John 12:1 Jesus, 6 days before the Passover festival, went to Bethany, the town where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus was the one that Jesus had made alive again after he had died).
John 12:2 There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus at the table.
John 12:3 Mary had a jar of expensive perfume and Mary poured it onto Jesus’ feet and then she dried Jesus’ feet with her hair. The people in the house could smell the sweet perfume everywhere.
John 12:4 Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, one of Jesus’ followers, was there. Judas is the one who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said.
John 12:5 Mary has wasted this expensive perfume. We could have sold it for 300 silver coins and given the money to poor people.
John 12:6 But Judas did not really care about the poor. Judas said this because he was a thief. Judas was the one who kept the moneybag for the group of followers.
John 12:7 Jesus said: Don’t stop Mary. Mary has kept this perfume to anoint Me now for the day that they will bury Me.
John 12:8 Jesus said, You will always have poor people with you and you can give them money when you want to, but I will not always be with you.
John 12:9 A lot of the Jews found out that Jesus was in the town of Bethany, and they came to the town. They wanted to see Jesus, but they also wanted to see Lazarus because Jesus had made him alive again.
John 12:10 The chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus.
John 12:11 Because Jesus had made Lazarus alive again, many Jews were leaving the chief priest and started believing in Jesus.
John 12:12 The next day the people in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. There were a lot of people in Jerusalem for Passover.
John 12:13 The people took branches of palm trees and they went to Jesus. They shouted loudly and said: Praise God. Praise Him! God bless the King of Israel the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
John 12:14 Jesus found a young donkey and Jesus sat on the young donkey. It happened as it is written in the Old Testament:
John 12: 15 People of Jerusalem, do not be afraid. Your king is coming to you now. The king is riding on a young donkey.
John 12:16 On that day Jesus’ disciples did not understand what had happened. But after Jesus was raised to glory, the disciples understood that this was written about Jesus.
John 12:17 The people who were with Jesus when Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the tomb, and to live again, told this to all the people everywhere they went.
John 12:18 A lot of people heard about this miracle that Jesus had done and they came to Jerusalem to see Him.
John 12:19 The Pharisees said to each other: Our plan is not working. The people are all following Jesus.
John 12:20 There were also Greeks who came to Jerusalem for the Passover to worship God.
John 12:21 Some of the Greeks went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. The Greeks said, Sir, we want to meet Jesus.
John 12:22 Philip went to Andrew and he told Andrew that the Greeks wanted to talk to Jesus. Then Andrew and Philip went to Jesus, and they told Jesus that the Greeks wanted to see Him.
John 12:23 Jesus said to Andrew and Philip: The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory.
John 12:24 I tell you, Andrew and Philip, this and it is true: 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.
John 12:25 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.
John 12:26 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.
John 12:27 Jesus said: Now I am very troubled. What must I ask my Father? Must I ask Him to save Me so that I will not suffer? No, I will not ask that, because I came to this world to suffer.
John 12:28 Jesus prayed said: 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.
John 12:29 The people who were there heard God speaking. Some of them said: We have heard thunder, and other people said: An angel has talked to Jesus.
John 12:30 Then Jesus told them: God spoke from heaven so that you can hear his voice. God did for you and not for me.
John 12:31 God is going to judge the people of the world now. He will defeat Satan, the leader of the people of this world.
John 12:32 When I am lifted up from the earth, I will bring all the people to Me.
John 12:33 (When Jesus said He would be lifted up from the earth, Jesus meant that He would hang on a cross).
John 12:34 The people said: The Old Testament says that the Christ will live forever on earth, but You say the Son of man will be lifted above the earth. Who is this Son of man that You talk about?
John 12:35 Then Jesus said. I am the light. The light 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.
John 12:36 I am the light, and I am here with you. You must believe in Me, then you will be children of the light. After Jesus had said this, He went away, and they did not know where He was.
John 12:37 The people saw all the miracles that Jesus had done, but they still did not believe in Him.
John 12:38 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?
John 12:39 Isaiah also said why they could not believe.
John 12:40 Isaiah said: God has closed their eyes so that they can not see. God has made their hearts hard. That is why they are blind and can not understand and why they do not start to live as God wants. That is why I will not heal them, said God.
John 12:41 Isaiah said all of this because he saw that Jesus was God. Yes, Isaiah spoke about Jesus.
John 12:42 A lot of people started to believe in Jesus, even some of the Jewish leaders. But they did not tell anyone. They were afraid of the Pharisees who said that they could never go into the synagogue again if they believed in Jesus.
John 12:43 Those leaders wanted other people to say good things about them, more than they wanted God to say they were good.
John 12:44 Jesus said loudly: Anyone who believes in Me does not believe only in Me. He also believes in God who has sent Me to the world.
John 12:45 Yes, if someone sees Me, then he also sees God who has sent Me to the world.
John 12:46 I came to be a light for the people of the world. That is why anyone who believes in Me will not live in the dark.
John 12:47 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 believe.
John 12:48 No, it is my words that will judge them on the last day. The message that I have spoken will judge everyone who do not believe in Me or listen to the words that I said.
John 12:49 The things that I say do not come from Me. The Father who has sent Me to the world has told Me to say every word that I speak.
John 12:50 I know the things that the Father said to Me give eternal life. That is why I have told you everything that the Father has said to Me.