At Bethany
Six days before Passover Jesus went back to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from death. A meal had been prepared for Jesus. Martha was doing the serving, and Lazarus himself was there.
3 Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured it on Jesus? feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house.
4 A disciple named Judas Iscariot was there. He was the one who was going to betray Jesus, and he asked, 5 "Why wasn?t this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?" 6 Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it.
7 Jesus replied, "Leave her alone! She has kept this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor with you, but you won?t always have me."
A Plot To Kill Lazarus
9 A lot of people came when they heard that Jesus was there. They also wanted to see Lazarus, because Jesus had raised him from death. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus. 11 He was the reason that many of the people were turning from them and putting their faith in Jesus.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
12 The next day a large crowd was in Jerusalem for Passover. When they heard that Jesus was coming for the festival, 13 they took palm branches and went out to greet him. They shouted, "Hooray! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!"
14 Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the Scriptures say, 15 "People of Jerusalem, don?t be afraid! Your King is now coming, and he is riding on a donkey." 16 At first, Jesus? disciples did not understand. But after he had been given his glory, they remembered all this. Everything had happened exactly as the Scriptures said it would.
17-18 A crowd had come to meet Jesus because they had seen him call Lazarus out of the tomb. They kept talking about him and this miracle. 19 But the Pharisees said to each other, "There is nothing that can be done! Everyone in the world is following Jesus."