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John 12

12
Mary Pours Perfume on Jesus at Bethany
1Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus lived. He was the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 2A dinner was given at Bethany to honor Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people at the table with him. 3Then Mary took two cups of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the sweet smell of the perfume.
4But one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies, complained about what Mary did. He asked, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold so that the money could be given to the poor? It was worth a year’s pay!” 6But he didn’t say that because he cared about the poor. He said it because he was a thief. Judas was in charge of the moneybag, and he used to help himself to what was in it.
7“Leave her alone,” Jesus answered. “That perfume was meant for the day of my burial. 8You’ll always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.”
9Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there in Bethany. They came out not just to see him but also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, 11since many of the Jews were starting to follow and believe in Jesus because of him.
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
12The next day the large crowd that had come for the feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13So they brought branches from palm trees and went out to meet him. They shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written in Scripture,
15“City of Zion, don’t be afraid.
See, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
16At first, Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand all this. They only realized after he was glorified that these things had been written about him and that they had been done to him.
17The crowd that had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to tell everyone about what had happened. 18Many people went out to meet him because they’d heard that he had done this sign. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, “Look, we aren’t getting anywhere. See how the whole world is following him!”
Jesus Tells About His Coming Death
20There were some Greeks among the people who’d gone up to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, to ask for a favor. “Sir,” they said, “we’d like to meet Jesus.” 22Philip went and told this to Andrew, and then the two of them went and told Jesus.
23He responded, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive glory. 24Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25Anyone who loves their life will lose it, but anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it and gain eternal life. 26Anyone who serves me must follow me. Where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27“But now I’m deeply distressed. What should I say? ‘Father, keep me from having to go through with this’? No, this is the very reason why I’ve come to this point in my life. 28Father, bring glory to your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven and said, “I have brought glory to my name, and I will bring glory to it again.” 29The crowd there heard the voice. Some said it was thunder, while others said that an angel had spoken to Jesus.
30Jesus told them, “That voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31Now is the time for the world to be judged and for the prince of this world to be thrown out. 32I’m going to be lifted up from the earth, and when I am, I will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate what kind of death he was going to die.
34The crowd spoke up and asked, “The Law tells us that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35Then Jesus told them, “You’re going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness catches up with you. Whoever walks in the dark doesn’t know where they’re going. 36While you have the light, believe in it, so that you can become children of light.” When Jesus had finished speaking, he left and hid from them.
Some Jews Believe and Some Don’t
37Even after Jesus had performed so many signs right in front of them, they still wouldn’t believe in him. 38This made the words of Isaiah the prophet come true. He had said,
“Lord, who has believed what we’ve been saying?
Who has seen the Lord’s saving power?”
39For this reason, they could not believe. As Isaiah says in another place,
40“The Lord has blinded their eyes,
and he has closed their minds,
so they can’t see with their eyes,
and they can’t understand with their minds
or turn to the Lord—if they could, he would heal them.”
41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42However, many did believe in him, even among the Jewish leaders. But because of the Pharisees, they wouldn’t admit openly that they believed. They were afraid that they’d be thrown out of the synagogue. 43They loved praise from people more than praise from God.
44Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me doesn’t believe only in me, but also in the one who sent me. 45The one who looks at me sees the one who sent me. 46I have come into the world to be its light, so that no one who believes in me will remain in darkness.
47“If a person hears my words but doesn’t obey them, I don’t judge that person. I didn’t come to judge the world, I came to save the world. 48But there is a judge for anyone who doesn’t accept me and my words. The words I’ve spoken will judge them on the last day. 49I haven’t spoken on my own. The Father who sent me has commanded me to say everything I’ve said. 50I know that his command leads to eternal life, so everything I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

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