Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 12:11)

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The sixty-eighth occurrence of “believing” in the Gospel of John is John 12:11. The text reads: “Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus” (KJV). Now, what is the immediate context of this passage, and what are some facts about faith in Christ that we can glean from it?

First, what is the immediate context? The Pharisees and chief priests hold a council and say that, if they leave Jesus alone, all will believe on Him, and the Romans will come and take away both their place and their nation. Then, one of them, the high priest Caiaphas, tells them that they know nothing at all and that they are not considering that it is expedient for them that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perishing. The Holy Spirit, via the text, then informs us that Caiaphas did not speak this from himself, but rather, being that year’s high priest, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation of Israel. And not only for the nation of Israel, but also so that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. After that parenthetical note, the Scripture tells us that, from that day forward, the Pharisees and chief priests took counsel together concerning putting Him to death. For this reason, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but He instead went from there into a country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and He there continued with His disciples. At that time, the Jews’ Passover was near, and many traveled out of the country up into Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They are seeking for Jesus and, as they are standing in the temple, asking among themselves what they think, specifically if He will not arrive at the feast. The text then tells us that the chief priests and Pharisees had given a commandment to show where Jesus was so they might seize Him, if any of them knew where He was. The narrative transitions to Jesus coming to Bethany six days before the Passover, Bethany being where the formerly dead Lazarus was raised. Here, they make Jesus a supper, with Martha serving and Lazarus being one of them who sat at the table with Him. Mary then takes a pound of ointment of spikenard, which is very costly, and anoints the Lord’s feet, wiping His feet with her hair while the house is filled with the ointment’s odor. Judas Iscariot then derisively asks why the ointment was not sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor. Lest we misunderstand Judas’s intention as noble here, the Holy Spirit tells us in the text that Judas said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and stole from the bag, which he was in charge of for the group. Jesus rebukes Judas, telling him to leave Mary alone, because she has kept the ointment against the day of His burial. Because, He goes on to say, they will always have the poor with them, but they will not always have Him. Therefore, many of the Jews knew that He was there, and they came not only for Jesus’s sake, but for Lazarus’s sake also, since Jesus raised him from the dead. However, we are told, the chief priests consulted to put Lazarus to death as well. Because Lazarus was the reason many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. This is the immediate context of John 12:11!

Second, what are some facts about faith here? Like in the previous post, there is one up-until-now unmentioned fact that I think we can draw from this passage. At least, maybe it has been unmentioned up until now. Anyway, the text says that many Jews “went away” and “believed on Jesus.” There is obviously a parallel here. The Jews “went away.” Went away from whom? The context makes it clear: the chief priests, since it is the departure of these Jews that triggers their motive to put Lazarus to death. These Jews departed by believing on Jesus, implying that they had transferred their confidence from the chief priests to Christ. This is a good example of the relationship between repentance and faith, which are the response to the Gospel that saves (Mark 1:14-15). Repentance is forsaking whatever I previously put my trust in. Faith is putting my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ (and Him ONLY-Exodus 20:3; cf. John 1:1-18, 8:24, 14:6). This is a fact about faith in Christ that we can draw from John 12:11!