JHN 12
12
Jesus is Anointed by Mary at Bethany
Matt. 26:6-13; Mk. 14:3-9
1 Six days before the Passover celebration, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived—the man Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 So they prepared a dinner in His honour there. Martha was serving the meal, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
3 Then Mary took about a pint of extremely expensive perfume made from pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet with it, and wiped His feet with her hair. The entire house was filled with the fragrant aroma of the perfume.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples—the one who was planning to betray Him—objected,
5 "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to the poor?"
6 He said this not because he had any genuine concern for the poor, but because he was a thief. Since he was in charge of the money bag, he regularly helped himself to what was deposited in it.
7 So Jesus said: "Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day when I will be buried.
8 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me."
The Conspiracy to Kill Lazarus
9 Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jewish people learned that Jesus was there. They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
11 because on account of him, many of the Jewish people were going away from their leaders and placing their faith in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
Matt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Lk. 19:28-40
12 The next day, the large crowd that had come for the feast heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem.
13 They took branches from palm trees and went out to meet Him, shouting: "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!"*
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as the Scripture says:
15 "Do not be afraid, Daughter of Zion;
look, your King is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt!"*
16 His disciples did not understand the significance of these things at first. But after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that these prophecies had been written about Him and that these events had been fulfilled in Him.
17 Now the crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued bearing witness to what they had seen.
18 This is why the crowd went out to meet Him—because they had heard that He had performed this miraculous sign.
19 So the Pharisees said among themselves: "You see that your efforts are accomplishing nothing! Look—the whole world has gone running after Him!"
Some Greeks Seek Jesus
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast.
21 These men came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request of him: "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."
22 Philip went and told Andrew about it. Then Andrew and Philip went together and told Jesus.
23 Jesus responded to them by saying: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 I tell you with absolute certainty and truth: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.
25 The person who loves his life in this world will lose it, but the person who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
26 If anyone wishes to serve Me, he must follow Me. And where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him.
The Son of Man Must be Lifted Up
27 Now My soul is deeply troubled and distressed. What should I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? No—it was precisely for this hour that I came.
28 Father, glorify Your name!" Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
29 The crowd standing there heard it and began saying that it had thundered. Others were saying: "An angel has spoken to Him."
30 Jesus responded and said: "This voice did not come for My benefit, but for yours.
31 Now is the time of judgment for this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself."
33 He said this to indicate what kind of death He was about to die.
34 The crowd responded to Him: "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How then can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man You are talking about?"
35 Jesus then said to them: "The Light will be with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness does not overtake you. The person who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." After Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid Himself from them.
The Unbelief of the Jews
37 Even though He had performed so many miraculous signs right in front of them, they still refused to believe in Him.
38 This happened to fulfil the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
"Lord, who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"*
39 For this reason they could not believe, because Isaiah also said in another place:
40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
so that they cannot see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn back to Me—and then I would heal them."*
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ's glory and spoke concerning Him.
42 Yet even so, many among the rulers actually believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not confess their faith openly, for fear of being expelled from the synagogue.
43 For they loved receiving honour from human beings more than receiving honour from God.
The Word Brings Judgment
44 Then Jesus called out and declared: "The person who believes in Me is not merely believing in Me, but in the One who sent Me.
45 And the person who sees Me is actually seeing the One who sent Me.
46 I have come into the world as Light, so that everyone who believes in Me will not have to remain in darkness.
47 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.
48 The person who rejects Me and does not receive My words has something that judges him: the very word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
49 For I have not spoken on My own authority. Rather, the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment about what I should say and what I should speak.
50 And I know that His commandment leads to eternal life. Therefore, whatever I speak, I speak exactly as the Father has instructed Me to speak."
Notes
13 Alluded to Ps. 118:26a
15 Quoted from Zech. 9:9
38 Quoted from Is. 53:1
40 Quoted from Is. 6:10
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
