have wanted to, and his connection with Mary certainly hints that such could have been possible. Nevertheless, their relationship goes no further than them becoming good friends. This story then provides us with an example of a healthy relationship between two single adults of opposite genders (a subject, I think, which is absent in the modern church). There are no scandals nor infidelity that break out between the two, and they are able to engage in very personal moments like these without having to be concerned ith the carnal intentions of the other.
It is a very powerful friendship, and one that should bring about some criticism about the awkwardness often associated with Christian singles in the church. Judas’ tension with this moment reveals to us both that he has mentally checked out of the moment – he does not believe that Jesus is about to die – and that Jesus knows he is a thief. Mary’s very action, of what essential is preparing Jesus for burial, reveals to us that she understands what is about to happen.
Having just had her mind re-shaped by resurre power, she is able to take a moment before this triumphal entry and celebrate his life. Mary is free to celebrate Jesus’ life even in the face of death. Such practices can be seen even in our own community’s ethic of table fellowship, particularly when we are dining with our friends from the third world. During those times, while we understand that money is a valuable resource, we feel the freedom to spend money on the most valuable thing possible – the precious lives of our friends.
This story also has something to say regarding people who, like Judas, act as if their concerns of the poor are the most important to them… when they are really the person stealing what could have been given to the poor. Our world is unbelievably full of people who masquerade as philanthropists, but, in reality, consume the very resources that are needed by others. Their lifestyles and purposeful decision creates the very kind of world that even allows for the poor to exist. 12:12-50 Rejoice greatly, o daughter Zion! Shout aloud, o daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will arouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword. – Zechariah 9:9-13 Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. – I Kings 1:5 King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada. ” When they came before the king, the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
There let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon! You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. ” – I Kings 1:32-35 Those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going in and out to buy and sell in the country. So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine. Then they cried to Simon to make peace with them, and he did so. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the citadel from its pollutions.
On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred seventy-first year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. Simon decreed that every year they should celebrate this day with rejoicing. He strengthened the fortifications of the temple hill alongside the citadel, and he and his men lived there. – 1 Maccabees 13:49-53 I chose to quote all of these passages because they reveal similar moments of Judah’s ruler’s securing the city from enemies.
Such a messianic figure would ascend to David’s throne and restore the kingdom to its former glory. In both the Maccabees and Zechariah passages, the Greeks are explicitly labeled as the enemy. Jesus’ kingdom, if we are to call it that, taking root in Jerusalem will have no part in excluding the Greeks from what God wants to offer. This reality would have been very important to the Johannine community, as they primarily lived in a Hellenized world, after the life of Jesus.
The section of John shows both that Jesus meets the expectations of a messianic candidate… lso that he does not meet those expectations in the ways people would have expected. Jesus was supposed to ascend in the temple. He was supposed to drive out the Greeks. Instead he has to hide himself (as indicated by the Greeks’ requesting, of Philip, an audience with Jesus) and he includes the Greeks. The final verses of John 12 perfectly cap off this reversal of expectation on the part of Jesus. While the crowds expect the Messiah to remain forever (12:34), Jesus chooses to instead stress how his is going to die. This is not only a lack of permanence, but a direct slant to the notion that he will be a “king of kings”.
