John 12

12 ¹Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from death, lived. ²There they gave him a dinner; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. ³Mary took about a pint of pure nard perfume, expensive, and anointed Jesus' feet, then wiped his feet with her hair. The house filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one who was about to betray him, said, ⁵"Why was this perfume not sold for about a year's wages and given to the poor?" ⁶He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief who kept the money box, taking what was put in it.

⁷So Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

⁹A large crowd of Jews learned Jesus was there and came, not only for him but to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus.

The King Comes Riding

¹²The next day, the large crowd that came for the feast heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of our Father—the King of Israel!" ^a a v13 Hosanna means "Save now!" — the crowd's cry from Psalm 118 as they welcome Jesus as the long-awaited King.

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, just as it is written: ¹⁵"Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion; look, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." ¹⁶His disciples didn't understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, they remembered these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him. ¹⁷The crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead kept testifying. ¹⁸The crowd went to meet him because they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to each other, "See, you're accomplishing nothing—the whole world has gone after him."

The Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. ²¹These came to Philip, from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we want to see Jesus." ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

²³Jesus replied to them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies, it stays alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it; whoever hates his life in this world keeps it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, so my servant will be where I am. Whoever serves me, my Father will honor him."

²⁷"Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—'Father, save me from this hour'? But this is why I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name."

²⁸Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said it thundered; others said an angel spoke to him.

³⁰Jesus said, "This voice came for your sake, not mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

³³He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

³⁴The crowd replied, "We've heard from the Law that the Christ stays forever. How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"

³⁵So Jesus said, "The light is with you a little while longer. Walk while you have light, so darkness doesn't overtake you. Whoever walks in darkness doesn't know where he's going. ³⁶While you have light, believe in the light, so you become children of light." Having said this, Jesus left and hid from them.

Walk While You Have the Light

³⁷Though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him,

³⁸so that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Father, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of our Father been revealed?"

³⁹This is why they could not believe, for Isaiah said again: ⁴⁰"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, nor turn —and I would heal them."

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. ^b b v41 John tells us plainly: when Isaiah saw the throne in the temple and the seraphim cried "Holy, holy, holy," he was seeing the glory of Jesus. ⁴²Still, many even of the rulers believed in him, but they didn't admit it because of the Pharisees, so they wouldn't be expelled from the synagogue, ⁴³for they loved the glory that comes from people more than the glory that comes from our Father.

⁴⁴Jesus cried out, "Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵And whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I came into the world as light, so no one who believes in me stays in the darkness. ⁴⁷If anyone hears my words and doesn't keep them, I don't judge him—I didn't come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸Whoever rejects me and doesn't accept my words already has a judge: my spoken word will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹I have not spoken on my own; but the Father who sent me himself commanded me what to say and how to speak. ⁵⁰I know his commandment is eternal life, so I say only what the Father told me to say."