Jesus goes to Bethany, which becomes His base of operations, and there, Martha anoints His feet with costly oil. Jesus lets her do it, saying that she is preparing His body for burial. Judas thinks that the money should have been given to the poor, and plans to betray Jesus.

Jesus then enters Jerusalem on an ass, like a peaceful king. Jesus, who had said all along that His time had not yet come, declares that His time has now come. Jesus is troubled by the coming trauma of taking on the sins of humanity.

Some Jews come to ask Jesus to plainly declare Himself the Christ, but He tells them what He already said, but they take up stones because Jesus makes Himself out to be God. Jesus tells them that they do the same thing when they use the title of God for their religious.

Jesus then hears that Lazarus has died. He stays for two more days and then returns Judea to Lazarus' home. Thomas cynically suggests that they will be going to their deaths by returning to Judea, as well.

When Jesus visits the family and sees Lazarus' tomb, He starts to cry, overcome with emotion despite the knowledge that He will raise Lazarus soon. Jesus then tells the people to take away the stone, cries out with a loud voice, and raises Lazarus, who had been dead for four days.

Hearing of this, the Pharisees seek to kill Jesus.

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Shepherd, which recalls Zechariah 11, Ezekiel 34, and Malachi 2. A father must feed his children first, and likewise the priests must tend their flocks before themselves.

Jesus uses an example of sheep who come to the shepherd's name to explain Himself. He is the gate for the sheep, and while a hireling would abandon his flock, the good shepherd will not. Jesus will put his life down voluntarily to save His flock, and He will pick it up again. This is something that only God can do, and those who hear Him say it understand the implications of such statements.

Jesus and the authorities get into a heated argument. Jesus tells them that He knows the will of the Father, and that the authorities do not. Jesus then says that Abraham saw His day, and that before Abraham was, I am, referring to the name of God. The authorities then take up stones against Jesus, but He escapes.

Jesus then heals a man born blind, but the Pharisees question the man, who tells them that Jesus did it on the Sabbath, and defends Jesus. The Pharisees throw the man out, who goes and becomes a disciple of Jesus, who tells him that He is the Son of Man.

John 8 begins with the narrative of the woman caught in adultery. This section, while an authentic eyewitness account of the Gospel, was probably not written by John, since early manuscripts attached it to different gospels or different parts of John, but it was too important to be left out of the Gospel altogether.

Jesus proclaims that He is the Light of the world. Darkness is used to denote that which is not of God throughout the Bible. Psalms 27, 36, 119, Numbers 6, and Isaiah 49 correlate light with God and God's gift of life. The Pharisees object that Jesus has not confirmed His testimony by another witness, a legal procedure. Jesus states that His testimony is confirmed even if He states it Himself, since He does not judge, but rather the Father.

Jesus then speaks of His death, but the Pharisees do not understand. Jesus tells them that they will understand when He is lifted up, which refers to His crucifixion.