Mary of Bethany Puts Special Perfume on Jesus ^(A)

12 It was six days before the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus lived. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. ² They made supper for Him. Martha put the food on the table. Lazarus was at the table with Him.

³ Mary took a jar of special perfume that cost much money and poured it on the feet of Jesus. She dried His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the smell of the special perfume.

⁴ Judas Iscariot was one of the followers. He was about to hand Jesus over to the leaders of the country. He said, ⁵ “Why was not this special perfume sold for much money and given to poor people?” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared for poor people. He said this because he was a robber. He carried the bag of money and would steal some of it for himself. ⁷ Jesus said, “Let her alone. She has kept it for the time when I will be buried. ⁸ You will always have poor people with you. You will not always have Me.”

The Jews Talk about Having Lazarus Killed

⁹ Many Jews came to the place because they knew Jesus was there. They came not only to see Jesus, but to see Lazarus also. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. ¹⁰ The religious leaders of the Jews talked together about having Lazarus killed also. ¹¹ Because of Lazarus, many Jews were leaving their own religion. They were putting their trust in Jesus.

The Last Time Jesus Goes to Jerusalem ^(B)

¹² The next day many people were in Jerusalem for the religious gathering. They heard Jesus was coming. ¹³ They took branches of trees and went to meet Him. They spoke with a loud voice, “Greatest One! Great and honored is He Who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of the Jews!” ¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. The Holy Writings say, ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, people of Jerusalem. See! Your King comes sitting on a young donkey!” ^{(C) 16} His followers did not understand what this meant at first. When Jesus had gone back to heaven to receive great honor, they remembered these things were written about Him. They remembered they had done this to Him.

¹⁷ The people who had been with Jesus when He had called Lazarus from the grave kept telling of this powerful work to others. They had seen Lazarus raised from the dead. ¹⁸ Because of this the people went to meet Jesus. They had heard He had done this powerful work. ¹⁹ The proud religious law-keepers said among themselves, “Look, we are losing followers. Everyone is following Jesus!”

The Greek People Want to See Jesus

²⁰ Some Greek people had come to worship at the religious gathering. They were among the others who had come to worship. ²¹ These Greek people came to Philip. He was from the city of Bethsaida in the country of Galilee. They said to him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus!” ²² Philip went and told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

The Law of Life

²³ Jesus said to them, “The hour is near for the Son of Man to be taken to heaven to receive great honor. ²⁴ For sure, I tell you, unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it will only be a seed. If it dies, it will give much grain. ²⁵ Anyone who loves his life will lose it. Anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it forever. ²⁶ If anyone wants to serve Me, he must follow Me. So where I am, the one who wants to serve Me will be there also. If anyone serves Me, My Father will honor him.

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled. Should I say, ‘Father, save Me from this time of trouble and pain’? No, this is why I came to this time. ²⁸ Father, honor Your name!”

The People Hear the Voice of God

Then a voice from heaven came, saying, “I have already honored My name. I will honor it again!” ²⁹ The people heard the voice. Some who stood there said, “It was thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to Him.” ³⁰ Jesus said, “The voice did not come for Me, but it came to be a help to you.

Jesus Tells How He Will Die

³¹ “Now this world is being told it is guilty. Now the leader of this world will be thrown out. ³² And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all people toward Me.” ³³ He said this to tell the kind of death He was going to die.

³⁴ The people said to Him, “The Law of Moses says that the Christ is to live forever. Why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “The Light will be with you for a little while yet. Go on your way while you have the Light so you will not be in the dark. When a man is walking in the dark, he does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the Light, put your trust in the Light. Then you will be the sons of the Light.” Jesus said these things and then went away. He hid Himself from them.

The People Do Not Believe

³⁷ Jesus had done many powerful works in front of them, but they did not put their trust in Him. ³⁸ This happened as the words of the early preacher Isaiah said it would happen. He had said, “Lord, has anyone believed our preaching? Has the Lord shown His power to anyone?” ³⁹ The reason they could not believe is written again in Isaiah. ⁴⁰ It says, “He has blinded their eyes and made their hearts hard. Then they would not see with their eyes. They would not understand with their heart. They would not turn to Me. I could not heal them.” ^{(D) 41} This is what Isaiah said when he saw the shining-greatness of Jesus and spoke of Him.

⁴² Even among the leaders of the people there were many who believed in Jesus. But because of the proud religious law-keepers, they did not tell about it. If they had, they would have been put out of the Jewish place of worship. ⁴³ They loved to have the respect from men more than honor from God.

Jesus and His Father Are One

⁴⁴ Then Jesus spoke with a loud voice, “Anyone who puts his trust in Me, puts his trust not only in Me, but in Him Who sent Me. ⁴⁵ Anyone who sees Me, sees Him Who sent Me. ⁴⁶ I came to the world to be a Light. Anyone who puts his trust in Me will not be in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears My Words but does not believe them, I do not say he is guilty. I did not come to say the world is guilty. I came to save the world from the punishment of sin. ⁴⁸ Anyone who does not receive Me and does not receive My teaching has One Who will say he is guilty. The Word that I have spoken will say he is guilty on the last day. ⁴⁹ I have not spoken by My own power. The Father Who sent Me has told Me what to say and speak. ⁵⁰ I know that His Word is life that lasts forever. I speak the things the Father has told Me to speak.”