2. “You know that the day after tomorrow is Passover. On that day the Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies to be killed on a cross.”
3. Then the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders had a meeting at the palace where the high priest lived. The high priest’s name was Caiaphas.
4. In the meeting they tried to find a way to arrest and kill Jesus without anyone knowing what they were doing. They planned to arrest Jesus and kill him.
5. They said, “We cannot arrest Jesus during Passover. We don’t want the people to become angry and cause a riot.”
6. Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper.
7. While he was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.
8. The followers saw the woman do this and were upset at her. They said, “Why waste that perfume?
9. It could be sold for a lot of money, and the money could be given to those who are poor.”
10. But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She did a very good thing for me.
11. You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me.
12. This woman poured perfume on my body. She did this to prepare me for burial after I die.
13. The Good News will be told to people all over the world. And I can assure you that everywhere the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told, and people will remember her.”
14. Then one of the twelve followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot.