Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Jesus Hears about Lazarus
11 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This was the Mary who put perfume on the Lord and dried His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 The sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, your friend is sick!” 4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. It has happened so that it will bring honor to God. And the Son of God will be honored by it also.”
Jesus Tells of the Death of Lazarus
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days. 7 Then He said to His followers, “Let us go into the country of Judea again.” 8 The followers said to Him, “Teacher, the Jews tried to throw stones at You to kill You not long ago. Are You going there again?” 9 Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walks during the day, he will not fall. He sees the light of this world. 10 If a man walks during the night, he will fall. The light is not in him.”
11 After Jesus had said this, He spoke again and said, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping. I will go and wake him up.” 12 The followers said to Him, “If he is sleeping, he will get well.” 13 But Jesus meant Lazarus was dead. They thought He meant Lazarus was resting in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them, “Lazarus is dead. 15 Because of you I am glad I was not there so that you may believe. Come, let us go to him.”
16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to the other followers, “Let us go also so we may die with Jesus.”
Jesus Tells That the Grave Will Not Hold the Dead
17 When Jesus got there, He heard that Lazarus had been in the grave four days. 18 Bethany was about one-half hour walk from Jerusalem. 19 Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to give words of comfort about their brother.
20 Martha heard that Jesus was coming and went to meet Him. Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 I know even now God will give You whatever You ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again when the dead are raised from the grave on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the One Who raises the dead and gives them life. Anyone who puts his trust in Me will live again, even if he dies. 26 Anyone who lives and has put his trust in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She answered, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the One Who was to come into the world.”
Lazarus Is Raised from the Dead
28 After Martha said this, she went and called her sister Mary. She said without anyone else hearing, “The Teacher is here and has sent for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up and went to Him. 30 Jesus had not yet come into their town. He was still where Martha had met Him.
31 The Jews had been in the house comforting Mary. They saw her get up and hurry out. They followed her and said, “She is going to the grave to cry there.” 32 Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw Him, she got down at His feet. She said to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Jesus saw her crying. The Jews who came with her were crying also. His heart was very sad and He was troubled. 34 He said, “Where did you lay Lazarus?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus cried. 36 The Jews said, “See how much He loved Lazarus.” 37 Some of them said, “This Man opened the eyes of the blind man. Could He not have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus went to the grave with a sad heart. The grave was a hole in the side of a hill. A stone covered the door. 39 Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” The dead man’s sister, Martha, said to Him, “Lord, by now his body has a bad smell. He has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say that if you would believe, you would see the shining-greatness of God?”
41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank You for hearing Me. 42 I know You always hear Me. But I have said this for the people standing here, so they may believe You have sent Me.”
43 When He had said this, He called with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were tied in grave clothes. A white cloth was tied around his face. Jesus said to the people, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go!”
The Proud Religious Law-Keepers Try to Think of a Way to Kill Jesus
45 Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus had done put their trust in Him. 46 Some of them went to the proud religious law-keepers and told them what Jesus had done. 47 The religious leaders of the Jews and the proud religious law-keepers gathered a court together. They said, “What will we do? This Man is doing many powerful works. 48 If we let Him keep doing these things, all men will put their trust in Him. The Romans will come and take away the house of God and our nation.” 49 Caiaphas was the head religious leader that year. He said to them, “You know nothing about this. 50 Do you not see it is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed?”
51 Caiaphas did not think of these words himself. He spoke what God had said would happen. He was telling before it happened that Jesus must die for the nation. 52 He must die not only for the nation, but also to bring together into one group the children of God who were living in many places.
53 From that day on they talked together about how they might kill Jesus. 54 For this reason Jesus did not walk out in the open among the Jews. He went to a town called Ephraim. It was near a desert. He stayed there with His followers.
The Proud Religious Law-Keepers Look for Jesus
55 The special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt was soon. Many people from around the country came up to Jerusalem to go through the religious washing before the special supper. 56 They looked for Jesus. They stood together in the house of God and asked each other, “What do you think? Will He come to the special supper?” 57 The religious leaders of the Jews and the proud religious law-keepers had said that if any man knew where Jesus was, he should tell them. They wanted to take Him.
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.”
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