12:9
After the raising of Lazarus Jesus had kept a low profile, so now that he is about to appear in public, albeit in Bethany, it attracts a great deal of interest. “The Jews” here probably refers just to Judeans, though I suppose it could refer to those who were committed to the Jewish religion and had some affinity to the religious leaders. They were interested in Jesus because of His notoriety, but they were also keen to see Lazarus. Not many people had been raised from the dead!
12:10,11
“So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well”. Given what had happened the last time he died, one might have thought that they would realise that death was quite the final solution that they thought it was, but the chief priests were not very intelligent. What we do see is desperation in protecting their position. Jesus Himself was the main “problem” with His actions and His teachings. Lazarus having been raised from the dead is another source of attraction for people, so he must be gotten rid of too. We see the darkness of the thinking in the minds of the religious leaders. When we let bitterness or selfish ambition and the like dominate our hearts our thinking becomes seriously flawed (to put it mildly). Many of the Jews were believing in Jesus. With John we can rarely be sure how deep this belief goes, but it was enough to frighten the chief priests.
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