The kernel of wheat, Jesus, has fallen to the ground and raised up a rich harvest in the Church. Here at the altar, God kills our sinful flesh and then honors us with peace of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
12:9-11 “A great many of the Jews knew that He was there” – The first part of this passage describes the reaction of both the crowd and the leaders to Jesus’ return to Bethany and marks the transition to His entry into Jerusalem. “Many” refer back to 11:55ff who had come for the Passover and were looking for Jesus.
11:45-46 “Many…believed in Him” – The raising of Lazarus had an abrupt ending, with no word about Lazarus, no reaction from Martha, or even a note from Mary, or Thomas. But this fits John’s style with everything about Jesus’ identity in the signs, the revelation that He is the Christ, the Son of God.
24-26 “I know that he will rise again” – Martha is only able to see the great future resurrection. She has been consoled by this knowledge since Lazarus’ death.
Chapters 11 & 12 Prelude to the Passion Narrative – These two chapters are a transition from Jesus’ confrontation with “the Jews” and the narrative of His suffering and death (13:1ff). Jesus and the disciples are near Jerusalem but across the Jordan, only interrupted in by the raising of Lazarus in Bethany.
10:22-23 Final Dialogues with “the Jews” – Jesus is still near or in Jerusalem. Jesus confronts “the Jews” at the center of their Jewish life.
10:1-21 “I am the Good Shepherd” – Together with Mt 18:12-14 and Lk 15:4-7, John 10 is the most beloved depiction of Jesus as the good shepherd and the door of the sheep. From the beginning of Christian art, Jesus is depicted as savior using the image of a shepherd carrying sheep on his shoulders.
9:35-41 Spiritual Blindness and Sin – Jesus elicits a confession of faith in His encounter with the blind man. Jesus is the one sent by the Father because He performed the work of the Father.
9:1-7 The miracle and its background – There are few connections with the last chapters, suggesting this story is an interlude after the long and involved dialogues that preceded it. It is a concrete example of the refusal of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge Jesus for who He was, despite the clear witness of His miracles.
8:48-50 “Before Abraham was, I AM” – This section continues the previous, however with a different viewpoint of Abraham. The Jews cut off any meaningful conversation with their question, “You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Not only do they assert that Jesus is presenting a false religion like that of Mount Gerazim but that He is under the captivity of the devil.
