Beginning
The Death of Lazarus
11 There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 (Mary is the same woman who put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) Mary’s brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. 3 So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, your dear friend Lazarus is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard this he said, “The end of this sickness will not be death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days 7 and then said to his followers, “We should go back to Judea.”
8 They answered, “But Teacher, those Jews there tried to stone you to death. That was only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?”
9 Jesus answered, “There are twelve hours of light in the day. Whoever walks in the day will not stumble and fall because they can see with the light from the sun.[a] 10 But whoever walks at night will stumble because there is no light.”
11 Then Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him.”
12 The followers answered, “But, Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.” 13 They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead.
14 So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad I was not there. I am happy for you because now you will believe in me. We will go to him now.”
16 Then Thomas, the one called “Twin,” said to the other followers, “We will go too. We will die there with Jesus.”
Jesus in Bethany
17 Jesus arrived in Bethany and found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was about two miles[b] from Jerusalem. 19 Many Jews had come to see Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them about their brother Lazarus.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him. But Mary stayed home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”
23 Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and be alive again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know that he will rise to live again at the time of the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die. 26 And everyone who lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?”
27 Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. You are the one who was coming to the world.”
Jesus Cries
28 After Martha said these things, she went back to her sister Mary. She talked to Mary alone and said, “The Teacher is here. He is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she stood up and went quickly to Jesus. 30 He had not yet come into the village. He was still at the place where Martha met him. 31 The Jews who were in the house comforting Mary saw her get up and leave quickly. They thought she was going to the tomb to cry there. So they followed her. 32 Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she bowed at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw Mary crying and the people with her crying too, he was very upset and deeply troubled. 34 He asked, “Where did you put him?”
They said, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus cried.
36 And the Jews said, “Look! He loved Lazarus very much!”
37 But some of them said, “Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man. Why didn’t he help Lazarus and stop him from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From Death
38 Again feeling very upset, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. 39 He said, “Move the stone away.”
Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.
40 Then Jesus said to her, “Remember what I told you? I said that if you believed, you would see God’s divine greatness.”
41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.” 43 After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face.
Jesus said to the people, “Take off the cloth and let him go.”
The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus(A)
45 There were many Jews who came to visit Mary. When they saw what Jesus did, many of them believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the high council. They said, “What should we do? This man is doing many miraculous signs. 48 If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our Temple and our nation.”
49 One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. He said, “You people know nothing! 50 It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. But you don’t realize this.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As that year’s high priest, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish people. 52 Yes, he would die for the Jewish people. But he would also die for God’s other children scattered all over the world. He would die to bring them all together and make them one people.
53 That day the Jewish leaders began planning to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus stopped traveling around openly among the Jews. He went away to a town called Ephraim in an area near the desert. He stayed there with his followers.
55 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. Many people from the country went to Jerusalem before the Passover. They went to do the special things to make themselves pure for the festival. 56 The people looked for Jesus. They stood in the Temple area and asked each other, “Is he coming to the festival? What do you think?” 57 But the leading priests and the Pharisees had given a special order about Jesus. They said that anyone who knew where he was must tell them so that they could arrest him.
Jesus in Bethany With His Friends(B)
12 Six days before the Passover festival, Jesus went to Bethany. That is where Lazarus lived, the man Jesus raised from death. 2 There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. 3 Mary brought in a pint[c] of expensive perfume made of pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.
4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there—the one who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said, 5 “That perfume was worth a full year’s pay.[d] It should have been sold, and the money should have been given to the poor people.” 6 But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the moneybag for the group of followers. And he often stole money from the bag.
7 Jesus answered, “Don’t stop her. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. 8 You will always have those who are poor with you.[e] But you will not always have me.”
The Plot Against Lazarus
9 Many of the Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany, so they went there to see him. They also went there to see Lazarus, the one Jesus raised from death. 10 So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus too. 11 Because of him, many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus. That is why they wanted to kill Lazarus too.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King(C)
12 The next day the people in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the crowds of people who had come to the Passover festival. 13 They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted,
God bless the King of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, as the Scriptures say,
15 “Do not be afraid, people of Zion[g]!
Look! Your king is coming.
He is riding on a young donkey.” (E)
16 The followers of Jesus did not understand at that time what was happening. But after he was raised to glory, they understood that this was written about him. Then they remembered that they had done these things for him.
17 There were many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. 18 That’s why so many people went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign he did. 19 So the Pharisees said to each other, “Look! Our plan is not working. The people are all following him!”
Jesus Talks About Life and Death
20 There were some Greeks there too. These were some of the people who went to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover festival. 21 They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. 24 It is a fact that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die before it can grow and produce much more wheat. If it never dies, it will never be more than a single seed. 25 Whoever loves the life they have now will lose it. But whoever is willing to give up their life in this world will keep it. They will have eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. My servants must be with me everywhere I am. My Father will give honor to anyone who serves me.
Jesus Talks About His Death
27 “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father save me from this time of suffering’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. 28 Father, do what will bring you glory!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have already brought glory to myself. I will do it again.”
29 The people standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.
But others said, “An angel spoke to him!”
30 Jesus said, “That voice was for you and not for me. 31 Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 32 I will be lifted up[h] from the earth. When that happens, I will draw all people to myself.” 33 Jesus said this to show how he would die.
34 The people said, “But our law says that the Messiah will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then Jesus said, “The light[i] will be with you for only a short time more. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. People who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going. 36 So put your trust in the light while you still have it. Then you will be children of light.” When Jesus finished saying these things, he went away to a place where the people could not find him.
Some Jews Refuse to Believe in Jesus
37 The people saw all these miraculous signs Jesus did, but they still did not believe in him. 38 This was to give full meaning to what Isaiah the prophet said:
“Lord, who believed what we told them?
Who has seen the Lord’s power?” (F)
39 This is why the people could not believe. Because Isaiah also said,
40 “God made the people blind.
He closed their minds.
He did this so that they would not see with their eyes
and understand with their minds.
He did it so that they would not turn
and be healed.” (G)
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ divine greatness. So he spoke about him.
42 But many people believed in Jesus. Even many of the Jewish leaders believed in him, but they were afraid of the Pharisees, so they did not say openly that they believed. They were afraid they would be ordered to stay out of the synagogue. 43 They loved praise from people more than praise from God.
Jesus’ Teaching Will Judge People
44 Then Jesus said loudly, “Everyone who believes in me is really believing in the one who sent me. 45 Everyone who sees me is really seeing the one who sent me. 46 I came into this world as a light. I came so that everyone who believes in me will not stay in darkness.
47 “I did not come into the world to judge people. I came to save the people in the world. So I am not the one who judges those who hear my teaching and do not obey. 48 But there is a judge for all those who refuse to believe in me and do not accept what I say. The message I have spoken will judge them on the last day. 49 That is because what I taught was not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach. 50 And I know that whatever he says to do will bring eternal life. So the things I say are exactly what the Father told me to say.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International