The supper at Bethany
1 ① Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where he had raised Lazarus, the dead man, to life. 2Now they gave a dinner for him, and while Martha waited on them, Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus.
3Then Mary took a pound of costly perfume made from genuine nard and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4Judas, son of Simon Iscariot – the disciple who was to betray Jesus – remarked, 5“This perfume could have been sold for three hundred dinarii and turned over to the poor.” 6Judas, indeed, had no concern for the poor; he was a thief and as he held the common purse, he used to help himself to the funds.
7But Jesus spoke up, “Leave her alone. Was she not keeping it for the day of my burial? 8(The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me.)”
9Many Jews heard that Jesus was there and they came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests thought about killing Lazarus as well, 11for many of the Jews were drifting away because of him and believing in Jesus.
The Messiah enters Jerusalem
12The next day many people who had come for the festival heard that Jesus was to enter Jerusalem. 13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. And they cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”
14Jesus found a donkey and sat upon it, as Scripture says: 15Do not fear, city of Zion, see your king is coming sitting on the colt of a donkey.
16The disciples were not aware of this at first, but after Jesus was glorified, they realized that this had been written about him and that this was what had happened to him.
17The people who came with him bore witness and told how he had called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead. 18It was because of this miraculous sign which Jesus had given that so many people welcomed him. 19In the meantime the Pharisees said to one another, “We are getting nowhere; the whole world has gone after him.”
Unless the grain dies
20 ② There were some Greeks who had come up to Jerusalem to worship during the feast. 21They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went to Andrew and the two of them told Jesus.
23Then Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
25Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world keep it for everlasting life.
26Whoever wants to serve me, let him follow me and wherever I am, there shall my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27Now my soul is in distress. Shall I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But, I have come to this hour to face all this. 28Father, glorify your Name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.”
29People standing there heard something and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel was speaking to him.” 30Then Jesus declared, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours; 31now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be cast down. 32And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all to myself.” 33With these words Jesus referred to the kind of death he was to die.
34The crowd answered him, “We have been told by the Law that the Messiah stands forever. How can you say that the Son of Man shall be lifted up? What kind of Son of Man is this?”
35Jesus said to them, “The light will be with you a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you. If you walk in the darkness you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light and become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he withdrew and kept himself hidden.
The unbelief of the Jews
37 ③ Even though Jesus had done so many miraculous signs among them, they didn’t believe in him. 38Indeed the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah had to be fulfilled: Lord, who has believed what we proclaimed? To whom have the ways of God the Savior been made known?
39They could not believe. Isaiah had said elsewhere: 40He let their eyes become blind and their hearts hard, so that they could neither see nor understand, nor be converted – otherwise I would have healed them. 41Isaiah said this when he saw His Glory, and his words refer to Him.
42Many of them, however, believed in Jesus, even among the rulers, but they did not acknowledge him because of the Pharisees, lest they be put out of the Jewish community. 43They preferred to be approved by people rather than by God.
44Yet Jesus had said, and even cried out, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45And whoever sees me, sees him who sent me. 46I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
47If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I am not the one to condemn him; for I have come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. 48The one who rejects me, and does not receive my word, already has a judge: the very word I have spoken will condemn him on the last day.
49For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has instructed me in what to say and how to speak. 50I know that his commandment is eternal life, and that is why the message I give, I give as the Father instructed me.”
- Jn 12,1 Matthew and Mark also relate the incident at a supper when Mary showed her passionate love for Jesus. She loved him with all her strength, and her love, far from blindign her, made her sense and respect the mysterious personality of Jesus. Not all the apostles understood her gesture, because they still had much to learn about loving Christ. Like Judas we often speak of giving to the poor. Yet the Lord's command is not to give but to love. To love the poor is to reveal to them their call from God, and to help them grow as persons by overcoming their weaknesses and divisions and by fulfilling the mission God entrusted to them. The poor will live the Gospel and witness to it in the world. If we are not among them, we need conversion and true poverty to discover with them the Kingdom. How can we really love for Jesus? When we do not, we prefer to speak only of giving to the poor. Six days before the Passover. Mark and matthew give the impression that this supper happened two days before the Passover, not six (Mt 26:2; Mk 14:1). The evangelists also disagree regarding the date of the Passover. While John declares that jesus died on the eve of the Passover (Jn 19:14), the other three say that the Last Supper took place on the same day that the Jews celebrated the Passover. According to a very ancient tradition which various oriental churches still maintain, Jesus could have celebrated de Last Supper, not on Thursday, but on tuesday. His trial would then have lasted two days: Wednesday and Thursday. (That seems much more probable than having all the sessions of the double trial of Jesus in the one morning of Friday). He would die on Friday, as all the texts affirm. A possible explanation for these disagreements might be the following: The Passover is celebrated in accordance with the new moon which is not a fixed date, nor is it determined according to the same criteria by everyone. Hence, in certain years some religious groups celebrated it treee days before others. Jesus could have celebrated the Passover on the eve of Wednesday, while the majority of the people celebrated on the eve of Saturday. Jn 12,20 Several foreingners (called Greeks because of their language) were converted to the faith of the Jews. Though they did not observe the Jewish laws, they were accepted in the Temple of Jerusalem where a courtyard, (separate from that of the Jews) was reserved for them. The question from those Greeks offers jesus the opportunity to announce that his kingdom will be extended through the whole earth, when he will have been raised on the cross. Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies (v. 24). Jesus will die and the universsal Church will be born. Jesus allows his lifeless body to be laid in the earth; or rising from the tomb, his same body, now glorified, will also embrace the believers united to him. The life that is now his will be communicated to all the children of God. Unless the grain dies. This is the law for all life that will be fruitful (Mk 8:34). The first believers were already saying: The blood of the martyrs is a seed. Jn 12,37 AN IRREPARABLE CHOICE Jesus' life of preaching is coming to an end. John later finds it difficult to understand how God's chosen people could remain so blind regarding their Messiah. John tries to search out the meaning of this refusal by using two texts from the prophets: The first is a long poem dedicated to the Servant of Yahweh, a voluntary victim for the sake of his people (Is 53:1). It shows us that people do not willingly accept a humiliated Savior. The second text shows how the rejection of Christ could have been foreseen. Indeed, the anciente prophets were also ignored while they were living, thus fulfilling a mysterious plan of God. John stresses the sin of the majority who were not committed to Christ, although within themselves they secretly respected him. Somehow the Jewish people suspected that Jesus came from God, but to believe in what he claimed and asked was another matter. For us, too, to believe in the gospel is to take a stand; we cannot pass by the Church Jesus fonded even though it may not be totally transparent. His word comes to us admist numerous preoccupations, and most often we feel inclined to respond: I'll see later! When we neglect his word, we often think it not grave. Actually it is God and his truth that we reject and we may not have another occasion to receive it. All eternity is decided today. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to support the belief that we will have other lives in order to repair our errors of today. If so many people of our time have grasped this belief in a succession of lives, it is above all because it encourages them to delay making real decisions; the devil takes charge of spreading this belief.
- Jn 12,1 Matthew and Mark also relate the incident at a supper when Mary showed her passionate love for Jesus. She loved him with all her strength, and her love, far from blindign her, made her sense and respect the mysterious personality of Jesus. Not all the apostles understood her gesture, because they still had much to learn about loving Christ. Like Judas we often speak of giving to the poor. Yet the Lord's command is not to give but to love. To love the poor is to reveal to them their call from God, and to help them grow as persons by overcoming their weaknesses and divisions and by fulfilling the mission God entrusted to them. The poor will live the Gospel and witness to it in the world. If we are not among them, we need conversion and true poverty to discover with them the Kingdom. How can we really love for Jesus? When we do not, we prefer to speak only of giving to the poor. Six days before the Passover. Mark and matthew give the impression that this supper happened two days before the Passover, not six (Mt 26:2; Mk 14:1). The evangelists also disagree regarding the date of the Passover. While John declares that jesus died on the eve of the Passover (Jn 19:14), the other three say that the Last Supper took place on the same day that the Jews celebrated the Passover. According to a very ancient tradition which various oriental churches still maintain, Jesus could have celebrated de Last Supper, not on Thursday, but on tuesday. His trial would then have lasted two days: Wednesday and Thursday. (That seems much more probable than having all the sessions of the double trial of Jesus in the one morning of Friday). He would die on Friday, as all the texts affirm. A possible explanation for these disagreements might be the following: The Passover is celebrated in accordance with the new moon which is not a fixed date, nor is it determined according to the same criteria by everyone. Hence, in certain years some religious groups celebrated it treee days before others. Jesus could have celebrated the Passover on the eve of Wednesday, while the majority of the people celebrated on the eve of Saturday. Jn 12,20 Several foreingners (called Greeks because of their language) were converted to the faith of the Jews. Though they did not observe the Jewish laws, they were accepted in the Temple of Jerusalem where a courtyard, (separate from that of the Jews) was reserved for them. The question from those Greeks offers jesus the opportunity to announce that his kingdom will be extended through the whole earth, when he will have been raised on the cross. Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies (v. 24). Jesus will die and the universsal Church will be born. Jesus allows his lifeless body to be laid in the earth; or rising from the tomb, his same body, now glorified, will also embrace the believers united to him. The life that is now his will be communicated to all the children of God. Unless the grain dies. This is the law for all life that will be fruitful (Mk 8:34). The first believers were already saying: The blood of the martyrs is a seed. Jn 12,37 AN IRREPARABLE CHOICE Jesus' life of preaching is coming to an end. John later finds it difficult to understand how God's chosen people could remain so blind regarding their Messiah. John tries to search out the meaning of this refusal by using two texts from the prophets: The first is a long poem dedicated to the Servant of Yahweh, a voluntary victim for the sake of his people (Is 53:1). It shows us that people do not willingly accept a humiliated Savior. The second text shows how the rejection of Christ could have been foreseen. Indeed, the anciente prophets were also ignored while they were living, thus fulfilling a mysterious plan of God. John stresses the sin of the majority who were not committed to Christ, although within themselves they secretly respected him. Somehow the Jewish people suspected that Jesus came from God, but to believe in what he claimed and asked was another matter. For us, too, to believe in the gospel is to take a stand; we cannot pass by the Church Jesus fonded even though it may not be totally transparent. His word comes to us admist numerous preoccupations, and most often we feel inclined to respond: I'll see later! When we neglect his word, we often think it not grave. Actually it is God and his truth that we reject and we may not have another occasion to receive it. All eternity is decided today. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to support the belief that we will have other lives in order to repair our errors of today. If so many people of our time have grasped this belief in a succession of lives, it is above all because it encourages them to delay making real decisions; the devil takes charge of spreading this belief.
- Jn 12,1 Matthew and Mark also relate the incident at a supper when Mary showed her passionate love for Jesus. She loved him with all her strength, and her love, far from blindign her, made her sense and respect the mysterious personality of Jesus. Not all the apostles understood her gesture, because they still had much to learn about loving Christ. Like Judas we often speak of giving to the poor. Yet the Lord's command is not to give but to love. To love the poor is to reveal to them their call from God, and to help them grow as persons by overcoming their weaknesses and divisions and by fulfilling the mission God entrusted to them. The poor will live the Gospel and witness to it in the world. If we are not among them, we need conversion and true poverty to discover with them the Kingdom. How can we really love for Jesus? When we do not, we prefer to speak only of giving to the poor. Six days before the Passover. Mark and matthew give the impression that this supper happened two days before the Passover, not six (Mt 26:2; Mk 14:1). The evangelists also disagree regarding the date of the Passover. While John declares that jesus died on the eve of the Passover (Jn 19:14), the other three say that the Last Supper took place on the same day that the Jews celebrated the Passover. According to a very ancient tradition which various oriental churches still maintain, Jesus could have celebrated de Last Supper, not on Thursday, but on tuesday. His trial would then have lasted two days: Wednesday and Thursday. (That seems much more probable than having all the sessions of the double trial of Jesus in the one morning of Friday). He would die on Friday, as all the texts affirm. A possible explanation for these disagreements might be the following: The Passover is celebrated in accordance with the new moon which is not a fixed date, nor is it determined according to the same criteria by everyone. Hence, in certain years some religious groups celebrated it treee days before others. Jesus could have celebrated the Passover on the eve of Wednesday, while the majority of the people celebrated on the eve of Saturday. Jn 12,20 Several foreingners (called Greeks because of their language) were converted to the faith of the Jews. Though they did not observe the Jewish laws, they were accepted in the Temple of Jerusalem where a courtyard, (separate from that of the Jews) was reserved for them. The question from those Greeks offers jesus the opportunity to announce that his kingdom will be extended through the whole earth, when he will have been raised on the cross. Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies (v. 24). Jesus will die and the universsal Church will be born. Jesus allows his lifeless body to be laid in the earth; or rising from the tomb, his same body, now glorified, will also embrace the believers united to him. The life that is now his will be communicated to all the children of God. Unless the grain dies. This is the law for all life that will be fruitful (Mk 8:34). The first believers were already saying: The blood of the martyrs is a seed. Jn 12,37 AN IRREPARABLE CHOICE Jesus' life of preaching is coming to an end. John later finds it difficult to understand how God's chosen people could remain so blind regarding their Messiah. John tries to search out the meaning of this refusal by using two texts from the prophets: The first is a long poem dedicated to the Servant of Yahweh, a voluntary victim for the sake of his people (Is 53:1). It shows us that people do not willingly accept a humiliated Savior. The second text shows how the rejection of Christ could have been foreseen. Indeed, the anciente prophets were also ignored while they were living, thus fulfilling a mysterious plan of God. John stresses the sin of the majority who were not committed to Christ, although within themselves they secretly respected him. Somehow the Jewish people suspected that Jesus came from God, but to believe in what he claimed and asked was another matter. For us, too, to believe in the gospel is to take a stand; we cannot pass by the Church Jesus fonded even though it may not be totally transparent. His word comes to us admist numerous preoccupations, and most often we feel inclined to respond: I'll see later! When we neglect his word, we often think it not grave. Actually it is God and his truth that we reject and we may not have another occasion to receive it. All eternity is decided today. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to support the belief that we will have other lives in order to repair our errors of today. If so many people of our time have grasped this belief in a succession of lives, it is above all because it encourages them to delay making real decisions; the devil takes charge of spreading this belief.
