John 11–12

The Death of Lazarus

11Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ^lMary and her sister Martha. ^2mIt was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, ⁿhe whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, ^o“This illness does not lead to death. It is for ^pthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now ^qJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus¹ was ill, ^rhe stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, ^s“Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, ^t“Rabbi, ^uthe Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, ^v“Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^wIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰But ^xif anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ^xin him.” ¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^yhas fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ^16zSo Thomas, called the Twin,² said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, ^athat we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^bfour days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles³ off, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^cto console them concerning their brother. ^20dSo when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹Martha said to ^eJesus, “Lord, ^fif you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^gGod will give you.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ^24hMartha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ⁱthe resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, ^j“I am the resurrection and ^kthe life.⁴ Whoever believes in me, ^lthough he die, ^myet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me ⁿshall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; ^oI believe that ^pyou are the Christ, the Son of God, ^qwho is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ^r“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews ^swho were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ^t“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ^uwas deeply moved⁵ in his spirit and ^vgreatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ^35wJesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See ^xhow he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he ^ywho opened the eyes of the blind man ^zalso have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸Then Jesus, ^adeeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ^ba cave, and ^ca stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ^dhe has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, ^e“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ^fthe glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus ^glifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ^42hI knew that you always hear me, but I said this ⁱon account of the people standing around, ^jthat they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ^44kThe man who had died came out, ^lhis hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ^mhis face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ⁿMany of the Jews therefore, ^owho had come with Mary and ^phad seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees ^qgathered ^rthe council and said, ^s“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and ^tthe Romans will come and take away both our ^uplace and our nation.” ⁴⁹But one of them, ^vCaiaphas, ^wwho was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰Nor do you understand that ^xit is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but ^ybeing high priest that year ^zhe prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵²and ^anot for the nation only, but also ^bto gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³So from that day on they ^cmade plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore ^dno longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now ^ethe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and ^fmany went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover ^gto purify themselves. ^56hThey were looking for⁶ Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12Six days before ⁱthe Passover, ^jJesus therefore came to Bethany, ^kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for him there. ^lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ^3mMary therefore took a pound¹ of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii² and ⁿgiven to the poor?” ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and ⁿhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it³ for the day of my burial. ⁸For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus⁴ was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, ^owhom he had raised from the dead. ^10pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹because ^qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹²The next day ^rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of ^spalm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ^t“Hosanna! Blessed is ^uhe who comes in the name of the Lord, even ^vthe King of Israel!” ¹⁴And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

^15w“Fear not, daughter of Zion;

behold, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

^16xHis disciples did not understand these things at first, but ^ywhen Jesus was glorified, then ^zthey remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ^17aThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸The reason why the crowd went to meet him ^bwas that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, ^c“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, ^dthe world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Now ^eamong those who went up to worship at the feast were some ^fGreeks. ²¹So these came to ^gPhilip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told ^hAndrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them, ⁱ“The hour has come ^jfor the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, ^kunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25lWhoever loves his life loses it, and ^mwhoever ⁿhates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must ^ofollow me; and ^pwhere I am, there will my servant be also. ^qIf anyone serves me, ^rthe Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

^27s“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, ^tsave me from ^uthis hour’? But ^vfor this purpose I have come to ^uthis hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then ^wa voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ^x“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, ^y“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ^31zNow is the judgment of this world; now will ^athe ruler of this world ^bbe cast out. ³²And I, ^cwhen I am lifted up from the earth, ^dwill draw ^eall people to myself.” ³³He said this ^fto show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that ^gthe Christ remains forever. How can you say that ^hthe Son of Man must be…