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Commentaries
English
John
  
A - PRELUDE TO HOLY WEEK
(JOHN 11:55 – 12:50)

1. Jesus anointed in Bethany
(John 11:55 – 12:8)
55Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.56They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?"57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if any one knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.


The Passover was the main feast in the Old Testament, celebrating the rescue of the Hebrews from divine wrath. Thereby, they lived under the protection of the divine Lamb prepared for them. They deserved to die, but faith saved them.
Annually the Jews would visit Jerusalem to thank God for guarding them from his wrath. There they slew myriads of lambs and ate them. Many used to go to Jerusalem beforehand to be cleansed by repentance and be ready to identify with the Lamb of God. If anyone had touched a corpse he had to observe a series of cleansings for seven days, to deserve entry into God’s temple (Numbers 19:11).
At this season the pilgrims inquired about Jesus, the Nazarene, "Will he come or will they not see him?" After all, they knew that the religious Council had secretly decided to condemn him to death. They asked many in the nation to spy on Jesus, and inform them that they had seen him somewhere, to seize him. The jaws of death were open to swallow Jesus.