Bible Strands
John 12:34
The crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The crowd answers Jesus directly after He has said the Son of Man must be lifted up (v.34a; cf. v.33). They are the same group who shouted "Hosanna" in v.13.
The words — ὄχλος (ochlos, "crowd") is the identical word used in v.13 for the palm-branch crowd; the same term now produces the question "Who is this Son of Man?"
The thread — The crowd's premise — "the Christ will remain forever" — draws on the eternal-kingship texts of Isaiah 9:7, Daniel 7:14, and Ezekiel 37:24. Their difficulty is that they cannot reconcile that eternal reign with a death.
Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to hold two truths together: the Messiah's eternal throne and His necessary death are not alternatives but a sequence. The crowd has the destination but not the road.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 37:24 My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.
- Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Daniel 7:14 And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
- Psalms 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
- Daniel 2:44 In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Daniel 7:27 Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’
- 2 Samuel 7:13 He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
- John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
- Psalms 89:36 his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun,
- John 5:25 Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.