< John 12 >

1 Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had died, whom He raised out of the dead;
Six days before the Passover [celebration started], Jesus arrived in Bethany [village, along with us]. That was where Lazarus lived. He was the man Jesus [previously] caused to be alive again after he died.
2 they made, therefore, a dinner to Him there, and Martha was ministering, and Lazarus was one of those reclining together with Him;
There they gave a dinner to [honor] Jesus. Martha served the meal. [Her younger brother], Lazarus, was among the people who were eating with Jesus.
3 Mary, therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of spikenard, of great price, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled from the fragrance of the ointment.
Then Mary took [a bottle] of expensive perfume [called] nard and poured it on Jesus’ feet [to honor him]. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. The whole house was filled with the [beautiful] smell of the perfume.
4 Therefore one of His disciples—Judas Iscariot, of Simon, who is about to deliver Him up—says,
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, (OR, Judas, the man from Kerioth [Town]) objected. He was the one who later enabled Jesus’ enemies to seize him.
5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?”
He said, “(We should have sold this perfume and given [the money] to poor people!/Why did [we] not sell this perfume and give [the money for it] to the poor people?) [RHQ] We could have gotten 300 days’ wages for it!”
6 And he said this, not because he was caring for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and what things were put in he was carrying.
He said that, not because he cared about the poor people, but instead, because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the bag [of funds that people gave to help Jesus and us his disciples], and he often stole some of the money that was {that [people]} put into it.
7 Jesus, therefore, said, “Permit her; she has kept it for the day of My embalming,
Then Jesus said, “Do not bother her! [She bought this perfume] in order to save it until the day when they will bury me [after I die].
8 for you always have the poor with yourselves, and you do not always have Me.”
There will always be poor people among you, [so you can help them whenever you want to]. But I will not be with you much longer, [so it is good that she showed right now how much she appreciates me].”
9 Therefore, a great multitude of the Jews knew that He is there, and they came, not only because of Jesus, but that they may also see Lazarus, whom He raised out of the dead;
A large crowd of Jews heard [people say] that Jesus was there [in Bethany]. So they came, not only [to see] Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the man whom he had caused to become alive again after he died.
10 and the chief priests took counsel, that they may also kill Lazarus,
So the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus also,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away, and were believing in Jesus.
because many of the Jews were [deserting them and] going to Jesus and believing in him because of [Jesus causing] Lazarus [to be alive again].
12 On the next day, a great multitude that came to the celebration, having heard that Jesus comes to Jerusalem,
The next day the huge crowd of people that had come [to Jerusalem] for the [Passover] celebration heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13 took the branches of the palms, and went forth to meet Him, and were crying, “Hosanna! Blessed [is] He who is coming in the Name of the LORD—the King of Israel”;
So they [cut] branches from some palm trees and took the branches out [of the city] to [wave them when they] met him. Some of them were shouting things like, “Hooray!” “May the Lord [God] bless the one who is coming with his authority [MTY]!” Some other people were shouting, “[May God bless] the King of Israel!”
14 and Jesus having found a young donkey sat on it, according as it is written,
When Jesus [came near to Jerusalem], he got a young donkey and sat on it [as he rode into the city]. By doing this, [he fulfilled] what had been written {what [a prophet] had written} [in Scripture],
15 “Do not fear, daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes, sitting on a colt of a donkey.”
You people of Jerusalem, do not be afraid! Look! Your king is coming! He is riding on a donkey’s colt!
16 And His disciples did not know these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were having been written about Him, and these things they did to Him.
At first [we] disciples did not understand those things. But after Jesus had returned to heaven, we realized that those things had been written {that [a prophet] had written those things} about him, and that [by] doing those things for him [the people had fulfilled what the prophet prophesied].
17 The multitude, therefore, who are with Him, were testifying that He called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him out of the dead;
The crowd that was with him continued to tell other people that he called Lazarus to come out of the tomb, [and that Lazarus had then become alive again].
18 because of this the multitude also met Him, because they heard of His having done this sign,
Because of that, many people, because they heard [others say] that he had performed this miracle, went to meet him.
19 therefore the Pharisees said among themselves, “You see that you do not gain anything, behold, the world went after Him.”
So the Pharisees said to each other, “It is obvious that we are making no progress [in trying to stop him! It looks like] [HYP] everyone [MTY] is becoming his disciple!”
20 And there were certain Greeks out of those coming up that they may worship in the celebration,
Among those who went up [to Jerusalem] to worship [God] during the [Passover] celebration were some Greeks.
21 these then came near to Philip, who [is] from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were asking him, saying, “Lord, we wish to see Jesus”;
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida [town] in Galilee [province]. They [wanted him] to do something for them. They said, “Sir, we would like to talk with Jesus.”
22 Philip comes and tells Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
So after Philip went and told that to Andrew, they both went and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus responded to them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man may be glorified;
Then, [to show them that he must die in order to give eternal life to non-Jews like those Greeks], Jesus replied to them, “It is time for [God] to honor me, the one who came from heaven. [That will happen when I die].
24 truly, truly, I say to you, if the grain of the wheat, having fallen to the earth, may not die, itself remains alone; and if it may die, it bears much fruit;
Listen to this carefully: [My life is like a seed] [MET]. If [someone] does not plant a kernel of grain in the ground, it does not change. It remains only one [seed]. But if it changes [after it is planted in the ground, it will grow and] produce many seeds.
25 he who is cherishing his life will lose it, and he who is hating his life in this world will keep it to continuous life; (aiōnios g166)
Anyone who strongly wants to keep on living [here on earth] will surely lose his life forever. But anyone who is willing to die [HYP] [for my sake] will surely gain eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
26 if anyone may minister to Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also; and if anyone may minister to Me—the Father will honor him.
If [any of these Greeks or] anyone [else] wants to serve me, they must become my disciples. Then, [after they die], they will be where I am, [in heaven]. My Father will honor all those who serve me.
27 Now My soul has been troubled; and what will I say—Father, save Me from this hour? But because of this I came to this hour;
Now I am deeply disturbed. (I do not know what to say./What shall I say?) [RHQ] Should I say, ‘[My] Father, save me from this time [when I will suffer and die!’]? No, [I should not say that, because] the reason I came ([into this world/from heaven]) was that I would [suffer] [MTY] now.
28 Father, glorify Your Name.” Therefore there came a voice out of Heaven, “I both glorified, and again I will glorify [it]”;
My Father, show how great you are!” John 12:28b-36a Then [God] spoke [EUP] from heaven, saying, “I have already shown how great [I am], and I will do it again!”
29 the multitude, therefore, having stood and heard, were saying that there has been thunder; others said, “A messenger has spoken to Him.”
The crowd that was there heard [it but they did not understand the words. Some said] it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come because of Me, but because of you;
Jesus replied to them, “The voice that you heard speaking [was God’s voice, but] it was not for my benefit. It was for your benefit!
31 now is a judgment of this world, now will the ruler of this world be cast forth;
Now is the time for [God] to judge [the people in] [MTY] the world. Now is the time when [I] will destroy [the power of Satan], the one who rules this world.
32 and I, if I may be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
But as for me, when I am lifted {when [men] lift me} up from the ground [on a cross, I will make a way for] gathering everyone to myself.”
33 And this He said signifying by what death He was about to die;
He said this to show us the way in which he was going to die.
34 the multitude answered Him, “We heard that the Christ remains out of the Law—throughout the age; and how do You say that it is required that the Son of Man be lifted up? Who is this—the Son of Man?” (aiōn g165)
[Someone in] the crowd answered him, “We understand from the Scriptures that the Messiah will live forever. So why do you say that the one who came from heaven, [who is the Messiah], will be lifted up {that [men] will lift up the one who came from heaven, [who is the Messiah], } on a cross? What kind of man who came from heaven are you [talking about]? (OR, That’s not the [kind] of Messiah [we are expecting]!)” (aiōn g165)
35 Therefore Jesus said to them, “Yet a short time is the light with you; walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you; and he who is walking in the darkness has not known where he goes;
Then Jesus said to them, “[My message is like] [MET] a light for you. [I] will be with you for only a little while longer. Live and act [as you should] while I am still with you, [because suddenly you will have no more opportunity to hear my message! You do not want to be like] [MET] [someone] who cannot see where he is going any more [when it suddenly] becomes dark!
36 while you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” Jesus spoke these things, and having gone away, He was hid from them,
Believe in my message [MET] while you still have an opportunity to do it, in order that you may become people who have accepted my truth [MET]!” John 12:36b-43 After Jesus said those things, he left them and hid from them.
37 yet He, having done so many signs before them, they were not believing in Him,
Although he had done many miracles while people were watching, [most of] them refused to believe that he [is] ([the Messiah/from God]).
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he said, “LORD, who gave credence to our report? And the arm of the LORD—to whom was it revealed?”
[Their stubbornness and refusal to believe was similar to the stubbornness of the people that] the prophet Isaiah wrote about long ago: Lord, (hardly anyone has believed our message!/who has believed our message?) [RHQ] Most people refused to accept it, even though you showed them your power!
39 Because of this they were not able to believe, that again Isaiah said,
That was the reason why they were unable to believe. [It was like] Isaiah wrote somewhere else that God said:
40 “He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they might not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and turn, and I might heal them”;
They have [refused to understand; they acted as though they were] blind people! They were insensible in their inner beings! As a result, they have not perceived [my truth]! They have not understood it in their inner beings! They have not turned [from their sinful lives], and because of that I cannot help them!
41 Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him.
Isaiah wrote that because [it was as though] he saw [ahead of time] how great Jesus would be, and he prophesied [those things] about him.
42 Still, however, out of the rulers many also believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing, that they might not be put out of the synagogue,
Although most of the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] did not believe that Jesus is ([the Messiah/from God]), some of them believed in him. But they would not tell anyone that they believed in him, because [they were afraid that if they said that], the Pharisees would not let them worship in the synagogues.
43 for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.
They wanted people to praise them more than they wanted God to praise them.
44 And Jesus cried and said, “He who is believing in Me, does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me;
[Another day, when] Jesus [was teaching the people, he] shouted, “Those who believe in me, they are not believing in [me alone]. Instead, [it is as though] they also believe in the one who sent me.
45 and He who is beholding Me, beholds Him who sent Me;
When they see me [and what I am doing, it is as though] they are seeing the one who sent me.
46 I—light to the world—have come, that everyone who is believing in Me may not remain in the darkness;
I have come into the world [to show people God’s truth], as a light [shows people what is around them]. I have come in order that people who believe in me will not remain [ignorant of God’s truth] [MET], [as those who are] in the darkness [are ignorant of what is around them].
47 and if anyone may hear My sayings, and not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come that I might judge the world, but that I might save the world.
As for those who hear my message but do not obey [its commands], I am not [the one who] judges them. [The main reason] that I came ([into the world/from heaven]) was not to judge [the people of] [MTY] the world. Instead, I came to save them [from being punished for their sins].
48 He who is rejecting Me, and not receiving My sayings, has one who is judging him, the word that I spoke, that will judge him in the last day,
There is something that will judge those who reject me and do not accept my message. On the judgment day [God] will condemn them [because they rejected] the message that I have told them.
49 because I did not speak from Myself, but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a command, what I may say, and what I may speak,
I have not said things from my own [authority]. Instead, [my] Father, the one who sent me, instructed me what to say and how I should say it.
50 and I have known that His command is continuous life; what, therefore, I speak, according as the Father has said to Me, so I speak.” (aiōnios g166)
I know that [paying attention to] what he has instructed us [leads to] eternal life. So whatever I say is exactly (OR, only) what [my] Father has told me to say.” (aiōnios g166)

< John 12 >