Yohanes 12:23-28

12:23 Jesus replied, ¹  “The time ²  has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ³  12:24 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴  unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. ⁵  But if it dies, it produces ⁶  much grain. ⁷  12:25 The one who loves his life ⁸  destroys ⁹  it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards ¹⁰  it for eternal life. 12:26 If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow ¹¹  me, and where I am, my servant will be too. ¹²  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

12:27 “Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me ¹³  from this hour’? ¹⁴  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour. ¹⁵  12:28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, ¹⁶  “I have glorified it, ¹⁷  and I will glorify it ¹⁸  again.”

[12:23]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:23]  ² tn Grk “the hour.”

[12:23]  ³ sn Jesus’ reply, the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, is a bit puzzling. As far as the author’s account is concerned, Jesus totally ignores these Greeks and makes no further reference to them whatsoever. It appears that his words are addressed to Andrew and Philip, but in fact they must have had a wider audience, including possibly the Greeks who had wished to see him in the first place. The words the time has come recall all the previous references to “the hour” throughout the Fourth Gospel (see the note on time in 2:4). There is no doubt, in light of the following verse, that Jesus refers to his death here. On his pathway to glorification lies the cross, and it is just ahead.

[12:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[12:24]  ⁵ tn Or “it remains only a single kernel.”

[12:24]  ⁶ tn Or “bears.”

[12:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “much fruit.”

[12:25]  ⁸ tn Or “soul.”

[12:25]  ⁹ tn Or “loses.” Although the traditional English translation of ἀπολλύει (apolluei) in John 12:25 is “loses,” the contrast with φυλάξει (fulaxei, “keeps” or “guards”) in the second half of the verse favors the meaning “destroy” here.

[12:25]  ¹⁰ tn Or “keeps.”

[12:26]  ¹¹ tn As a third person imperative in Greek, ἀκολουθείτω (akolouqeitw) is usually translated “let him follow me.” This could be understood by the modern English reader as merely permissive, however (“he may follow me if he wishes”). In this context there is no permissive sense, but rather a command, so the translation “he must follow me” is preferred.

[12:26]  ¹² tn Grk “where I am, there my servant will be too.”

[12:27]  ¹³ tn Or “save me.”

[12:27]  ¹⁴ tn Or “this occasion.”

[12:27]  sn Father, deliver me from this hour. It is now clear that Jesus’ hour has come – the hour of his return to the Father through crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension (see 12:23). This will be reiterated in 13:1 and 17:1. Jesus states (employing words similar to those of Ps 6:4) that his soul is troubled. What shall his response to his imminent death be? A prayer to the Father to deliver him from that hour? No, because it is on account of this very hour that Jesus has come. His sacrificial death has always remained the primary purpose of his mission into the world. Now, faced with the completion of that mission, shall he ask the Father to spare him from it? The expected answer is no.

[12:27]  ¹⁵ tn Or “this occasion.”

[12:28]  ¹⁶ tn Or “from the sky” (see note on 1:32).

[12:28]  ¹⁷ tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[12:28]  ¹⁸ tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.