John 12 Post

Okay. So I posted the chapter at the beginning of the last post. I hope you enjoyed the video; "Hosanna" is one of my favorite worship songs.

In the beginning of Chapter 12, John writes about how Mary, Lazarus's sister, washes Jesus' feet with an expensive bottle of perfume. Judas, who later betrays Jesus, grows angry at the woman and asks why she didn't sell the perfume and give the money to the poor instead of using it on Jesus' feet. Though what he says to do with the money is a good thing, Judas's intentions are not good. John says that Judas is a thief and carries the disciples moneybag. Jesus tells Judas that Mary is preparing Him to go into the grave because He knows that His time is fast approaching. Additionally, Jesus says that the poor will always be around for people to take care of, but He was only going to be with Him for a short while longer. Today, we need to be able to give up expenses for Christ. Tithing is something very important where people put 10% of what they own in the offering plate on Sundays. This is supposed to be taken into account at the beginning because it all came from God anyways; it shouldn't be something that we do if we feel like we have enough left over. Similarly, money isn't the only expense that we can give over to God. There's time. Do we always spend our time thinking of God? Asking ourselves if God would do this? Doing things that God has called us to do? In the end, the Jews find out where Jesus is, and they set off to kill Him and Lazarus because Lazarus is the reason so many people are leaving the synagogue to follow Jesus. We should set a similar example for those around us. We should be such a testimony to who Jesus is and what He can do that people leave their old lives to follow Him.

Jesus goes into Jerusalem, and when the people find out He is doing so, they crowd around Him and laid palm fronds in front of Him. Today, we call this Palm Sunday, and it is exactly one week before Easter. At this point in the story, Jesus has less than a week to live. The people shout to Jesus: "Hosanna!" which in Hebrew is "Hoshana" and means "please save." The people treated Him like a king because the kings from their past were strong military leaders. They though Jesus had come to defeat Rome and free them. They had no idea how he truly saved them. They also turn on Him very quickly, it's later that week that they are shouting: "Crucify Him!"

Jesus again talks about His death. He says that wheat must be planted and die in order to produce much grain. In the same way, He could at any moment ask the Lord God to take Him away from His time of suffering, but that is not why He came to Earth. Jesus came to Earth for the time of suffering. Jesus says He must be lifted up from Earth, but the people are confused because they thought the Messiah was supposed to stay with them. They did not yet understand the concept of the Holy Spirit. John also says that many people did not believe in Jesus, just as the prophet Isaiah said they wouldn't. Some officials, however, did believe in Him but would never publicly admit it because they didn't want to be thrown out of the synagogue. They were more concerned about what other people thought of them than what God thought of them. Everyone has moments of this. There are even those people who are Christians but never admit it because they are afraid they will lose their friends. Being a Christian isn't the "popular" thing to do. But as Christians, we shouldn't be afraid to stand up about what we believe, we should be proud; however, even Peter has a moment after the crucifixion that He denies Jesus three times. Jesus again says that He didn't come to condemn the world, but save it, and everything that He's said has come from the Father.