Discovery BoxJohn 12:24 
Context12:24 I tell you the solemn truth, 1 unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. 2 But if it dies, it produces 3 much grain. 4
John 12:27-32
Context12:27 “Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me 5 from this hour’? 6 No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour. 7 12:28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, 8 “I have glorified it, 9 and I will glorify it 10 again.” 12:29 The crowd that stood there and heard the voice 11 said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to him. 12 12:30 Jesus said, 13 “This voice has not come for my benefit 14 but for yours. 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world 15 will be driven out. 16 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people 17 to myself.”
1 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
2 tn Or “it remains only a single kernel.”
3 tn Or “bears.”
4 tn Grk “much fruit.”
5 tn Or “save me.”
6 tn Or “this occasion.”
sn Father, deliver me from this hour. It is now clear that Jesus’ hour has come – the hour of his return to the Father through crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension (see 12:23). This will be reiterated in 13:1 and 17:1. Jesus states (employing words similar to those of Ps 6:4) that his soul is troubled. What shall his response to his imminent death be? A prayer to the Father to deliver him from that hour? No, because it is on account of this very hour that Jesus has come. His sacrificial death has always remained the primary purpose of his mission into the world. Now, faced with the completion of that mission, shall he ask the Father to spare him from it? The expected answer is no.
7 tn Or “this occasion.”
8 tn Or “from the sky” (see note on 1:32).
9 tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
10 tn “It” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
11 tn “The voice” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
12 tn Grk “Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” The direct discourse in the second half of v. 29 was converted to indirect discourse in the translation to maintain the parallelism with the first half of the verse, which is better in keeping with English style.
13 tn Grk “Jesus answered and said.”
14 tn Or “for my sake.”
15 sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.
16 tn Or “will be thrown out.” This translation regards the future passive ἐκβληθήσεται (ekblhqhsetai) as referring to an event future to the time of speaking.
sn The phrase driven out must refer to Satan’s loss of authority over this world. This must be in principle rather than in immediate fact, since 1 John 5:19 states that the whole world (still) lies in the power of the evil one (a reference to Satan). In an absolute sense the reference is proleptic. The coming of Jesus’ hour (his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and exaltation to the Father) marks the end of Satan’s domain and brings about his defeat, even though that defeat has not been ultimately worked out in history yet and awaits the consummation of the age.
17 tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).
