João 12

ARC · Chapter 12/21

1Foi pois Jesus seis dias antes da paschoa a Bethania, onde estava Lazaro, o que fallecera, e a quem resuscitara dos mortos.

2Fizeram-lhe pois ali uma ceia, e Martha servia, e Lazaro era um dos que estavam á mesa com elle.

3Então Maria, tomando um arratel de unguento de nardo puro, de muito preço, ungiu os pés de Jesus, e enxugou-lhe os pés com os seus cabellos; e encheu-se a casa do cheiro do unguento.

4Então um dos seus discipulos, Judas Iscariotes, filho de Simão, o que havia de trahil-o, disse:

5Porque não se vendeu este unguento por trezentos dinheiros e não se deu aos pobres?

6Ora elle disse isto, não pelo cuidado que tivesse dos pobres, mas porque era ladrão, e tinha a bolsa, e trazia o que n'ella se lançava.

7Disse pois Jesus: Deixae-a; para o dia da minha sepultura guardou isto;

8Porque os pobres sempre os tendes comvosco; porém a mim nem sempre me tendes.

9E muita gente dos judeos soube que elle estava ali; e foram, não só por causa de Jesus, mas tambem para vêr a Lazaro, a quem resuscitara dos mortos.

10E os principaes dos sacerdotes consultaram matar tambem a Lazaro;

11Porque muitos dos judeos, por causa d'elle, iam, e criam em Jesus.

12No dia seguinte, ouvindo uma grande multidão, que viera á festa, que Jesus ia de Jerusalem,

13Tomaram ramos de palmeiras, e sairam-lhe ao encontro, e clamavam: Hosanna: Bemdito o rei d'Israel que vem em nome do Senhor.

14E achou Jesus um jumentinho, e assentou-se sobre elle, como está escripto:

15Não temas, ó filha de Sião; eis que o teu Rei vem assentado sobre o filho de uma jumenta.

16Os seus discipulos, porém, não entenderam isto no principio; mas, quando Jesus foi glorificado, então se lembraram de que isto estava escripto d'elle, e que isto lhe fizeram.

17A multidão, pois, que estava com elle quando Lazaro foi chamado da sepultura, testificava que elle o resuscitara dos mortos.

18Pelo que a multidão lhe saiu ao encontro, porque tinham ouvido que elle fizera este signal.

19Disseram pois os phariseos entre si: Vêdes que nada aproveitaes? eis que o mundo vae após elle.

20E havia alguns gregos, entre os que tinham subido a adorar no dia da festa.

21Estes, pois, dirigiram-se a Philippe, que era de Bethsaida na Galilea, e rogaram-lhe, dizendo: Senhor, queriamos vêr a Jesus.

22Philippe foi dizel-o a André, e então André e Philippe o disseram a Jesus.

23E Jesus lhes respondeu, dizendo: É chegada a hora em que o Filho do homem ha de ser glorificado.

24Na verdade, na verdade vos digo que, se o grão de trigo, caindo na terra, não morrer, fica elle só; porém, se morrer, dá muito fructo.

25Quem ama a sua vida perdel-a-ha, e quem n'este mundo aborrece a sua vida guardal-a-ha para a vida eterna.

26Se alguem me serve, siga-me, e, onde eu estiver, ali estará tambem o meu servo. E, se alguem me servir, meu Pae o honrará.

27Agora a minha alma está turbada; e que direi eu? Pae, salva-me d'esta hora, mas para isto vim a esta hora.

28Pae, glorifica o teu nome. Então veiu uma voz do céu, que dizia: Já o tenho glorificado, e outra vez o glorificarei.

29Ora a multidão que ali estava, e que a tinha ouvido, dizia que havia sido um trovão. Outros diziam: Um anjo lhe fallou.

30Respondeu Jesus, e disse: Não veiu esta voz por amor de mim, mas por amor de vós.

31Agora é o juizo d'este mundo: agora será expulso o principe d'este mundo.

32E eu, quando fôr levantado da terra, todos attrahirei a mim.

33E dizia isto, significando de que morte havia de morrer.

34Respondeu-lhe a multidão: Nós temos ouvido da lei, que o Christo permanece para sempre; e como dizes tu que convem que o Filho do homem seja levantado? Quem é esse Filho do homem?

35Disse-lhes pois Jesus: A luz ainda está comvosco por um pouco de tempo; andae emquanto tendes luz, para que as trevas vos não apanhem. E quem anda nas trevas não sabe para onde vae.

36Emquanto tendes luz, crêde na luz, para que sejaes filhos da luz. Estas coisas disse Jesus; e, retirando-se, escondeu-se d'elles.

37E, ainda que tinha feito tantos signaes diante d'elles, não criam n'elle;

38Para que se cumprisse a palavra do propheta Isaias, que diz: Senhor, quem creu na nossa prégação? e a quem foi revelado o braço do Senhor?

39Por isso não podiam crêr, porquanto Isaias disse outra vez:

40Cegou-lhes os olhos, e endureceu-lhes o coração, afim de que não vejam com os olhos, e não comprehendam com o coração, e se convertam, e eu os cure.

41Isaias disse isto quando viu a sua gloria e fallou d'elle.

42Comtudo, até muitos dos principaes crêram n'elle; mas não o confessavam por causa dos phariseos, para não serem expulsos da synagoga.

43Porque amavam mais a gloria dos homens do que a gloria de Deus.

44E Jesus clamou, e disse: Quem crê em mim, crê, não em mim, mas n'aquelle que me enviou.

45E quem me vê a mim, vê aquelle que me enviou.

46Eu sou a luz que vim ao mundo, para que todo aquelle que crê em mim não permaneça nas trevas.

47E, se alguem ouvir as minhas palavras, e não crêr, eu não o julgo: porque eu vim, não para julgar o mundo, mas para salvar o mundo.

48Quem me rejeitar a mim, e não receber as minhas palavras, já tem quem o julgue; a palavra que tenho fallado, essa o ha de julgar no ultimo dia.

49Porque eu não tenho fallado de mim mesmo; porém o Pae, que me enviou, elle me deu mandamento sobre o que hei de dizer e sobre o que hei de fallar:

50E sei que o seu mandamento é a vida eterna. Assim que, o que eu fallo, fallo-o como o Pae m'o tem dito.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Mary anoints Jesus' feet with expensive perfume in Bethany. Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly on a young donkey, fulfilling prophecy, and teaches about his approaching death using the image of the grain of wheat that must die to bear fruit.

Explanation

Mary's gesture of anointing Jesus' feet with a costly perfume expresses extravagant devotion, contrasting with Judas' hypocritical criticism, whose real motive was stealing from the group's money. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 about a gentle king riding on a young donkey, contrasting with expectations of a warrior messiah. The image of the grain of wheat that must die to bear much fruit (v.24) explains the redemptive purpose of Jesus' death, which produces eternal spiritual fruit. The application today is that true spiritual greatness sometimes requires apparent loss or sacrifice before it produces a multiplication of good.

Fun facts

  • The pure nard perfume used by Mary (v.3), valued at 'three hundred denarii'—nearly a year's wages for a worker—was imported from India, making the gesture even more significant in terms of financial sacrifice.
  • The quotation of Isaiah's prophecy about the hardening of the people's hearts (v.39-40) is used by John to theologically explain why, despite so many signs, many still did not believe in Jesus—a theme later taken up by Paul in Romans 11 regarding Israel's partial unbelief.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. João 12:1Jesus returns to Bethany, where He had raised Lazarus, now counting six days before Passover — the gospel begins tracking closely the final days before Jesus’ death.
  2. João 12:2The scene shows ordinary family life: Martha serves dinner, and Lazarus, the same man who had died and been raised, sits right there at the table like any other guest.
  3. João 12:3A pound was a unit of weight of about 327 grams, and spikenard was a perfumed oil imported from far away, which made it a luxury item. The amount Mary uses, and the fact that it was pure, without cheaper additives, shows it was an extremely expensive gift, not just any gesture.
  4. João 12:4The narrator identifies who complains about the costly perfume: Judas Iscariot, the very disciple who would later betray Jesus.
  5. João 12:5A penny was a day’s wage for common labor, so three hundred pence amounted to almost a year’s salary — the value of the perfume Mary pours on Jesus’ feet. It’s this enormous value that makes Judas’ comment right after carry more weight than it seems at first reading.
  6. João 12:6It explains the real reason behind Judas’ complaint: it wasn’t genuine concern for the poor — he was in charge of the group’s money and used to steal from it.
  7. João 12:7Jesus defends Mary’s gesture, saying she kept it for the day of His burial — it was customary to anoint bodies with perfumes before burial, and Jesus’ own burial, later on, will happen in a hurry.
  8. João 12:8Jesus acknowledges the importance of caring for the poor, who are always present, but points out that His time there with them is limited, which justifies this unique gesture at that moment.
  9. João 12:9The curiosity isn’t only about Jesus: many people also go to Bethany to see Lazarus up close, the living proof of such a great miracle.
  10. João 12:10In light of this, the chief priests decide they need to kill Lazarus too, not just Jesus — eliminating the living evidence of the miracle.
  11. João 12:11It explains the reason for this plot against Lazarus: many Jews were leaving the traditional religious leadership and coming to believe in Jesus because of him.
  12. João 12:12The next day, a great crowd that had come for the Passover feast hears that Jesus is arriving in Jerusalem — the start of the triumphal entry scene.
  13. João 12:13‘Hosanna’ is a Hebrew word that originally meant a cry for help, used in ancient prayers, but by that time it already functioned more as a shout of celebration. Waving palm branches was a gesture of celebration used in triumphal entries and Jewish feasts — the two details together show the crowd welcoming Jesus the way one welcomes a king.
  14. João 12:14Jesus chooses to ride a young donkey, a humble animal, deliberately fulfilling an ancient prophecy quoted in the next verse, instead of entering like a military conqueror mounted on a horse.
  15. João 12:15The quotation comes from the prophet Zechariah: a king who arrives riding on a donkey, an image associated with peace, quite different from the triumphal entry of a victorious general.
  16. João 12:16The narrator admits that the disciples only understood this connection to the prophecy afterward, once Jesus had already been glorified through the resurrection — a pattern of delayed understanding that repeats throughout the gospel.
  17. João 12:17The crowd that had witnessed the raising of Lazarus kept spreading the account, fueling popular enthusiasm around Jesus.
  18. João 12:18It’s precisely because of the fame of this sign that so many people go out to welcome Him with celebration at His entrance into Jerusalem.
  19. João 12:19The Pharisees admit, frustrated among themselves, that their attempts to contain Jesus aren’t working: the whole world seems to be following after Him.
  20. João 12:20There were Greeks, probably Gentiles who followed part of the Jewish religion, present among the pilgrims who had gone up to worship at the feast — a sign that interest in Jesus already reached beyond the borders of the Jewish people.
  21. João 12:21These Greeks seek out Philip in particular, perhaps because he had a Greek name and came from Bethsaida, a region closer to Hellenistic influence, asking to see Jesus.
  22. João 12:22The request passes through a chain of people: Philip tells Andrew, and only then do the two of them together bring the information to Jesus.
  23. João 12:23Jesus responds in a significant way: now, for the first time in the gospel, He declares that the hour of His glorification has come, after saying several times before that it had not yet arrived.
  24. João 12:24Jesus uses a simple observation from farming: a kernel of wheat kept in storage remains just a single kernel, but if it’s planted, a plant full of new kernels grows from it. It’s an image for speaking of His own death, which, according to the text, would produce something greater than if He had simply stayed alive without dying.
  25. João 12:25He continues the idea of the wheat kernel from the previous verse: clinging too tightly to one’s own life ends up losing it, while letting go of it for Jesus’ sake secures a life that never ends.
  26. João 12:26Jesus ties serving Him to following Him, including on the road toward death, promising that the Father will honor whoever does this.
  27. João 12:27Jesus reveals His anguish in the face of the approaching death, a scene similar to the prayer in Gethsemane found in the other gospels, but which John tells in a different way, here in public.
  28. João 12:28Even troubled, Jesus chooses to ask that the Father’s name be glorified, and receives a direct answer from heaven — one of the few moments in the gospels where God’s voice is heard audibly.
  29. João 12:29The crowd reacts differently on hearing this voice: some think it was just thunder, others think an angel spoke — not everyone recognizes what really happened.
  30. João 12:30Jesus explains that the voice didn’t come to confirm something He already knew, but to help the surrounding crowd believe.
  31. João 12:31Jesus describes the deeper meaning of the cross that lies ahead: a judgment on the world and the defeat of the ‘prince of this world,’ a reference to Satan.
  32. João 12:32‘Lifted up from the earth’ is an expression Jesus had already used before in reference to the crucifixion; here He connects it to drawing people from everywhere, not just from the Jewish people, tying back to the Greeks’ interest at the start of the chapter.
  33. João 12:33The narrator clarifies directly that this expression, ‘lifted up,’ was a way of announcing in advance the specific kind of death Jesus was going to suffer: crucifixion.
  34. João 12:34The crowd is confused because their expectation, based on the law, was of a Messiah who would reign forever, not one who would die — they can’t reconcile the two ideas.
  35. João 12:35Instead of answering directly, Jesus urges them to make the most of the time they still have with Him, compared to light, before darkness overtakes them and they lose their way.
  36. João 12:36He finishes by asking them to believe in the light while they still can, and then withdraws and hides Himself — this marks the end of Jesus’ public ministry as told by John; from here on He teaches only His disciples.
  37. João 12:37Despite so many signs done in front of everyone, most still didn’t believe — a sad summary of the overall result of Jesus’ public ministry.
  38. João 12:38The narrator ties this rejection to an ancient prophecy of Isaiah, about a messenger whose message would not be accepted by most — placing Jesus’ rejection within a pattern already foretold in the Scriptures.
  39. João 12:39He continues explaining why they couldn’t believe, quoting another passage from Isaiah right after, about a spiritual blindness that prevented understanding.
  40. João 12:40This statement is a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, written centuries earlier, about a people who hear and see but don’t truly let the message in. John uses this ancient quotation to explain why so many people saw the signs Jesus performed and still didn’t believe, not as some fate imposed from outside, but as something Scripture itself had already described.
  41. João 12:41A striking comment: the narrator states that Isaiah, in having that vision of God’s glory recorded in his own book, was in fact seeing and speaking about Jesus.
  42. João 12:42Even with all this general rejection, many important religious leaders believed in Jesus secretly, afraid of being put out of the synagogue by the Pharisees if they declared it openly.
  43. João 12:43It explains the reason for this hidden faith: they valued the approval of others more than the approval of God.
  44. João 12:44Closing His public ministry, Jesus makes one last appeal in a loud voice, repeating that believing in Him is, in practice, believing in the One who sent Him.
  45. João 12:45He reinforces the same idea of unity: seeing Jesus is, in fact, seeing the very God who sent Him.
  46. João 12:46Jesus sums up His purpose using the image of light once again: He came so that whoever believed in Him would not remain trapped in darkness.
  47. João 12:47He clarifies that His mission in this first coming isn’t to judge those who reject His word, but to save — judgment is reserved for later.
  48. João 12:48Even without judging now, Jesus warns that rejection doesn’t go without consequence: His own word will serve as judgment on the last day.
  49. João 12:49Jesus reinforces, in this final discourse, that He never spoke on His own authority: everything He said came from a specific command from the Father who sent Him.
  50. João 12:50He closes His public ministry declaring that the Father’s commandment leads to eternal life, and that everything He says is exactly what the Father taught Him to say.

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