John 12:1-11 (NLT) Jesus Anointed at
Bethany
12:1 Six days before the
Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the
man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in
Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with Him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce
jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’
feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the
fragrance.
4 But Judas Iscariot, the
disciple who would soon betray Him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a
year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the
poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he
often stole some for himself.
7 Jesus replied, “Leave her
alone. She did this in preparation for My burial. 8 You will always have the
poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”
9 When all the people heard
of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see Him and also to see Lazarus, the man
Jesus had raised from the dead. 10 Then the leading priests
decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him
that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.
"IF Mary Wanted to Give Such a High Value Gift
·
That Was Up to Her
o But Why Did She Have to Spend It
§ As She Did?
Why Was This Perfume
·
Not Sold For 300 Denarii
o And Then, That Money
§ Could Have Been Given to The Poor?
You Know,
That Is Not Such a Bad Question.
Now – We All Know that Judas –
o Well - He Was a Piece of Work.
We Know That the Evidence Suggests
o That He Was a Thief.
And We Know
o
That He Was an Informant.
But His Question
o Still Remains to Be a Good One.
It Is TRUE
·
That He Most Assuredly – Occasionally
o Embezzled Money from the ‘Common’ Purse.
·
That He Most Assuredly Had Other Motives
o Besides Walking the ‘High Moral’ Road
§ Which - As Being One of Jesus’ Disciples,
·
He Was to Project.
·
And He Most Assuredly - Didn't Give
o A Rats - Tail About the Poor.
BUT ISN'T HE BASICALLY, RIGHT?
Could That POUND Of Expensive Perfume
·
Which Mary Dumped Upon Jesus' Feet,
o Could That Have
§ Been Used in A Better Way?
I Must Admit
·
I Would Have Been Right There
o With an Agreeing Nod.
Wishing That Mary Would Have Chosen
·
A Less Expensive Bottle Of
o Good O’ English Leather
o Or Old Spice.
YOU SEE,
NARD Was Imported
From The Himalayas!
Could That Money Have Been:
·
Saved For the Next Time Feeding of the 5000?
·
Been Saved for A Month Of
Feeding The Starving Families?
·
Been Saved to Build
o
A Tent Village for The Homeless?
BUT – Do We Really Know
·
Just How Much Mary's Generous
o Act of Kindness
§ Really Cost Her Family?
But You Know – We Can Count on Judas
·
Of Knowing the Answer
o To the Value of Such a Gift!
WHO Else Within Jesus Group,
·
Would Have Known
o More About This Stuff Than He?
Well - Maybe Matthew? Maybe.
It Is Suggested That This Perfume
·
Would Have Been Worth 300 Denarii.
And In Jesus’ Days,
·
A Denarius Was Equal To
o "A Day's Wage" For Most People.
§ So that is 300 Days of Work!
Now – You Do the Math.
ü $15.00 Per Hr. X 8 Hrs.
= $120 Per Day
ü $120 X 5 (workdays in a
wk.) = $600 Per Week
ü
$600 X 52.143 (Ave. Wks. In A Year) = $31,285.80
Basically – You Are
Looking At
·
A Year's Salary.
·
A Year's Salary Dumped
Upon Jesus' Feet?
So Let Us Translate
That to Today's Economy.
And We Are Talking
About
o Being Only A Few
Thousand Short
§ Of A Brand New 2022 Ford
Mustang GT!
That Is A Brand-New Mustang GT
·
Which Is
o POURED OUT
o SPILT
o SPENT
o GONE
§ AND UPON Our Lord’s Feet!
Why Did Mary Do Such a Thing?
Are We Being Led to The Fact -
That Jesus’ Feet - Smelt That Bad?
Now We Know That Jesus Suggested
·
That This Perfume Has
o
Something To Do With
§ His Upcoming Burial.
But HOW –
·
Could Mary Have Known That?
And Even If She Did,
·
Do You Think That She
o Would Have Understood It Better Then,
§ Peter, James, and John?
And Even If She Did Know AND Understand It,
·
Doesn't She Go Just a Little Overboard
o
With The Funeral Expenses?
Besides, Jesus’ Funeral Won’t Be
·
For Another Two Weeks.
o And the Aroma
§ Would Have Been Gone by Then.
Wouldn’t It Had Been Better to Save It
·
For His Tomb?
BUT – Regardless - The Perfume
Is Now Gone!
‘A Year's Earnings’,
·
Could That Not Have
o
Been Used to Help
§ So Many ‘Needy’ People.
ISN’T THAT JUDAS' POINT.
I Am Uncomfortable,
·
With Siding With
o Someone Who Has
§
The Character As
·
Eddie Haskell
o On ‘Leave-It-To-Beaver’.
But Judas’ Point has
Some Merit.
Even Though Judas’ Eyes
·
Were Most Likely Set Upon
o
‘How He Could Have Used That Money!’
Even Though He Was
·
Nothing But a THIEF,
·
And a LIER,
·
And a BETRAYER,
o
His Point Still Has Some Merit.
Jesus Said, "LEAVE HER ALONE."
The Fragrance of Her Perfume
·
Would Have Absolutely Saturated
o
Every Nook and Cranny of Their House.
And Most Assuredly –
·
It has Also Filled Every Nostril
o
Within That Entire City Block!
But Jesus Says, "Get Off Her Case!"
And Then Christ Says Something
·
Which I Believe - To Most of Us,
o
Sounded Very Confusing!
And to Me,
·
It Really Doesn’t Sound
Very Christ Like.
"YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE POOR WITH YOU,
BUT YOU DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE ME."
Now Just What
Does Jesus Mean By That?
IS He Saying That,
‘The Poor - Can Go and Fly a Kite?’
That it is NO Longer About Them?
Is He Giving Us the Green Light To,
Forget About
The Needy
And The Hungry?
What Are We to Do With These 14 Words?
"YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE POOR WITH YOU,
BUT YOU DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE ME."
I Remember Once I Had a Couple of Ordination Classes
Back East At An Old College And The Dorm Rooms Were Divided So That 2 Stayed In
Each Room.
I Wish I Could Remember My Roommates Name and
Address, But He Lived in NY City. He Was Freshly Married to A Wonderful Lady
Who Was a Nurse, And He Was a Doctor by Profession. However, He Felt the Call to
Ministry, And He Took the Most Difficult Class Within All Ordination Classes as
His First Class: Wesleyan History.
Now We Had Visited About How Life Was Treating
Each Other, Cheryl and I Were Working on Getting Out of Debt, And He and His
Wife Just Bought An Apartment Highrise, And They Were Several Million In Debt.
But Before We Parted, In His Most Sincere
Voice, He Gave Me Around $74, His Pocket Change to Help Us Along in Us
Getting Out of Debt.
At First, I Told Him He Needed That Money More
Than I Did but Right After That, Within His Refusal, I Accepted It.
With Him Doing This,
·
He Would Become a Part
o Of What the Lord was Doing
§ Within My Life and in Cheryl’s Life!
Through Him Getting
·
Us Out of Debt
o
He Helped Us GROW!
AND – Just Sometimes –
·
We Need to Learn
o
How To Accept Help
§ More Than We Have Learned
·
How to Help Others.
There was a Pastor Who Told Of A Story
·
Of The First Congregation
o Which He Served At.
It Was a Country Church,
·
Much Like Ours
o Where Many Of The Members Had Gardens.
One Of the Men Of The Church Asked,
"Pastor, Would You Like Some
Carrots?"
The Pastor Responded with a:
"Yes, A Few Would Be Nice."
The Next Day –
·
A Full Bushel Basket of Carrots
o Appeared On The Parsonage Front Porch.
As This Pastor Finished Telling of His Story,
·
He said that he Recalled Wondering,
"A Bushel of Carrots for Two People?
Were They Crazy?”
Well - Not at All!
They Were Just Grateful to the Lord.
Whether it is:
·
$74 dollars.
·
A bushel basket full of carrots for the pastor.
·
Or a Pound of Expensive Perfume for Jesus.
THEY WERE JUST GRATEFUL TO GOD!
Now – I Know of a Pastor within Junction City,
·
Where He Asks for New Things Such As:
o A Brand-New Cadillac - Every Year,
§ 1 For Him And 1 For His Wife.
o A Rolexes Watch is his timepiece.
o And He said:
§ “If your Congregation doesn’t offer you the
best of what they have, then they aren’t doing their job!”
So, I believe the Question then becomes:
‘Should We Expect Such Gifts
As This from The Lord?’
You know:
IF the Lord accepted a $31,000 + foot air-freshener.
·
Then what is wrong about asking for
o
An air strip and a plane?
·
What about trips to the Aspen
o
And to the Holy Land?
·
What about Having Weekends
o
At the Hyatt Regency?
There Are Those Who Are in Ministry
·
And They Do Ask for Such Things
o But HERE IS THE THING
§ To Do So,
·
They Are Missing the Point!
THE RECORD IS CLEAR.
·
Jesus Christ Was and Is
o And Always Will
§ Be a Friend of The Poor.
The Evidence
·
Is So Overwhelming Within Just the 4 Gospels
o
That We Hardly Need
§
To Even Mention This Connection.
You Know – Today’s
Scripture
·
Is Not The Beginning Of This Story.
In John 11, We Find Jesus Eating Dinner
·
With a Grateful Family
o
But this Story
§ Really Began in John 10.
But Truthfully,
·
It Even Began Much Earlier Then This
o
But Let’s Just Go Back to Chapter 10.
Going Back to The Book of John, Chapter 10
Do you remember what happened in Chapter 10?
The Two sisters, Mary, and Martha
·
Sent Word Out from Bethany to Reach Jesus
o
Concerning Their Brother, Lazarus Illness.
He was Gravely ill.
And By the Time Jesus Arrived,
·
It Was Already
o
A Few Days After the Funeral.
This was When Jesus met First
·
The Oldest of the sisters, Martha
o
And then a bit later,
§ The Younger, Mary.
Within their Moments of Grieving,
·
Like Many of us do in
Times Such as These,
o
They Reacted in a Sort
of Testy Way,
§ Lashing Out in Anger and Mourning.
Understandably, They Were
·
So Upset Concerning
o
The Death of their brother.
"IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE,
JESUS,
OUR BROTHER
WOULD NOT HAVE DIED."
You Know - Often, I Wonder
Do I Truly Have Their Type
of Faith?
As it is Also with Our Customs Today,
·
We Too,
o
After the
Funeral
§ Family and Friends
·
Would Gather Together Around a Meal.
However, In Their Days
·
It Was of Their Customs
o
To Hire People Who Would Mourn
§ In Honor of the Dead.
This All Occurred within
The Book of John, Chapter
10.
*But Here Is the Twist*
Within Our Scripture for Today,
·
John, Chapter 11
o The Strange Thing of it Is
§
The Deceased Then, Is Now Present,
And he is Bellied Up to the Table
·
Ready To Eat!
This Very Brother Lazarus
·
Now Sits with Jesus,
o Eating Martha’s Fried Chicken
§ And Mashed Potatoes
·
And Sipping Sweet Tea.
So, Tell Me –
How Grateful Are these, Sisters?
And – More Importantly
How Grateful - Would You Be?
You Know –
·
We Aren't Told of the
Specifics
o Concerning Martha’s Actions.
But She Has a Track Record
·
Within the Bible
o For Whipping Up Some
§
Marvelous Feasts!
And I have No Doubt
·
That Martha
Played the HUGE ROLE
o As the Grateful Older Sister.
With
Her Table Set Flawlessly.
I Can Just Picture
·
Platters Filling the
Table
o
Containing Her
Award-Winning Turkey
§
And All of the
Fixings.
And Most Certainly,
·
There was Not Only One
or Two
o But there were Three
§
Of Her Special Award-Winning
Desserts
·
Which Graced the
Prepared Table.
And I can also Picture Martha,
·
Standing at the edge of the Room
o Giving the Nod of Encouragement
§
To Her Sister Mary,
·
To Grace Jesus Feet
o With that Precious
Perfume.
She Was Most Assuredly
‘A Grateful Sister’
Her Brother Was Now
Back Among Them.
We know of Mary’s Actions They are Written
Down.
But It Is Also Fair with Us Knowing
Of What Type of Woman Who Martha Was
So, We Can Easily Assume
That this action
Was Most Assuredly
Not an Impulsive Action.
But Rather
It Was of the Combined -
Well Planned Out Effort
On Both Parts, Mary, and Martha.
They – Were So Grateful
·
And Without a Second Thought,
o
They Bought the Expensive Perfume
§
Which Could Have Easily Cost
§
Their Entire Livelihood Nest Egg.
This Could Easily
Have Represented
·
Their Entire Life’s Savings,
o
And In One Swift Action,
§
They Anointed the Feet
·
Of The One
o
Whom They Owed Everything.
Overdone? - Perhaps
Maybe they got Carried Away.
·
Or Just Maybe – They Didn’t!
Should Jesus Have Scolded these sisters?
You Know – It Could
Be Seen As Bragging.
But – Do You Remember What He Said?
"Leave Her Alone."
On the Surface,
·
This Was a Dinner
o
Where Two Grateful Sisters
§ Gave Thanks To Jesus
§ For Restoring Their Once-Dead Brother.
Was Their Response Exaggerated?
·
Did Mary and Martha Overdo It?
o Maybe.
But Behind Their Actions
·
There Was Much More Than Just
o
Being Grateful for
§
The Return of Their Brother.
·
Oh, It Was So Much More!
YOU SEE – It was Their Way of
Showing
·
The Lord,
o Of Their Repentance
§ Of The Removal of Their
Doubt
·
Of Their Renewal of Their Faith
o In Jesus, Their Lord.
These Sisters Truly Knew Who Jesus Was/Is.
He Is Their Lord –
Their Christ - Their God!
But Here is a Question Which You Can Ask
Yourself:
How Do You React
Before Your Lord - Your God
When You Recognize
The Truth of Who He Truly Is?
You Know - I Find It Very Interesting
·
That It Is in The Very
Next Chapter,
o The Gospel of John, Chapter 13,
§ That is When We Find Jesus
§ Washing The Feet of His Disciples.
This Clearly
Points Out Of
·
What Action Are We Called To?
o
When We Serve the World
§ Within The
Name of Christ.
St. John Seems to Be Saying That There Is a
·
There Is a Great Connection
o Between Honoring Jesus and Serving Jesus.
Do You See the
Connection Between Loving Our God
And Loving Our Neighbor.
Maybe Mary and Martha
·
Go a Little Overboard
o Within Their Honoring Jesus.
Maybe.
But – I don’t See ‘Going Overboard’ As Being
Our Problem.
BUT RATHER – I SEE THAT,
‘NOT DOING ENOUGH’
THAT IS OUT PROBLEM!
OUR PROBLEM IS
USUALLY UNDERDOING THINGS.
Let Us Check It Out
And See How YOU Are Doing:
·
Do You Take Jesus for
Granted?
·
Do You Go Days
Without
o Consulting Him Within Prayer?
·
Do You Just Assume
o That He Is Aware of Your Gratitude
o And of Your Thankfulness?
·
Do You Help Serve
Others,
o But Neglect Your Relationship with Jesus?
·
Do You Serve Others
o But Stop Short of Washing Their Feet?
·
Do You Give Lip-Service
o To Those Who Jesus
o Constantly Brings to Us For Us to Help?
·
Are We Doing ALL That
We Can
o In Building His Church
§ For Others – So That
·
They Can Learn About
God?
You Know,
·
When We Take a Close Look at This Story,
o We Will Find
That It Has Nothing to Do
§ With Money at
All.
Even Though - It Seems to Be.
This Is a Story
·
IS About GRATITUDE
·
And RECOGNIZING
o What JESUS
HAS DONE IN OUR LIVES.
And It Does Not Matter
·
IF YOU ARE RICH
·
OR IF YOU ARE POOR.
What Mary and Martha Are Teaching Us,
·
Through Their Actions,
o Is that We Need ‘To STOP’,
§ ‘Slow Down’
§ And To ‘GIVE THANKS’.
Then We Will Be the Time
To Serve the Poor.
Just As Jesus Says,
‘They Are Always with Us’.
In Our Honoring of Our Lord, Jesus-Christ,
·
We Learn That It Does Not Involve
o The Money nor The Perfume.
But Rather It is THE ACT ITSELF,
·
Just Like Mary's and Martha’s,
o Their Willingness to "Fill their
House"
§ With A Certain Fragrance
·
Which Is Pleasing to the Lord.
It Is the Fragrance Of:
·
Love,
·
Devotion,
·
And Gratitude.
Gratitude For the One Who Has Loved Us
So Abundantly from The Beginning,
And With Such a Cost!
Mary's and Martha’s Gift Was Both
·
"Costly"
·
And Lavishly,
·
And Even - Generously.
They Were Overcome with Joy and Thanksgiving!
Maybe it is True – Maybe They Did Overdid It.
But Only 12 Days from Now,
·
On A Friday Afternoon, at the 3pm hour,
o So Many Years Ago,
§ Jesus Offered His Own Costly
·
And Lavishly
o And Even Generous Gift.
We Should Pray That We
·
Will Not "Underdo" It
o As We Seek to Honor Christ
§ In Our Lives
·
During This Lent Time
·
Within Our Repentance.
Jesus Brought Life back into Lazarus’ Life
·
Removing his Death
o And the Sisters Were So Grateful.
Now – It Is Our Turn.
·
Our Turn to Wash the
Feet
o Of Those Who We Serve.
