26 If any one serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall be *my* servant. [And] if any one serve me, him shall the Father honour.
Wherefore Jehovah the God of Israel saith, I said indeed, Thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever. But now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
we are confident, I say, and pleased rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.
Father, [as to] those whom thou hast given me, I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before [the] foundation of [the] world.
and if I go and shall prepare you a place, I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be.
then *we*, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in [the] clouds, to meet the Lord in [the] air; and thus we shall be always with [the] Lord. So encourage one another with these words.)
But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it.
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus Lord, and ourselves your bondmen for Jesus' sake.
But I am pressed by both, having the desire for departure and being with Christ, [for] [it is] very much better,
Jude, bondman of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to the called ones beloved in God [the] Father and preserved in Jesus Christ:
Epaphras, who is [one] of you, [the] bondman of Christ Jesus, salutes you, always combating earnestly for you in prayers, to the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all [the] will of God.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.
Simon Peter, bondman and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have received like precious faith with us through [the] righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
For he that in this serves the Christ [is] acceptable to God and approved of men.
Jesus says to him, If I will that he abide until I come, what [is that] to thee? Follow thou me.
Remember the word which I said unto you, The bondman is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my word, they will keep also yours.
He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; but he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. Judas, not the Iscariote, says to him, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.
Verily, verily, I say to you, The bondman is not greater than his lord, nor the sent greater than he who has sent him.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?
And having called the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any one desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof; and he that guardeth his master shall be honoured.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 12
Commentary on John 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
It was a melancholy account which we had in the close of the foregoing chapter of the dishonour done to our Lord Jesus, when the scribes and Pharisees proclaimed him a traitor to their church, and put upon him all the marks of ignominy they could: but the story of this chapter balances that, by giving us an account of the honour done to the Redeemer, notwithstanding all that reproach thrown upon him. Thus the one was set over against the other. Let us see what honours were heaped on the head of the Lord Jesus, even in the depths of his humiliation.
Jhn 12:1-11
In these verses we have,
Jhn 12:12-19
This story of Christ's riding in triumph to Jerusalem is recorded by all the evangelists, as worthy of special remark; and in it we may observe,
Jhn 12:20-26
Honour is here paid to Christ by certain Greeks that enquired or him with respect. We are not told what day of Christ's last week this was, probably not the same day he rode into Jerusalem (for that day was taken up in public work), but a day or two after.
Thus far Christ's discourse has reference to those Greeks who desired to see him, encouraging them to serve him. What became of those Greeks we are not told, but are willing to hope that those who thus asked the way to heaven with their faces thitherward, found it, and walked in it.
Jhn 12:27-36
Honour is here done to Christ by his Father in a voice from heaven, occasioned by the following part of his discourse, and which gave occasion to a further conference with the people. In these verses we have,
Jhn 12:37-41
We have here the honour done to our Lord Jesus by the Old-Testament prophets, who foretold and lamented the infidelity of the many that believed not on him. It was indeed a dishonour and grief to Christ that his doctrine met with so little acceptance and so much opposition; but this takes off the wonder and reproach, makes the offence of it to cease, and made it no disappointment to Christ, that herein the scriptures were fulfilled. Two things are here said concerning this untractable people, and both were foretold by the evangelical prophet Isaiah, that they did not believe, and that they could not believe.
Jhn 12:42-43
Some honour was done to Christ by these rulers: for they believed on him, were convinced that he was sent of God, and received his doctrine as divine; but they did not do him honour enough, for they had not courage to own their faith in him. Many professed more kindness for Christ than really they had; these had more kindness for him than they were willing to profess. See here what a struggle was in these rulers between their convictions and their corruptions.
Jhn 12:44-50
We have here the honour Christ not assumed, but asserted, to himself, in the account he gave of his mission and his errand into the world. Probably this discourse was not at the same time with that before (for them he departed, v. 36), but some time after, when he made another public appearance; and, as this evangelist records it, it was Christ's farewell sermon to the Jews, and his last public discourse; all that follows was private with his disciples. Now observe how our Lord Jesus delivered this parting word: he cried and said. Doth not wisdom cry (Prov. 8:1), cry without? Prov. 1:20. The raising of his voice and crying intimate,