Today I read John 12, where Jesus rides in triumph into Jerusalem. There is really not much that is different in this chapter than we have already read in the other Gospels. However, John adds a little bit more information such as a lot of people came to see Lazarus. In fact the scriptures make it sound as if as many people as came to see Jesus came to see Lazarus. And who can blame them? I mean, what if you heard in the news today that a man who had been dead for 4 days suddenly came back to life and it was as if he had never died? No brain damage, no lasting effects, it was just as if he was in a coma and not dead for those 4 days? I personally would be very intrigued and want to meet him and find out does he remember anything from his time he was dead?
Lazarus was so popular in fact that the Sanhedrin were not just contemplating putting Jesus to death, but they wanted to put Lazarus to death too. The reason was because Lazarus was as popular as Jesus Himself and what was worse in those men's eyes, because of Lazarus, lots of people were believing that Jesus was in fact the Christ. This was not in their plans and so they conspired on how to put Lazarus to death. Now, we never hear about this again and I think if they succeeded there would be more about it. I would assume that once they put Jesus to death they let it drop since clearly if he had been the promised Messiah He would not have died. At least I imagine that was their reasoning.
This chapter also contains a rare instance of the Father speaking. Jesus is troubled in spirit because His time is coming and He is scared, and who can blame Him? I mean who could do what He did? He is trying to teach His Apostles that what He does next is what He was born to do and He asks the Father to glorify His name. The Father responds and the people wonder thinking they have heard an angel. Jesus tells them that the Father did not speak for His benefit but rather for their benefit. What an experience that must have been. To be standing there and have a voice thunder out of heaven all around you like that! I think it would be scary honestly. I mean think about it. We're pretty used to PA systems and things like that in our world of technology. But think about if you were outside and suddenly you heard a voice from overhead. That would be a little spooky.
But this marks the beginning of the last week of the Savior's life. He knew it was coming, and yet nothing could have prepared Him for it. The next few chapters will go into detail that none of the other authors did, partly because they were not there in the case of Mark and Luke, and because he was more focused on other things in the case of Matthew. But John treats us to what it was like to be with Jesus, at His side the last week of His mortal life and to give us insights to the things Jesus taught His Apostles and to show us what it was like to be with Him at the end and the crux of all creation. We will read about it in the coming days and see what the Spirit wants to teach us. Until tomorrow.
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