John 12:19

Joh_12:19

Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing?

Behold the world is gone after Him

The failure of infidelity

Like the prediction of Caiaphas and the inscription of Pilate, an unconscious prophecy is hidden in these words. What the Pharisee affirmed hyperbolically Christs friends may now affirm almost literally. Note

I. THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. Four important facts concerning this pro-gross are admitted by friends and foes.

1. That during the first four centuries it was rapid and extensive.

2. That its human instruments were few and feeble.

3. That it was in spite of bitter and persistent opposition.

4. That it was not achieved in the dark, but in the most enlightened age of antiquity, and in the most populous and polished of ancient cities. The company of one hundred and twenty soon became three thousand, then five thousand men alone, then multitudes in Jerusalem only. In less than half a century Christian Churches were planted in all the chief cities of the Roman empire; in less than three centuries more, it was the religion of that empire. And from that day it has continued to spread until the most civilized nations are Christian and become Christian.

II. THE EFFORTS OF INFIDELITY TO STOP THAT PROGRESS. Such was the nature of the opposition to Christianity that if our standpoint had been the first instead of the nineteenth century we should be forced to the conclusion that it would fail.

1. The Jewish world opposed it. The rulers crucified its Author but that effort was unavailing, for Christ rose again. They killed Stephen and James, but the disciples, driven in every direction, spread the gospel. Wherever the apostles went the Jews stirred up the people against them; but being persecuted in one city they fled to another preaching until thousands of Jews, including many priests, became obedient to the faith.

2. The Gentile world opposed it. Polytheism was so firmly enthroned in the hearts of the people, and so completely interwoven with the government, the arts and trade, that Christianity was regarded as treason against religion, the state, common sense and good taste. First, the Christians were slandered and ridiculed, then slaughtered in thousands. But all the efforts of the empire and paganism combined prevailed nothing.

3. The modern world has opposed it. Changing its tactics, infidelity, instead of assaulting men bodily, has assailed their minds and hearts, and marshalled its hosts under the banners of science and literature. But still it prevails nothing.

III. WHY INFIDELITY HAS FAILED. The Christian answer is because the hand of God is in the progress of Christianity. The answer of infidelity--in human instrumentality--refutes itself. Infidelity has failed because

1. It has dashed itself against the Rock of Ages. There is no successful arguing against such a character as Christ.

2. The evidences of Christianity are too convincing, intelligent people would not continue for nineteen centuries to use a remedy that never cures.

3. Infidelity has no substitute for Christianity. (W. B. Stewart, D. D.)

The world is gone after Him

It is a confession of defeat, There has been a long struggle and it has gone against us. The triumphal entry had shown the hold which Christ had on the people.

I. WHAT WAS IT IN CHRIST WHICH SO DEEPLY STIRRED THE ENMITY OF THE PHARISEES?

1. We are in some respects hard on the Pharisees. When Christ called them hypocrites, He meant that sort of doubleness which may be but half conscious, or which may be quite unconscious to the man himself. They were moral men, and it is not hard to reconcile this with their conduct towards Christ. Who are they now, who are most sensitive to the appearance of what they regard as irregular teachers of religion? And who can wonder if the last to give their sympathy to the new doctrine are the established exponents of the old?

2. Doubtless it was the sin of the Pharisees to be prejudiced against Christ, but we lose the lesson if we regard them as monsters of the past, which is the danger of prejudice in things of the soul. We ought not to be so wedded to one form or formula as to be incapable of profiting by any new light.

II. WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE THE WORLD GO AFTER HIM.

1. Reality. We may trifle with Christ; but He never trifles with us. The Pharisees were triflers, as are their modern representatives, whether of wealth, literature, or the Church. Men then, as now, were weary with childish discussions, and were then, as now, ready to follow a real man who meant and lived what he said.

2. Unworldliness. It is a mistake for a religious teacher to court popularity by compromise with the world, All things to all men. The people see through it all and despise the man who flatters himself that he has won them. The secret of John the Baptists power was his unworldliness, and it was the incomparable unworldliness of Christ that attracted the world after Him.

3. Wonderful love. It was new to publicans and sinners to be treated with love, and still more strange that with the love of Christ there should be blended such an inflexible righteousness. But the people followed Him because of the love which won them from the sin which purity condemned. (Dean Vaughan.)

Why Christianity triumphed

Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means the Christian faith obtained so remarkable a victory over the established religions of the earth. To this inquiry an obvious but satisfactory answer may be given, that it was owing to the convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling providence of the great Author. (Gibbon.)

The triumph of Christianity

During the decay of the Roman Empire, a pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new vigour from opposition, and finally erected the triumphant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the capitol. Nor was the influence of Christianity confined to the period or to the limits of the Roman Empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen centuries that religion is professed by the nations of Europe, the most distinguished portion of the human kind in arts and learning as well as in arms. By the industry and zeal of the Europeans, it has been widely diffused to the most distant shores of Asia and Africa, and by the means of their colonies has been firmly established from Canada to Chili, in a world unknown to the ancients. (Gibbon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:19 everyone: Literally the world. The Pharisees’ words were more significant than they realized. Jesus came to reach the world (3:17), and the Pharisees said that Jesus had accomplished his task.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 12:19. Θεωρεῖτε) The indicative without an interrogation [Engl. Vers. makes it an interrogation, Perceive ye?]. Comp. Act 21:20, [Θεωρεῖς, ἀδελφὲ, πόσαι μυρίαδες, “Thou perceivest, brother, how many,” etc.] They approve of the counsel of Caiaphas.—οὐκ ὠφελοῦμεν οὐδέν) See App. Crit., Ed. ii., on this passage.[316] [It is well, when matters come to that (that the enemies of the truth cannot prevail against it).—V. g.]—ὁ κόσμος, the world) An hyperbole resulting from indignation. If the whole world, say they, were ours, it would desert us to go after Him. There lies hidden in their words something like a prophecy. Comp. ch. Joh 11:50. [Caiaphas’ unconscious prophecy] “that one man should die for the people;” and Joh 19:19, etc., [Pilate’s unwitting testimony of Jesus’ kingship of the Jews, in the inscription on the Cross; an inscription, which he was providentially overruled not to withdraw, when requested to substitute] “that He said, I am King of the Jews.”—ἀπῆλθεν, is gone) away from us. How shall we retain the world?

[316] Bengel’s authority for ὠφελοῦμεν seems to be the Vulg. ‘proficimus;’ also c. But ABDQb Rec. Text read οὐκ ὠφελεῖτε οὐδέν; “nihil proficitis” is the reading in a.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_12:19. Contrast to the triumph; the despairing self-confession of the Pharasaic adversaries, not as Chrysostom, in spite of the article in οἱ Φαρισ., explained of the quiet friends of Jesus among the Pharisees.

πρὸς ἑαυτούς] to one another; but ἀλλήλ. is not employed, because the utterance is to appear as limited to the particular circle. Comp. on Joh_7:35.

θεωρεῖτε, κ.τ.λ.] You perceive that we profit nothing, namely, by our previous cautious, expectant, feeble procedure. Approbant Caiaphae consilium, Bengel.

ὁ κόσμος] designation, indicative of their despair, of the great multitude. Comp. עולם in the Rabbins. See Wetstein.

In ἀπῆλθεν (is gone from thence) is contained, by means of the pragmatic connection with ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, the representation of the falling away from the legitimate hierarchical power. Comp. ὕπηγον, Joh_12:11.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 12:19 . The effect on the Pharisees is, as usual, recorded by John; they said one to another, Θεωρεῖτε … ἀπῆλθεν . “Do you see how helpless you are? The world is gone after Him.” For ὁ κόσμος see 4Ma 17:14 and French “tout le monde”. For ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ see 2Sa 15:13 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 19. “Whereupon the Pharisees said among themselves, You see that you prevail nothing; behold, the world is gone after him.”

Joh 12:17-18 bring out the influence of the resurrection of Lazarus on the scene of Palmday; Joh 12:19 indicates that of this scene on the final catastrophe. Πρὸς ἑαυτούς, instead of πρὸς ἀλλήλους, because, belonging to the same body, it is as if they were speaking to themselves. ῎Ιδε, behold, alludes to the unexpected spectacle of which they had just been witnesses. There is something of distress in the term ὁ κόσμος, the world, “all this people, native and foreign,” and in the aorist ἀπῆλθεν, is gone: “It is an accomplished thing; we are alone!”— θεωρεῖτε may be explained as an imperative; but it is better to take it as an indicative present. These persons mutually summon each other, with a kind of bitterness, to notice the inefficacy of their half-measures. It is a way of encouraging each other to use without delay the extreme measures advised by Caiaphas. It is these last words especially which serve to place this whole passage in connection with the general design of this part of the Gospel.

The more closely the narrative of John is studied, the less is it possible to see in it the accidental product of tradition or of legend. Instead of the juxtaposition of anecdotes which forms the character of the Synoptics, we meet at every step the traces of a profound connection which governs the narrative even in its minutest details. The dilemma is therefore, as Baur has clearly seen, real history profoundly apprehended and reproduced, or a romance very skillfully conceived and executed.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Even they which go about to oppress Christ, are made instruments of his glory.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 19. Ye prevail nothing] Either by your threatening or excommunications.

The world is gone after him.] The whole mass of the people are becoming his disciples. This is a very common form of expression among the Jews, and simply answers to the French, tout le monde, and to the English, every body - the bulk of the people. Many MSS., versions, and fathers, add ολος, the WHOLE world. As our Lord's converts were rapidly increasing, the Pharisees thought it necessary to execute without delay what they had purposed at their first council. See Joh 11:53.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. Do you not see that you gain nothing? By these words they urge themselves to greater rage; for it may be regarded as a reproach of their slothfulness, as if they had said, that the reason why the people revolted and followed Christ was their own excessive indolence and cowardice. This is the way in which desperate men are wont to talk, when they are making themselves ready for attempting any extreme measures. And if the enemies of God persevere so obstinately in what is evil, we ought to be far more steady in a just undertaking.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(19) Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing?—The words may be also read, “Look how ye profit nothing” (imperative); or, Ye perceive how ye profit nothing (indicative). Upon the whole this last is to be preferred. They blame each other for the failure of all their plans (comp. Joh_11:47), and prepare themselves to accept the counsel of Caiaphas.

Behold, the world is gone after him.—They use terms which express the bitterness of their despair. They who had asked in scorn, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?” who called “cursed” “this people who knoweth not the law” who followed Him (Joh_7:48-49), have heard Jews of Jerusalem express their belief in Him; and now, see Him whom they are seeking to kill, borne as the Messiah at the head of a throng of pilgrims.

The words rendered “gone after him” apply that they had gone away from themselves, and rejected their authority; and had then gone after Him. (Comp. Note on Joh_12:11.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. The Discomfiture of the Pharisees

19. Perceive ye] Rather, Behold ye. The Greek may also mean ‘Behold’ (imperat.) or ye behold: the last is perhaps best; ‘Ye see what a mistake we have made; we ought to have adopted the plan of Caiaphas long ago.’

the world] The exaggerated expression of their chagrin, which in this Divine epic is brought into strong contrast with the triumph of Jesus. Comp. a similar exaggeration from a similar cause Joh_3:26; ‘all men come to Him.’

is gone after him] Literally, is gone away after Him. The Greek word is not the same but is similar in meaning to that used in Joh_12:11. After this confession of helplessness the Pharisees appear no more alone; the reckless hierarchy help them on to the catastrophe.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there were certain Greeks,.... "Hellenes", so called, from Hellen, a king of that name, as Pliny says (r) These were not Graecizing Jews, or Jews that dwelt in Greece, and spoke the Greek language; for they were called not Hellenes, but Hellenists; but these were, as the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions render it, Gentiles; and were either mere Gentiles, and yet devout and religious men, who were allowed to offer sacrifice, and to worship, in the court of the Gentiles; or they were proselytes, either of righteousness, and so were circumcised, and had a right to eat of the passover, as well as to worship at it; or of the gate, and so being uncircumcised, might not eat of the passover, yet might worship at it; which latter seems to be the case, by what follows: for these were

among them, that came up to worship at the feast; of the passover, which was near at hand: these were among those, that went forth to meet Jesus, and that attended him to Jerusalem, who were come up out of the country to this feast; and these came along with them to worship at it, to offer their sacrifices, and join in prayer, though they might not eat of the passover.

(r) Nat. His. l. 4. c. 7.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

Ver. 19. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing?] Thus they stir up one another to more madness, as if hitherto they had been overly mild, and used too much gentleness. So Stephen Gardiner, being charged of cruelty by Bradford, answered, I for my part have been challenged for being too gentle oftentimes. Which thing Bonner confirmed, and so did almost all the audience, that he had been ever too mild and moderate. So Bonner in open court to the Lord Mayor: They report me (said he) to seek blood, and call me bloody Bonner, whereas, God knows, I never sought any man’s blood in all my life. But a certain unknown good woman, in a letter to Bonnor, told him his own in these words: Indeed you are called the common cut-throat and general slaughter-slave to all the bishops of England. And therefore it is wisdom for me and all other simple sheep of the Lord to keep us out of your butcherly stall, as long as we can, especially since you have such store already, that you are not able to drink all their blood, lest you should break your belly: and therefore ye let them lie still and die for hunger, &c. Thus she to Bonner. As for Dr Story, who was hanged, drawn, and quartered, for his treason in Queen Elizabeth’s reign; I see (said he in open Parliament) nothing to be ashamed of (though he had been a furious persecutor under Queen Mary), so less I see to be sorry for, but rather because I have done no more; wherein he said there was no default in him, but in them, whom he often and earnestly had exhorted to the same; being not a little grieved, therefore, with them, for that they laboured only about the young and little sprigs and twigs, while they should have stricken at the root (the Lady Elizabeth he meant) and clean rooted it out. The Lord Paget in a certain consultation said, that King Philip should never have any quiet commonwealth in England unless the Lady Elizabeth’s head were stricken from her shoulders. Whereunto the Spaniards answered, God forbid that their king and master should have such a mind, to consent to such a mischief. A writ came down, while she was in the Tower, subscribed with certain hands of the council, for her execution, Stephen Gardiner being the engineer. Mr Bridges, Lieutenant of the Tower, mistrusting false play, presently made haste to the queen, who renounced and reversed it. And yet of her, that was true that Josephus writeth of Alexandra, Ipsa solum nomen regium ferebat, caeterum omnem regni potestatem Pharisaei possidebant. She herself bore only the name of power, the Pharisees seized all the remaining authority of the kingdom,

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do you see that we prevail nothing?[1] Thus said the Pharisees, being vexed that so many followed Christ, even after they had ordered, that whosoever owned him, should be turned out of their synagogues; and after they had employed men to apprehend him, but to no purpose. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Quia nihil proficimus. In most Greek copies, and also in St. John Chrysostom, we read: you see that you prevail nothing; as if these words had been spoken by some of Christ’s friends, to make his adversaries desist. Greek: Theoreite oti ouk opheleite ouden.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

19. The world is gone after him—The raising of Lazarus was the summit of the climax of his divine works, and, occurring at the time of the approaching Passover, it roused an enthusiasm before which the authorities were for a while paralyzed. Hence, as already remarked, the great excitement of the people at this moment requires the miracle to account for its existence.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pharisees therefore, at the sight of the popular enthusiasm, said to themselves; i.e. to their own inner circle. Hengstenberg thinks here is a hint of some medium of communication between John and the Pharisees, and imagines it to be found through Martha and Simon (her husband). Their language was, Perceive ye or, ye perceive (either imperative or indicative)that ye prevail nothing! The interrogative may also be a true translation. Do ye perceive that ye prevail nothing? On either hypothesis, it cannot be, as Chrysostom says, the language of the friends of Jesus among the Pharisees, but rather the cry of despair and rage. Behold, the (kosmov ) world has gone away after him. They are repenting that they had not followed out the coercive plans and murderous designs of Caiaphas, and had been content with half-measures.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

world

kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. The world is gone after him. The Pharisees observed the vast crowds that attended him and were filled with alarm. The city was filled with commotion (Matt. 21:10, 11).

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

19. THE DISCOMFITURE OF THE PHARISEES

19. θεωρεῖτε. Either (indic.) Ye behold, or Behold ye? or (imper.) Behold. The first seems best: comp. Joh 5:39, Joh 14:1, Joh 15:18; 1Jn 2:27-29. ‘Ye see what a mistake we have made; we ought to have adopted the plan of Caiaphas long ago.’

ἴδε ὁ κόσμος. The exaggerated expression of their chagrin, which in this Divine epic is brought into strong contrast with the triumph of Jesus. Comp. a similar exaggeration from a similar cause Joh 3:26; ‘all men come to Him.’ For ἴδε see on Joh 1:29. Ἀπῆλθεν, is gone away, implies that Jesus’ gain is the Pharisees’ loss. The words are perhaps recorded as another unconscious prophecy (Joh 11:50, Joh 7:35). After this confession of helplessness the Pharisees appear no more alone; the reckless hierarchy help them on to the catastrophe.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. κόσμος] κόσμον τὰ πλήθη λέγουσιν.

ἀπῆλθεν can hardly be altogether without allusion to the fact, or likelihood, of apostasy from Judaism. It is used to signify entire devotion to Him whithersoever He might lead them, as in ref.: and thus implies escape and alienation from themselves.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. οἱ οὖν φαρισαῖοι. The Pharisees formed the party who were most deeply opposed to the teaching of Jesus (see on 1:24), and who initiated the movement for His arrest, which was ultimately carried out by the authority of the ἀρχιερεῖς (v. 10), who were the most influential members of the Sanhedrim (see on 7:32). They were in despair at the reception given to Jesus at His entry into the city, and said to each other, “Do you notice (θεωρεῖτε is probably indicative, rather than imperative) that you don’t do any good?” θεωρεῖν is used here of mental perception and understanding of the situation (see on 2:23).

With οὐκ ὠφελεῖτε οὐδέν; cf. 6:63 ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν.

For ἴδε in Jn., see on 1:29.

ὁ κόσμος. DL add ὅλος to bring out the sense, “the whole world,” everybody, tout le monde. Wetstein quotes a Rabbinical story of a priest of whom it was said, in like manner, “all the world was going after him.” For κόσμος in Jn., see on 1:9.

ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ἀπῆλθεν. The aor. ἀπῆλθεν is here equivalent to “has gone,” or, as the Sinai Syriac renders, “is going.” The movement which the Pharisees regretted was in progress.

For the use of ὀπίσω, cf. 2Sa 15:13 ἐγενήθη ἡ καρδία ἀνδρῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὀπίσω Ἀβεσσαλώμ.

The Greek Inquirers (vv. 20-22)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is gone after Him [οπισω αυτου απηλθεν] . The phrase occurs only here. Literally, is gone away.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.