New Testament in a Year

12 Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany where Lazarus was—the man he had brought back to life. ² A banquet was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took a jar of costly perfume made from essence of nard, and anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples—the one who would betray him—said, ⁵ “That perfume was worth a fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ Not that he cared for the poor, but he was in charge of the disciples’ funds and often dipped into them for his own use!

⁷ Jesus replied, “Let her alone. She did it in preparation for my burial. ⁸ You can always help the poor, but I won’t be with you very long.”

⁹ When the ordinary people of Jerusalem heard of his arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus—the man who had come back to life again. ¹⁰ Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus too, ¹¹ for it was because of him that many of the Jewish leaders had deserted and believed in Jesus as their Messiah.

¹² The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city, and a huge crowd of Passover visitors ¹³ took palm branches and went down the road to meet him, shouting, “The Savior! God bless the King of Israel! Hail to God’s Ambassador!”

¹⁴ Jesus rode along on a young donkey, fulfilling the prophecy that said: ¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid of your King, people of Israel, for he will come to you meekly, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

¹⁶ (His disciples didn’t realize at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy; but after Jesus returned to his glory in heaven, then they noticed how many prophecies of Scripture had come true before their eyes.)

¹⁷ And those in the crowd who had seen Jesus call Lazarus back to life were telling all about it. ¹⁸ That was the main reason why so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this mighty miracle.

¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to each other, “We’ve lost. Look—the whole world has gone after him!”

²⁰ Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem to attend the Passover ²¹ paid a visit to Philip,^[a] who was from Bethsaida, and said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.

^23-24 Jesus replied that the time had come for him to return to his glory in heaven, and that “I must fall and die like a kernel of wheat that falls into the furrows of the earth. Unless I die I will be alone—a single seed. But my death will produce many new wheat kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. ²⁵ If you love your life down here—you will lose it. If you despise your life down here—you will exchange it for eternal glory.

²⁶ “If these Greeks^[b] want to be my disciples, tell them to come and follow me, for my servants must be where I am. And if they follow me, the Father will honor them.