August 2, 2023
No Longer The Hero
“So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.’ Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;” John 12:19-20 (NASB)
When I was about twelve, I played football on a little league team. The whole season I played defensive tackle. It wasn’t a glorious position, but I got to hit people hard. One day I asked the coach if I could play somewhere else. I was bored playing the position. He responded, “You are needed there.” At the end of the season we had our “Super Bowl” game (yes, we were good!), and the left defensive end got hurt. I begged the coach, “Can I play that position?” He finally agreed after I nagged him to no end. The next play, the opposing team threw a screen pass. I ran as hard as I could. I intercepted the ball. I ran the ball all the way back to the end zone. “Touchdown!” I heard the announcer say. I stood in all my glory, thinking “Coach, you should have played me there all year!” I was so proud. A few seconds later, the whistle blew. “Clipping!” the referee said. Our player hit the other team’s player illegally. It turned out to be the kid who took my old position. We eventually won the game. I never got to play my “new position” because I had to move up in age group. I watched the next season as my old dream team moved on without me. My chance to gain notoriety with my coach was gone.
“So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.’” A. T. Robertson says this is a “Graphic picture of the predicament of the Pharisees standing off and watching the enthusiastic crowds sweep by. As people usually do, they blame each other for the defeat of their plots against Jesus and for his final victory, as it seemed. Behold how ye prevail nothing (Greek omitted). It was a pathetic confession of failure because the rest of the plotters had bungled the whole thing. “Ye help nothing at all” by your plots and plans. The “world” is a bunch of fools, they feel, but see for yourselves. And the Sanhedrin had advertised to “find” Jesus! They can find him now!”[1] The command to find Jesus to the common Jew, had rendered their plans a failure. The attempt to find Jesus was successful, but not in the way they thought. The people found Jesus and saw the miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection, or they heard about it from those who witnessed the miracle. The message was out! He is Messiah! “Now there were some Greeks among those…” It is even possible many Greeks were entering the city at this time as well. “We do not know whence they came, whether from Decapolis, Galilee, or further away. They found the pilgrims and the city ringing with talk about Jesus. They may even have witnessed the triumphal entry.”[2]
The power of rage leaves a person without thinking clearly. The mindset of the Jews was to arrest Jesus and kill Him. They hadn’t known what Jesus knew. Jesus would perform a miracle for all those people the Jews were sending to look for Him. He just had a bigger crowd to perform in front of! In fact, God had too now opened the doors to the Gentile nation to see the Messiah revealed. This was the greatest shock to the Jews. Gentiles to become God’s own? Hah! But it was happening right in front of their eyes. They were losing a chance to have the notoriety they had for so long… I played football again the following season, but the Jews lost their team.
[1] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 12:19). Broadman Press.
[2] Ibid.