John 12:1-19

Mary anoints Jesus’ feet

12 Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. ³ Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. ⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, ⁵ “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold 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 carried the money bag and would take what was in it.)

⁷ Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.”

⁹ Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. ¹¹ It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus.

Jesus enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t understand these things at first. After he was glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷ The crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were testifying about him. ¹⁸ That’s why the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard about this miraculous sign that he had done. ¹⁹ Therefore, the Pharisees said to each other, “See! You’ve accomplished nothing! Look! The whole world is following him!”