John 11–12

Lazarus Dies at Bethany

11Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany, ^sthe village of Mary and her sister Martha. ^t2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, ^uand it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. ³So the sisters sent a message to Him: “Lord, the one You love is sick.”

⁴When Jesus heard it, He said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, ^vso that the Son of God ^wmay be glorified through it.” ⁵Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶So when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷Then after that, He said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea ^xagain.”

⁸“Rabbi,” ^ythe disciples told Him, “just now the Jews tried to stone You, ^zand You’re going there again?”

⁹“Aren’t there 12 hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ^a10If anyone walks during the night, ^bhe does stumble, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹He said this, and then He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen ^•asleep, ^cbut I’m on My way to wake him up.”

¹²Then the disciples said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

¹³Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought He was speaking about natural sleep. ¹⁴So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. ¹⁵I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

¹⁶Then Thomas ^d(called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go so that we may die with Him.”

The Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^efour days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem ^f(about two miles ^gaway). ¹⁹Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. ²⁰As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary remained seated in the house.

²¹Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ²²Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.”

²³“Your brother will rise ^hagain,” Jesus told her.

²⁴Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” ⁱ

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am ^jthe resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, ^keven if he dies, will live. ^l26Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. ^mDo you believe this?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I believe You are the Messiah, ⁿthe Son ^oof God, who comes into the world.” ^p

Jesus Shares the Sorrow of Death

²⁸Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

²⁹As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him. ^q30Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met Him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. So they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb ^rto cry there.

³²When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet ^sand told Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”

³³When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry ^tin His spirit ^uand deeply moved. ³⁴“Where have you put him?” He asked.

“Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.”

³⁵Jesus wept. ^v

³⁶So the Jews said, “See how He loved ^whim!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Couldn’t He who opened the blind man’s eyes ^xalso have kept this man from dying?”

The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead

³⁸Then Jesus, angry ^yin Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ^z39“Remove the stone,” Jesus said.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, he’s already decaying. ^aIt’s been four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory ^bof God?” ^c

⁴¹So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank ^dYou that You heard Me. ^e42I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent ^fMe.” ⁴³After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He did believed in Him. ^g46But some of them went to the Pharisees ^hand told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin ⁱand said, “What are we going to do since this man does many signs? ⁴⁸If we let Him continue in this way, everyone will believe in Him! Then the Romans ^jwill come and remove both our place ^kand our nation.”

⁴⁹One of them, Caiaphas, ^lwho was high priest ^mthat year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰You’re not considering that it is to your ⁿadvantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” ^o51He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die ^pfor the nation, ⁵²and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children ^qof God. ⁵³So from that day on they plotted to kill Him. ^r54Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly ^samong the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, ^tto a town called Ephraim. And He stayed there with the disciples.

⁵⁵The Jewish Passover ^uwas near, and many went up to Jerusalem ^vfrom the country to purify ^wthemselves before the Passover. ⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple complex: ^x“What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, ^ywill He?” ⁵⁷The chief priests ^zand the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it so they could arrest Him.

The Anointing at Bethany

12Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany ^awhere Lazarus ^bwas, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. ^c2So ^dthey gave a dinner for Him there; Martha ^ewas serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. ³Then Mary took a pound of fragrant oil—pure and expensive nard—anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped His feet with her hair. ^fSo the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

⁴Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot ^g(who was about to betray Him), said, ⁵“Why wasn’t this fragrant oil sold for 300 denarii ^hiand given to the poor?” ⁶He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. ^jHe was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

⁷Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of My burial. ^k8For you always have the poor with you, ^lbut you do not always have Me.”

The Decision to Kill Lazarus

⁹Then a large crowd of the Jews learned He was there. They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus the one He had raised from the dead. ^m10Therefore the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus also ¹¹because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them ⁿand believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹²The ^onext day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³they took palm branches ^pand went out to meet Him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! ^q He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One ^rs—the King of Israel!” ^t

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey ^uand sat on it, just as it is written: ¹⁵Fear no more, ^vDaughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. ^wx

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him ^yand that they had done these things to Him. ¹⁷Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb ^zand raised him from the dead, continued to testify. ^a18This is also why the crowd met Him, because they heard He had done this sign.

¹⁹Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look—the world has gone after Him!” ^b

Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion

²⁰Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹So they came to Philip, ^cwho was from Bethsaida ^din Galilee, ^eand requested of him, “Sir, ^fwe want to see Jesus.”

²²Philip went and told Andrew; ^gthen Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the ^•Son of Man ^hto be glorified.

²⁴“^•I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat ⁱfalls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. ^jk25The one who loves his life will lose it, ^land the one who hates ^mhis life ⁿin this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant ^oalso will be. ^pIf anyone serves Me, the Father will honor ^qhim.

²⁷“Now My soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save Me ^rfrom this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify Your name!” ^st

Then a voice ^ucame from heaven: ^v“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” ^w

²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said that an angel had spoken to Him.

³⁰Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for Me, but for you. ^x31Now is the judgment of this world. ^yNow the ruler of this ^•world ^zwill be cast out. ^a32As for Me, if I am lifted up ^bfrom the earth I will draw all people to Myself.” ^c33He said this to signify what kind of death He was about to die. ^d

³⁴Then the crowd replied to Him, “We have heard from the scripture that the Messiah will remain forever. ^eSo how can You say, ‘The Son of Man ^fmust be lifted up’? ^gWho is this Son of Man?”

³⁵Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. ^hWalk while you have the light ⁱso that…