Joh 12:19 | KingComments | STEP | While the great crowd ( ) cheered Him on, there is another crowd that was with Him when He had raised Lazarus. That crowd bears witness to this great event. They have been particularly impressed by that sign. It is really unbelievable that they were able to see it with their own eyes. It is indeed an enormous grace, although most of them unfortunately did not recognize it as such. What the Lord has done with Lazarus, He wants to do with every human being in a spiritual sense. Let us hope and pray that this wonder of making alive will still take place in the life of many. The crowd that has been present at the resurrection of Lazarus is meeting the other crowd that has already joined the Lord. That must have been an impressive procession, all to Christ’s honor, because of the sign He has done. The addition that it is because of the sign, shows that it is only about a spontaneous expression of feelings and not about an inner conversion. We see here an expression of feelings as we often notice at mass meetings. There is hardly any room for individual experience of faith. The feelings are carried away by the great event. There is no chance of a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus. The Pharisees look at it differently. They look at Him with sadness and grind their teeth in the face of that massive rush. It is completely out of control. They have to conclude that “the world” is following Him. Jews from all over the world have come to Jerusalem (cf. ) and there is also talk of non-Jews in . The leaders notice that they have lost their grip on the mass. How powerless an enemy of God is when God takes the feelings of the mass into His hands for a moment to make them applaud His Son.

‏ John 12:19

The Crowd and the Pharisees

While the great crowd (Jn 12:12) cheered Him on, there is another crowd that was with Him when He had raised Lazarus. That crowd bears witness to this great event. They have been particularly impressed by that sign. It is really unbelievable that they were able to see it with their own eyes.

It is indeed an enormous grace, although most of them unfortunately did not recognize it as such. What the Lord has done with Lazarus, He wants to do with every human being in a spiritual sense. Let us hope and pray that this wonder of making alive will still take place in the life of many.

The crowd that has been present at the resurrection of Lazarus is meeting the other crowd that has already joined the Lord. That must have been an impressive procession, all to Christ’s honor, because of the sign He has done. The addition that it is because of the sign, shows that it is only about a spontaneous expression of feelings and not about an inner conversion.

We see here an expression of feelings as we often notice at mass meetings. There is hardly any room for individual experience of faith. The feelings are carried away by the great event. There is no chance of a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus.

The Pharisees look at it differently. They look at Him with sadness and grind their teeth in the face of that massive rush. It is completely out of control. They have to conclude that “the world” is following Him. Jews from all over the world have come to Jerusalem (cf. Acts 2:9-11) and there is also talk of non-Jews in Jn 12:20. The leaders notice that they have lost their grip on the mass. How powerless an enemy of God is when God takes the feelings of the mass into His hands for a moment to make them applaud His Son.