Gospel according to John 12

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead.

² They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table.

³ Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was full of the scent of the ointment.

⁴ Then Judas Iscariot – one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him – said,

⁵ ‘Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?’

⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions.

⁷ So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial.

⁸ You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.’

⁹ Meanwhile a large number of Jews heard that he was there and came not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

¹⁰ Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus as well,

¹¹ since it was on his account that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

¹² The next day the crowds who had come up for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

¹³ They took branches of palm and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessings on the King of Israel, who comes in the name of the Lord.'[*a]

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and mounted it – as scripture says:

¹⁵ Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, mounted on the colt of a donkey.[*b]

¹⁶ At the time his disciples did not understand this, but later, after Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that this had been written about him and that this was in fact how they had received him.

¹⁷ All who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were telling how they had witnessed it;

¹⁸ it was because of this, too, that the crowd came out to meet him: they had heard that he had given this sign.

¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see, there is nothing you can do; look, the whole world is running after him!’

²⁰ Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.[*c]

²¹ These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, ‘Sir, we should like to see Jesus’.

²² Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied to them: ‘Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁴ I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.

²⁵ Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.

²⁶ If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

²⁷ Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.

²⁸ Father, glorify your name!’ A voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’

²⁹ People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, ‘It was an angel speaking to him’.

³⁰ Jesus answered, ‘It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.

³¹ ‘Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.[*d]

³² And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.’

³³ By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.

³⁴ The crowd answered, ‘The Law has taught us that the Christ will remain for ever. How can you say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up”? Who is this Son of Man?’

³⁵ Jesus then said: ‘The light will be with you only a little longer now. Walk while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

³⁶ While you still have the light, believe in the light and you will become sons of light.’ Having said this, Jesus left them and kept himself hidden.

³⁷ Though they had been present when he gave so many signs, they did not believe in him;

³⁸ this was to fulfil the words of the prophet Isaiah: Lord, who could believe what we have heard said, and to whom has the power of the Lord been revealed?[*e]

³⁹ Indeed, they were unable to believe because, as Isaiah says again:

⁴⁰ He has blinded their eyes, he has hardened their heart, for fear they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to me for healing.[*f]

⁴¹ Isaiah said this when saw his glory,[*g] and his words referred to Jesus.

⁴² And yet there were many who did believe in him, even among the leading men, but they did not admit it, through fear of the Pharisees and fear of being expelled from the synagogue:

⁴³ they put honour from men before the honour that comes from God.

⁴⁴ Jesus declared publicly: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me,

⁴⁵ and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me.

⁴⁶ I, the light, have come into the world, so that whoever believes in me need not stay in the dark any more.

⁴⁷ If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world, but to save the world:

⁴⁸ he who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.

⁴⁹ For what I have spoken does not come from myself; no, what I was to say, what I had to speak, was commanded by the Father who sent me,

⁵⁰ and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak.’