Life, the Light, the Judge of men, or, in one word, as the
Son doing the Father's works, manifesting the Father's presence,
disclosing in His various words and deeds "the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

These manifestations culminate in the raising of Lazarus, recorded in
the eleventh chapter. This final sign, while in "many of the Jews" (xi.
45) it produced faith, aggravated at the same time the unbelief of the
authorities, who "from that day forth took counsel together for to put
Him to death" (xi. 53). The twelfth chapter, therefore, holds a place by
itself. In it we have three incidents related, and all related for the
same purpose, namely, to demonstrate that there was now no further need
of such manifestations of the glory of Jesus as had already been given,
and that all things were now ripe for the catastrophe. The incidents in
which this became apparent were Mary's anointing of Jesus, His triumphal
entry into Jerusalem, and the enquiry of the Greeks. By introducing
these three incidents together at this point, John wishes to show (1)
that Jesus was now embalmed in the love of His intimate friends, (2)
that He had found in the untutored instincts of the people a response to
His claim, and (3) that even in the still wider circle of the outlying
nations His name was known. He may, therefore, now safely finish His
self-revelation. It has done its work. And the completeness of its
result is seen, not only in this widely-extended impression and
firmly-rooted attachment, but also in the maturity of unbelief which now
took active steps to take Jesus and put Him to death.

This part of the Gospel therefore appropriately closes with the words:
"These things spake Jesus and departed, and did hide Himself from them"
(xii. 36). The public manifestation of Jesus is closed.

Between the first and the second part of the Gospel there is interposed
a paragraph (xii. 37-50), in which John briefly points out that the
rejection of Jesus by the Jews was no more than had been predicted by
the prophet Isaiah, and that it reflects no suspicion on the
manifestations of His relation to the Father which Jesus had made. He
then sums up in one or two sentences the significance and consequences
of receiving and of rejecting Jesus.

In the second part of the Gospel the writer is still guided by the same
purpose of showing how Jesus manifested His glory. This is obvious not
merely from the contents of