The crowd therefore that was with him bore witness because he had called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from among [the] dead.
A crowd stood at a tomb near Jerusalem and watched a dead man walk out. Now the same crowd walks into the city with Jesus, and God uses them as His witnesses.
The people who bear witness here were not there by chance. Bethany lay close to Jerusalem, so mourners were already at the house when Lazarus came out of the tomb.
Bethany was near Jerusalem, so many Jews had gone there. They came to show sympathy with the dead man's sisters and to comfort them. In this way a crowd of witnesses was brought to the spot. They were there to confirm the Lord's wonderful work, to spread the report of it in the holy city, and to establish that it was genuine beyond any contradiction. This brought on the crisis, which would soon have its solemn outcome in the death of the Saviour, according to the counsels and settled purpose of God.
Verse 16 has just said the disciples did not understand what was happening. Verse 17 hands the testimony to people outside that circle.
But when there was no one to know Jesus, the Lord had prepared a testimony. Note this well: His disciples did not understand these things at first. They were not looking for it, so they knew nothing of it. The testimony came from the Lord upon the hearts of the people... He must have the honour. His disciples are always the last to give it. The little they have received has so tied up their own minds. They are so taken up with what it has brought them into. So they are unable and unfit to see further and bear this witness.
The same writer weighs how much such a witness is worth:
The crowd were witnesses to Him. This was how God provided testimony to His Son... It was an outside testimony, but that did not matter here. It came despite all the opposition of His nation, and so it was all the more powerful.
Some in this crowd stood at the tomb and saw Lazarus come out. Others joined later, on the strength of the report.
The world went after Him: part with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, part meeting Him because they heard it.
The witness of verse 17 concerns a resurrection; the shout of verse 13 hailed a king. Commentators link the two as successive testimonies to who Jesus is.
The raising of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God; now the people own Him as Son of David. Here His entry into the city links straight to the resurrection of Lazarus and the title Son of God.
Another writer traces a third link in the same chain. He reads the whole sequence as God's answer to the nation's rejection of Christ:
The sickness of Lazarus had been "for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." In the middle of death He appeared as the Resurrection and the Life. Just now He was to be presented to the Daughter of Zion as her King... When Greeks asked to see Jesus, that brought out that He was Son of Man... And God arranged this threefold testimony to the glory of His Person as the answer to the settled rejection of His words and works.
Lazarus was a marked man. Killing him would have cut this witness off at its source.
Notice how powerless the enemy's efforts were. They could not stop these testimonies to the glories of Jesus. They would have been glad to kill Lazarus. But they could not touch a hair of his head while his testimony to Jesus' glory was still needed.
What the crowd carried was true, and it moved a city. It still fell short of what faith sees.
It was His resurrection power that made such a deep impression on the crowd. They did not draw the full lesson of faith. They concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and met Him as such. Meanwhile the Pharisees had to admit among themselves that their stand and opposition were useless — the world, the prize of unbelief, had gone after Him.
- Prepared — Bethany lay close to Jerusalem, so mourners were already there. God had a crowd at the tomb to confirm the miracle beyond contradiction.
- Provided — The disciples still did not understand. So God raised up the testimony to His Son from the hearts of the people.
- Powerful — This witness came from outside His own circle, despite the nation's opposition. That made it weigh more, not less.
- Progressive — The raising of Lazarus showed Him as Son of God. The entry into Jerusalem owned Him as Son of David. The Greeks would draw out Son of Man.
- Protected, yet partial — No plot could silence the witness while God still needed it. Yet the crowd stopped at "Son of David" and never drew the full lesson of faith.
Therefore also the crowd met him because they had heard that he had done this sign.
News of what Jesus had done at the tomb of Lazarus spread fast, and a crowd streamed out of Jerusalem to meet Him on the road. Did that news produce faith in who He was, or only excitement at what He could do?
John tells this entry more briefly than the other Gospel writers. But he explains one thing they leave out: why there were two crowds on the road that day.
A crowd went out from Jerusalem to meet Him, hearing that He was coming to the city. And a crowd accompanied Him from Bethany (John 12:12-13, 17-18). The first group, on meeting the Lord, would naturally turn and go ahead of Him. All four Gospel writers record this triumphal entry. You need what each one supplies to fill in the picture.
Jesus' enemies wanted Lazarus dead too. Yet the report spread from those who saw the miracle to those who only heard of it. One writer follows the word "crowd" through the chapter to show how far it went.
See how powerless all the enemy's efforts were to stop this testimony to the glories of Jesus. They would have been glad to kill Lazarus. But they could not touch a hair of his head while his witness to Jesus' glory was still needed. The testimony spread everywhere. Verse 9 speaks of "a great crowd of the Jews." In verse 17 the crowd that was with Him when He raised Lazarus from the grave bore Him witness. And verse 18 says, "The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign." In each of these verses the word is "crowd."
The sign they had heard about was a raising from the dead. The welcome they gave was to a king, and one commentator shows how the two titles fit together.
The next day the people learned that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. Struck by this great miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, they go out to meet Him with palm branches. They greet Him as the King of Israel who comes in the name of Jehovah, according to Psalm 118. This is the second character in which God would have Jesus recognised, despite His rejection. The resurrection of Lazarus had shown Him as Son of God; now He is owned as Son of David.
Their conclusion about Him was true as far as it went. It did not go far enough.
It was His resurrection power that made such a deep impression on the crowd. They did not draw the full lesson of faith. They concluded that He must be the promised Son of David, and they met Him as such. Meanwhile the Pharisees had to admit among themselves that their stand and their opposition were plainly in vain, and that the world had gone after Him.
The verse calls the raising of Lazarus a sign. One commentator explains why John recorded such signs, and where faith in miracles stops short.
John adds here that he wrote to awaken and encourage faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. He wrote so that people might have life in His Name. That is why he did not attempt the impossible task of recording all the signs Jesus had done. These were countless. And a faith built only upon miracles is not enough (John 2:23-25). His aim had been that the divine glory of the Lord should appear.
Within days the same crowd that ran out to meet Him would call for His death. One commentator explains what lay behind that turn.
It is a terrible thing to see how fickle the crowd is. Crowds are just the same today. They will never be any different until the Lord changes the face of all peoples. The same crowd that cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" applauded Him to the skies. Within a few days that same crowd cried with one voice, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" And how was that? It was the power of Satan. It was their unbelief, because their applause was nothing. Applause is only human feeling stirred up for the moment. That feeling can swing to the very opposite, and very quickly.
- The cause — one grave opened at Bethany, and a road filled outside Jerusalem. The crowd came because of a report about what Jesus had done.
- The witness — no one could silence the report, because no one could touch Lazarus while his testimony to Jesus was still needed.
- The reach — the same sign carried two titles: the raising showed Him Son of God, and the welcome owned Him Son of David.
- The limit — His resurrection power impressed them, but they did not draw the full lesson of faith. Faith built only on miracles is not enough.
- The result — applause is only feeling stirred for a moment. The crowd that shouted "Hosanna" shouted "Crucify Him" days later. Faith must rest on who He is, not on the thrill of what He did.