In John 12:16, What Are the Things “They” Did to Jesus?
Question: In John 12:16 John is relating how the disciples were unaware at the time that Jesus was fulfilling the scriptures. The last part of this verse is translated “and that they had done these things to him” or “that they had done these things unto him”.
I don’t understand what it is that the disciples are to have done to Jesus. Several commentaries say the last part of the verse is referring to the Jewish people in general; thus, the verse would mean “that [the Jewish people] had done these things to him”.
I don’t think that is the case as, grammatically speaking, the “they” in the sentence refers back to the original noun which is stated earlier in the verse as “his disciples”.
That being the case, I do not understand what the verse is referring to when it says his disciples “had done these things to him”.
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
Answer: The subject (in the Greek) of “had been done to him” is not “they” but “these things.” To be sure, some translations read “they had done to him” but that is not an accurate translation. The more pertinent question is “What were the things done to Jesus?” And in context it is the hailing him with hosannas as the coming king. These things were done by the crowds that lined the road as Jesus rode by on the donkey, as predicted by Psalm 118 and Zechariah 9. The disciples may have participated as well, but the prophecy is about what the people of Israel would do to hail their king, so it makes sense to say the disciples remembered later what the Israelites, and perhaps even themselves, had done to or for Jesus as predicted in Zechariah 9:9.
About the Author
Randall Johnson
A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.
