Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 12:23

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

23. And Jesus answered ] Better, But Jesus answereth. He anticipates the Apostles and addresses them before they introduce the Greeks. We are left in doubt as to the result of the Greeks’ request. Nothing is said to them in particular, though they may have followed and heard this address to the Apostles, which gradually shades off into soliloquy.

These men from the West at the close of Christ’s life set forth the same truth as the men from the East at the beginning of it that the Gentiles are to be gathered in. The wise men came to His cradle, these to His cross, of which their coming reminds Him; for only by His death could ‘the nations’ be saved.

The hour is come ] The verb first for emphasis in the Greek as in Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23: ‘it hath come the fated hour.’ Comp. Joh 13:1.

that the Son of man ] Literally, in order that, of the Divine purpose, as in Joh 11:50 and Joh 13:1, where see notes. See also the last note on Joh 1:51.

glorified ] By His Passion and Death through which He must pass to return to glory. See on Joh 7:39 and Joh 11:4.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The hour is come – The time is come. The word hour commonly means a definite part or a division of a day; but it also is used to denote a brief period, and a fixed, definite, determined time. It is used in this sense here. The appointed, fixed time is come – that is, is so near at hand that it may be said to be come.

The Son of man – This is the favorite title which Jesus gives to himself, denoting his union with man, and the interest he felt in his welfare. The title is used here rather than The Son of God, because as a man he had been humble, poor, and despised; but the time had come when, as a man, he was to receive the appropriate honors of the Messiah.

Be glorified – Be honored in an appropriate way – that is, by the testimony which God would give to him at his death, by his resurrection, and by his ascension to glory. See Joh 7:39.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Joh 12:23-26

The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

The significance of this declaration in connection with the incident

Why should this be such an hour of trouble and glory? How should the appearance of a few strangers have led to a discussion respecting the falling of wheat into the ground, and its death–the saving of life and the losing it? You will remember that when our Lord spoke of those other sheep He connected the formation of the one flock with the death of the one shepherd. The assertion is in strict harmony with the prophecy of Caiaphas. If you turn from St. John to St. Paul you will find that the breaking down of the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles is effected in the body of Christs flesh through death. If you reflect on these passages, that which we treat as though it were only an accident–the calling in of the Gentiles–the unfolding of a universal society, will be seen to be that wonderful event to which all Gods purposes, from the beginning of the world, had been tending–the unveiling of the deepest mystery of all, in the relations of God to man, in the Being of God Himself. Without sacrifice Jews and heathen had been taught there could be no unity among the members of a race. Sacrifice must bind them to God and to each other. Only he who can give up himself–so the heart of mankind testified–is a patriot; only he obeys the laws; only he can save his country when itis falling. There had been, then, a sure conviction that any larger union must involve a mightier sacrifice. As the conscience was awakened by Gods teaching more and more clearly to perceive that all resistance to God lies in the setting up of self, it began to be understood that the atonement of man with man must have its basis in an atonement of God with man, and that the same sacrifice was needed for both. One thing yet remained to be learned–the most wonderful lesson of all, and yet one of which God had been giving the elements, line upon line, from the beginning: Could sacrifice originate in God and be made, first, not to Him but by Him? All our Lords discourses concerning Himself and His Father–concerning His own acts as the fulfilment of the Fathers will–concerning the love which the Father had to Him because He laid down His life for the sheep–had been bringing these mysteries to light; had been preparing the meek to confess with wonder and contrition that in every selfish act they had been fighting against an unselfish God–that in every self-sacrificing act they had been merely yielding to Him. And so far as they had any glimpses of the accomplishment of Gods promises–that He would bring all into one–that the Gentiles should wait for His law–that He would be a Father of all the families of the earth–so far they had the vision of a transcendent and Divine sacrifice. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)

The hour of redemption

It was given to St. John long after the other evangelists had described the Passion to add some details of the deepest interest. The Transfiguration and Gethsemane St. John omits, but here records the significance of both. The Lord passed through a season of profound agitation–the earnest of the Garden; but out of the darkness light unspeakable arose–the reflection of the Mount.

I. THE LORD ENTERS INTO THE DARKNESS OF HIS HOUR AND PROCLAIMS ITS GLORY.

1. The hour is the sacred term that marks the Passion as the consummation of the Redeemers work. He entered the world in the fulness of time; He wrought His preparatory work in the days of the Son of Man; and now, after ages of waiting had passed into days of fulfilment, the days are compressed into an hour. From this moment the shadow of the cross throws its sacred gloom upon every incident and word. The Passion has begun, and from that moment went on in its ever-deepening variety of grief, through the indignities of His enemies, the abandonment of His friends, the sense of the worlds guilt, to that infinite woe which took from man his curse. It was the first more direct onset since the temptation. It was the beginning of the awful strain on the resources of His lower nature under which He would fain cry Save me, but that He knows for this purpose, etc.; the same pressure which caused Him to ask that the cup might pass, a prayer the next moment recalled in the submission of perfect victory.

2. The darkness is not past, but the true light already shines. His first word on entering the dark valley is–The hour glorified. His lowest humiliation was His highest dignity. The cross in which His servants gloried He here glories in. In it He beholds the glorification of the Fathers attributes (verse 28), an exhibition of the glory of Divine justice visiting upon sin its penalty, and the glory of the Divine mercy providing salvation for the sinner. To this the Redeemers final Lo! I come, there is a sublime response from heaven. For the third time the Father proclaims aloud the secret of His constant complacency in the sacrifice of His Son.

3. The record teaches us two errors we must avoid.

(1) We must not by our feeble theories mitigate the sorrow that wrought out our redemption and exchange it into a mere demonstration of such charity and self-sacrifice as man might rival and which could never redeem mans soul.

(2) It tells us, too, that the Redeemer was filled with a sense of His own glory and His Fathers complacency even while He suffered for our sins. He presented Himself as an oblation for mans sin to manifest the love that provided the propitiation, and to declare the glory of the Divine name in the harmony of its perfections.

II. FROM THE HOUR OF THE PASSION TO THE LIFTING UP ON THE CROSS THE TRANSITION IS OBVIOUS. Here also we perceive the blending, of opposite emotions.

1. St. John has already made us familiar with this expression, which serves the double purpose of signifying the crucifixion and the exaltation. But in the gospels it is used to express the act of man that lifted Jesus to His cross. In the beginning of His ministry, our Lord spoke to Nicodemus of this lifting up; in the middle He told the Jews that they would do it; and now He refers to it at the close. But the cross is the symbol here of His own reproach, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.

2. But while His soul is troubled–and only in His deepest anguish does He mention His soul–Jesus still rejoiced in spirit. On either side is a word of triumph.

(1) The prince of this world is cast out. He had at an earlier time, and in a higher sphere, beheld Satan as lightning, etc. Now He beholds, as the result of His redeeming death, Satan fall from his power on earth–not, indeed, with the swiftness of lightning, but absolutely and surely.

(2) I will draw all men unto Me expresses the tranquil assurance that the virtue of His death would draw in due time–when preached in His word and testified by His spirit–all the children of men to Himself.

3. Here also are two lessons that guard our thoughts.

(1) The reality of Satans relation to our sin and the worlds redemption. A doctrine of atonement finds acceptance, which rejects the personality of the being to whom our Lord alludes. But in so doing they must reconstruct the entire doctrine of the New Testament, wrest the Saviours words to their own peril, and undermine the whole economy of redemption, which assumes that Satan is the representative and ruler of the worlds wickedness, whose power and law is broken.

(2) That through our redemption we are delivered from the reign of sin; that the drawing of Christ is as universal in its influence as the virtue of His atonement; that we may enter into our Masters joy and exult over a vanquished enemy.

III. WE PASS FROM THE HOUR, THROUGH THE LIFTING UP, TO THE SELFSACRIFICING DEATH WHICH GIVES LIFE TO MULTITUDES. Here again we have two contending emotions.

1. All His allusions to the coming end connect His own loss with our gain, His death with our life. So it is here, only the emblem is the most affecting He ever employed, expressive of the entireness of His surrender, and the absolute connection between His death and the abundant life of His people. What in the similitude of the corn of wheat expresses the deep anguish of this prelude to Gethsemane the Lord does not say. There was a mystery in the anguish of His soul that nothing in the secret of human dying will account for.

2. But the rejoicing of His spirit keeps not silence. He passes immediately to the much fruit that would grow from His death, the example He would set to His saints, and the supreme honour which He and His imitators in the self-renouncing charity of holiness would partake together throughout eternity. Nor is His rejoicing marred by the prospect that His death will not give life to all mankind. And should we be discontented when our Master sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied?

Conclusion:

1. The only word of exhortation that we hear in this solemn hour is, If any man serve Me, let him follow Me. This is the voice of Him who passes through the garden to the cross. There is no loyalty to the Redeemer which does not share His passion. For Him we must sacrifice our sins, and, in imitation of His last example, must live, and, if need be, die for others.

2. Where I am, etc.; for a short season in the gloom of sorrow and conflict, but forever in His glory.

3. If any man serve Me, etc.; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. (W. B. Pope, D. D.)

The hour of Christs suffering and triumph

(text and Joh 12:27-28)

I. THE HOUR. It stands out from all other hours amid the reminiscences of the past and anticipation of ages to come. Times stream set in to bear upon it. All prophecy met here. One dispensation after another was introduced and completed in relation to it, and derived all their importance from that relation. It was an hour

1. Of intense suffering. Who can tell the physical agony? His soul was troubled within a body of sensibility as keen as ours; and what anguish racked His spirit when He was executed as a malefactor and forsaken of His Father!

2. Of triumph. An hour in which He glorified God and God Him; in which all the Divine attributes harmonized as they never had before, and never could again. They received glory which covered all obscurations that had appeared, and which can never be tarnished to eternity.

II. THE SEEMING RELUCTANCE OF CHRIST TO MEET THIS HOUR (Joh 12:27). His spirit is perplexed, for He was as truly man as God. But wherefore these cries and tears? Because of

1. The death of ignominy which He, innocence itself, was about to die.

2. The unbelief and ingratitude of the Jews. He came to His own, etc.

3. The desertion of His disciples, the denial of Peter, the betrayal of Judas.

4. The buffetings of Satan during the hour and power of darkness.

5. The hiding of the Fathers face (Zec 13:7; Mat 27:45-46). Well might His soul be troubled and say, Father, save Me from this hour–if there is any other way of saving sinners. But God spared not His own Son, and the Son acquiesced.

III. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH HE OVERCAME HIS APPARENT RELUCTANCE. They respect

1. Himself. He knew that on this hour depended all that He came to do, and this consideration dispelled the cloud human nature raised. He had done too much to allow of His retracting. Why the Babe of Bethlehem if He refused to be the Man of Sorrows? He came to finish the work God gave Him to do.

2. His people. If I would save others I dare not save Myself. If they are to have life I must endure death.

3. His Father. To glorify Him was the design of His coming into the world. Lo! I come, etc.

IV. BY WHAT MEANS GOD WAS GLORIFIED IN THE WORK OF CHRIST.

1. In the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy. God had in all the introductory announcements of the Redeemer for four thousand years, connected His glory with the completion of redemption by Christs death as a sacrifice for Heb 1:1-3; Luk 2:7-14).

2. The incarnation. We beheld His glory, etc.

3. The discourses, miracles, and character of Christ.

4. His death, resurrection, and ascension.

5. The spread of the gospel.

6. The resurrection and judgment. (T. Raffles, LL. D.)

The glorification of the Son of Man

1. Christ here displays His broad humanity. Not Son of David. The Jewish side of His mission is no longer prominent. As the Son of Man Jesus is near akin to every man that lives.

2. He speaks of His glory as approaching suggested by the sight of these first fruits among the Gentiles. Christ is glorified in the souls He saves, as a physician wins honour by those he heals.

3. The same visitors led the Saviour to use the metaphor of the buried corn. Wheat was mixed up with Greek mysteries. Christ was undergoing the process which would burst the Jewish husk in which His human life had been enveloped. Aforetime He said He was not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Note

I. PROFOUND DOCTRINAL TEACHING conveyed in several paradoxes.

1. Glorious as He was, He was yet to be glorified.

(1) Jesus was always glorious–as one with God, in the perfection of His moral character, in His great love, in His complete consecration, and also in the wonders of His birth, baptism, and transfiguration.

(2) But something was to be added to His honour–death, resurrection, ascension, etc.

2. His glory was to come to Him through shame. It is His highest reputation to be of no reputation. His crown derives new lustre from His cross. If we merge the crucified Saviour in the coming King we rob our Lord of His highest honour.

3. He must be alone, or abide alone. Unless He had trodden the winepress alone, and had cried, My God! My God! etc., He could not have saved us. If He had not died He would, as man, have been alone forever: not without the Father, the Spirit, and the angels; but there had not been another man to keep Him company. Our Lord cannot bear to be alone. Without His people He would have been a shepherd without His sheep, a husband without His spouse. His delights were with the sons of men. In order that He might draw all men unto Him, He was lifted up upon the cross alone.

4. He must die to give life, not teach, etc. If the ethical part of Christianity is the most important, why did Jesus die? But since He did fall into the ground and die, we may expect much as the result of it. The travail of the Son of God shall not bring forth a scanty good.

II. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION. What is true of Christ is in a measure true of Christians.

1. We must die if we would live.

2. We must surrender everything to keep it. We can never have spiritual life except by giving everything up to God.

3. We must lose self in order to find self. The man who lives for himself does not live–he loses the essence and crown of existence: but if you live for others and God, you will find the life of life. Seek ye first, etc.

4. If you wish to be the means of life to others, you must, in your measure, die yourself. The self-sacrificing life and death of saints has always been the life and increase of the Church. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christs cross, Christs glory

As regards

I. THE GREAT ENEMY. In the wilderness Christ did not achieve a complete victory. The devil departed from Him for a season only, and was actually and finally vanquished on the cross. He who hoped to crush Adam was himself crushed in Christ. Satan had brought ruin and misery into a happy world. Christ brought out the world into happiness tenfold as bright and holy as that which Satan ruined.

II. MAN. On the cross was transacted the central event of mans world. All before had reference to this; all after flow from it. The whole system of types found its end on the cross; the whole state of acceptance in which believers stand before God, the whole dispensation of the Spirit, had its origin here. Wherever there breathes a man, there the cross has a deep and never-failing interest. Here also was the triumph of human nature. You hear of the power and dignity of human nature, its wonderful capacities for knowledge, its high endowments for enterprise; but in none of these did it reach its noblest height, nor bear its fairest fruit. Not in Athens or Rome, in poesy or art, has man been most glorified; but on the cross of Jesus. There manhood bore its fruit of love untouched by a blight, and was honoured with the union of the Godhead, stooping to share its sentence of death and to bring it to glory.

III. HIMSELF (Rom 14:9). Christ was born that He might be a King; and here we have His Lordship established and His kingdom inaugurated. Remember what He said to the dying thief. The cross is Christs throne; His atonement His basis of empire (Rev 5:6); from it proceeds the work of the Spirit, whose office it is to glorify Christ.

IV. THE FATHER. By the counsel of the Fathers will was the plan of redemption directed, and His perfections find their highest example on the cross.

1. Love. Herein is love, etc.

2. Truth. For this end He came into the world, to bear witness unto the truth; and He bore it here.

3. Righteousness. He made Him to be sin for us, etc. (Dean Alford.)

The work and glory of the Saviour

In eternity there are no hours; yet there have been two hours in time which are drawn out over the length of eternal ages. One, pregnant of evil, when Eve plucked the forbidden fruit.
When time shall be no more that unhappy hour will live in the memory and be felt in the misery of the lost. The other hour, pregnant with greatest good, was when the Son of Man said, It is finished, and the head He bowed in death was crowned with its brightest glory.

I. THE VISIBLE GLORY OF THE CROSS. There never was a death like this.

1. Rays of Godhead streamed through the darkest stages of Christs humiliation. Angels attended His humble birth, and a new star rested above the stable. His hands were rough with labour, but at their touch eyes received their sight. His voice cried in infancy and death, but it quelled the storm and burst the fetters of the tomb. His eye was quenched in darkness, but it had read mans heart and penetrated futurity. He wore no costly robes, but the hem of His garment cured inveterate disease. He trod on no luxurious carpets, but His step was on the sea. His simple drink was water, but water changed into wine at His bidding. No sumptuous banquets entertained His guests, but the few fishes and barley loaves in His hands satisfied multitudes.

2. But this glory was still more apparent in His dying hours. Men had left undone nothing to heap shame upon Him. To pour contempt on His kingly claims they crowned Him with thorns; in mockery of His omniscience they asked Him to tell who struck Him; in ridicule of His omnipotence they challenged Him to leave the cross. Yet even ix this dark hour He was glorified. If these should hold their peace the stones would cry out, was now verified. Men were silent, dumb nature spoke. The rocks, whose bosoms, less hard than mans, were rent, cried out on earth; the sun, veiling his face from a scene on which man looked without emotion, cried out in heaven; the dead, disturbed in their graves by so great a crime, cried out from their open tombs; and the temples veil added its solemn testimony to theirs.

II. THE MORAL GLORY OF THE CROSS.

1. Christs death afforded the fullest display of His love. Not that it had not been displayed before. It was when Moses smote the rock that its hidden treasures were unsealed. It was when the alabaster box was broken that its value became known. It is when the clusters of the grape are crushed that they yield the wine. And so Christs gracious attributes were not fully disclosed till His dying hour. But for that it had never been known how He loved. He had been despised and rejected of men, but He died to prove His willingness and power to save the chief of sinners.

2. By His death He conquered hell, death, and the grave. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The law of self-sacrifice exemplified in the death of Christ

We shrink too much from investigating the mental struggles of Jesus as though it were a profanation. But in this we commit two errors.

1. We lose sight of Christs proper humanity, of the fact that He had a mind governed like our own, a heart and sympathies which throbbed as ours.

2. A false conception of true reverence. It is reverential to be cautious of approaching too closely an earthly sovereign, because near approach would only produce familiarity, and make us feel that he too is but a frail and sinful man. But the Majesty of Jesus requires no such precautions, because the nearer we get to Him the more we realize His Divine Majesty. Note

I. THE LAW OF THE ATONEMENT.

1. The gloriousness of suffering. There are two ways of looking at every act–at the appearance, and at the reality. Hence what seems mean is often inwardly glorious, and vice versa. Thus there is nothing in the outward circumstances of a soldiers death to distinguish them from an ignoble brawl; but over the soldiers death is shed the glory of that cause for which his life was offered. So in external circumstances Christs death was mean, but in inward principles it was glorified by God. We say that a throne is glorious and a coronet noble; but nothing can ennoble cowardice or selfishness. We say that a dungeon, scaffold, and the lower arts of life are base; but Christs death has sanctified the cross, and His life shed a glory over carpentry.

2. The death of one for the life of many. This is the great law upon which God has constructed the universe. If there is to be a crop, there must first be the destruction of the seed. The lives of vegetables and animals are given for us. So the doctrine of the atonement is no strange, arbitrary principle. The Father who made the law by which the flesh of living things sustains the life of others is the same Being who made and obeyed the law by which the flesh of Christ is to the world meat indeed.

3. Self-devotion (Joh 12:25). The previous parallel fails in one thing. We do not thank the grain of wheat for dying, because its death is involuntary; and therefore to constitute a true sacrifice a living will is needed. Christs sacrifice was a voluntary act, else it had been no sacrifice at all.

II. THE MENTAL STRUGGLE BY WHICH THAT LAW WAS EMBRACED AS THE LAW OF THE REDEEMERS LIFE. It is one thing to understand a law and another to obey it. To admire that which is right is one thing, but to do what is right is another. The Divine life of Christ subordinated innocent human ideas to itself by degrees. Here He was literally distracted between the natural craving for life and the higher desire to embrace the will of God. But the victory was won by prayer, that communion of the mind with God through which our will becomes at last merged into His. And so there was one perfect will, the will of the Father being that of the Son. Father, glorify Thy name. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 23. The hour is come, that the Son of man, c.] The time is just at hand in which the Gospel shall be preached to all nations, the middle wall of partition broken down, and Jews and Gentiles united in one fold. But this could not be till after his death and resurrection, as the succeeding verse teaches. The disciples were the first fruits of the Jews these Greeks, the first fruits of the Gentiles.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Christ replies, that the time was now come when he (who was the Son of God)

should be glorified; that is, by the Gentiles receiving of the gospel, according to the many prophecies of it in the Old Testament; but he goeth on telling them that he must first die.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

23-26. Jesus answered them, The houris come that the Son of man should be glorifiedthat is, Theywould see Jesus, would they? Yet a little moment, and they shall seeHim so as now they dream not of. The middle wall of partition thatkeeps them out from the commonwealth of Israel is on the eve ofbreaking down, “and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, shalldraw all men unto Me”; I see them “flying as a cloud, andas doves to their cotes”a glorious event that will be for theSon of man, by which this is to be brought about. It is His deathHe thus sublimely and delicately alluded to. Lost in the scenes oftriumph which this desire of the Greeks to see Him called up beforeHis view, He gives no direct answer to their petition for aninterview, but sees the cross which was to bring them gilded withglory.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Jesus answered them,…. Not directly and particularly; he did not in plain terms signify what was his will, whether these Greeks should be admitted or not; and yet expressed himself in such a manner as shows he was not averse to it, but was pleased with it, and takes notice of it, as an evidence of the near approach of his glorification:

saying, the hour is come, that the son of man should be glorified; by rising from the dead, ascending to heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, and from thence pouring forth the Spirit upon his disciples, who should go and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, as well as Jews; and which would issue in the conversion of many of them, and so in his glory, of which the coming of these Greeks was an earnest. But he intimates, in the next verse, that he must first die.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The hour is come ( ). The predestined hour, seen from the start (2:4), mentioned by John (John 7:30; John 8:20) as not yet come and later as known by Jesus as come (13:1), twice again used by Jesus as already come (in the prayer of Jesus, John 17:1; Mark 14:41, just before the betrayal in the Garden). The request from the Greeks for this interview stirs the heart of Jesus to its depths.

That the Son of man should be glorified ( ). Purpose clause with (not in the sense of , when) and the first aorist passive subjunctive of , same sense as in John 12:16; John 13:31. The Cross must come before Greeks can really come to Jesus with understanding. But this request shows that interest in Jesus now extends beyond the Jewish circles.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Answered [] . The best texts read ajpokrinetai, answereth.

The hour is come, that [ ] . This is not equivalent to “the hour is come in which.” The hour is used absolutely : the critical hour is come in order that the Son, etc.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE LORD’S RESPONSE, v. 23-50

1 ) “And Jesus answered them, saying,” (ho de lesous apokrinetai autois legon) “Then Jesus answered them (Philip and Andrew) explaining,” whether privately or in the presence of all the apostles is not certain, but apparently with not only John (this writer) but also the other apostles present. It appears that Jesus did not grant the interview to the Greeks, as Gentiles.

2) “The hour is come,” (eleluthen he hora) “The hour has come,” or arrived, different from His early ministry statement to His mother, often repeated thereafter up to this time when He had said, “mine hour is not yet come,” Joh 2:4; But it had now come to be at hand, Joh 13:32; Joh 17:1.

3) “That the Son of man should be glorified.” (hina doksasthe ho huios tou anthropou) “In order that the Son of man is glorified,” to be glorified, a glory that He voluntarily forfeited in heaven, to come and be born among men, 2Co 8:9; Joh 17:4-5; as also indicated Joh 1:1-2; Php_2:6; Heb 1:3; Heb 1:10.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

23. The hour is come. Many explain this as referring to the death of Christ, because by it the glory of Christ was manifested; so that, in their opinion, Christ now declares that the time of his death is at hand. But I rather view it as referring to the publication of the gospel; as if he had said, that the knowledge of him would soon be spread through every region of the world. Thus he wished to meet the astonishment which his death might excite in his disciples; for he shows that there is no reason why their courage should fail, because the doctrine of the’ gospel will nevertheless be proclaimed throughout the whole world. Again, that this contemplation of his glow may not soon afterwards vanish, when he shall be condemned to death, hung on the cross, and finally buried. he gives them early information and warning that the ignominy of his death is no obstruction to his glory. For this purpose he employs a most appropriate comparison.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(23) And Jesus answered them, saying.The words are rather the utterance of the thoughts of His own mind, which this visit of the Greeks suggests, than an answer. They are spoken to the Apostles, but the narrative is too compressed for us to know whether any answer was given to the Greeks apart from this. The explanation which is most probable is that the Greeks heard this discourse, and that it is in reality an answer to the thoughts of their hearts, and to the words they wished to have spoken to Him.

The hour is come.This approach of men from outside the limits of Judaism who have been admitted within its pale, and who now, when priests and rulers are seeking to kill Him, are seeking to render Him homage, brings back again the thought of the scattered sheep, for whose gathering the Shepherds life must be laid down (Joh. 10:16-19). They are the first-fruits of the great flocks of humanity, and their presence is as the first stroke of the bell which sounds the fatal but glorious hour. That hour marked out in the counsels of God, and ever present in His own thoughts, has now come.

That the Son of man should be glorified.This is to be accomplished in His ascension and return to the glory of Heaven. (Comp. Notes on Joh. 17:1-2; Joh. 17:5.) But the immediate connection implies that He regards the extension of his Messianic work, and the acceptance of His truth by the nations of the earth, as part of the glory of the Son of man. The connection implies also that He regards His own death as the dark path which must be trodden before the path of glory can be entered.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

23. Them Namely, the Greeks and his disciples in united audience. His answer was in reply to preliminary conversation not reported by the Evangelist.

The hour The long-expected hour of his crucifixion, ideally held to be present. See note on Joh 2:4.

Glorified The entire passion terminating in glory is here presented by him to these Greeks as itself gilded with glory and entirely a glorification. So the cross is soon to be held forth to the Gentile world, not as a dishonour, but a glory.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. With great emphasis (truly, truly) I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit”.’

‘The hour has come.’ Previously we were told that His hour was not yet come (Joh 7:30; Joh 8:20). But this approach of the Gentiles had reminded Him that the time of suffering now approached on the horizon and He was ready to face it within the timing of God. The Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God (Joh 1:29; Joh 1:36), must die at the Passover. Like a grain of wheat He must fall into the ground and die.

The idea of the ‘glorifying’ of the Son of Man takes us back directly to Daniel (Joh 9:13-14) where ‘one like a son of man’ comes before God to receive His kingdom, coming out from a background of suffering and death (Dan 9:21). The Son of Man is a title Jesus took for Himself because it represented both humility and glory. In one sense it represented weak, mortal man over against God and the heavenly beings (Psa 8:4; Eze 2:1 and often), on the other it represented the one who after suffering represented Israel before God and received authority in Heaven over God’s kingdom (Dan 9:13-14).

In John’s Gospel ‘glorifying’ includes the death on the cross and the glory that follows, which results in the new age of the Spirit (Joh 7:39; Joh 12:32-33). Here the stress is on the cross. As a grain of wheat He must fall into the ground and die. But just as the wheat then springs into new life so by His resurrection He will produce fruit. The age of the Spirit, which has already begun through the ministry of Jesus, will come with power, even reaching out to the Gentiles. Thus His suffering is not an unfortunate, unexpected event but a necessity. It is that which will produce the fruitfulness (compare Isa 53:10).

The mention of the seeking Greeks prior to this word was because John wants us to see in this verse that the ‘much fruit’ in mind is not limited to Palestine but reaches out to the Gentile world as well. God so loves the world that He is giving His Son for the whole world (Joh 3:16). No doubt this was personally brought home to these Gentiles who had approached Him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The hour of Christ’s glorification:

v. 23. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

v. 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

v. 25. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

v. 26. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be. If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.

Jesus was deeply moved by the request of the Greeks to become acquainted with Him, to know the Savior. It showed Him that the hour, the time, had come when He was to be taken from the world, the culmination of His life’s work, His glorification through His suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. For the general reception of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Grace, according to Scriptures, was to be the work of the glorified Christ; after His entrance into glory He was to gather the scattered sheep among the Gentiles. But the way to this glory lay through death. Most solemnly the Lord declares that the full worth of a grain of seed is accomplished only through its apparent death and decay in the ground. Like a grain sown into the ground and decomposed, so is the death of the Savior. But His resurrection is like the blade which springs Up from the seemingly dead seed; and this blade brings forth an abundance of fruit. The head that was laid into the grave in deep sorrow has now been crowned with glory, and the glory of the exalted Son of Man will convert many Gentiles, Isa 11:1. But herein is an admonition also for the disciples, who are pledged to follow their Master. If any man love his soul, this present life, if he hopes to gain everything for himself in this world, he will lose the true life in and with Christ. It is one of the demands of Christian discipleship that all followers of Christ die unto this present life, with all it has to offer, daily. Only he that hateth his life in this present world, that is willing to give up and sacrifice everything for the sake of the Master, will guard and keep his soul unto life eternal. See Mat 10:39; Mat 16:25; Mar 8:35; Luk 9:24; Luk 17:33. True service of Christ is shown in the following of Him, in emulating His example of unselfish ministry and devotion. And Jesus, in turn, will not permit such deeds of unselfish love to go unrewarded. His servants, those that are in continual attendance upon Him, shall share His place of everlasting bliss. And not only that; but the true servants of Christ, that serve Him in faith, in whatever way He suggests, will be regarded as precious, and be valued very highly in the eyes of God the Father Himself.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Joh 12:23-24. And Jesus answered them, If we suppose that our Lord spoke these words as the Greeks were introduced to him, the following discourse will discover many a latent beauty. Our Lord might enlarge perhaps on some of the hints in this discourse; and if his hearers took a due notice of them, and made a proper report on their return home, it might prepare the way for the apostles, when they came, by their preaching, more fully to unfold and illustrate these important doctrines. Our Lord here declares, that the appointed time was now at hand, when he should be honoured by the conversion of the Gentiles, an earnest whereof they now had in the approach of the present Greeks: at the same time he told them, that he was to suffer death before he arrived at this glory; and illustrated the necessity of his dying by the similitude of grain cast into the earth, Joh 12:24. “As the only way to make grain produce fruit, is to bury it in the ground; so the grand primary method of bringing about the conversion and salvation of all that believe is, that I die and be buried.” Our Lord’s resurrection, (to omit other things,) that grand miracle on which the truth of Christianity in a very considerablemeasuredepends,andbywhichthesalvationof the faithful was effected, happened in consequence of his death. Dr. Heylin renders the 24th verse more clearly thus: If the grain of wheat that falls into the ground dieth not, it remains there a single grain; but if it die, it becometh very fruitful.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 12:23 . The proposal of the Gentiles which had been brought to Him, awakens in Jesus, with peculiar force and depth, the thought of His approaching death ; for through His death was His salvation in truth to be conveyed to the Gentiles (Joh 10:16-17 ).

Accordingly, that wish of the Gentiles must appear to Him as already a beginning of that which was to be effected by His death. Hence His answer to those two disciples (not to the , Ebrard), which is pervaded by a full presentiment of the crisis at hand, and at the close, Joh 12:27 , resolves itself into a prayer of deep emotion, but, by means thereof, into complete surrender to the Father. This answer is consequently neither inappropriate (De Wette), nor does it contain an indirect refusal of the request of the Greeks (Ewald, Hengstenberg, Godet); nor is the granting of it to be thought of as having taken place before, and as having been passed over in silence by John (Tholuck, B. Crusius, and older commentators), which the text refutes by the words , which continue the narrative without any further remarks; nor is the petition of the Gentiles to be regarded as indirectly complied with , namely, by the fact that the apostles brought it before Jesus, and that the latter then began to speak (Luthardt) which amounts to the improbability that Jesus, by the following speech, desired to make a display before those Gentiles (whom Ewald also supposes to have been present); but the admission of the Gentiles which was to have taken place after this outpouring of emotion, did not, however, take place, because the voice from heaven, Joh 12:28 , interrupted and changed the scene. [108] The theory that in Joh 5:23 ff. the synoptical accounts of the transfiguration, and of the conflict of soul in Gethsemane, are either fused into a historical mixture (Strauss), or formed into an ideal combination (Baur), proceeds from presuppositions, according to which it is possible to adduce even Gal 2:9 as a witness against Joh 12:20 (see against this, Bleek, p. 250 ff.), as Baur has done.

] Placed first with emphasis.

] Comp. Joh 13:1 , Joh 16:2 ; Joh 16:32 . The hour is conceived of absolutely (in the consciousness of Jesus the present hora fatalis ), and that which is to take place in it, as the divine appointment for its having arrived.

] through death , as the necessary passage to the heavenly glory. Comp. Joh 17:5 , Joh 6:62 ; 1Pe 1:11 .

[108] According to Ewald, Gesch. Chr. p. 527, Jesus would, in granting the request, be exposed to a temptation , and have done something at this last development out of keeping with His previous ministry, which would have awakened disquiet, furnished a new embarrassment to the hierarchs, etc. But we may also conversely pass the judgment that Jesus, on the very threshold of His death, could not have designed to refuse an actual manifestation of His universal destination, which He, moreover, had expressed in Joh 10:16 , offered so accidentally, as it were, especially since the conversion of the Gentiles to the Messiah was grounded in prophecy. To yield to the prayer was, further, by no means to make a full surrender to the petitioners.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1671
OUR LORDS VIEWS OF HIS OWN DEATH

Joh 12:23-24. Jesus answered them, saying. The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

THE nearer our Lords death approached, the more he delighted to speak of it. So far from regarding it as an object of terror, he was longing for its accomplishment. To his Disciples he had frequently declared the precise manner of it, together with all its antecedent indignities; and now he declares it to some strangers, whom curiosity had led to visit him.
Whether those strangers were Jews or heathens, is not agreed: but from the general use of the term which we translate Greeks, and from the difficulty which the Disciples felt about introducing them to Jesus, we apprehend that they were heathens, who had been proselyted to the worship of the true God, but were not become Jews by circumcision. Jesus had forbidden his Disciples to enter into any cities of the Gentiles, when he sent them out to preach his Gospel; and therefore they might well doubt the propriety of introducing Gentiles to him; which Philip did not venture to do, till he had conferred with Andrew, and consulted Jesus himself also on the point. When, however, they were brought to him, he advertised them of his approaching death, which he represented as a source of honour to himself, and of benefit to man. In these two views we shall consider it,

I.

As a source of honour to himself

He speaks not of being crucified, but glorified: for his death was indeed a glory to him:

1.

As atoning for the sins of the whole world

[This is the true light wherein to view his death: it was a sacrifice for sin, for the sins of all mankind: and it perfectly satisfied all the demands of law and justice, so that God may be just and yet the justifier of all who believe in Jesus View the death of Christ in this light, and say whether his crown of thorns were not his brightest diadem; and the cross on which he expired, his most glorious throne? Men indeed saw nothing but shame in his crucifixion; but God and angels beheld it replete with glory [Note: Joh 13:31.] ]

2.

As opening a way for the salvation of all mankind

[Being lifted up, he was to draw all men unto him [Note: ver. 32.]. He was the true Shiloh, unto whom the gathering of the people should be. Had he been the Saviour of Jews only, it had been comparatively a light matter; but being Gods salvation to the ends of the earth, he was most glorious in the eyes of God himself [Note: Isa 49:5-6.]. Behold, now already was he reaping the first-fruits of that harvest which was soon to be gathered in: the solicitude of these Greeks to be made acquainted with him was an earnest of that more extended dominion which he was speedily to possess. And who can reflect on his erecting thus his standard to the nations, and not acknowledge his rest to be glorious [Note: Isa 11:10.]? Indeed this gathering of the people to him is represented by the prophets as constituting the summit of his glory [Note: Isa 55:5; Isa 60:8-9.] and he himself is satisfied with all the travail of his soul, when he reaps this as its appointed fruit. But the songs of the redeemed in heaven are the best evidence of this unquestionable truth [Note: Rev 7:9-14.].]

Our Lord next speaks of his death,

II.

As a source of benefit to man

The illustration here used is familiar to all: every one knows that a grain of wheat, if left exposed upon a rock will be unproductive; but that if buried in the earth, it will corrupt, and vegetate, and bring forth fruit. Now to this our Lord compares his death.
If he had not died, he would not have proved a Saviour to any
[If he had not died, there would have been no atonement made, no sin forgiven, no soul of man delivered. There was no other way in which God could have been reconciled to his sinful creatures, consistently with his justice, holiness, and truth In vain would Christ himself have become incarnate, if he had not died: in vain would he have fulfilled the law himself, and set us a perfect example of obedience: if he had not completed the work by his death, the demands of law and justice had been still unsatisfied, and every child of Adam must have perished. As for any attempt on our part to supply the deficiency, either by repentance or amendment, it would have answered no purpose; it would have left us under the curses of the broken law ]
But by his death millions obtain life
[It is not thirty, or sixty, or a hundredfold, that that grain of corn produces, but millions, innumerable as the sands upon the sea-shore: the fruit of it shall shake like Lebanon, and they that spring up from it in the city, shall be as the piles of grass upon the earth [Note: Psa 72:16.]. Think of the fruit produced by it in the apostolic age, and that which is yet growing from it in every quarter of the globe, and that which will arise in the Millennium, when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea: truly it will at last be a multitude, which no man can number, out of every kindred, and nation, and tongue, and people; all growing upon his root, all deriving life from his stem, all assimilated to his image, and all treasured up at last in the same garner! And is one single soul of such value, that the whole world is as nothing in comparison of it? What then is the benefit arising to mankind from the death of Christ! how vast! how extensive! how incalculable!]

Address
1.

Those who are inquiring after Jesus

[If any are saying, like these Greeks, Sir, we would see Jesus, we bless God who has put that desire into their hearts: and we shall be glad to be instrumental in any respect in introducing them to him. Of one thing we can confidently assure them, that there no longer exists any barrier to their admission to his presence, provided they desire in sincerity of heart to devote themselves to his service: whatever be their nation, their profession, their character, they are alike welcome, if they come with penitence and faith; and may be assured, that he will in no wise cast them out. Would they know what he would principally commend to their attention? we answer, he would direct them to consider his death as the most stupendous display of his love, and an inexhaustible source of blessings to their souls. Reflect then, ye inquiring people, on the Saviours love, and give him the glory due unto his name.]

2.

Those who profess themselves his followers

[As Jesus had frequently told his own Disciples that they must be ready to lay down their lives for him, so he now declared to these strangers, that these were the only terms on which he would accept them as his people. The wheat must resemble that from which it sprang; and the Disciples be conformed to the image of their Lord. Nor must they only be willing to suffer like him, but must account those sufferings their glory. This was the practice of the Apostles; and must be the practice of all who would adorn the Gospel [Note: Act 5:41.]. We should feel no difficulty in pronouncing him honoured and glorified, who should be irradiated with a glory, like Moses, or have the Holy Ghost lighting visibly on him, as once he did on the Apostles: with equal confidence then may we pronounce him glorified, who bears his cross after Jesus; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon him [Note: 1Pe 4:12-14.]. Remember then, brethren, that these are the terms on which Christ acknowledges you as his; and arm yourselves with the mind that was in him. Be content to suffer with him; and then you shall also be glorified together.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (25) He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (26) If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

What a blessed discourse we have of our Lord’s in those few, but striking verses! All the great events approaching, no doubt arose to the view of his divine mind. And never surely did the glory of Jesus break forth with equal lustre during the whole of his ministry upon earth, than in the garden and on the cross. The triumphs of the Son of God incarnate, in those seasons, far exceeded all the miracles of his former ministry. It was by death, Jesus conquered death. He was indeed crucified in weakness; but in that weakness, sin, death, hell, and the grave, were overcome. The Lord entered their territories, and destroyed their empire forever. Then was that glorious prophecy fulfilled, which ages before, the Lord had spoken by the Prophet: I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. Zec 3:9 .

If I trespass a little longer on the Reader’s time, in meditating on these sweet verses of our Lord; it shall only be to observe, the beauty of that similitude which the Lord Jesus was pleased to make use of, in allusion to his own death; when describing it, under the figure of a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, thereby to bring forth much fruit. And if it be true, as it is said, that corn is nearly the only grain, if not the only, which must die before it can take root: the image is yet more beautiful and express. And if it be further true, as it is said, that pure corn falling into a moist and favourable soil, begins to put on the appearance of a change the third day from the time sown, the figure increaseth in its similarity, considered as to the third day, Christ arose from the dead. But passing by these things, I beg the Reader to attend to such points in the similitude, as are most obvious and unquestionable.

When our Lord saith, that except a corn of wheat fall into the ground, Jesus did not mean that wheat falls by accident and without design, into the earth. For corn is too highly prized, and in itself too highly valuable, to be thus dealt with. The Husbandman, who is said to wait for the precious fruit of the earth; is also supposed to observe seed time and harvest. For his God (saith the Prophet,) doth instruct him to discretion. See Jas 5:7 ; Gen 8:22 ; Isa 28:24-29 . And Christ, that one, single, pure, and invaluable grain of Corn, did not fall into the ground of our nature, nor die to bring forth fruit to his Church, without design; for the whole of his mission was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. My Father (saith Jesus,) is the Husbandman. Act 2:23 ; Joh 15:1 .

And as corn wheat is the most precious of all grain, so our nature in the Person of Christ, is the most precious of all seed. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Heb 7:26 . And as the bread which perisheth with using, is necessary to support our bodies, and therefore called the staff of life: so Christ the living bread which came down from heaven, is essential to give life to our souls: and therefore called the bread of life. Jesus saith, he that eateth of it shall live forever. And, to add no more; as the corn of the earth must be bruised, in order to be worked up into food for our natural life; so it pleased the Father to bruise Christ, and put him to grief, that he might become the true sustenance for our spiritual life, that we might eat and live forever. Isa 53:10 . Yea, so very necessary is it that all his mystical body should eat of this bread, that Jesus himself saith; Except ye eat of the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Joh 6:1 . But in relation to his body the Church: she must have remained without the possibility of recovery, in the awful state of the dead in trespasses and sins, in which the whole nature was involved by the means of Adam’s transgression; and so must have continued unawakened, unregenerated, unrenewed, and without hope, and without God forever. Reader! pause over the subject. Behold the love of God in Christ which passeth all understanding. God the Father will not suffer those whom he hath given to his dear Son thus to perish. God the Son will not leave his spouse the Church, notwithstanding all her adulteries, so to be everlastingly ruined. God the Holy Ghost will regenerate the Church, whom he hath loved in Christ before all worlds. Jesus, therefore, the pure, the single grain of corn, falls into the ground, and by dying, brings forth fruit; yea a full complete harvest, of every individual seed, which were his seed from all eternity: and finally gathers the whole into the garner of heaven. Oh! the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments; and his ways past finding out. Rom 11:33 ; Psa 126:5-6 ; Isa 59:21 ; Mat 13:24-52 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

Ver. 23. That the Son of man should be glorified ] That is, crucified, but he looked through death, and saw heaven beyond it: so must we; then shall we say, “Surely the bitterness of death is past,”1Sa 15:321Sa 15:32 . This made Simeon sing out his soul, Egredere, o anima mea; Leave oh my soul. Hilarion chode it out; Taylor fetched a frisk, when he was come near the place where he was burned; Bradford put off his cap, and thanked God, when the keeper’s wife brought him word he was to be burned on the morrow; Roper stood in the fire with his arms stretched out like a rood; Hawks clapped his hands over his head three times, when they were all on a light fire. (Acts and Mon.)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

23. ] Did the Greeks see (i.e. speak with) Jesus, or not? Certainly not , if I understand His discourse rightly. But they may have been present at, and have understood it. The substance of His answer ( , to Philip and Andrew, not to the Greeks) is, that the time was now come for His glorification, which should draw all nations to Him: but that glorification must be accomplished by His Death. The very appearance of these Greeks is to Him a token that His glorification is at hand. Stier strikingly says, “These men from the West at the end of the Life of Jesus, set forth the same as the Magi from the East at its beginning; but they come to the Cross of the King, as those to His cradle .” (R. J. ver. 69, edn. 2.) The rejection of the Jews for their unbelief is the secondary subject, and is commented on by the Evangelist, Joh 12:37-43 .

, not ‘eventual,’ nor ‘for’ any thing, but most strictly of the purpose the hour has come, that (whose object of preparation, and aim, in the eternal counsels, it has been, that) the Son of Man should be glorified.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 12:23 . , “Jesus answers them,” i.e. , the two disciples, but probably the Greeks had come with them and heard the words: . is followed by in Joh 4:21 , Joh 5:25 , and by in Joh 5:28 . Burton calls it “the complementary” use of . “The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” Directly the glorification of the Son of Man or Messiah consisted in His being acknowledged by men; and this earnest inquiry of the Greeks was the evidence that His claims were being considered beyond the circle of the Jewish people.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

the Son of man. App-98and App-99.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

23.] Did the Greeks see (i.e. speak with) Jesus, or not? Certainly not, if I understand His discourse rightly. But they may have been present at, and have understood it. The substance of His answer (, to Philip and Andrew, not to the Greeks) is, that the time was now come for His glorification, which should draw all nations to Him:-but that glorification must be accomplished by His Death. The very appearance of these Greeks is to Him a token that His glorification is at hand. Stier strikingly says, These men from the West at the end of the Life of Jesus, set forth the same as the Magi from the East at its beginning;-but they come to the Cross of the King, as those to His cradle. (R. J. ver. 69, edn. 2.) The rejection of the Jews for their unbelief is the secondary subject, and is commented on by the Evangelist, Joh 12:37-43.

, not eventual, nor for any thing, but most strictly of the purpose-the hour has come, that (whose object of preparation, and aim, in the eternal counsels, it has been, that) the Son of Man should be glorified.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 12:23. , the hour) Of this hour there is frequent subsequent mention: Joh 12:27, Father save Me from this hour, Joh 13:1, When Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, Joh 16:32, Behold the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, Joh 17:1, Father, the hour is come: glorify Thy Son.- , that-should be glorified) with the Father: Joh 17:5, And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was, and in the sight of every creature. The glorification of Christ and the conversion of the Gentiles fall upon one and the same time.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 12:23

Joh 12:23

And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.-Jesus tells them that the time of his glorification is now at hand. He calls himself usually the Son of man, leaving it to his teachings and works to declare him the Son of God. In a few instances when they were disposed to doubt, he called himself the Son of God. [The disciples had always had inadequate ideas of what his kingdom was to be, and the pathway through which it was to be reached. Doubtless their faces at once lit up with the radiance of expectation, that the time was close at hand for the high places of the kingdom to be distributed. But Jesus has a lesson for them they little expect. Glory is coming, through a pathway of which they would never have dreamed, a pathway of tears, and sorrow, and pain and death.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

answered

He does not receive these Gentiles. A Christ in the flesh, King of the Jews, could be no proper object of faith to the Gentiles, though the Jews should have believed on Him as such. For Gentiles the corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die; Christ must be lifted up on the cross and believed in as a sacrifice for sin, as seed of Abraham, not David Joh 12:24; Joh 12:32; Gal 3:7-14; Eph 2:11-13.

Son of man (See Scofield “Mat 8:20”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

The hour: Joh 13:31, Joh 13:32, Joh 17:1-5, Joh 17:9, Joh 17:10, Isa 49:5, Isa 49:6, Isa 53:10-12, Isa 55:5, Isa 60:9, Mat 25:31, 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10

Reciprocal: Isa 26:15 – thou art Mat 26:18 – My time Mar 14:41 – the hour Mar 15:31 – He Joh 1:51 – the Son Joh 2:4 – mine Joh 4:23 – the hour Joh 12:16 – when Joh 13:1 – knew Joh 16:32 – the hour

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

3

We have no information as to what was done about the aforementioned request. However, Jesus stated to Philip and Andrew (perhaps in the hearings of these Greeks), that the hour was at hand when the Son of man was to be glorified. The last word is explained in the comments at verse 16. This glorification was to take place in Heaven, which had to be preceded by His death and resurrection. That brought the conversation to the point where it was necessary to say something about the death of Jesus, which will be the subject in the next verse.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 12:23. And Jesus answereth them, saying; The hour is come, that the son of man should be glorified. The glorification here spoken of must be that of chap. Joh 13:31-32, and Joh 17:1; Joh 17:5, the latter of which also follows a moment designated exactly as the present one,The hour is come. But the glorification of these passages consists in the full manifestation of Jesus when, all His labours and sufferings over, He shall be elevated, with the Father, to the possession and exercise of that power to carry out His work upon its widest scale which was now limited by the conditions of His earthly lot. Hence the bringing in of the Gentiles, though it does not constitute that glory, is immediately connected with it.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. How our blessed Saviour entertains his followers with a discourse concerning his approaching death and sufferings: The hour is coming that the Son of man shall be glorified.

Observe, 2. How he arms his disciples against the scandal of the cross, by shewing them the great benefit that would redound by his death unto all mankind: and this by a similitude taken for grain, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground, and die, it abideth alone.

That is, as corn unsown, lodged in the barn, or laid up in the chamber, never multiples nor increases: but sow it in the field, and bury it in the earth, and it multilplies and increases, and brings forth a plentiful crop; so if Christ had not died, he had remained what he was, the eternal Son of God, but he had had no church in the world; whereas his death and sufferings made him fructify: that brought a plentiful increase of exaltation to himself, and salvation to his people.

Observe, 3. How plainly our Saviour dealt with his followers; he did not deceive them with a vain hope and expectation of temporal happiness, but tells them plainly, that all that will be his disciples must prepare for sufferings, and not think their temporal life too dear to lay down for him when he calls them to it, this being the surest way to secure unto themselves life everlasting. He that loveth his life shall lose it, but he that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal.

Learn hence, That the surest way to attain eternal life is cheerfully to lay down our temporal life, when the glory of Christ, and the honour of religion, requires it at our hand.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Joh 12:23-26. Jesus answered, saying This phraseology intimates the suitableness of the following discourse to this particular occasion; by attending to which, many of the beauties of it will be discovered. Our Lord might, perhaps, enlarge on some of these hints; and if his hearers took a due notice of them, and made a proper report on their return home, it might prepare the way for the apostles, when they came, by their preaching, more fully to unfold and illustrate these important doctrines. The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified Meaning, that he should soon be honoured by the conversion of many of the Gentiles. At the same time he told them, that he was to suffer death before he arrived at this glory; and illustrated the necessity of his dying, by the similitude of grain cast into the earth. Verily, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, &c. As if he had said, As the only way to make grain produce fruit is to bury it in the ground; so, the most proper method of bringing about the conversion and salvation of the world is, that I die and be buried. To omit other things, our Lords resurrection, the grand miracle on which the truth of Christianity is founded, and by which the conversion of the world was effected, happened in consequence of his death. The late resurrection of Lazarus gave our Lord a natural occasion of speaking on the subject. And agreeable to his infinite knowledge, he singles out from among so many thousands of seeds almost the only one that dies in the earth, and which, therefore, was an exceeding proper similitude, peculiarly adapted to the purpose for which he uses it. The like is not to be found in any other grain, except millet, and the large bean. Wesley. He that loveth his life More than the will of God; shall lose it eternally. He further told them, that as he, their Master, was to suffer before his exaltation, so were all they, his disciples; for which reason they were to expect persecution, firmly resolving to lose even life itself, after his example, when called to do it; and in that case he promised them a share in his crown and glory: saying, He that hateth his life In comparison of the will of God, and therefore exposes it to great dangers in the cause of the gospel; shall keep it unto life eternal And secure a state of immortal glory and happiness. If any man serve me If any one would become a faithful servant of mine, would do my will, (for his servants we are whom we obey, Rom 6:16,) and would serve the cause in which I am engaged; let him follow me Let him attach himself to me as one of my disciples, even although his doing so should expose him to the loss of his life; and let him drink into my Spirit, and imitate my example. And where I am Where I shall shortly take up mine abode, even in the eternal kingdom of my Father; there shall also my servant be In the same felicity and glory. Yea, if any man serve me And live no longer to himself, but unto me, of whatever nation he may be, or whatever his religious profession may before have been; him will my Father honour Unspeakably and for ever. Perhaps, in speaking thus, Jesus intended tacitly to intimate, that the strangers who wished to be introduced to him, would be greatly disappointed, if their desire of conversing with him proceeded from a hope of recommending themselves to earthly preferments through his favour.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ver. 23. Jesus answered them, The hour is come when the Son of man is to be glorified. The Alexandrian authorities read the present: answers. The T. R., with 13 Mjj. and the ancient Vss., reads the aorist middle, answered. These two forms are very rare in our Gospel (two or three times, each of them). The aorist middle is more suitable than the aorist passive (the common form). It indicates a meditation to which Jesus gives himself, rather than a direct response.

The words: The hour is come, contain in the germ the whole following discourse, which is intended to reveal the importance of the present hour. And this, first, for Jesus Himself (Joh 12:29-30); then, for the world (Joh 12:31-33); finally, for Israel in particular (Joh 12:34-36).

For Jesus it is the hour of His elevation and His personal transformation by the painful passage of death. That which has just happened has made Him feel the imminence of the crisis. The term , to be glorified, applies here first of all, as in Joh 12:16 and Joh 7:39, to the heavenly exaltation of His person. His recognition as Messiah and the extension of His kingdom among the heathen (Lucke, Reuss) do not explain this term; these facts will be only the consequences of the change accomplished in His person (Joh 17:1-2; Joh 17:5). The term Son of man is here suggested to Jesus by the feeling of His indissoluble connection with humanity, of which He will soon be the glorified representative. It is at that time that He will be able to do what is denied Him at this moment, to communicate without restraint with the Greeks and the whole world. In the 24th verse, Jesus expresses by means of a figure and in Joh 12:25 in plain terms, the painful condition which is imposed with reference to this glorification:

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

Jesus’ interview with these Gentiles was the occasion of His revelation that the time for His death, resurrection, and ascension was at hand (cf. Joh 12:27; Joh 13:1; Joh 17:1). Until now, that hour had not been near (cf. Joh 2:4; Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23; Joh 7:30; Joh 8:20). As mentioned earlier, Jesus’ references to His glorification in the fourth Gospel are references to His death, resurrection, and ascension.

The title "Son of Man" was Jesus’ favorite title for Himself. It connoted suffering and glorification, and it avoided the misunderstanding that the use of some other messianic titles entailed.

John mentioned nothing more about these Greeks. Evidently he referred to them at all because they represented Gentiles who were expressing interest in Jesus and because their interview was the occasion for Jesus’ revelation. Their presence at the announcement of Jesus’ impending death hints at the union of Jews and Gentiles in the benefits of that death and in the body of believers after that death.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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