12
It was six days before the Passover Feast. Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. Lazarus was the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was given at Bethany to honour Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was among the people at the table with Jesus. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard. It was an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the sweet smell of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot didn't like what Mary did. He was one of Jesus' disciples. Later he was going to hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said, 5 ‘Why wasn't this perfume sold? Why wasn't the money given to poor people? It was worth a year's pay.’ 6 He didn't say this because he cared about the poor. He said it because he was a thief. Judas was in charge of the money bag. He used to help himself to what was in it.
7 ‘Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ‘The perfume was meant for the day I am buried. 8 You will always have the poor among you. But you won't always have me.’
9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there, so they came. But they did not come only because of Jesus. They also came to see Lazarus. After all, Jesus had raised him from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too. 11 Because of Lazarus, many of the Jews were starting to follow Jesus. They were believing in him.
12:1–11 At the beginning of the last week of his life, Jesus returned to Bethany. His friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus invited many people to celebrate Jesus at a meal. Mary and Judas treated Jesus very differently. Mary honoured Jesus with an expensive gift that showed her deep love. Judas did the opposite. He wanted the money from the expensive gift for himself. Jesus explained that Mary wasn't wasting money. She was helping to prepare him for his death. Many people believed that Jesus was God's Son because they saw that Lazarus was alive again. The religious leaders wanted that to stop happening. So they planned to kill Lazarus.
12 The next day the large crowd that had come for the feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 So they took 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!’ (Psalm 118:25, 26)
‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. This is just as it is written in Scripture. It says,
15 ‘City of Zion, do not be afraid.
See, your king is coming.
He is sitting on a donkey's colt.’ (Zechariah 9:9)
16 At first, Jesus' disciples did not understand all this. They realised it only after he had received glory. Then they realised that these things had been written about him. They realised that these things had been done to him.
17 A crowd had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. So they continued to tell everyone about what had happened. 18 Many people went out to meet him. They had heard that he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘This isn't getting us anywhere. Look how the whole world is following him!’
20 There were some Greeks among the people who went up to worship during the feast. 21 They came to ask Philip for a favour. Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee. ‘Sir’, they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ 22 Philip went to tell Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, ‘The time has come for the Son of Man to receive glory. 24 What I'm about to tell you is true. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it. But anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it and have eternal life. 26 Anyone who serves me must follow me. And where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
27 ‘My soul is troubled. What should I say? “Father, keep me from having to go through with this”? No. This is the very reason I have come to this point in my life. 28 Father, bring glory to your name!’
Then a voice came from heaven. It said, ‘I have brought glory to my name. I will bring glory to it again.’ 29 The crowd there heard the voice. Some said it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to Jesus.
30 Jesus said, ‘This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now it is time for the world to be judged. Now the prince of this world will be thrown out. 32 And I am going to be lifted up from the earth. When I am, I will bring all people to myself.’ 33 He said this to show them how he was going to die.
34 The crowd spoke up. ‘The Law tells us that the Messiah will remain for ever,’ they said. ‘So how can you say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up”? Who is this “Son of Man”?’
35 Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light. Do this before darkness catches up with you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in it. Then you can become children of light.’ When Jesus had finished speaking, he left and hid from them.
12:12–36 Jesus entered Jerusalem like a king taking part in a victory parade. The disciples didn't understand all of the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. Much later they understood how Jesus' actions fulfilled those prophecies. The crowd greeted Jesus with shouts and called him their king. The Jewish leaders were angry that more and more people were following Jesus. Even people who weren't Jews wanted to see Jesus. Jesus wanted everyone to follow him. This included Greeks. Jesus knew that soon he would die. He was troubled about the suffering he was about to face. He described his death as being lifted up from the earth. He was talking about dying on the cross. When that happened, the power of evil would be broken. The prince of this world is another name for the devil. The prince would no longer rule the world because Jesus would start ruling as King. God spoke out loud to answer Jesus' prayer. The crowd was confused about the voice from heaven. They were also confused about why Jesus was talking about death. Jesus didn't explain things to them plainly. He only reminded them that he was the Light that the world needed.
37 Jesus had performed so many signs in front of them. But they still would not believe in him. 38 This happened as Isaiah the prophet had said it would. He had said,
‘Lord, who has believed what we've been saying?
Who has seen the Lord's saving power?’ (Isaiah 53:1)
39 For this reason, they could not believe. As Isaiah says in another place,
40 ‘The Lord has blinded their eyes.
He has closed their minds.
So they can't see with their eyes.
They can't understand with their minds.
They can't turn to the Lord. If they could, he would heal them.’ (Isaiah 6:10)
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
42 At the same time that Jesus did those signs, many of the Jewish leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not openly admit they believed. They were afraid they would be thrown out of the synagogue. 43 They loved praise from people more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, ‘Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only. They also believe in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world to be its light. So no one who believes in me will stay in darkness.
47 ‘I don't judge a person who hears my words but does not obey them. I didn't come to judge the world. I came to save the world. 48 But there is a judge for anyone who does not accept me and my words. These words I have spoken will judge them on the last day. 49 I did not speak on my own. The Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have said. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So everything I say is just what the Father has told me to say.’
12:37–50 John ended the first half of his gospel by writing about seeing and believing. He also wrote about light and darkness. Jesus is the Light of the world. Some people believe Jesus is who he said he was. They are in his Light and can see. People who don't believe in Jesus are in darkness. They are blind. Many people had seen the signs Jesus did. But they didn't believe he was God's Son. It was like they were blind and couldn't see who he really was. Certain Jewish leaders believed in him but didn't follow him in public. To receive what God wants to give them, people must believe that Jesus is God's Son. They must hear what he says and then they must trust and obey him. They must be committed to following him. This is what the good news about Jesus requires people to do. Those who refuse to obey Jesus will be judged one day. When someone obeys Jesus they are obeying God. That is how people receive eternal life that will never be destroyed.