Book of Common Prayer

The true God

¹³ I am writing these things to you so that you may know that you, who believe in the name of the son of God, do indeed have the life of the age to come. ¹⁴ This is the bold confidence we have before him: if we ask for something according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess the requests we have asked from him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees a brother or sister committing a sin which is not deadly, they should ask, and God will give life to the people who are sinning in a way which is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin; I do not say that one should pray about that. ¹⁷ All sin is unrighteousness, and there is a sin which is not deadly.

¹⁸ We know that everyone fathered by God does not go on sinning. The one who was fathered by God keeps them, and the evil one does not touch them. ¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. ²⁰ We know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we should know the truth. And we are in the truth, in his son Jesus the Messiah.

This is the true God; this is the life of the age to come. ²¹ Children, guard yourselves against idols.

⁵⁵ The time came for the Judaeans’ Passover. Lots of people went up to Jerusalem from the countryside, before the Passover, to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus. As they stood there in the Temple, they were discussing him with one another.

“What d’you think?” they were saying. “Do you suppose he won’t come to the festival?”

⁵⁷ The chief priests and the Pharisees had given the order that if anyone knew where he was, they should tell them, so that they could arrest him.

Mary and her ointment

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany. Lazarus was there, the man he had raised from the dead. ² So they made a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was among the company at table with him.

³ Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the smell of the perfume.

⁴ At this, Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him), spoke up.

⁵ “Why wasn’t this ointment sold?” he asked. “It would have fetched a year’s wages! You could have given it to the poor!”

⁶ (He didn’t say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He kept the common purse, and used to help himself to what was in it.)

⁷ “Let her alone,” replied Jesus. “She’s been keeping it for the day of my burial! ⁸ You always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.”