In considering John 12
● contrast Martha serving (2) and Mary at Jesus’ feet (3),
● contrast also Judas’ vain talk about helping the poor with Mary’s unvoiced anointing of Jesus’ feet with precious ointment with its house-filling scent and wiping of his feet with her hair,
● notice how Jesus responds by rejecting the money aspect, choosing instead to associate this anointing with burial (7),
● see how Lazarus has become a target for killing because he draws people to Jesus (9- 11),
● register the reference to Zechariah and Israel’s king coming on a “donkey’s colt” (15), which John elaborates by noting the disciples’ original failure to understand the significance of the event,
● notice the continued bearing witness (17-19) to Jesus and Lazarus, this time with the double verbs- “called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead” (17)- indicating the influence of this “sign” (18) which makes it seem like “the whole world has gone after him” (19),
● puzzle over the oddly extended string of transmission- Greeks- Philip- Andrew- Andrew and Philip- Jesus- that bears the starkly simple request- “we wish to see Jesus” (21) and Jesus’ response: “The hour has come” (23),
● follow Jesus’ teaching about himself as seed entering the earth in its death and yielding much fruit (24) and about himself being lifted up from the earth and as a result drawing “all men” (32) to him, resulting in Jesus being glorified (23) and God’s name being glorified (28),
● see how Jesus fully feels the challenge of the “hour” by questioning whether he should say “Save me from this hour” (27) but resolutely declaring instead, “Father, glorify your name” (28),
● notice John extending the thread about Jesus and light, started in 1:4, here adding: “while you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (36), 
● understand John uses Isaiah’s language (38-41) to account for the difficulty of people believing in Jesus despite his “signs” (37), suggesting also their misguided understanding of the source of glory (43),
● see the return of reference to light (46) and its relation to Jesus’ purpose which is salvation and not judgment (47), and
● understand that the basis of judgment is clearly established as “the word that I have spoken” (48).
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson