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Jesus Won't Be around Long

¹ Six days before the Passover party, Jesus rode up to Bethany to visit Lazarus and his sisters. ² A meal was prepared in Jesus's honor. ³ Then Mary got a bottle of priceless perfume and poured it on Jesus's feet. She wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with a pleasing aroma.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, the cowboy who would later double-cross Jesus, said, ⁵ "Why is she wasting that perfume? We could've sold that and given money to the poor. That cost a year's wages." ⁶ He didn't care about the poor. He was the treasurer of the ministry and dipped his hand into the cookie jar all the time.

⁷ "Let her alone," Jesus said. "She's preparing my body for the day of my death. ⁸ The poor will always be around, but I won't."

⁹ When word got out that Jesus was in town, people came from all around to see him and the man who had come back from the dead. ¹⁰ Lazarus's fame had him on the radar of the church's head honchos. They planned to kill him too. ¹¹ Too many people believed in Jesus when they saw Lazarus.

Jesus Comes in Like a Boss

¹² Word spread like wildfire the next day Jesus was in town. ¹³ Folks gathered up palm branches to lay in the road when he arrived. They were all shouting, "Hear, hear for God! May he bless the Boss. All hail the Boss, the King of Israel."

¹⁴ Jesus found an unbroke colt and rode into Jerusalem on it. This fulfilled a prophecy that said, ¹⁵ "Don't be scared Jerusalem. Look, your king is coming down the road on an unbroke colt."

¹⁶ His cowboys didn't see the relevance of all this, but after he had gone back to heaven, they put the pieces together, and it made sense.

¹⁷ Most of the crowd had seen what Jesus did with Lazarus. They were telling everybody around about the cool things Jesus was doing. ¹⁸ More and more people were signing up to ride with him. ¹⁹ The Pharisees said to one another, "This is getting out of hand! Look at how everyone is flocking to him."

Jesus Speaks of His Coming Demise

²⁰ There were some people from Greece who were in town for the Passover party. ²¹ They found Phil, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, "Can we meet your Boss?" ²² Phil told Andy about it, and they went to see if Jesus would meet them.

²³ Jesus said, "My time is at hand. I'll soon get the glory my Father has promised. ²⁴ I'm telling you straight, unless a seed is buried in the dirt and dies, it cannot produce new plants. But its death and burial will produce a great harvest of new life. ²⁵ Those who protect their lives at all cost will lose their life. But those who will give up their life will find eternity. ²⁶ If you want to ride for me, you must ride where I go. And my Father will honor any man who does.

²⁷ "Right now I feel like I'm hung up in the stirrup, but do you think I'm going to whine about it and say, 'Make it stop, Dad'? No, this is what I came to do. ²⁸ God, all this glory is yours!"

Then a mighty voice came from heaven, "I have shown my power, and I will do so again." ²⁹ Everyone was looking around to see where the voice came from. Some said it was thunder and others said an angel had spoken.

³⁰ Then Jesus said, "God let you hear him for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ The time for the showdown has arrived. I will meet the devil, the ruler of this world, in the street and when the clock strikes, I will be faster. ³² I will be lifted up for all the world to see, and I will gather the herd to me." ³³ He was telling them how he was going to die.

³⁴ People started shouting questions at him, saying, "We read the Good Book. The Top Hand, the Messiah, is supposed to live forever. Why do you say now that you will die and be lifted up, but still be faster and win? Who is this 'Top Hand'?"

³⁵ Jesus said, "While I'm here, walk in the light and find your way. Get there quick before the darkness overtakes you. ³⁶ Trust what I, the light, show you. Don't waste any time. Then you will be children of the light."

After he had said this, he was gone.

Nobody Believes

³⁷ Despite everything Jesus had done, people still didn't believe in him. ³⁸ Of course, the great cowboy Isaiah had already said many moons before, "Lord, no one believes what we tell them. Has anyone recognized God's arm that is about ready to strike?"

³⁹ But folks didn't believe, because Isaiah had also said, ⁴⁰ "He has blinded 'em and made 'em hard. They can't see with their eyes or feel with their hearts. They cannot turn to me and let me doctor them."

⁴¹ Isaiah had been talking about Jesus because he'd seen the future and jotted down what he saw. ⁴² Now many people did believe in him, including some of the Jewish leaders. But these fellows kept their beliefs to themselves for fear that they would be run out of the church. ⁴³ Even though they believed, they still cared more about what other people thought than standing up for what was true.

⁴⁴ Jesus shouted out to the crowds, "If you trust God, trust in me too. He's the one who is orchestrating these things you see. ⁴⁵ When you look at me, you are looking at God who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have been sent to light the path so that no one rides off the cliff in the darkness. ⁴⁷ I'm not here to judge those who won't do what I say. I came to save the world, not judge it. ⁴⁸ But there will be a judge for those who shun me and my message. They will be condemned on the last day. ⁴⁹ My message is not my own, but the one God told me to say. ⁵⁰ His message is right and guarantees eternal life. I say whatever he tells me to say and that is all."