John 12:20–36

Jesus Talks About His Death

²⁰There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. ²¹They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” ²²Philip told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. ²⁴I tell you the truth, a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to make many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. ²⁵Those who love their lives will lose them, but those who hate their lives in this world will keep true life forever. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.

²⁷“Now I am very troubled. Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so I could suffer. ²⁸Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”

²⁹The crowd standing there, who heard the voice, said it was thunder.

But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰Jesus said, “That voice was for your sake, not mine. ³¹Now is the time for the world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. ³²If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me.” ³³Jesus said this to show how he would die.

³⁴The crowd said, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for a little longer, so walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. If you walk in the darkness, you will not know where you are going. ³⁶Believe in the light while you still have it so that you will become children of light.” When Jesus had said this, he left and hid himself from them.