John
Chapter 12
1 Six days before Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he had brought back to life after death.
2 There they prepared a dinner for him; Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him.
3 Mary took a pound of very expensive spikenard perfume, put it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. The smell of the perfume filled the house.
4 One of his followers, Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, who would later betray him, said
5 Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred coins and given to the poor?
6 He said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, held the money bag, and took what was placed in it.
7 Jesus said, Leave her alone; she saved this for the day of my burial.
8 You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me.
9 Many Jewish people knew he was there, so they came not just for Jesus, but also to see Lazarus whom he brought back to life.
10 The leading priests planned to kill Lazarus too.
11 Because of him, many Jews left and believed in Jesus.
12 The next day, many people who had come to the celebration heard that Jesus was heading to Jerusalem.
13 They took palm tree branches, went out to meet him, and shouted, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel who comes in God’s name.”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as the scripture says.
15 Don’t be afraid, people of Zion: look, your King is coming, riding on a young donkey.
16 At first, his disciples did not understand these things. But after Jesus was honored, they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had happened to him.
17 The people with him when he called Lazarus out of his tomb and woke him from the dead, witnessed it.
18 The people came to meet him because they heard he had performed this miracle.
19 The Pharisees then said to each other, “Do you see that we are not succeeding at all? Look, everyone is following him.”
20 Some Greeks who were there to worship at the festival were among them.
21 This person came to Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied to them, “The time has come for the Son of man to be honored.”
24 Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the soil and dies, it stays single; but if it dies, it produces lots of seeds.
25 Whoever loves their life will lose it; and whoever hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If someone serves me, he should follow me; and where I am, my servant will be too: if someone serves me, God will honor him.
27 My soul is troubled; what should I say? Father, rescue me from this time. Yet this is why I came to this moment.
28 Father, make your name honored. Then a voice from heaven spoke, “I have honored it, and I will honor it again.”
29 The people standing nearby who heard it said it thundered; others said an angel spoke to him.
30 Jesus replied, “This voice was not for me, but for you.”
31 The time has come to judge this world; now the ruler of this world will be thrown out.
32 If I am raised up from the earth, I will attract everyone to me.
33 He said this to show what kind of death he was going to die.
34 The people replied, “We know from the law that Christ will live forever. So why do you say that the Son of Man must be raised up? Who is this Son of Man?”
35 Jesus told them, “The light will be with you for just a short time. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Anyone walking in darkness doesn’t know where they are going.”
36 While you have light, trust in it, so you can be children of light. After saying this, Jesus left and hid from them.
37 Even though he had performed many miracles in front of them, they still did not believe in him.
38 So that what the prophet Isaiah said would come true, he asked, “God, who has believed what we said? And to whom has God shown his power?”
39 So they couldn’t believe, because Isaiah had said before,
40 God has made their eyes blind and their hearts hard; so they cannot see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn to me so I can heal them.
41 Isaiah said these things when he saw God’s glory and spoke about him.
42 Many leaders also believed in him, but they did not admit it because of the Pharisees; they were afraid of being expelled from the synagogue.
43 They liked people’s approval more than God’s approval.
44 Jesus cried out and said, “Anyone who believes in me does not just believe in me, but in the one who sent me.”
45 Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
46 I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not stay in darkness.
47 If anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge them, because I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
48 Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something that will judge them: the words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day.
49 I don’t speak for myself; the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
50 I know that God’s command leads to eternal life. So, whatever I say is just as the Father told me to say.