Study Desk

At this they shouted insults at him and said, "You are his follower, not us! We are followers of Moses.

The man who guards the gate opens the gate for the shepherd. And the sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. He calls his own sheep, using their names, and he leads them out.

He brings all of his sheep out. Then he goes ahead of them and leads them. The sheep follow him, because they know his voice.

But sheep will never follow someone they don't know. They will run away from him, because they don't know his voice."

"I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

My Father is the one who gave them to me, and he is greater than all. No one can steal my sheep out of his hand.

Then he went back across the Jordan River to the place where John began his work of baptizing people. Jesus stayed there,

(Mary is the same woman who put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) Mary's brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick.

and then said to his followers, "We should go back to Judea."

Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she bowed at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face. Jesus said to the people, "Take off the cloth and let him go."

So Jesus stopped traveling around openly among the Jews. He went away to a town called Ephraim in an area near the desert. He stayed there with his followers.

Mary brought in a pint of expensive perfume made of pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus' feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' followers, was there—the one who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said,

Jesus said to them, "The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory.

It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Jesus had always loved the people in the world who were his. Now was the time he showed them his love the most.

Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot to hand Jesus over to his enemies. (Judas was the son of Simon.)

So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe. He got a towel and wrapped it around his waist.

Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers' feet. He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist.

Jesus said, "After a person has a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you are clean, but not all of you."