John Chapter 12

vs 31

The prince of this world? The Roman governor? The Emperor? It is of course Satan. And Jesus' language probably would have suggested that to at least some of his listeners, because of the connotation the word "world" has. While it could have meant the physical world, I think his usage probably would have brought at least some people to see he meant the temporal world. That would certainly fit with the world being judged.

vs 32-33

The lifting up, John tells us, refers to Jesus' death, as opposed to his ascension. I wonder if that was a somewhat idiomatic phrase at the time, "Eat your beans, or the romans will have you lifted up boy!"

Jesus also outlines the purpose of this death. 'All' is most likely hyperbole. He certainly seeks to draw all men to himself, and in potential all men could come to him and be saved.

vs 34

The crowd certainly seem to know what Jesus is saying when he says "lifted up". What confuses them more is that their idea is of an eternal messiah (which of course Jesus is, but it's hard to see at this point) and they also are unfamiliar with the term Son of Man used as a messianic term.

vs 35

Can Jesus answer a single question straight? Not this time. But his words are pertinent. The crowd doesn't understand how the Messiah cannot be eternal, and they want to know about this Son of Man. Jesus is telling them that their Messiah isn't going to be around long, and so they should make the most of this last time to make sure they are walking in the right direction.

vs 36

And the way they do that is not by walking somewhere, but by putting their trust in Jesus as their light. Because Christianity has never been about doing something (walking) but about trusting Jesus in everything. And yes, trusting is still verb, yadda yadda, I'm not getting into that theological debate here. The point is that Jesus is telling them to believe him and trust him because of who he is, not because he is there with them at the time. Jesus is going to be gone for a long, long time. If the only people who trusted him were the people who met him, then Christianity was dead before it began. But these lucky crowds have it both ways - they can see Jesus, and remember that, but also can have faith in him once he's gone.

And now he goes and hides somewhere.

vs 37

Miracles can only get you so far. The OT makes it clear time and time again - why would the NT times be any different? Why would our times be any different?

vs 38

John uses this Isaiah verse in a very Mattean way - to show a fulfillment of prophecy.

vs 39-40

And then he does it again, but this time he is showing not just the fulfilment of the prophecy, but why it is happening, again from the OT. This gives us just a little bit of insight into how the early church used their scriptures. These verses show us obviously that it is God who opens the eyes so that people can see Jesus and who opens the ears so that people can understand the message he brings. So here again is the paradox - that Jesus tells the people that they should trust him while they've got him, and yet Isaiah says that God will only open the ears of those he chooses to.

vs 41

John is just cementing the fact that Isaiah saw a glimpse of Jesus' future glory, and so he was able to prophesy this event. So the use of Isaiah and of prophecy was not only to the people at the time for a fulfilment in their time, but it had a greater fulfilment. Prophecy is wierd stuff.