John 12:6-16

(In fact, Judas had no heart for the poor. He only said this because he was a thief and in charge of the money case. He would steal money whenever he wanted from the funds given to support Jesus’ ministry.) Jesus said to Judas, “Leave her alone! She has saved it for the time of my burial. You’ll always have the poor with you; but you won’t always have me.” When the word got out that Jesus was not far from Jerusalem, a large crowd came out to see him, and they also wanted to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. This prompted the chief priests to seal their plans to do away with both Jesus and Lazarus, for his miracle testimony was irrefutable and was persuading many of the Jews living in Jerusalem to believe in Jesus. The next day the news that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem swept through the massive crowd gathered for the feast. So they took palm branches and went out to meet him. Everyone was shouting, “Lord, be our Savior! Blessed is the one who comes to us sent from YAHWEH, the King of Israel!” Then Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it to fulfill what was prophesied: “People of Zion, have no fear! Look—it’s your king coming to you riding on a young donkey!” Now Jesus’ disciples didn’t fully understand the importance of what was taking place, but after he was raised and exalted into glory, they understood how Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies in the Scriptures that were written about him.