John 11–12

The Death of Lazarus

11Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany,^s the village of Mary and her sister Martha.^{t 2}(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)^{u 3}So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love^v is sick.”

⁴When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory^w so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”^x

⁸“But Rabbi,”^y they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you,^z and yet you are going back?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light.^{a 10}It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

¹¹After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend^b Lazarus has fallen asleep;^c but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹²His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” ¹³Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.^d

¹⁴So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

¹⁶Then Thomas^e (also known as Didymus^a) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.^{f 18}Now Bethany^g was less than two miles^b from Jerusalem, ¹⁹and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.^{h 20}When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.ⁱ

²¹“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.^{j 22}But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”^k

²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection^l at the last day.”^m

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I amⁿ the resurrection and the life.^o The one who believes^p in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶and whoever lives by believing^q in me will never die.^r Do you believe this?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah,^s the Son of God,^t who is to come into the world.”^u

²⁸After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher^v is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.^{w 31}When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her,^x noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

³²When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”^y

³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved^z in spirit and troubled.^{a 34}“Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵Jesus wept.^b

³⁶Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”^c

³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man^d have kept this man from dying?”^e

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

³⁸Jesus, once more deeply moved,^f came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.^{g 39}“Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”^h

⁴⁰Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe,ⁱ you will see the glory of God?”^j

⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up^k and said, “Father,^l I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here,^m that they may believe that you sent me.”ⁿ

⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”^{o 44}The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen,^p and a cloth around his face.^q

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary,^r and had seen what Jesus did,^s believed in him.^{t 46}But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷Then the chief priests and the Pharisees^u called a meeting^v of the Sanhedrin.^w

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.^{x 48}If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

⁴⁹Then one of them, named Caiaphas,^y who was high priest that year,^z spoke up, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”^a

⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, ⁵²and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.^{b 53}So from that day on they plotted to take his life.^c

⁵⁴Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea.^d Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

⁵⁵When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,^e many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing^f before the Passover. ⁵⁶They kept looking for Jesus,^g and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” ⁵⁷But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

12:1–8Ref—Mt 26:6–13; Mk 14:3–9; Lk 7:37–39

12Six days before the Passover,^h Jesus came to Bethany,ⁱ where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served,^j while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³Then Mary took about a pint^a of pure nard, an expensive perfume;^k she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.^l And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him,^m objected, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.^b” ⁶He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag,ⁿ he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.^{o 8}You will always have the poor among you,^cp but you will not always have me.”

⁹Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.^{q 10}So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹for on account of him^r many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.^s

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

12:12–15pp—Mt 21:4–9; Mk 11:7–10; Lk 19:35–38

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³They took palm branches^t and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!^d”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”^eu

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”^v

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁵“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”^fw

¹⁶At first his disciples did not understand all this.^x Only after Jesus was glorified^y did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

¹⁷Now the crowd that was with him^z when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign,^a went out to meet him. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”^b

Jesus Predicts His Death

²⁰Now there were some Greeks^c among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida^d in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

²³Jesus replied, “The hour^e has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.^{f 24}Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,^g it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it^h for eternal life.^{i 26}Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.^j My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled,^k and what shall I say? ‘Father,^l save me from this hour’?^m No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven,ⁿ “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit,^o not mine. ³¹Now is the time for judgment on this world;^p now the prince of this world^q will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up^g from the earth,^r will draw all people to myself.”^{s 33}He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.^t

³⁴The crowd spoke…