¹Six days before Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany. Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life, lived there. ²Dinner was prepared for Jesus in Bethany. Martha served the dinner, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus.

³Mary took a bottle of very expensive perfume made from pure nard and poured it on Jesus’ feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair. The fragrance of the perfume filled the house.

⁴One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray him, asked, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for a high price and the money given to the poor?” ⁶(Judas didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and carried the contributions.) ⁷Jesus said to Judas, “Leave her alone! She has done this to prepare me for the day I will be placed in a tomb. ⁸You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me with you.”

⁹A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life. ¹⁰The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. ¹¹Lazarus was the reason why many people were leaving the Jews and believing in Jesus.

The King Comes to Jerusalem—Matthew 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:29–44

¹²On the next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took palm branches and went to meet him. They were shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,

the king of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus obtained a donkey and sat on it, as Scripture says:

¹⁵“Don’t be afraid, people of Zion!

Your king is coming.

He is riding on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶At first Jesus’ disciples didn’t know what these prophecies meant. However, when Jesus was glorified, the disciples remembered that these prophecies had been written about him. The disciples remembered that they had taken part in fulfilling the prophecies.

¹⁷The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and brought him back to life reported what they had seen. ¹⁸Because the crowd heard that Jesus had performed this miracle, they came to meet him.

¹⁹The Pharisees said to each other, “This is getting us nowhere. Look! The whole world is following him!”

Some Greeks Ask to See Jesus

²⁰Some Greeks were among those who came to worship during the Passover festival. ²¹They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” ²²Philip told Andrew, and they told Jesus.

²³Jesus replied to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴I can guarantee this truth: A single grain of wheat doesn’t produce anything unless it is planted in the ground and dies. If it dies, it will produce a lot of grain. ²⁵Those who love their lives will destroy them, and those who hate their lives in this world will guard them for everlasting life. ²⁶Those who serve me must follow me. My servants will be with me wherever I will be. If people serve me, the Father will honor them.

²⁷“I am too deeply troubled now to know how to express my feelings. Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time ⸤of suffering⸥’? No! I came for this time of suffering. ²⁸Father, give glory to your name.”

A voice from heaven said, “I have given it glory, and I will give it glory again.”

²⁹The crowd standing there heard the voice and said that it had thundered. Others in the crowd said that an angel had talked to him. ³⁰Jesus replied, “That voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours.

³¹“This world is being judged now. The ruler of this world will be thrown out now. ³²When I have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me.” ³³By saying this, he indicated how he was going to die.

³⁴The crowd responded to him, “We have heard from the Scriptures that the Messiah will remain here forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up from the earth’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵Jesus answered the crowd, “The light will still be with you for a little while. Walk while you have light so that darkness won’t defeat you. Those who walk in the dark don’t know where they’re going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light so that you will become people whose lives show the light.”

After Jesus had said this, he was concealed as he left. ³⁷Although they had seen Jesus perform so many miracles, they wouldn’t believe in him. ³⁸In this way the words of the prophet Isaiah came true:

“Lord, who has believed our message?

To whom has the Lord’s power been revealed?”

³⁹So the people couldn’t believe because, as Isaiah also said,

⁴⁰“God blinded them

and made them close-minded

so that their eyes don’t see

and their minds don’t understand.

And they never turn to me for healing!”

⁴¹Isaiah said this because he had seen Jesus’ glory and had spoken about him.

⁴²Many rulers believed in Jesus. However, they wouldn’t admit it publicly because the Pharisees would have thrown them out of the synagogue. ⁴³They were more concerned about what people thought of them than about what God thought of them.

⁴⁴Then Jesus said loudly, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I am the light that has come into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not live in the dark. ⁴⁷If anyone hears my words and doesn’t follow them, I don’t condemn them. I didn’t come to condemn the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸Those who reject me by not accepting what I say have a judge appointed for them. The words that I have spoken will judge them on the last day. ⁴⁹I have not spoken on my own. Instead, the Father who sent me told me what I should say and how I should say it. ⁵⁰I know that what he commands is eternal life. Whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”

13TH CHAPTER

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

¹Before the Passover festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Jesus loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them to the end.

²While supper was taking place, the devil had already put the idea of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.

³The Father had put everything in Jesus’ control. Jesus knew that. He also knew that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴So he got up from the table, removed his outer clothes, took a towel, and tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that he had tied around his waist.

⁶When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered Peter, “You don’t know now what I’m doing. You will understand later.”

⁸Peter told Jesus, “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus replied to Peter, “If I don’t wash you, you don’t belong to me.”

⁹Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, don’t wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head too!”

¹⁰Jesus told Peter, “People who have washed are completely clean. They need to have only their feet washed. All of you, except for one, are clean.” ¹¹(Jesus knew who was going to betray him. That’s why he said, “All of you, except for one, are clean.”)

¹²After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothes, he took his place at the table again. Then he asked his disciples, “Do you understand what I’ve done for you? ¹³You call me teacher and Lord, and you’re right because that’s what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I’ve given you an example that you should follow. ¹⁶I can guarantee this truth: Slaves are not superior to their owners, and messengers are not superior to the people who send them. ¹⁷If you understand all of this, you are blessed whenever you follow my example.

¹⁸“I’m not talking about all of you. I know the people I’ve chosen ⸤to be apostles⸥. However, I’ve made my choice so that Scripture will come true. It says, ‘The one who eats my bread has turned against me.’ ¹⁹I’m telling you now before it happens. Then, when it happens, you will believe that I am the one.

²⁰“I can guarantee this truth: Whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

Jesus Knows Who Will Betray Him—Matthew 26:21–25; Mark 14:18–21; Luke 22:21–23

²¹After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled. He declared, “I can guarantee this truth: One of you is going to betray me!”

²²The disciples began looking at each other and wondering which one of them Jesus meant.

²³One disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, was near him at the table. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to that disciple and said, “Ask Jesus whom he’s talking about!”

²⁵Leaning close to Jesus, that disciple asked, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “He’s the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I’ve dipped it in the sauce.” So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷Then, after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “Hurry! Do what you have to do.” ²⁸No one at the table knew why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹Judas had the moneybag. So some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the poor.

³⁰Judas took the piece of bread and immediately went outside. It was night.

³¹When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and because of him God is glorified. ³²If God is glorified because of the Son of Man, God will glorify the Son of Man because of himself, and he will glorify the Son of Man at once.”

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial—Matthew 26:31–35; Mark 14:27–31; Luke 22:31–34

³³Jesus said, “Dear children, I will still be with you for a little while. I’m telling you what I told the Jews. You will look for me, but you can’t go where I’m going.

³⁴“I’m giving you a new…

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This passage has been shortened. Keep reading John 12–21 in Logos