Six Days Before the Passover
John 11:55–12:11 – That You May Believe
Fifth Sunday in Lent – April 6, 2025 (am)
There’s a simple, direct question that stands at the heart of today’s passage. It’s not prominent exegetically, as though all discerning readers will recognize that it’s the centerpiece of the passage, or the fulcrum on which it balances, or the hinge on which it turns. It’s surely none of those. But it does make a clear, specific enquiry that can put interesting and helpful handles on this brief passage as a whole. And it also sets us up well to discern our best takeaway from today’s text.
Look at the opening two verses. They’ll be included under our first point in just a moment, but they also provide a good introduction to this passage as a whole. 11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. That would’ve been common practice for all with any one of a wide-range of ritual impurities (cf. Lev.11-15). Provision was made for those who couldn’t be cleansed according to the Law in time for Passover (Num.9:6-13), but it was necessary for all who participated to be ceremonially clean. So, as these folk were gathering in Jerusalem for that purpose: 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” What do you think of Jesus? What makes this such an interesting question, though, is not so much how it’s asked, but how it’s answered in such vivid ways here, and how wide-ranging those answers are, from negative to some sort of neutral to positive. Let’s take this in three parts.
Varied Responses of Interested Observers – 11:55-57; 12:9-11
11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. This is the third mentioned explicitly by John (2:13; 6:4; 11:55), the first likely happening in ad 28, forty-six years after Herod… began the rebuilding of the temple (2:20), meaning the public ministry of Jesus ran a little over two years (Carson 1991 424; cf. Mounce 526), spanning the Passover feasts of ad 28, 29, and 30, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves, suggesting that these may have been among the faithful. So does the next statement. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple—the right place to find Him, the place God chose to dwell among His people—“What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” The people were buzzing with this question, seemingly the faithful. They were looking for Jesus. He was on their minds. And they were hoping to see Him.
But, that said, there’s not the slightest hint here regarding belief or unbelief. This description seems surprisingly neutral on that point. And in the flow of the context between 11:46 … some of them [running] to the Pharisees [to tell] them what Jesus had done at the tomb of Lazarus, which then resulted in [the council’s] 53 … plans to put him to death, and here, where 57 … the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him, it doesn’t immediately sound like their interest in Jesus’ whereabouts gave any clear indication of the work of God in their hearts at all.
So, we might call these the interested neutral, the gawking bystanders who wondered how the next showdown between Jesus and the chief priests and Pharisees would play out, and if it might happen here at the feast. Regardless, they wouldn’t want to miss the next Lazarus-type show from Jesus or any encounter between Him and the leaders, those we can now truly label as the violently opposed, those whose settled conviction for Jesus was now death (11:53).
And yet, some were still believing. As c.12 opens, we find Jesus returning to Bethany and the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary (1). 12:9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. It seems like these were among those who believed based on the signs Jesus was doing. Sometimes that’s seemed like genuine, saving faith (cf. 10:21); other times not (cf. 2:23-25). Here it sounds more positive than negative, again discernible by context: the belief they’re showing is bringing consequences. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well—pausing mid-thought here, isn’t this just stunning? They’d rather put Lazarus back in the grave, without due process, than allow Jesus to display works among them that only God could do! They’re that troubled, that opposed, 11 because on account of [Lazarus] many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. So, this category we’ll call interested followers; unclear though their belief actually is, they are [turning] away from other things toward believing in Jesus.
The Singular Response of Undeniable Conversion –12:1-6
But there’s another category of belief in Him that’s displayed at the heart of this passage. We’ll call it undeniably converted. 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him (Jesus) there. This could almost be its own category: those who want to admire, honor, recognized what Jesus was doing by hosting a dinner in His honor. We’re familiar with such events these days, but we don’t often see them in Scripture. Martha served, as we’d expect, and Lazarus, now a co-celebrity, was one of those reclining with him at table. Now, here’s where we see a response to Jesus that stands out from all the others, a dramatic contrast to the Jewish leaders who wanted to put [Jesus] to death (11:53). 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. … This description bears a striking resemblance to similar accounts in Mat.26:6-13 and Mar.14:3-9. It’s in the same town in all three Gospels, but in the other two it happened at the house of Simon the Leper, giving rise to the possibility that he was the father of these three (but there’s no proof of that aside from the similarities of these accounts [Carson 1991 428]). Also, in Mat. and Mar., it’s Jesus’ head that’s anointed, not His feet. But none of this forces the conclusion that these three were writing about different events (Carson 1991 427). Luk.7:36-38 records a similar encounter, but there it was at the house of an unnamed Pharisee and the woman (also unnamed) was a known sinner. That one does seem like a different occasion. We don’t want to get caught up in those sorts of details, however, first, because none of these scenes is of doubtful origin. And second, we don’t want anything getting in the way of how Mary’s expression here stands up and shouts how Jesus should be treasured by all who trust in Him. After her expression of worship: 3 … The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Let’s sit with that for a moment. Going all the way back to Noah (Gen.8:20-21), the smoke of burnt offerings has wafted up as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Even in the NT (Eph.5:2), Jesus’ death on the cross is described as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Here, Mary’s expression filled the house with the undeniable and irrepressible aroma of worship. 4 But Judas Iscariot (Mat.26:8, the disciples; Mar.14:4, some), one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” John commented: 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. This is the only time in the NT where Judas is charged with anything other than betraying Jesus (Carson 1991 429).
But back to Mary, John is showing us here what true belief looks like, undeniable conversion, genuine worship. There’s nothing in the world more valuable to Mary than Jesus; three hundred denarii (5) is a year’s wages for a common laborer (esv n.2) and a pound of… nard (3) is more than eleven ounces (esv n.1). Mary spared nothing in her expression. She’d found the treasure in the field and she’d [sold everything she had to buy] that field (Mat.13:44). Mary’s whole heart, mind, and will was with Jesus. Her whole life was His. She displayed that night just what it looks like when someone [becomes], by divine right, [a child] of God (1:12). And as a result, both Mat. (26:13) and Mar. record Jesus saying that wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her (Mar.14:9). This is what genuine gospel fruit, undeniable conversion, looks like.
Jesus’ Discerning Words of Clarification –12:7-8
And that’s essentially the same thing He’s saying here. 12:7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. His words here are not easy to understand (four distinct possibilities [Carson 1991 429-30]). But it appears the best way to understand them is that the typical great expense people were willing to pay for the burial perfumes of loved ones back then is being offered by Mary here in humble devotion to Jesus while He’s yet alive. This doesn’t mean she has some keen understanding that He’d need to die and be buried. Rather, much like Caiaphas had just spoken well beyond his understanding (11:50), Jesus interprets Mary’s expression here was well beyond hers (Carson 1991 430). Then He finishes with an echo of the Law that rebukes of Judas (12:4-5) and the disciples (Mat.26:8) and that whole line of thought (Mar.14:4) and offers yet another veiled allusion to His own approaching death. 8 For the poor you always have with you, He said, citing Deu.15:11, but you do not always have me.”
So, Mary has done a great thing that all can see and recognize and those present can remember as a pleasing aroma (Gen.8:20-21), a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph.5:2). But in reality, she’s done something so great that no one except Jesus can understand it fully, not even she herself.
Conclusion
What, then, is our takeaway today? Well, it gets back to our central question (11:56): What do you think of Jesus? There’s not a whole lot of doubt in this text how each one here would answer. But how they would answer is of little concern to us here and now, today. The question John’s Gospel as a whole puts before each of us is really just the same: What do you think of Jesus? Do you believe and have life in his name? (20:31) Is your heart yielded fully to Him?
There have been a number of confusing responses to Jesus in this Gospel, ones that can even have us differing, sometimes guessing, whether saving belief has been the outcome. Well, the advantage today is that, even thought there are some in this passage who are like that, Mary is by no means among them!
And that’s what I’d offer to you as a closing charge today: to drink in this description of Mary such that you’re asking God: Please give me a heart like this toward Jesus. Don’t let my walk with Him leave people in the place where they’re not even sure where I stand with Him. I want my divine right to be a child of God clearly discernible to anyone who knows me, anyone who sees me, anyone who interacts with me. I want it to show, and not so that I’ll receive praise for it. But so that He will!
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Resources
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Barclay, William. 1975. The Daily Study Bible Series. The Gospel of John, Revised Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
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Bruce, F. F. 1983. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
, Gordon D. Fee, & Ned B. Stonehouse, gen. eds. 1995. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Gospel According to John, Revised Edition, by Leon Morris. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
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, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. John, by Donald Guthrie, 1021-1065. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.
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Dever, Mark. 2005. The Message of the New Testament. Ch. 4, The Message of John: Jesus, the Son of God, 101-122. Wheaton: Crossway.
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Morris, Leon, gen. ed. 2003. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 4, John, by Colin G. Kruse. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.
Osborne, Grant, ed. 1993. Life Application Bible Commentary. John, by Bruce B. Barton, Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, & Neil Wilson. Wheaton: Tyndale.
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Tenney, Merrill C. 1976. John: The Gospel of Belief. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
NEXT SUNDAY: Palm Sunday - Behold, Your King Is Coming, John 12:12–36