Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they
gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of
those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of
expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of
Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with
the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his
disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this
ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he
was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help
himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so
that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you
always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

  When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there,
they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom
he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put
Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the
Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

  The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard
that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm
trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

    “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
    behold, your king is coming,
        sitting on a donkey's colt!”


      His disciples did not understand these things at first, but
when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things
had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that
had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised
him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the
crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining
nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

  Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some
Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told
Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered
them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth
and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this
world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must
follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone
serves me, the Father will honor him.

  “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me
from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have
glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood
there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An
angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for
your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will
the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up
from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to
show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd
answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains
forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who
is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you
for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest
darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not
know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the
light, that you may become sons of light.”

  When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself
from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still
did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet
Isaiah might be fulfilled:

    “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
        and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”


      Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

    “He has blinded their eyes
        and hardened their heart,
    lest they see with their eyes,
        and understand with their heart, and turn,
        and I would heal them.”


      Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke
of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him,
but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they
would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory
that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

  And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes
not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who
sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever
believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words
and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to
judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and
does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken
will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own
authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a
commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his
commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the
Father has told me.”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001
by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.