John 12

v1-11: Mary's love for Christ was generous, humble, and believing.  She spent the best she had on Him.  She stooped low to anoint His feet rather than His head.  Her actions were a sign of her faith in Him as the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. "Let us pour out on him the perfume of our best love and devotion above all rivals. By submitting to Christ as our king, we must submit to God’s intentions, appointing his appointed One as our head."

v12-19: It was the news that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, that caused a crowd to go out and meet Him, "to see One who had performed such a wonderful act."  Those who saw Jesus perform this miracle continued to testify about what had taken place. "They unanimously confirmed the miracle to be true, beyond all dispute or contradiction, and were ready, if called to, to testify on oath... The truth of Christ’s miracles was proved by undeniable evidence. Those who had seen this miracle probably not only confirmed it to those who asked them but also declared it unasked."  For those in the crowd who saw this miracle as a reason to put their faith in Jesus, had already gone to the eyewitnesses so they could know the certainty of it.  We, who believe in Him, should go to the eyewitnesses to get assurance about who He is and what He has done.

v20-26: If you want to know Christ, you must seek Him.  By speaking with those who know the Lord, we can "increase our knowledge of Christ."  Some of those we can go to, to see Jesus, are "his ministers, whom he has appointed to guide souls in seeking him."  Also, one of the purpose of attending the gatherings of the church is to see Jesus, "to have our knowledge of him deepened, our dependence on him strengthened, and our conformity to him taken further, to see him as ours, to maintain our fellowship with him, and to obtain fresh supplies of grace from him."

v27-36: Jesus intention was to draw all people, meaning not just the Jews but also the Gentiles, to Himself.  Christ draws people people to Himself, not by force but "like a magnet." Those who are drawn to Him are led to know Him, love Him, and trust Him.  They are "drawn to his terms and into his arms."

v37-41: It should be greatly lamented that so few believe the message of the gospel.

v42-43: "Many fall short of the glory of God by having too high a regard for human praise. Love of the praise of human beings as an ulterior motive for doing good will make a person a hypocrite when religion is in fashion and reputations are increased by it, and love of the praise of human beings as a corrupt motive for doing evil will make people turn away from their religious faith when religion is disgraced and reputations are lost by it."

v44-50: Christ did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  "Though he had authority to judge, he did not use it, because he had work of another kind to do first."  He came "to effectively save those who were given him before he came to judge the corrupt part of the human race." Here on display is the wonderful patience of our Saviour towards us who have rejected Him and are deserving of His judgment.