<p>12:34- see on Jn. 12:13.</p><p><i>The crowd asked him: We have heard out of the law that the Christ abides forever; and how do you say: The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?</i>- This same &quot;crowd&quot; had been enthused by the resurrection of Lazarus and were welcoming the Lord as Messiah on the basis that He would establish an eternal Messianic Kingdom there and then. As explained on :12 and elsewhere, the Lord purposefully deflated their expectations. They were in love with an image of Him and not He Himself; and when He brought that to their attention, saying that He had come to die and not start a political Kingdom; it had the desired effect. They turned against Him. &quot;Who is this Son of Man?&quot; can imply 'We don't need a Son of Man Messiah of <i>this</i> kind'. A crucified Messiah was anathema to them, so much so that they actually went and got Him crucified.</p>