24. I 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.
25. Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal.
26. Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honour anyone who serves me.
27. “Now my heart is troubled — and what shall I say? Shall I say, ‘Father, do not let this hour come upon me’? But that is why I came — so that I might go through this hour of suffering.
28. Father, bring glory to your name!”Then a voice spoke from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do so again.”
29. The crowd standing there heard the voice, and some of them said it was thunder, while others said, “An angel spoke to him!”
30. But Jesus said to them, “It was not for my sake that this voice spoke, but for yours.
31. Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.
32. When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.”
33. (In saying this he indicated the kind of death he was going to suffer.)
34. The crowd answered, “Our Law tells us that the Messiah will live for ever. How, then, can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
35. Jesus answered, “The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
36. Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of the light.”After Jesus said this, he went off and hid himself from them.
37. Even though he had performed all these miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him,
38. so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true:“Lord, who believed the message we told?To whom did the Lord reveal his power?”
39. And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said:
40. “God has blinded their eyesand closed their minds,so that their eyes would not see,and their minds would not understand,and they would not turn to me, says God,for me to heal them.”
41. Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
42. Even then, many of the Jewish authorities believed in Jesus; but because of the Pharisees they did not talk about it openly, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue.
43. They loved human approval rather than the approval of God.