John 12:34

John 12:34-36 . The people answered — Understanding the phrase as implying some violent death shortly to come upon him; We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for ever — On hearing Jesus affirm that he was to be lifted up, or taken off by a violent death, they told him that it was inconsistent with the character of the Messiah, who, according to the law, (so they named the whole of their sacred writings,) was never to die. And how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? — How can these things be reconciled? Who is this Son of man? — Is he a different person from the Messiah, whom we have been taught to expect under the title of the Son of man? If not, what sort of a Messiah must he be that is to die? Then Jesus said — Not answering them directly, but exhorting them to improve what they had heard already; Yet a little while is the light with you — As if he had said, Do not cavil at what I now say; but remember how short this opportunity is, which through the divine goodness you now enjoy; and improve by my instructions, who am the light of the world. See on John 8:12 . Lest darkness — That is, spiritual blindness; come upon you — By the just judgment of God. Romans 11:25 .

If that should happen to you, ye will be in a miserable condition indeed: For he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth — Knoweth neither the way he is walking in, nor the end he is walking toward: he knows not into what danger and misery he may fall the very next step he takes: and much more dreadful will it be for you to be deserted of God, and left to the darkness and folly of your own hearts. Observe, reader, he that is destitute of the light of the gospel, that is unacquainted with its discoveries and directions, wanders endlessly in mistakes and errors, in a thousand crooked paths, and is not aware of it: he is probably going to destruction, and knows not his danger: he is sleeping, or sporting, on the brink of the pit. While you have the light, therefore, believe in the light — While you enjoy the benefit of my doctrine, example, and miracles, which clearly prove my mission from God, believe on me; for it is thus alone you can become children of light — Children of God, wise, holy, and happy. These things spake Jesus — When the Greeks applied themselves to him; and as the unbelieving Jews were greatly irritated by the actions and discourses of the day, and would not be awakened to conviction, he left them and departed thence to a retired place. Greek, απελθων εκρυβη απ ’ αυτων , which Dr.

John 12:34 . The crowd apparently understood the allusion to His death, for they objected: Ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν … ἀνθρώπου ; “we have heard out of the law,” i.e. , out of Scripture ( cf. John 10:34 , John 15:25 , and Schechter, Studies in Judaism , p. 15: “under the word Torah were comprised not only the Law, but also the contributions of later times expressing either the thoughts or the emotions of holy and sincere men”), “that the Christ abides for ever”; this impression was derived from Psalm 110:4 , Isaiah 9:7 , Ezekiel 37:25 , Daniel 7:14 . A different belief was also current. Their belief regarding the Messiah seemed so to contradict His allusion to death that it occurred to them that after all “the Son of Man” might not be identical with “the Messiah” as they had been supposing. So they ask, τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ; This among other passages shows that the “Son of Man” was a title suggestive of Messiahship, but not quite definite in its meaning and not quite identical with “Messiah”.

34. We have heard out of the law—the scriptures of the Old Testament (referring to such places as Ps 89:28, 29; 110:4; Da 2:44; 7:13, 14). that Christ—the Christ "endureth for ever." and how sayest thou, The Son of Man must be lifted up, &c.—How can that consist with this "uplifting?" They saw very well both that He was holding Himself up as the Christ and a Christ to die a violent death; and as that ran counter to all their ideas of the Messianic prophecies, they were glad to get this seeming advantage to justify their unyielding attitude.

Here again the law is taken in a larger sense than in some places, where it is only significant of the books of Moses, in opposition to the prophets and other holy writings, as we had it before, John 10:34 ; for the places of Scripture which the people seem to refer to, seem to be Psalm 110:4 , where Christ is called a priest for ever; or else Daniel 7:14 , where the kingdom of the Messiah is said to be an everlasting dominion, which should not pass away, a kingdom that should not be destroyed: so also, Daniel 2:44 Micah 4:7 . These old prophecies of the Messiah the people could not reconcile to what our Saviour here told them of his death; the reason was, their not understanding the true notion of the Messiah, and of his kingdom, which they fancied not to be a spiritual and eternal kingdom, but a temporal kingdom here on earth. This made them ask, how, (that is, with what consistency to those prophecies), if he indeed were the Messias, he said, The Son of man should die; for that they understood by the term lifted up, which maketh it very plain, that it was a phrase they used to express that kind of death by. They ask who he meant by the Son of man.

John 12:34 . Ἡμεῖς , we ) This word has in it something of irony in this passage.[322]— ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ) out of the Law , under which are comprehended the prophets and psalms.— μένει , abideth ) Psalm 16:10 , “Neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption;” Psalm 45:7 [6?], “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ;” Psalm 72:5 , “They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endureth, throughout all generations ;” Psalm 89:29 , “His throne as the days of heaven;” Isaiah 53:8 , “Who shall declare His generation?” John 12:10 , “He shall prolong His days.”—[323] καί , and ) The Jews join together things which ought not to have been joined:[324] Isaiah 53:8 , “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation?” Death itself was His path to everlasting duration.— πῶς , τίς , how, who ) They ask a double question: concerning His being lifted up , from John 12:32 ; concerning His being the Son of man , from John 12:23 , “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” [with which comp. ch. John 8:28 , “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He”].— τίς ) Who is, say they, the Son of man, if the Christ be not?

And yet Thou sayest, that the Son of man is about to be lifted up; whereas the Christ does not die: τίς , who , of what nature and character. [322] We had always heard so and so, but you , in sooth, are wiser.—E. and T. [323] εἰς τὀν αἰῶνα , for ever ) They therefore were entertaining exalted sentiments concerning the Christ.—V. g. [324] i.e. They ought not to have confounded together His everlasting dominion and His death: the former is distinct from, though to be preceded necessarily by the latter.—E. and T.

34–36 . The Perplexity of the Multitude 34 . The people answered ] The multitude therefore answered . out of the law ] In its widest sense, including the Psalms and the Prophets. Comp. Psalm 89:29 ; Psalm 89:36 ; Psalm 110:4 ; Isaiah 9:7 ; Ezekiel 37:25 , &c. The people rightly understand ‘lifted up from the earth’ to mean removal from the earth by death; and they argue—‘Scripture says that the Christ (see on John 1:20 ) will abide for ever. You claim to be the Christ, and yet you say that you will be lifted up and therefore not abide.’ who is this Son of man? ] ‘This’ is contemptuous: ‘a strange Messiah this, with no power to abide!’ (on ‘Son of Man’ see John 1:51 ). “Here we have the secret, unexplained by the Synoptists, why even when the scale is seeming to turn for a moment in favour of belief, it is continually swayed down again by the discovery of some new particular in which the current ideas respecting the Messiah are disappointed and contradicted.” S. p. 199. One moment the people are convinced by a miracle that Jesus is the Messiah, the next that it is impossible to reconcile His position with the received interpretations of Messianic prophecy. It did not occur to them to doubt the interpretations.

(34) we have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever.. . . . . —The term “law” refers to the whole of the Old Testament Scripture, as we have seen in John 10:34 . (Comp. Note there.) They may have referred to such passages as Psalm 89:36 ; Psalm 110:4 ; Isaiah 9:6 ; Daniel 7:13-14 . This remark is an instance of the knowledge of Rabbinic theology which interpreted such passages of a temporal Messianic reign. They had witnessed His triumphal entry into the royal city, and had joined in the acclamations which hailed Him as their King. They expected Him to free them from Roman bondage, and to rule over them in an earthly paradise to which there should be no end. The Christ they thought was to abide for ever. How sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up?—His words have conveyed to them the idea of His death, and we find “lifted up” used not unfrequently in the Rabbinical writings in this sense; but they do not understand more than this. It contradicts all their visions of a Messianic reign. The Son of man to be lifted up! What meant, then, such words as these—“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14)? They cannot reconcile these things, and they ask Him to explain them. He had not at this time used the exact words they quote, if St.