Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 12:30
Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
30. Jesus answered ] He answered their discussions about the sound, and by calling it a voice He decides conclusively against those who supposed it to be thunder. But those who recognised that it was a voice were scarcely less seriously mistaken; their error consisted in not recognising that the voice had a meaning for them. Not for My sake hath this voice come, but for your sakes, i.e. that ye might believe. Comp. Joh 11:42.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Came not because of me – Not to strengthen or confirm me; not that I had any doubts about my course, or any apprehension that God would not approve me and glorify his name.
For your sakes – To give you a striking and indubitable proof that I am the Messiah; that you may remember it when I am departed, and be yourselves comforted, supported, and saved.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 30. This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.] Probably meaning those Greeks who had been brought to him by Philip and Andrew. The Jews had frequent opportunities of seeing his miracles, and of being convinced that he was the Messiah; but these Greeks, who were to be a first fruits of the Gentiles, had never any such opportunity. For their sakes, therefore, to confirm them in the faith, this miraculous voice appears to have come from heaven.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This voice came not to instruct me, I very well knew, before it came, that my Father had glorified his own name, and would do it again; it came not principally nor solely for me, but chiefly to confirm you in this great truth, that I am the Son of God, and he whom he hath sent into the world, by and in whom he designs to glorify his own great name.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. Jesus . . . said, This voicecame not because of me, but for your sakesthat is, probably,to correct the unfavorable impressions which His momentary agitationand mysterious prayer for deliverance may have produced on theby-standers.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Jesus answered and said,…. To the people that stood by, and were disputing among themselves about what they heard, whether it was thunder, or the voice of an angel:
this voice came not because of me; at least not only and chiefly; it was not so much in answer to his prayer, or in order to comfort him under the apprehensions he had of his sufferings and death, or to assure him of his future glorification, though all this was true:
but for your sakes; to convince them that he was the Messiah, and engage them to believe in him, or to leave them without excuse; since not only miracles were wrought before their eyes, but with their ears they heard God speaking to him, and which is the rule that they themselves prescribe; for according to them, no man is to be hearkened to, though he should do as many signs and wonders as Moses, the son of Amram, unless they hear with their ears, that the Lord speaks to him as he did to Moses c.
c R. Mosis Kotsensis praefat. ad Mitzvot Tora, pr. Affirm.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Not for my sake, but for your sakes ( ‘ , ‘ ). These words seem to contradict verses John 12:28; John 12:29. Bernard suggests an interpolation into the words of Jesus. But why not take it to be the figure of exaggerated contrast, “not merely for my sake, but also for yours”?
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
For my sake. Emphatic in the Greek order. It is not for my sake that this voice hath come.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “Jesus answered and said.” (apekrithe lesous kai eipen) “Jesus responded and said,” to those who were discussing the voice they had heard, but about which they were confused.
2) “The voice came not because of me,” (ou di’ he hone aute gegonen) “This voice has not come because of me,” for my benefit alone, Joh 12:28-29.
3) “But for your sakes.” (alla di’ humas) “But because of you all,” to cause you to know that I have communication with God who is my Father, who has sent me as His Son to be your Savior, Joh 11:42; Gal 4:4-5; Joh 1:14; Joh 3:16. They were to understand that the cross for Him was victory, the way to the throne of His Father, not to be a defeat.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
30. This voice came not for my sake. Had Christ no need of being strengthened, or did the Father care less for him than for us? But we must attend to this principle. As it was on our account that Christ clothed himself with flesh, so all the blessings which he received from the Father were bestowed on our account. Again, it is also true, that the voice came from heaven for the sake of the people; for he had no need of an outward miracle. Besides, there is here an indirect reproof, that the Jews are deaf like stones to the voice of God; for since God speaks for their sake, there can be no excuse for their ingratitude, when they do not lend their ears.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(30) This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.More exactly, not for My sake did this voice come, but for your sakes. These words are an answer to the thoughts, spoken and unspoken, of the multitude. Jesus Himself knew that the Father heareth Him always, but this answer is a sign to others. (Comp. Joh. 11:41-42.) He calls it a voice in answer to those who said it thundered, or that an angel had spoken. There was that, then, which seemed to them but the thunders sound or an angels word, which, coming in answer to His prayer and after His teaching. should have been, to ears ready to hear and minds willing to receive, the voice of God witnessing to the mission of His Son.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30-33. Jesus announces that this voice is an omen, not for his sake, who well knew the future, but for their sakes; as a proclamation that he was authenticated, as Son of God, to triumph over the prince of this world. To their cavils, therefore, in Joh 12:34, he furnishes no further confirmation of his mission, but warns them to beware (35, 36) how they rejected the light while the light was in their midst.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30. Not because of me It was an authentication of me, but not for my sake, who well knew my Sonship of the Father.
For your sakes It was for their sakes, that they might believe in his humiliation and share in his glory.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Jesus answered and said, “This voice occurred not for my sake, but for your sake”.’
Jesus then explained to them the purpose of the voice from Heaven. It was true that His Father had spoken to Him for His comfort and in response to His yearning, but that could have been said in His heart. It came in the way that it did so that the crowd might recognise that God had spoken to Him. It was important that they should understand the importance of the hour. Compare how in Joh 11:42 He had prayed aloud for their sakes. All this was preparing the ground for the ministry of the disciples after the resurrection. The hearts of men were being prepared.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 12:30. This voice came not because of me, &c. Dr. Heylin renders this better, This voice came not for my sake, but for yours. It is literally, This voice came not for me, but for you”not to assure me of the love of my Father, but to confirm you in the belief of my mission; that you may not be offended at the treatment I shall meet with, or quit your hope in me, on account of the sufferings which are coming upon me.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 12:30-31 . ] not to the disciples (Tholuck), but, according to Joh 12:29 , with reference to these two expressions of opinion from the people . He lets their opinions, as to what and whose the voice was, alone, but recognises in their hearts the more dangerous error, that they do not put the voice (this thunder or this angelic speech, according to their supposition) in any relation to themselves.
] to assure me that my prayer has been heard; “ novi patris animum in me,” Erasmus.
] in relation to you to overcome unbelief, and to strengthen faith. Comp. Joh 11:42 .
, . . .] Not an interpretation of the voice (Hengstenberg), but also not without reference to (Engelhardt), which is too weighty an element. Rather: how the crisis of this time presses for the use of that !
] with triumphant certainty of victory, treating the near future as present; now, now , is it gone so far! He speaks “quasi certamine defunctus,” Calvin.
] Now is judgment, i.e . judicial (according to the context: condemnatory) decision passed upon this world, i.e . on the men of the who reject faith. This judgment is an actual one ; for in the victory of the Messianic work of salvation, which was to be brought about by the death of Jesus, and His exaltation to the heavenly glory connected therewith, [112] the was to be set forth in the entire sinfulness and weakness of its hostility towards Christ, and thereby in fact judged. [113] Comp. Joh 16:9-10 ; Joh 16:33 . This victory the ruler of this world in particular ( . . . solemnly repeated), the devil , was to submit to; [114] his dominion must have an end, because the death of Jesus effected the reconciliation of humanity, by which reconciliation all were to be drawn away from the devil by becoming believers, and were to be placed under the spiritual power of the Christ exalted to glory, Joh 12:32 , Rom 5:12 ff.; Phi 2:9-11 . He is called the , as the ruler of the unbelieving , Christ- opposing humanity (comp. 2Co 4:4 ; Eph 2:2 ; Eph 6:12 ), as in the writings of Rabbins, he, as ruler of the Gentiles , in opposition to God and His people, bears this as a standing name ( ). See Lightfoot and Schoettgen, also in Eisenmenger, Entdeckt . Judenthum , I. p. 647 ff. Here he is so called, because the very of his dominium , the , was declared.
] The necessarily approaching removal of the power of the devil through the death and the exaltation of Jesus is vividly represented as a casting out from his empire , namely from the . Only this supplement is yielded by the context, not (Euth. Zigabenus, Beza), nor (Theophylact), nor out of the kingdom of God (Ewald), and least of all (Luk 10:18 ; Rev 12:8 , so Olshausen; hence the reading ). The indefinite rendering: he is repulsed (De Wette; comp. Plat. Menex . p. 243 B; Soph. Oed. R . 386), or to be removed from the presence of the judge (Hofmann, Schriftbew . I. p. 449), is not sufficient, on account of the appended .
Note further, that the victory here announced over this world and over the reign of the devil was indeed decided, and commenced with the death and the exaltation of Christ, but is in a state of continuous development onwards to its consummation at the last day (comp. Rev 20:10 ); hence the passages of the N. T. on the continuing power and influence of the devil (2Co 4:4 ; Eph 2:2 ; Eph 6:12 ; Rom 16:20 ; 1Pe 5:8 , and many others) do not stand in contradiction to the present passage. Comp. Col 2:15 .
[112] There lies in it, accordingly, no opposition to the belief in the last judgment (against Hilgenfeld, Lehrbegr. p. 274), as has been supposed from a misinterpretation also of Joh 3:19-20 , in spite of the repeated mention of the last day, and in spite of v. 27, against which here the very absence of the article should have been a warning. Again, what is subsequently said of the devil (as also the passages Joh 14:30-31 , Joh 16:11 ) is not to be explained from the Gnostic idea, that the devil, through his having contrived the death of Christ, but having after His death recognised Him as the Son of God, had been cheated , and so forfeited his right (Hilgenfeld). Of such Gnostic fancies the N. T. knows nothing. The conquest of the devil is necessarily granted along with the atoning effect of the death of Jesus, and through the operation of the Spirit of the exalted one it is in process of completion until the Parousia.
[113] As hereafter the devil is the subject which is cast out, so here the is the subject which is judged . This in answer to Bengel: “judicium de mundo, quis posthac jure sit obtenturus mundum .” Grotius explains simply of the vindicatio in libertatem ; humanity is to be freed from its unjust possessor; consequently as regards the material contents, substantially as Bengel, comp. also Beza.
[114] Schleiermacher, indeed ( L. J. p. 343), interprets the . . . . of “ open force ” in its conflict against the activity of Jesus. In reference to the declarations of Jesus regarding the devil, it is most markedly apparent with what difficulty Schleiermacher subordinated himself to exegetical tests.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
Ver. 30. But for your sakes ] That ye might believe; which if ye do not, how shall ye escape that neglect so great salvation, such a heavenly preacher? See then that ye refuse not, that ye shift not off, him that speaks from heaven; see that ye turn not from him, whose voice once shook the earth, but now heaven too, , Heb 12:25-26 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30. ] The voice had been heard by those, who did not apprehend its meaning, as thunder . But could not by any possibility have been said to them, if it had only thundered .
Our Lord does not say that the assurance was not made for His sake; He had prayed, and His prayer had been answered: but that it had not been thus outwardly expressed for His , but for their sake. This is likewise true in the case of all testimonies to Him; and especially those two other voices from heaven, at His Baptism and His Transfiguration.
is the whole multitude, not merely the disciples. All heard, and all might have understood the voice: see ch. Joh 11:42 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 12:30 . . Jesus, hearing these conjectures, explained to them that not on His account but on theirs this voice had been uttered. It was of immense importance that the disciples, and the people generally, should understand that the sudden transition from the throne offered by the triumphal acclamation of the previous day to the cross, was not a defeat but a fulfilment of the Divine purpose. The voice furnished them against the coming trial.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
answered, &c. See App-122.
because of = on account of. Greek. dia. App-104. Joh 12:2.
for your sakes = on account of (Greek. dia. App-104.) you.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
30.] The voice had been heard by those, who did not apprehend its meaning, as thunder. But could not by any possibility have been said to them, if it had only thundered.
Our Lord does not say that the assurance was not made for His sake;-He had prayed, and His prayer had been answered:-but that it had not been thus outwardly expressed for His, but for their sake. This is likewise true in the case of all testimonies to Him; and especially those two other voices from heaven,-at His Baptism and His Transfiguration.
is the whole multitude, not merely the disciples. All heard, and all might have understood the voice: see ch. Joh 11:42.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 12:30. , not on account of Me) Himself and the Father are one; wherefore He needs not external testimonies whereby His Divine mission may be confirmed. It is probable that, at the time of Jesus retirements, there were no miracles wrought in secrecy. So also, in the case of bright examples of a happy departure from life, the incidents which occur do not occur for the sake of the departing, but for the sake of the survivors,- , for your sakes) ch. Joh 11:15, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there (with Lazarus at Bethany), to the intent ye may believe, 42, I knew that Thou nearest me always; but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. [This was truly a remarkable testimony, not inferior to those which were perceived (heard) at Jordan and on the holy mount (of transfiguration).-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 12:30
Joh 12:30
Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes.-This voice came from heaven to convince the people that God was in Jesus and spake through him. It was for the profit of the hearers, not for that of Jesus. [He needed nothing to strengthen and confirm his faith, for the victory was gained before the voice spoke, but they did need much.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Belief May Become Impossible
Joh 12:30-41
The question of the Greeks led our Lords thoughts to His death. He saw, too, the baptism of suffering through which His followers must pass. From all this that troubled Him, He fled to the Father, asking only that all should converge to His glory. That request was immediately answered in the affirmative. Thus He was led to give this amazing interpretation of the events which were taking place, as viewed from the standpoint of heaven. The age, not He, was being judged. It was standing before Him for its verdict, not He before it. Caiaphas, Pilate, and the rulers of the age were passing before His judgment seat and being judged as worthless. The prince of the age, Satan, not Christ, was being cast out, though the sentence might take long before fully realized. Little as they recognized it, the day of the Cross was the crisis of the history of earth and hell, of men and demons. Then was settled the question of supremacy between darkness and light, between hate and love, between death and life. Lifted up recalls Joh 3:14. The Cross is the divine magnet, and our attitude with regard to it shows what we are. Learn from Joh 12:35-36 the order of transfiguration into the sonship of light: believe in the light, walk in the light, and you will become sons of light.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
but: Joh 5:34, Joh 11:15, Joh 11:42, 2Co 8:9
Reciprocal: Exo 19:9 – that the Act 22:9 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Jesus did not need the voice of his Father to satisfy Him, but some kind of demonstration was necessary as evidence for the crowd.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 12:30. Jesus answered and said, Not for my sake hath this voice come, but for your sakes. He needed not the voice, for he knew that He was one with the Father, and that He was carrying out the Fathers will. But they might not comprehend His sufferings, the agony of soul they now beheld, the death immediately impending; and, therefore, to show them that in all this there was no defeat on His part, but only the carrying out of the eternal purpose of the Father, the words were spoken. Then Jesus rises to the thought of that victory which, at this the very moment of His deepest humiliation and suffering, He beheld accomplished.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 30-32. Jesus answered and said: Not for my sake has this voice made itself heard, but for your sakes. 31. Now is the judgment of this world;now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32. And I, when I shall have been lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
In declaring that this voice does not make itself heard for His sake, Jesus does not mean to say that He has no need to be strengthened; but only that He had not needed to be strengthened in this way, that is, by a sensible manifestation. What the procedure of the Greeks has been for Him, in awakening vividly within Him the feeling of the gravity of the present hour, this heavenly phenomenon should be for them, by revealing to them the decisive importance of the crisis which is accomplished in this moment. And first, as to the world, this hour is that of the most radical revolution (Joh 12:31-32). It is that of its judgment (Joh 12:31 a), of the expulsion of its former master (Joh 12:31 b), and of the advent of its new monarch (Joh 12:32). The word , now, at the beginning of the first two clauses, sets forth expressly this decisive character of the present moment for humanity.
To judge is to declare the moral state, not only as evil but also as good. I cannot accept, therefore, the meaning which Weiss gives here to the word , judgment, in applying it only to the condemnation of the world as the consequence of the rejection and the death of Christ. No doubt, the cross is the basis of the condemnation of the world, as it reveals completely the moral state of natural humanity. This throne, erected for Jesus by man, shows the depth of hostility to God which is in his heart. But this is not the only side of the judgment of the world by the work of Christ; comp. Joh 3:21 following Joh 3:18-20. Passing before the cross, one part of mankind find in it their salvation through faith, while the other part through unbelief complete their condemnation. Here is the judgment of the world which is the consequence of Holy Friday. It will begin inwardly on this very day. Its first great outward manifestation will be Pentecost; the second will be the fall of Jerusalem. The final universal judgment will be the solemn ratification of it (Joh 12:48).
But, at the same time that the cross will manifest the moral state of the world, it will exhaust the measure of toleration accorded to its prince. The crucifixion of the Son of God is the most odious, the most unpardonable crime of Satan: this crime puts an end to the long-suffering of God towards him, and, consequently, to his dominion over mankind. The Rabbis habitually designate Satan as the prince of the worl (Sar haholam). But they place the Jews outside of his empire, which includes only the Gentiles. Jesus, on the contrary, counts this rebellious people as belonging to it (chap. 8), which He even especially calls the world (Joh 15:18). Out signifies not only; out of his office and power, but above all: out of his former domain, the world, mankind in the natural state. This meaning appears from the relation of these words to those which precede. With the consummation of the redemptive work, says Weiss, the expulsion of the devil begins. One soul after another is taken away from him, and the progress goes on advancing even to the final day. Thus this saying does not contradict those which still ascribe to Satan an activity in the world.
To the deposition of the former ruler answers the advent of the new sovereign. Jesus expressly designates Himself as the one who is called to fill this office: , and I. But, a strange fact, as He substitutes Himself for Satan, it is not on the earth, from which Satan is driven out, that He establishes His kingdom. The Jews imagined that the Messiah would become here on earth the successor of His adversary, that He would be another prince of this world. But no, He will leave the world, as does also His rival; He will be obliged to leave it that He may be elevated above it, and it is from this higher sphere that He will draw His subjects to Him, and will realize His kingdom. However little familiar we may be with the language of Jesus, we may understand that the expression be lifted up must be taken here in the same amphibological sense as in Joh 3:14 and Joh 8:28. His suspension on the cross is identified with the elevation to the throne to which it is for Him the way. Meyer objects against this double sense of the word be lifted up the limiting phrase , out of the earth, which proves, according to him, that Jesus is thinking not of His death, but of the ascension. It is no doubt very evident that the expression out of the earth does not refer only to the small distance of two or three cubits between the ground and the feet of the crucified one. But it is this very expression: out of the earth, which forces us to see in the word be lifted up, an allusion to the punishment of the cross. If Jesus had thought only of the ascension, the natural limiting phrase would have been into heaven or to the Father. By sayingfrom the earth, He indicates the violent manner in which He will be expelled from this domain over which He is to reign. There will be made for a time an abyss between the earth and Himself. This will render necessary for a time the heavenly and invisible form of His kingdom. Now it is to the cross that this temporary separation between the earth and Him will be due; comp. Gal 6:14.
The cross and the ascension taken together therefore freed Jesus from all earthly bonds and especially from all His national obligations towards Israel. They thus put Him in a position to extend His activity over the whole world, to become the Lord of all (Rom 10:12). This is what enables Him to say I will draw them all unto me; all, not only the Jews, but all men, and consequently the Greeks. From this word all and from this future I will draw, His response to the request which had called forth this discourse clearly appears. The hour of the call of the Greeks draws near; but, before it strikes, another hour is to strike! Some limit the all to the elect; others give it this sense: men of every nation; Meyer seems to find in it the idea of final universal salvation. But , to draw, does not necessarily denote an effectual drawing. This word may refer only to the preaching of the cross throughout the whole world and the action of the Holy Spirit which accompanies it. This heavenly drawing is not irresistible. The last word: to me, literally, to myself, makes prominent the personal position of Jesus as the supra-terrestrial centre of the kingdom of God. Once exalted to heaven, He becomes at the same time the author and the end of the divine drawing, and gathers around Himself His new people, heavenly like Himself.
These two verses sum up the whole history of the Church; both from a negative and polemical point of view: the gradual destruction of the kingdom of Satan, and from a positive point of view: the progressive establishment of the kingdom of God.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
12:30 {7} Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
(7) Christ foretells to the deaf the manner of his death, the overcoming of the devil and the world, and in conclusion his triumph.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus explained that the heavenly voice had sounded for the people’s benefit more than for His. In that the voice assured Jesus, who was to die for their sins, it was for their sake. They probably did not appreciate that it was a confirmation of Jesus until after the Resurrection. The more spiritually sensitive among them must have sensed that it signaled something important. Jesus proceeded to explain the implications of what God had said in the next two verses.