Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany
(Matthew 26.6-13; Mark 14.3-9)

John 12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man he had raised from death. ²They prepared a dinner for him there, which Martha helped serve; Lazarus was one of those who were sitting at the table with Jesus. ³Then Mary took a whole pint of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard, poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The sweet smell of the perfume filled the whole house. ⁴One of Jesus' disciples, Judas Iscariot--the one who was going to betray him--said, ⁵"Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?" ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would help himself from it.
⁷But Jesus said, "Leave her alone! Let her keep what she has for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me."

The Plot against Lazarus

⁹A large number of people heard that Jesus was in Bethany, so they went there, not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from death. ¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, ¹¹because on his account many Jews were rejecting them and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem
(Matthew 21.1-11; Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-40)

¹²The next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover Festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!"
¹⁴Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the scripture says,
¹⁵"Do not be afraid, city of Zion!
Here comes your king,
riding on a young donkey."
¹⁶His disciples did not understand this at the time; but when Jesus had been raised to glory, they remembered that the scripture said this about him and that they had done this for him.
¹⁷The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from death had reported what had happened. ¹⁸That was why the crowd met him--because they heard that he had performed this miracle. ¹⁹The Pharisees then said to one another, "You see, we are not succeeding at all! Look, the whole world is following him!"

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Some Greeks were among those who had gone to Jerusalem to worship during the festival. ²¹They went to Philip (he was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and said, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."
²²Philip went and told Andrew, and the two of them went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, "The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. ²⁴I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. ²⁵Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. ²⁶Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who serves me.

King Asa Defeats the Ethiopians

2 Chronicles 14 King Abijah died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. His son Asa succeeded him as king, and under Asa the land enjoyed peace for ten years. ²Asa pleased the LORD, his God, by doing what was right and good. ³He removed the foreign altars and the pagan places of worship, broke down the sacred stone columns, and cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah. ⁴He commanded the people of Judah to do the will of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his teachings and commands. ⁵Because he abolished the pagan places of worship and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, the kingdom was at peace under his rule. ⁶He built fortifications for the cities of Judah during this time, and for several years there was no war, because the LORD gave him peace. ⁷He told the people of Judah, "Let us fortify the cities by building walls and towers, and gates that can be shut and barred. We have control of the land because we have done the will of the LORD our God. He has protected us and given us security on every side." And so they built and prospered. ⁸King Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, armed with shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin, armed with shields and bows. All of them were brave, well-trained men.
⁹An Ethiopian named Zerah invaded Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots and advanced as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰Asa went out to fight him, and both sides took up their positions at Zephathah Valley near Mareshah. ¹¹Asa prayed to the LORD his God, "O LORD, you can help a weak army as easily as a powerful one. Help us now, O LORD our God, because we are relying on you, and in your name we have come out to fight against this huge army. LORD, you are our God; no one can hope to defeat you."
¹²The LORD defeated the Ethiopian army when Asa and the Judean army attacked them. They fled, ¹³and Asa and his troops pursued them as far as Gerar. So many of the Ethiopians were killed that the army was unable to rally and fight. They were overpowered by the LORD and his army, and the army took large amounts of loot. ¹⁴Then they were able to destroy the cities in the area around Gerar, because the people there were terrified of the LORD. The army plundered all those cities and captured large amounts of loot. ¹⁵They also attacked the camps of some shepherds, capturing large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa's Reforms

2 Chronicles 15 The spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, ²and he went to meet King Asa. He called out, "Listen to me, King Asa, and all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you as long as you are with him. If you look for him, he will let you find him, but if you turn away, he will abandon you. ³For a long time Israel lived without the true God, without priests to teach them, and without a law. ⁴But when trouble came, they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel. They searched for him and found him. ⁵In those days no one could come and go in safety, because there was trouble and disorder in every land. ⁶One nation oppressed another nation, and one city oppressed another city, because God was bringing trouble and distress on them. ⁷But you must be strong and not be discouraged. The work that you do will be rewarded."
⁸When Asa heard the prophecy that Azariah son of Oded had spoken, he was encouraged. He did away with all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and all the idols in the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He also repaired the altar of the LORD that stood in the Temple courtyard.
⁹Many people had come over to Asa's side from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, and were living in his kingdom, because they had seen that the LORD was with him. Asa summoned all of them and the people of Judah and Benjamin. ¹⁰They assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year that Asa was king. ¹¹On that day they offered sacrifices to the LORD from the loot they had brought back: seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep. ¹²They made a covenant in which they agreed to worship the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. ¹³Anyone, young or old, male or female, who did not worship him was to be put to death. ¹⁴In a loud voice they took an oath in the LORD's name that they would keep the covenant, and then they shouted and blew trumpets. ¹⁵All the people of Judah were happy because they had made this covenant with all their heart. They took delight in worshiping the LORD, and he accepted them and gave them peace on every side.
¹⁶King Asa removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol, chopped it up, and burned the pieces in Kidron Valley. ¹⁷Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship in the land, he remained faithful to the LORD all his life. ¹⁸He placed in the Temple all the objects his father Abijah had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated. ¹⁹There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of his reign.

Comfort in Time of Distress

Psalm 77 I cry aloud to God;
I cry aloud, and he hears me.
²In times of trouble I pray to the Lord;
all night long I lift my hands in prayer,
but I cannot find comfort.
³When I think of God, I sigh;
when I meditate, I feel discouraged.

⁴He keeps me awake all night;
I am so worried that I cannot speak.
⁵I think of days gone by
and remember years of long ago.
⁶I spend the night in deep thought;
I meditate, and this is what I ask myself:
⁷"Will the Lord always reject us?
Will he never again be pleased with us?
⁸Has he stopped loving us?
Does his promise no longer stand?
⁹Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has anger taken the place of his compassion?"
¹⁰Then I said, "What hurts me most is this--
that God is no longer powerful."

¹¹I will remember your great deeds, LORD;
I will recall the wonders you did in the past.
¹²I will think about all that you have done;
I will meditate on all your mighty acts.

¹³Everything you do, O God, is holy.
No god is as great as you.
¹⁴You are the God who works miracles;
you showed your might among the nations.
¹⁵By your power you saved your people,
the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph.

¹⁶When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid,
and the depths of the sea trembled.
¹⁷The clouds poured down rain;
thunder crashed from the sky,
and lightning flashed in all directions.
¹⁸The crash of your thunder rolled out,
and flashes of lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹You walked through the waves;
you crossed the deep sea,
but your footprints could not be seen.
²⁰You led your people like a shepherd,
with Moses and Aaron in charge.