4. But Judas Iscariot didn't like what Mary did. He was one of Jesus' disciples. Later he was going to hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said,
5. "Why wasn't this perfume sold? Why wasn't the money given to poor people? It was worth a year's pay."
6. He didn't say this because he cared about the poor. He said it because he was a thief. Judas was in charge of the money bag. He used to help himself to what was in it.
7. "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "The perfume was meant for the day I am buried.
8. You will always have the poor among you. But you won't always have me."
9. Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there, so they came. But they did not come only because of Jesus. They also came to see Lazarus. After all, Jesus had raised him from the dead.
10. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too.
11. Because of Lazarus, many of the Jews were starting to follow Jesus. They were putting their faith in him.
12. The next day the large crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
13. So they took branches from palm trees and went out to meet him. They shouted, "Hosanna! " "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Psalm 118:25,26) "Blessed is the King of Israel!"
14. Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. This is just as it is written in Scripture. It says,
15. "City of Zion, do not be afraid. See, your king is coming. He is sitting on a donkey's colt." (Zechariah 9:9)
16. At first, Jesus' disciples did not understand all this. They realized it only after he had received glory. Then they realized that these things had been written about him. They realized that the people had done these things to him.