John 12:15-40

¹⁵You people of Jerusalem, do not be afraid! Look! Your king is coming! He is riding on a donkey's colt!

¹⁶At 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.

¹⁷The 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.

¹⁸Because of that, many people, because they heard others say that he had performed this miracle, went to meet him.

¹⁹So 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!”

²⁰Among those who went up to Jerusalem to worship God during the Passover celebration were some Greeks.

²¹They 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.”

²²So after Philip went and told that to Andrew, they both went and told Jesus.

²³Then, 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.

²⁴Listen 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.

²⁵Anyone 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.

²⁶If 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.

²⁷Now 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.

²⁸My 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!”

²⁹The 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.

³⁰Jesus 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!

³¹Now 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.

³²But 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.”

³³He said this to show us the way in which he was going to die.

³⁴Someone 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!)”

³⁵Then 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 anymore when it suddenly becomes dark!

³⁶Believe 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.

³⁷Although he had done many miracles while people were watching, most of them refused to believe that he is ◄ the Messiah/from God►.

³⁸Their 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!

³⁹That was the reason why they were unable to believe. It was like Isaiah wrote somewhere else that God said:

⁴⁰They 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!