John 12:1–19

Jesus Is Anointed

12Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man he had raised from death. ²They prepared a dinner for him there, which Martha helped to serve; Lazarus was one of those who were sitting at the table with Jesus. ^3*Then Mary took half a litre of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The sweet smell of the perfume filled the whole house. ⁴One of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot—the one who was going to betray him—said, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins^z and the money given to the poor?” ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would help himself from it.

⁷But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Let her keep what she has for the day of my burial. ^8*You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Plot against Lazarus

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A large number of people heard that Jesus was in Bethany, so they went there, not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from death. ¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, ¹¹because on his account many Jews were rejecting them and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem

¹²The next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover Festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ^13*So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the scripture says,

^15*“Do not be afraid, city of Zion!

Here comes your king,

riding on a young donkey.”

¹⁶His disciples did not understand this at the time; but when Jesus had been raised to glory, they remembered that the scripture said this about him and that they had done this for him.

¹⁷The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from death had reported what had happened. ¹⁸That was why the crowd met him—because they heard that he had performed this miracle. ¹⁹The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, we are not succeeding at all! Look, the whole world is following him!”