John 12–21

Mary Pours Perfume on Jesus

12It was six days before the Passover Feast. Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived. Lazarus was the one Jesus had raised from the dead. ²A dinner was given at Bethany to honor Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was among those at the table with Jesus.

³Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard. It was an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the sweet smell of the perfume.

⁴But Judas Iscariot didn’t like what Mary did. He was one of Jesus’ disciples. Later he was going to hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold? Why wasn’t the money given to poor people? It was worth a year’s pay.”

⁶He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor. He said it because he was a thief. Judas was in charge of the money bag. He used to help himself to what was in it.

⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “The perfume was meant for the day I am buried. ⁸You will always have the poor among you. But you won’t always have me.”

⁹Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there, so they came. But they did not come only because of Jesus. They also came to see Lazarus. After all, Jesus had raised him from the dead.

¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too. ¹¹Because of Lazarus, many of the Jews were starting to follow Jesus. They were putting their faith in him.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹²The next day the large crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches from palm trees and went out to meet him. They shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. This is just as it is written in Scripture. It says,

¹⁵“City of Zion, do not be afraid.

See, your king is coming.

He is sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶At first, Jesus’ disciples did not understand all this. They realized it only after he had received glory. Then they realized that these things had been written about him. They realized that the people had done these things to him.

¹⁷A crowd had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. So they continued to tell everyone about what had happened. ¹⁸Many people went out to meet him. They had heard that he had done this miraculous sign.

¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Look how the whole world is following him!”

Jesus Tells About His Coming Death

²⁰There were some Greeks among the people who went up to worship during the Feast. ²¹They came to ask Philip for a favor. Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee.

“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

²²Philip went to tell Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to receive glory. ²⁴What I’m about to tell you is true. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

²⁵“Anyone who loves his life will lose it. But anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it and have eternal life. ²⁶Anyone who serves me must follow me. And where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷“My heart is troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No. This is the very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven. It said, “I have brought glory to my name. I will bring glory to it again.”

²⁹The crowd there heard the voice. Some said it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to Jesus.

³⁰Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹Now it is time for the world to be judged. Now the prince of this world will be thrown out. ³²But I am going to be lifted up from the earth. When I am, I will bring all people to myself.” ³³He said this to show them how he was going to die.

³⁴The crowd spoke up. “The Law tells us that the Christ will remain forever,” they said. “So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light. Do this before darkness catches up with you. Anyone who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, put your trust in it. Then you can become sons of light.”

When Jesus had finished speaking, he left and hid from them.

The Jews Still Do Not Believe

³⁷Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in front of them. But they still would not believe in him. ³⁸This happened as Isaiah the prophet had said it would. He had said,

“Lord, who has believed what we’ve been saying?

Who has seen the Lord’s saving power?”

³⁹For this reason, they could not believe. As Isaiah says in another place,

⁴⁰“The Lord has blinded their eyes.

He has closed their minds.

So they can’t see with their eyes.

They can’t understand with their minds.

They can’t turn to the Lord. If they could, he would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴²At the same time that Jesus did those miracles, many of the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not admit they believed. They were afraid they would be thrown out of the synagogue. ⁴³They loved praise from people more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, “Anyone who believes in me does not believe in me only. He also believes in the One who sent me. ⁴⁵When he looks at me, he sees the One who sent me.

⁴⁶“I have come into the world to be a light. No one who believes in me will stay in darkness.

⁴⁷“I don’t judge a person who hears my words but does not obey them. I didn’t come to judge the world. I came to save it. ⁴⁸But there is a judge for anyone who does not accept me and my words. The very words I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

⁴⁹“I did not speak on my own. The Father who sent me commanded me what to say. He also told me how to say it. ⁵⁰I know that his command leads to eternal life. So everything I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world. It was time for him to go to the Father. Jesus loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now showed them how much he really loved them.

²The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under his power. He also knew he had come from God and was returning to God.

⁴So he got up from the meal and took off his outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples’ feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter.

“Lord,” Peter said to him, “are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”

⁸“No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with me.”

⁹“Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!”

¹⁰Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are.”

¹¹Jesus knew who was going to hand him over to his enemies. That was why he said not every one was clean.

¹²When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes. Then he returned to his place.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. ¹⁴I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.

¹⁶“What I’m about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. ¹⁷Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus Tells What Judas Will Do

¹⁸“I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this will happen so that Scripture will come true. It says, ‘The one who shares my bread has deserted me.’

¹⁹“I am telling you now, before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe that I am he. ²⁰What I’m about to tell you is true. Anyone who accepts someone I send accepts me. And anyone who accepts me accepts the One who sent me.”

²¹After he had said this, Jesus’ spirit was troubled. Here is the witness he gave. “What I’m about to tell you is true,” he said. “One of you is going to hand me over to my enemies.”

²²His disciples stared at one another. They had no idea which one of them he meant. ²³The disciple Jesus loved was next to him at the table. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to that disciple. He said, “Ask Jesus which one he means.”

²⁵The disciple was leaning back against Jesus. He asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one I will give this piece of bread to. I will give it to him after I have dipped it in the dish.”

He dipped the piece of bread. Then he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. ²⁷As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

“Do quickly what you are going to do,” Jesus told him.

²⁸But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹Judas was in charge of the money. So some of the disciples thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast. Others thought Jesus was talking about giving something to poor people.

³⁰As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Jesus Says That Peter Will Fail

³¹After Judas was gone, Jesus spoke. He said, “Now the Son of Man receives glory. And he brings glory to God. ³²If the Son brings glory to God, God himself will bring…