Yohanes 12:37-39

The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold

12:37 Although Jesus ¹  had performed ²  so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 12:38 so that the word ³  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ⁴  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ⁵  been revealed?” ⁶  12:39 For this reason they could not believe, ⁷  because again Isaiah said,

Yohanes 19:24

19:24 So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice ⁸  to see who will get it.” ⁹  This took place ¹⁰  to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” ¹¹  So the soldiers did these things.

Yohanes 19:32-36

19:32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified ¹²  with Jesus, ¹³  first the one and then the other. ¹⁴  19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced ¹⁵  his side with a spear, and blood and water ¹⁶  flowed out immediately. 19:35 And the person who saw it ¹⁷  has testified (and his testimony is true, and he ¹⁸  knows that he is telling the truth), ¹⁹  so that you also may believe. 19:36 For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.” ²⁰ 

[12:37]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:37]  ² tn Or “done.”

[12:38]  ³ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ⁴ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ⁵ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[12:39]  ⁷ sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.

[19:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “but choose by lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throw dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[19:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “to see whose it will be.”

[19:24]  ¹⁰ tn The words “This took place” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “cast lots.” See the note on “throw dice” earlier in the verse.

[19:24]  sn A quotation from Ps 22:18.

[19:32]  ¹² sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “with him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:32]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.”

[19:34]  ¹⁵ sn If it was obvious to the soldiers that the victim was already dead it is difficult to see why one of them would try to inflict a wound. The Greek verb pierced (νύσσω, nussw) can indicate anything from a slight prod to a mortal wound. Probably one of the soldiers gave an exploratory stab to see if the body would jerk. If not, he was really dead. This thrust was hard enough to penetrate the side, since the author states that blood and water flowed out immediately.

[19:34]  ¹⁶ sn How is the reference to the blood and water that flowed out from Jesus’ side to be understood? This is probably to be connected with the statements in 1 John 5:6-8. In both passages water, blood, and testimony are mentioned. The Spirit is also mentioned in 1 John 5:7 as the source of the testimony, while here the testimony comes from one of the disciples (19:35). The connection between the Spirit and the living water with Jesus’ statement of thirst just before he died in the preceding context has already been noted (see 19:28). For the author, the water which flowed out of Jesus’ side was a symbolic reference to the Holy Spirit who could now be given because Jesus was now glorified (cf. 7:39); Jesus had now departed and returned to that glory which he had with the Father before the creation of the world (cf. 17:5). The mention of blood recalls the motif of the Passover lamb as a sacrificial victim. Later references to sacrificial procedures in the Mishnah appear to support this: m. Pesahim 5:3 and 5:5 state that the blood of the sacrificial animal should not be allowed to congeal but should flow forth freely at the instant of death so that it could be used for sprinkling; m. Tamid 4:2 actually specifies that the priest is to pierce the heart of the sacrificial victim and cause the blood to come forth.

[19:35]  ¹⁷ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:35]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and that one.”

[19:35]  ¹⁹ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[19:36]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, and Ps 34:20. A number of different OT passages lie behind this quotation: Exod 12:10 LXX, Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, or Ps 34:20. Of these, the first is the closest in form to the quotation here. The first three are all more likely candidates than the last, since the first three all deal with descriptions of the Passover lamb.