Michael's Abbey Bible Study - Gospel of John Chapter 12

1 Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There were many travelers going to Jerusalem early to complete purification rituals so they could participate in the Passover. Thus it was easy to blend in with the crowd. Jesus returned to Bethany with his disciples.
It seems redundant to identify Lazarus as the one Jesus raised from the dead, and John will continue to do so. But this was the custom before the existence of family/last names to differentiate between people. However, this is at least partly foot stomping this because of how big a miracle it was, and because it marked the turning point from Jesus' ministry to his final days.
2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. It was customary to put on a meal for visitors. While Martha was running things, and no doubt took many of them in hand herself, there were servants working for her. Lazarus and Jesus are specifically mentioned as being at the table. This doesn't mean there weren't others. Doubtless the 12 disciples were there as well. It is normal for only the main and relevant people to be mentioned in a narrative.
3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Roads were often dirt tracks. And even the stone Roman roads were dirty. Also, animals used for transportation and to pull carts would defecate on the road. Thus a person's feet would be filthy and smelly when arriving at a home. As Lazarus was wealthy, his lowest servant or slave would have been tasked with washing the feet of everyone who entered. Then people would perform the ritual cleansing of their hands with water before lying down at the table. Tables were low, and cushions were placed around it to recline there. Foot washing was very important as one's feet would be stretched out next to other people at the table.
Perfumes at this time were usually oil such as olive oil with fragrant herbs and spices mixed in to give it the desired fragrance. Nard was itself an oil and highly aromatic making it a prized and expensive perfume, with the best nard being imported from India. Perfume oil was normally put on the head so it scented the hair. A wealthy host might have a perfumed oil poured on the head of a very highly placed visitor. And the body of the deceased would be treated with scents out of respect and tradition, as well as for the practical reason of covering the smell of decay.
Jesus' feet were clean before he came to the table, and thus did not need to be washed. Mary's act of anointing Jesus' feet with nard was very symbolic. First, anointing the body was something done for the dead, making this a symbol of the upcoming crucifixion. Second, anointing with perfumed oil was a sign of great honor and respect. Third, Mary anoints Jesus' feet rather than his head, symbolizing her humility as His disciple. Fourth, she dried His feet with her hair. This still left his feet heavily scented with perfume, and also scented her hair and spread the scent through the room. This was an act of great humility, and symbolized that her glory comes from being at the feet of Jesus, and this glory spreads to all around her.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said, Betray is literally to deliver or to hand over in Greek.
Judas didn't just one day suddenly decide to betray Jesus out of the blue. It started with a little sin. Then being convicted by the presence of Jesus, the sin of justifying and denying that was a sin was added to it. Then these sins he did grew a little bigger and bigger over time. Until at the end he resented, then hated the one who was there to be his savior. And at the end he rejected Jesus, leaving himself open to Satan.
The problem is not that we sin. Jesus willingly went to the cross to save us from our sins. The problem is when we say it isn't a sin. If we deny reality, we cannot ask for forgiveness. And without forgiveness there is no salvation. This "woke" agenda pushed by the pagan culture is literally a tool of the devil to prevent us from acknowledging reality. If we deny the truth, we will never humbly turning to Jesus for forgiveness because we deny we did anything wrong. That is the road to hell. The road to hell isn't paved with good intentions, but is really paved with arrogance and oversized egos.
5 "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer. Assuming they had regular work, this was about a year's wage. Nard was extremely expensive.
6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. Judas had been put in charge of the money box that held the funds donated by patrons like Lazarus. This was using his talent with money for the good of the ministry. This money would be used to help the poor as well as buy food and other needs for Jesus and the disciples. Judas would steal money from the box for his own benefit. It started with a small amount, possibly for some sweet treat. But his stealing grew with his desire. The fatal flaw was not this sin itself, but his denial it was sin at all. This made it easier to go bigger the next time and prevented repentance.
7 Therefore Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. Jesus' reply is a soft rebuke of Judas. He knew that Judas was stealing, but the time for Judas' reckoning was later. Referring to His upcoming burial was an acknowledgement of what would soon happen.
8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me." This does not mean that we shouldn't help the poor. Jesus' ministry did that, although this meant helping the poor believers, at least primarily. This is echoed in Paul's writing where charitable aid is for believers in need. Helping anyone anytime with no regard for who they are or what they stand for is not biblical. Unbelievers who want to take advantage of a church will try to manipulate people by accusing them of not being Christian. In my experience, and no matter the context, a person accusing another of not acting like a Christian is really the one who isn't a Christian.
It is worth noting that Jesus' words contradict all the politicians and professors who claim that poverty can be solved. Unfortunately, too many believe their false claims because they sound good. But most of these attempts involve surrendering control and money to the state today to achieve a future utopia that never comes. This has always and without exception resulted in greater poverty for more people with no hope of getting out of it, let alone the mass starvation and persecution that goes with it. Anyone claiming they have the "solution" or "cure" for poverty is a liar. A system that provides the most opportunity to the most people will also provide the best circumstances for the poor. We cannot end all problems. We can decide which ones we can improve, and if the improvement is worth the consequences.
9 The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. This differs from John's usual "the Jews" in that it refers to a large crowd of people. From that and the context it is clear this isn't the Jewish leaders, but a large crowd who were both ethnically and religiously Jewish. Their reasons for wanting to see them were different. Some were wanting to see signs and wonders like people rubberneck at traffic accidents. Others wanted to know what had happened. And others were seeking the Messiah. What is apparent is that the orders from the chief priests in 11:57 were ignored by this large crowd as the chief priests made no move to arrest Jesus or Lazarus.
10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. Killing Jesus alone was not enough for the chief priests. Lazarus was evidence of the most incredible miracle, not to mention that it was done by Jesus. But the biggest reason for wanting to kill Lazarus is detailed in verse 11. Many were "going away" or being "drawn away". What they were being drawn away from was the authority of the chief priests and Pharisees.
12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, This would be five days before the feast of Passover. The people are identified only as being a large crowd that had come to Jerusalem. We aren't told how they found out Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. However, it is almost certain that some from Bethany brought the news. And since they arrived before Jesus, they likely heard of His plans at the supper in Lazarus' home. These would have shared the news with other disciples and believers. Their actions in verse 13 support this, as does verse 17 and 18.
13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." This crowd deliberately went out to meet Jesus and escort Him into the city. This is the same entry as is documented in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19. Their motivation is detailed in verse 18. The palm fronds were a symbol of triumph, such as the welcome of a conquering general or king. This is where the term Palm Sunday comes from.
Psalms 113-118 were sung at Passover and the Festival of Tents. Hosanna is an Aramaic liturgy that means "save, I pray", which is part of Psalm 118:25. This was meant as a petition to God in Psalms. Here it is used as a praise of the Messiah. Then they directly quote Psalm 118:26. Coming in the name of the Lord meant everyone who entered the temple in these festivals. But they added even the King of Israel making their use of the Psalm a Messianic statement.
It seems they were expecting the conquering Messiah rather than the suffering Messiah. Both are in prophecy. While Jesus was entering Jerusalem to conquer sin and death, it was by being the suffering Messiah. The conquering Messiah they wanted to see will be at Jesus' second coming.
14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, John's wrote only the basic facts about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Although John does include more detail about the people welcoming Him than the other gospels. Riding into Jerusalem on the a donkey colt fulfilled the prophecy detailed in verse 15.
15 Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." This is the Messianic prophecy in Zechariah 9:9.
16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him. "These things" refers to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, and the things done to him were the crowd escorting Him with palm fronds and shouting the words of Psalm 118. That the disciples didn't see the connection with Zechariah until after Jesus was glorified is normal. Prophecy is usually not fully understood until after the events occur.
17 So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. The people who were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Lazarus were telling people about it. This was a clear sign that Jesus was from God the Father.
18 For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. The testimony of those eyewitnesses was convincing people that Jesus was the Messiah. There were lots of signs before that pointed to Him as the Messiah, not to mention many fulfilled prophecies. But this miracle was beyond anything ever done before. And this was the motivation for the people who went out to escort Jesus into Jerusalem.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him." The attitude of the Pharisees is appalling. All the evidence and fulfilled prophecy bounced off them because of it. This verse informs us that what mattered to them was they were losing to Jesus. Their worldview was being rejected in favor of the truth all the evidence pointed to. That their power and influence was at stake was certainly part of their bad attitude. But their primary hatred of Jesus was that they would not and could not accept that they were wrong. The basis of their belief that Jesus could not be the Messiah but was a sinful person and enemy was because He had violated their teaching and rules. Even though they were the ones violating scripture, they were sure they were right. Truth was irrelevant. And they would deny any real truth that contradicted their view, even if it meant committing murder to protect their falsehoods.
The truth is that scripture does have a real meaning that is not up for interpretation. Those who truly seek God humbly come to scripture to learn what God has to tell them. The arrogant come to scripture to find confirmation of their ungodly ways.
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; John does not use the word gentile to refer to non-Jews. And Greeks is sometimes used to generically refer to non-Jews. However, in 7:35 John uses it to refer to the Jews dispersed outside Israel. In this instance it may refer to either or both. The point is that even outsiders to Israel who came for the Passover had heard of Jesus.
21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." That Philip is from Bethsaida is merely for identification, making it clear that this was one of the inner circle of 12 disciples. That the Greeks asked Philip is not significant.
22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. That Philip told Andrew is likely just that Andrew was the first he came upon. Although Andrew, like Philip and Peter, was also from Bethsaida. That they go together to tell Jesus may be because they thought it was significant that foreigners were seeking Jesus. But that had happened before, so it may just be what happened with no special meaning.
23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Instead of addressing what Philip and Andrew told Him, Jesus announces that it is time for Him to do what He became man to do. His glorification includes his crucifixion. That those two concepts are not normally equated makes it understandable that the disciples didn't make the connection.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. When Jesus begins with truly, truly, amen amen in Greek, what follows is usually a teaching for his disciples. And while His glorification does include His death that does not seem to be what is referred to here, except perhaps metaphorically. In the context of verses 25-26 this the beginning of a teaching on how to be His disciple. We must die to ourselves in order to become true disciples. In other words, our selfishness and arrogance needs to die for us to become disciples who are wise and dedicated to the truth.
25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. This verse is about our focus. If we love this life, our focus is on it. If we love Jesus, we are focused on His will and eternity. We cannot do both. While we do need to take care of our needs and those of our family, even the purpose and focus of that is to be a good witness in how we live our lives by taking care of our responsibilities. This life is just the entrance exam, and only lasts a for a blip. It is eternity that is the focus of a disciple of Jesus.
26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. Many commentators take this verse out of context and narrowly focus on the related topic of being willing to die for Jesus like He died for us. However, that is to miss the point of this verse almost completely. Verses 24-26 are about living as a disciple much, much more than dying like one. It is very easy for someone to claim they are ready to die for Jesus. But these are empty and false words if they aren't willing to live for Him. Following Jesus means more than empty claims of being ready to die. It means following in His footsteps, telling and teaching others about God and the way to salvation, being merciful to others, challenging those who stray from or try to change the gospel, and never, ever compromising on what is right and true.
There are two opposite errors people make that take them off the path of discipleship. One is to judge wrongly. One way of doing that is to try to hold non-Christians to a Christian standard. Another is to compare oneself to others, judging on a sliding scale. This is looking at others and deciding that we are good because we are better than them, which is a lie. We are all sinners and all equally in dire need of the grace of Jesus. Wrongly judging is easy to see and something people love to call out as wrong. Ironically, in doing so they are doing the very thing as the ones they accuse. This one is the most often focused on because badly behaving people don't like it. But it's very rarely a problem currently outside of false depictions in the media.
The really big problem we have in western churches is a failure to confront bad behavior, and even more, a failure to correct bad theology. If someone never calls out error in others who claim to be Christians, then they are not being a disciple of Christ. Jesus called out people all the time. He corrected error, often very harshly. The more someone was unwilling to admit to their sin and repent the harsher he was, even to calling them sons of Satan, not to mention making and using a whip. Failure to follow Jesus' example is why sin, divorce, and brokenness in the church is no better than in the pagan culture of the west. And this is why churches have no impact in the west. They are so "tolerant" they would tolerate the anti-Christ himself. And they probably will.
27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Here is where Jesus shifts to His coming death. Soul is psuche in Greek, which is the origin of the English word psyche. Jesus is troubled down to His inner depths with the knowledge of what must come next. He asks the question rhetorically and a little sarcastically. To ask for deliverance is to abandon the reason He became human. And while He didn't want to go through this, He willingly became the perfect sacrifice.
This is also instruction for His disciples. Even though He didn't want to go through what was about to happen, He did what needed to be done for us and in obedience to the Father. In adversity, we should also bear up and face it like Jesus did. Of course, we can ask for the Father to spare us, rescue us, or improve our circumstance. But our attitude should be like Jesus, giving glory to God no matter what the circumstance is.
28 Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." Jesus finishes with what should be the attitude of His disciples as well, that regardless of the circumstance we should act for the glory of God.
The voice out of heaven was the Father, like when Jesus was baptized and at His transfiguration.
That the Father has glorified His name does not refer to a single event within the Gospel of John, unless it is the incarnation of the Son. Most likely, this refers to all the Father had done, from the creation of the universe through Jesus, to the history of His miracles and guidance to Israel, to that day with Jesus walking the earth.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. [ESV]
That the Father will glorify His name definitely refers to the Christ event about to happen. But it almost certainly also refers to eschaton, which includes Jesus' second coming, the end times, and judgement day.
An interesting fact is that the Greek word for voice here is phone, which is where we get the term for those devices in our pockets. The ph is a single letter in Greek.
29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him." It is telling that many of the people present only heard thunder when others heard the words. A person with a closed mind can hear the voice of God and not perceive it just like they can read and even study scripture yet hear nothing that God has to tell us. If studying scripture does not affect a person it is a huge red flag that they are not right with God in some way. This is usually due to arrogance and pride preventing them from having the humility to accept God's correction.
Those who heard the words knew it had a heavenly origin, and some mistakenly thought it was an angel speaking to Jesus. It is natural mistake to make considering the majesty of God and how rare such events are.
30 Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. Jesus was correcting them, that it wasn't thunder but a voice, and that this was not communication for Him but for the benefit of those present. This was to help them connect the dots that He was the Messiah, even when the events that followed did not happen the way they had pictured it.
31 Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. The verbs in this verse are not easily translated into English because there is no concise way to express the Greek verb tenses. "Is upon", estin in Greek, is in the present indicative tense. This means an action that is definitely taking place now and is taking place continuously. And the verb "will be cast", ekblethesetai in Greek, is in the future passive indicative tense. This means this will happen in the future and it is a certainty.
This means that judgment of the world was occurring then and continuing until eschaton. And the the ruler of this world, who is Satan, will be cast out. The implication is that Satan being cast out was begun at this point by the crucifixion of Jesus.
32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." This is referring to the crucifixion where Jesus will be lifted up from the earth on the cross, as Jesus described in 3:14-15. That Jesus will draw all men to Himself refers to the gospel going throughout the world and bringing people from all over to salvation through Him. This is absolutely not a proof-text for universalism. Even if one were to argue that it means all are drawn to Jesus, that does not mean all accept Him and follow Him as His disciples. To try to make a case for universalism is to ignore the vast majority of Jesus' teaching up to this point.
33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. In other words, Jesus was prophetically telling them He would die by crucifixion. Psalm 22 prophetically describes the crucifixion of Jesus 1000 years before Jesus was born, and before crucifixion was even invented.
34 The crowd then answered Him, "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?" In this case, the Law does not mean just the law of Moses, but includes the prophets and the writings as well. Today we refer to this collectively as the Old Testament. In other words, these people claim they read in scripture that the Christ is to remain forever. However, scripture does not say that, at least not the way they meant.
The problem was they were reading into scripture what they wished was true instead of what it actually says. This is why prophecy is so easily misused. Israel had been repeatedly conquered by others since the Babylonian exile. They thought the Messiah would overthrow the yoke of the Romans, reestablish the throne of David, and would bring a never ending kingdom of Israel here on Earth. However, as Jesus will later say in 18:36, His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom was established forever and in the line of David, but not a kingdom of this earth. This wishful thinking ignored a huge chunk of Messianic prophecy about the suffering servant Messiah. And it contradicted Daniel 2:36-45 that makes it clear the time of strong earthly kingdoms is coming to an end.
Rome was the legs of iron, and another kingdom will not arise until eschaton. After Rome came the time of iron mixed with clay, which is where we still are now. Dictators and despots arise, but come from the common clay. The iron of their regime is small and does not last, falling apart into the clay again or replaced with another.
Their quibbling over who is the Son of Man is also out of their deliberate ignorance of Daniel 7:13-14, further showing they were picking and choosing scripture they liked. This is a warning to us. If we are to be counted disciples of Jesus we cannot be like this. Scripture is not a pick and choose buffet. And as individuals, the scripture we don't like or want to refute is probably the scripture we should pay more attention to as that is a sign we have an error we don't want to let go of.
35 So Jesus said to them, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. Jesus used the metaphor of Himself being the light throughout His ministry. The meaning of its use here is that His time on earth is soon over. And He is making a call for people to walk in His steps, which is to be His disciple, while He is still with them. The implication is that if they cannot follow Jesus while He was with them, they would certainly be overtaken by the darkness after He was gone.
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. This explicitly makes the connection between the Jesus is the light metaphor and having the light in us meaning becoming His disciple. Being sons of Light has a double meaning; becoming adopted as sons of God and bearing the light of Jesus to the world.
In the Greek it literally says Jesus was hidden from them. This is an idiom that is correctly translated in the NASB. This refers to the people he was talking to, but He wasn't hidden from his disciples or at least not from the twelve.
37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. It seems Jesus did not wait around for any conversions among the people he was speaking to before going away. And this verse is why. Despite the miracles and fulfilled prophecies, people were still not believing in Him.
Anyone who says that God ought to do more miracles so that more people would believe doesn't know what they are talking about. Clearly people believe what they choose to believe regardless of the evidence hitting them in the face.
38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" The scripture quotation is from Isaiah 53:1. John notes this here as yet another fulfilled prophecy. Verse 38-39 refer to those who did not believe. It doesn't say no one believed.
39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, John words verses 38-39 as if the prophecy was causation, but this from his perspective rather than a theological statement. Seeing something happen, even if it is seen prior to the actual event, does not mean the prophet or God caused it to happen. Nor does this negate free will. Otherwise there was no point to Jesus' constant calls to believe, repent and become disciples throughout His ministry.
40 "He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them." This is a quote from Isaiah 6:10. Be converted is literally turned in Greek. This is very similar to the meaning of repent, turning away from sin and toward Jesus.
41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. In other words, Isaiah wrote prophecies about Jesus hundreds of years before Jesus was born because he saw Jesus and these events.
42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; John usually uses "the Jews" as a euphemism to refer to the Jewish leaders including the Pharisees. John explicitly refers to the rulers in this instance for total clarity. And in this instance just like all the others, there are those who believe both among the chief priests and the Pharisees. And they were all, including the Pharisees, afraid of the Pharisees who would have any who openly believed in Jesus put out of the synagogue. In this case synagogue is used as a generic term for all places of worship. There was one temple in Jerusalem, with many synagogues around Israel and in foreign countries. They were to travel to the Temple when they could, but could go to a synagogue when they couldn't. Being put out was an informal excommunication that would exclude them from any participation in religious ceremonies and duties. They would not even be allowed to make atonement sacrifices. This would effectively bar them from being Jews, and certainly remove them from their leadership position.
43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. For someone who has faith in Jesus, being barred from the temple was not a threat to their salvation. It was the guarantee of it. This verse gives their real motivation. Because their belief did not result in faith it was no better than the demons' belief. They are the branches that bear no fruit in 15:2 and are taken away by the Father.
44 And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. Cried out here does not mean in distress. It merely means Jesus was speaking loudly. In this last public teaching that John documents. Jesus again teaches that He and the Father are one. Believing in Jesus is to believe in the Father.
45 He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. To see Jesus is the see the Father. These two verses also apply to us who don't see Jesus with our eyes. To be in a disciple relationship with Jesus is to be in a relationship with the Father.
46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. This is the reason Jesus became man on earth, to bring the Light to us that saves us from the darkness. He brought us salvation through the Christ event, and the gospel through His teaching.
47 If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. To be clear, this is not a contradiction of 5:22-30 and 9:39. Jesus will be the judge of the world. What Jesus is saying here is that in this first coming he did not come to judge but to save the world. It is in the second coming that judgment day happens. And Jesus will be on the bema seat judging the sins of those who rejected Him. Those who are His disciples will be found innocent of sin because Jesus paid the price for it. And we will be judged for our reward according to what we did to advance His kingdom.
48 He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. In other words, Jesus' teachings while He was here on earth are the standard by which those who reject Him will be judged.
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. What Jesus taught and did on earth was from the Father and by His command. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all equally God. But the Son is subordinate in role to the Father. And He is willingly and perfectly subordinate to the Father. It is not degradation, but it is His glory to submit to the Father's will. In the same way, we should willingly subordinate our will to the will of Jesus and as His disciples. In this way we become co-heirs with Him.
50 I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me." The commandment of the Father to the Son is to be the perfect sacrifice atoning for the sins of humanity once and for all. Thus we can be reconciled with God. All we have to do is accept it. Not mere belief, but faith in Jesus, putting Him first above ourselves, above the teachings and doctrines of men whether they be from the Pharisees or churches today, and seeking to be His disciples first and foremost. This is the way to eternal life.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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