John 12 Verses 1-3   

John 12:1 “Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” 

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were siblings.  Together we get three pictures in the above passage of three aspects of fellowships that the child of God is supposed to have with the Lord. 

Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus.  The table in the scriptures is a symbol of fellowship.  When one sat at a table with another he is considered to be in fellowship with the other.  They would eat together and visit as friends with one another.  Lazarus was dead and Jesus raised him to life.  In the spiritual birth we are described as being dead in trespasses and sins and then begotten by the Son of God.  This is a raising from the dead.  That a born-again child of God who was before dead in trespasses and sins and now alive spiritually can have such close fellowship with the Son of God is indeed a great blessing to the child of God. 

Martha served.  We get another picture of Martha in the book of Luke: Luke 10:40  “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:” The picture we get of Martha is that of a servant.  She is serving the Lord and the Lord’s people.  Matt. 20:26 “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  A big part of the responsibility of a disciple is that the disciple is to be a servant to serve the Lord and his people. 

“Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”  The picture we get of Mary is one of worship.  Above all else we are to worship the Lord.  Mary through her actions was worshipping the Lord by anointing his feet with the very costly ointment and wiping his feet with her hair.   

John 12 Verses 4-8 

John 12:4 “Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”   

The greedy, money-hungry nature of Judas Iscariot is manifest in this passage of scripture.  Judas was a thief, he had the bag and he through his greed criticized Mary for not selling the ointment and giving to the poor.  Judas had no intention of giving to the poor, but he was being deceptive.  He is like a lot of money hungry preachers today who call on their congregations to raise money for the poor and then take a sizeable portion of the money that people had given to help the poor.  They are deceptive, they are liars, and they are greedy all under the umbrella of a false faith.   

Three hundred is the bible number associated with faith.  But Judas Iscariot’s faith was a false faith.  His God was the money he could get by his pretended actions.   

“Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.  For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”  The Lord tells the disciples that there will be many opportunities to help the poor, but Mary did what she could for her Lord. 

Another aspect of this is that the ointment was very precious and was valued at three hundred pence.  A penny at that time was considered the value of a day’s wages.  That Mary was willing to give up the ointment that would be valued at around a years wages shows her love and dedication to the Lord.   

John 12 Verses 9-11 

John 12:9 “Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.” 

“Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.”  Jesus reputation as a prophet and a miracle worker drew a crowd of much people who came not only to see Jesus but also Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead.  No doubt they were interested in seeing this great prophet who God had given the power to raise the dead.  We are not told here if these people recognized Jesus as the Son of God or only as a great prophet.  We are told that many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. 

“But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.”  The chief priests in their hearts were guilty of the same sin that Cain committed when he slew his brother.  Cain slew his brother because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous.  These wicked chief priests knew that Jesus had wrought great miracles by the power of God, yet they hated him and sought to kill him and also sought to destroy Lazarus because he personified the work of the Lord.  The chief priests and the Pharisees were self-righteous people and worshipped the works of their own hands as Cain had done.  Moreover, such even today hate those who do what is right and just and pleasing to God.   

John 12 Verses 12-16 

John 12:12 “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. 14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.”   

The following Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the above passage: 

1.  Lev. 23:40 “And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.” 

2.  Zec. 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” 

“On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”  At this point there were much people who believed that Jesus was the promised King of Israel that was to come in the name of the Lord.  What they did not understand was that Jesus was come to reign in a spiritual kingdom and not in the natural kingdom.  Later many of those who were crying as stated above, will be crying crucify him, crucify him. 

“These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.”  During Jesus ministry as he walked on the earth, many things were hidden from the understanding of his disciples, but were later revealed to them after his resurrection.