I want you to see now how Mark sets the scene for us.
This is another one of those, we've called them literary sandwiches.
Scholars call them Markan sandwiches, where he'll start with a story,
he'll insert a different story, and then he'll come back to conclude the first story at the end.
That's really what Mark's doing here.
He sets the scene with the first two verses.
It was now two days before the Passover, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the chief priest and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,
for they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.
And so these two verses here introduce this final subsection of Mark's gospel.
All of the focus is now turning to the suffering, death, and ultimately resurrection of Jesus.
Remember what Mark stated in the very first verse of the book was his purpose.
His purpose is to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and the Son of God.
And by God's grace, and through the work of God's Spirit,
he has skillfully set forth his argument, which finds its glorious conclusion in these last three chapters.
And though believers look on these moments with understandable joy,
they really are very dark and disturbing.
We're told that the Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread are within two days' time from beginning.
The ruling body of the Jews here, mentioned as the chief priest and the scribes,
probably meant to be a reference to the Sanhedrin.
They are hurriedly and stealthily pursuing the death of Jesus.
They've plotted for years.
This has been building up all through Mark's gospel, this antagonism of the leaders among the Jews.
They are now at a point where they can wait no longer, and they're waiting for the opportune moment,
which presents itself here when one of Jesus' closest friends agrees to help them.
And as they carry out this plan, all of Jesus' disciples abandon him,
and he's left utterly alone to face the agony of the cross.
And it's amid this context that Mark inserts this beautiful story of devotion and worship.
We say, well, why exactly is this here?
Why don't we think it's hard for us to see that this story itself carries on the theme that Mark has woven
throughout his whole book on the nature of true and genuine discipleship.
We've seen that time and again.
And what we see happening here with this woman,
it's not so much a picture of that initial decision to be a follower of Christ.
Remember, is it chapter 8 where Jesus says,
If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Right?
And he sets forth the terms for discipleship.
Well, that's a moment that we may, that's a decision we make at the moment of conversion, isn't it?
Our hearts are awakened in faith to the person of Jesus Christ.
We respond then with an affirmative action that we're going to leave everything else behind
and we're going to follow Christ with our lives.
But that spirit and attitude and mindset of discipleship does not end in that moment.
It's carried on perpetually throughout the entire life of the believer in Jesus.
And what we see really unfolding, the purpose I think for it here in Mark chapter 14 of this story
is to give us a picture of what it looks like for a believer in this ongoing spirit and attitude of devotion
and sacrifice and worship and leaving all things behind, even precious things,
in order to be fully and completely devoted to Jesus.
I really think that's what we're to take from this story.
While the Jews are rejecting Jesus and the 12 are abandoning Jesus,
this woman's action stands out as a beautiful illustration of wholehearted devotion to Jesus.
And if you want to know how true discipleship is expressed in a believer's life,
you need look no further than to this woman.
Even Jesus himself said what she's done is not going to be forgotten.
People are going to talk about it forever.
Wherever the gospel goes, they're going to talk about this moment.
And here we are, 2,000 years later, and we're talking about this moment.
Four things about this passage I want to point out to you.
The first thing is this.
I want you to see extraordinary devotion.
Extraordinary devotion.
What does it look like for a believer in Christ to continue in faithful discipleship?
Well, it begins and ends with extraordinary devotion.
Look at verse 3.
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,
as he was reclining at table,
a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly,
and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.
Now, neither Matthew or Mark reveal the woman's identity.
Luke doesn't cover this particular event.
But John chapter 12, in fact, if you want to write that in the margins of your notes,
I want to encourage you to go and read that passage later on this afternoon.
You're going to hear me say some things probably today that you don't find in Mark 14.
You're going to find it in John chapter 12,
and I just probably won't take the time to tell you to flip back and forth.
Okay, so write that in the margins and go and read it later.
John chapter 12 actually tells us who this is.
This is Mary.
Mary, who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
That's who it is that performs this act.
Now, Jesus had been staying in Bethany.
We know that already.
It's a two-mile walk from Jerusalem,
and a group of Jesus' followers were holding a dinner party in his honor.
That's the purpose of the gathering here together.
It's not at Mary's house.
It's actually at another man's house named Simon.
And it's during this gathering that we're told Mary interrupts the dinner,
and she has this unusual but extravagant display of honor.
I mean, it is unusual, isn't it?
Maybe even for their culture it would have seemed somewhat unusual.
Certainly for our culture, this is kind of a weird thing.
She brought in a box of very expensive perfume or oil.
She broke its container open and then proceeded to pour its contents on the head
and on the feet of the Lord Jesus.
That's kind of strange.
The oil that's used here, we're told, is pure nard.
Your translation may say spike nard.
It's the same thing.
It was an aromatic ointment probably from the Himalayan mountains in Asia.
It was especially pungent.
And its most common use in this particular culture of Jesus' day
was as an oil to anoint dead bodies.
It covered up the stench.
The smell of it was so aromatic and strong.
It covered up the stench of decomposition in dead bodies.
That's what people would most likely use this for.
And the value and purpose of the perfume
is what made Mary's action actually so extravagant.
Ironically, it's actually also what made people so offended by what she did.
There's more to this action than just the giving of a luxurious gift.
In fact, there's four things I want to point out about Mary's worship here
that show us that this really was an extraordinary act of devotion.
First thing is this.
It was costly.
Her act itself, her worship itself was costly.
The cost of such a bottle of ointment was, we're told,
equivalent to at least 300 denarii,
which is a year's salary.
Now, can you imagine, just in the monetary value of this perfume,
can you imagine men taking a year's worth of your salary,
going this Christmas,
and buying the equivalent of whatever your salary is in perfume for your wife?
A single bottle of perfume worth a year's salary.
And then can you imagine if your wife then comes to church next week
and decides she's going to pour the entire contents of that bottle of perfume on me?
You might be a little offended by that, right?
Why?
Partly because of the sheer value of it.
It's very expensive.
Oil, very expensive ointment.
But the value here, what cost Mary so much,
was much more than monetary value.
You understand that, right?
It likely had tremendous sentimental value.
Mary's likely not the type of person that would have had the means just to go and buy this.
Most likely it was an heirloom passed down from her family.
Perhaps it had been passed down from generation to generation.
Maybe they would even break open maybe the stopper of the bottle
and just use a few drops at a time whenever a loved one would pass away
and they continued to pass it down.
Maybe that was the circumstance for Mary.
I don't know.
Typically a gift like this would have been given as a part of a woman's dowry.
And we don't know the nature of all of Mary's relationships.
All we know is that she's probably not the type of person
that could have just gone out and bought this.
It had sentimental value.
It's been given to her probably by somebody that loved her very much
and that she loved her very much as well.
But it also had value in the security that it provided to her.
Right?
It's not only sentimental.
If it's really worth a year's salary,
she knows that if Mary ever gets into a tough spot in life,
she knows she can at least sell the nard.
And in the process of selling that,
she can at least buy herself a year's worth of comfort,
a year's worth of time and security.
It's not just about the money.
There's an emotional attachment to this gift.
There is a securing attachment to this gift.
But the purpose of it as well gives it really great value.
Like a family who wants to honor the death of a loved one
in the most meaningful possible way,
this object had an honorable purpose reserved for the people that Mary loved the most.
In other words, it cost Mary significantly to lavish this worship on Jesus,
something we should all take careful note of here in this story.
It wasn't just about the money.
There was a lot more value to this object than just that.
And she was willing to give up all of it.
The money, the security, the sentimental nature,
the purpose for another person that this would have had.
She's willing to give all of that up in order to give it to Jesus,
in order to express this devotion to Jesus.
And isn't this the nature of true worship?
True worship always cost us something.
Always.
And when I say worship, I don't mean just merely the gathering on a Sunday morning.
When we talk about worship, we're not boxing it up into an event.
We're talking about the overflow of our life in response to the goodness of Jesus
and the person of God and his character.
Our whole life is to be lived as an act of worship to him.
That always cost us something.
In fact, it always cost us everything.
As is exemplified here in Mary.
But it wasn't just costly.
It was calculated.
Her worship, her devotion was calculated.
We shouldn't be quick to accuse her of being careless or rash.
The unusual nature of what she did, I think,
communicates that her actions were actually very thoughtful.
They were thought out.
But then consider this.
They're not in Mary's house.
This party's at someone else's house.
So it's not like they're in the middle of the party
and Mary just gets this idea that up in the closet, I've got this thing.
This would be pretty cool to do.
And she just does it spontaneously.
That's not the picture that we get here.
Mary has thought about this ahead of time.
She has seen in this act a way to express her love for the Lord.
And she goes home.
She gets the ointment.
And she brings it along with her.
It was calculated.
It was intentional.
She did it on purpose.
Nobody shows devotion to Jesus on accident.
It doesn't happen.
You don't just wake up one morning and say,
you know what?
I think I'm going to live my life for the Lord today.
No, it's the buildup.
It's a calculated response to who Jesus is and what he has done.
And it's daily, intentionally living out our lives in this expression of devotion.
It's costly.
It's calculated.
Third, it was unreserved.
It was unreserved.
Mary didn't break the box's seal in order that she might pour some of the oil on Jesus.
She broke the neck of the flask itself.
The word here indicates crushing.
She has crushed the container itself.
Why?
In order that she might empty all of its contents on the Lord.
When it came to her worship and devotion, she held nothing back for herself or for anyone else.
She gave it all to Jesus.
A consistent picture of discipleship in Mark's gospel, isn't it?
Are you seeing why Mark is including this now?
Look at what she's doing.
She doesn't pour a few drops and then save the rest for Lazarus or for a future husband.
No.
She gives all of her devotion to Jesus.
Any other devotion in her life would have to flow first out of her love for Jesus.
Do you see?
Fourthly, it was humble.
It was humble.
Now, how can we know that Mary just wasn't showing off?
Because that's easy to do, isn't it?
It's easy to find a public way to demonstrate what you believe is an expression of worship.
We see that happen in churches all the time.
People stand on a platform and put on a good show or whatever it is that they're doing.
How can we know that that's not what Mary was doing?
After all, it's a room full of men in a male-dominated society.
Maybe perhaps she had this thought that said, I'll show these men.
I'll do more for Jesus than what any of them have ever done.
I don't think that's what she was doing.
And the reason I don't think that's what she is doing is because of what John 12 emphasizes to us.
Matthew and Mark both say that she pours this on the head of Jesus.
John emphasizes a different part.
She pours it on the feet of Jesus.
John says that after she pours it on the feet of Jesus, she takes her hair and she begins to wipe the feet of Jesus.
You know what she's doing?
She's literally washing his feet.
She's washing his feet.
An act reserved for slaves.
She was doing for Jesus in this moment what the 12 were going to refuse to do for Jesus in just a couple of days.
He was going to have to go through this extreme example of servant-heartedness for his disciples
that they could have learned the lesson if they had just paid attention to Mary a few days before.
It's humble service.
Her worship wasn't about herself.
It was about serving Jesus.
Even in the most humiliating of ways if necessary.
Such is our worship to the Lord.
Four things this communicates to Jesus in this moment.
What is it that Jesus thinks as Mary does this?
What is it that we are to look at this act and say this is what her act communicates?
First, it communicates this.
Jesus, you are more precious to me than my most precious possession.
Nothing, Lord, that I have is more valuable than you.
Everything that I have is yours.
Even the thing that I love the most.
Now you fill in the blank of whatever that is for your life.
It may not be a material object like it was for Mary.
Maybe it's a person.
It's a person.
Those of us who are parents, we understand this, right?
We love our children so much.
Sometimes we love them too much.
So that we love them even maybe more than what we love our spouse.
Or perhaps even that we love our Savior.
Is your children more precious to you than even Jesus is precious to you?
Maybe it's a job.
I will do this thing.
I'll get to Jesus when I can.
But this is what's really important to me.
Maybe it's a hobby.
Maybe it's something else.
What is it that's so precious to you in your life?
Could you legitimately communicate to Jesus in the devotion that you express to him on a day-to-day basis
that, Jesus, you are more precious to me than anything else in this life?
That's what her act expresses here.
Communicates that.
It doesn't just communicate that.
She says, I'll hold nothing back as I follow you, Lord.
I'll hold nothing back.
I'm not just giving you a few drops.
I'm not just giving my kids to you on Sunday.
I'm giving my kids to you every day.
I'm not just counting on the Adventure Club people to teach my children.
I'm going to teach them.
Why?
Because Jesus is more precious to me.
And I want them to know his preciousness.
The treasure that he is.
So we can go on down the line and we can point to things.
He says, I'm not going to hold anything back from you, Jesus.
I'm going to give you all.
What else does it communicate?
I'm willing to serve you, Jesus, in the humblest of ways if necessary.
If no one ever notices me.
If no one ever cares.
If everyone thinks that what I'm doing is pointless and useless.
I don't care.
I will serve you in whatever way you want me to serve you.
The big picture of what this communicates.
I believe in you.
I believe you are who you say you are.
I believe you've done for me what you said you would do.
And in response to that, I give you all of my worship and all of my devotion to the Lord Jesus.
Extraordinary devotion is what we see here.
Number two.
We see surprising opposition.
Surprising opposition.
Verse four.
There were some who said to themselves indignantly,
Why was the ointment wasted like that?
This ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.
And they scolded her.
This is quite the turn of events, isn't it?
If you weren't familiar with this story, and I'm sure all of you are familiar with it,
but if you weren't familiar with this story, you would probably step back at first and say,
Wow!
That's incredible!
And how was it that the people in the room responded?
They scolded her.
How dare you do that, Mary, they say.
You could have done so much more with that than give it to Jesus.
Now we expect this kind of opposition from the world.
We're not surprised by that.
At least we shouldn't be.
But the indignation toward Mary here came from people who claim to follow Jesus.
It's amazing how quickly Christians resort to devouring one another.
It's no wonder the apostles so often in the New Testament had to exhort the churches
to stop with the pettiness and focus on the unity that is found in the gospel.
As wonderfully gracious as Jesus is, his people are routinely schismatic.
And the problem is that too many of our divisions find their source in the unloving, hypercritical way
that we scrutinize one another's service for the Lord.
Can I remind you what Paul said to the Galatians?
Galatians chapter 5.
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
If we just continually go after each other and one another's service through the Lord,
eventually there won't be any of us left, essentially is what Paul says.
The truth is that the others in the room should have applauded Mary rather than scold her.
I don't mean to insinuate that all divisions are unnecessary.
It's not what I mean.
I think you understand what I'm getting at here.
But some are unnecessary.
What they should have done for Mary is said,
Wow, I wish I would have thought of that.
What an act.
Think about who's in the room.
They're at the house of Simon the leper,
which we know nothing about him except one thing.
At one time, he had leprosy, and now he doesn't.
And most likely, the reason he's hosting this party in his house
is because Jesus is the one that cleansed him from the leprosy.
But it's not Simon the leper that we see lavishing Jesus with such extravagant worship.
I'm not saying that he was a part of the crowd that was condemning her,
but he's not the one that's highlighted here either.
Who else is in the room?
Lazarus is in the room.
And let me just remind you,
just a few days before this,
Lazarus was dead.
And because of Jesus,
now he's alive.
But it's not Lazarus lavishing this worship.
All the disciples are there.
Look at all the things Jesus had done for them
and allowed them to see
and allowed them to understand
what he was going to do with their lives.
Yet it's Mary is the one.
They should have applauded her.
They should have joined her in this act of worship,
but it's not what they did.
And so that begs the question,
why?
Why would they condemn her in this way?
I came up with three reasons.
Maybe you'd come up with more.
First, I think they have misplaced priorities.
Misplaced priorities.
I'm going to say more about this in a minute,
but the basis of their reaction
is that they judged her act as a waste.
So in one sense,
they're virtue signaling in a way
that we're very accustomed to in our own culture.
Rather than judge her action for what it was,
they judged it for what it wasn't.
So they paid no attention to the fact
that what Mary was doing,
she was doing for Jesus.
They only focused on who she wasn't doing it for,
which in this case was the poor.
And the irony in that
is that by regarding her worship as wasteful,
they implied that Jesus was undeserving
of this act of devotion.
They put their social agenda
above their gospel agenda.
Okay?
I think that's part of the problem.
We're going to come back to that in a moment.
The second part of this is deceitful influence.
Deceitful influence.
We refer back to John chapter 12 in this.
John tells us that the ringleader
of the whole ordeal was Judas Iscariot,
which isn't surprising if you understand
the way the rest of the story unfolds necessarily.
John says that it was Judas
who first brought this up,
and he persuaded the others in the room
to come along aside him,
but that he was a deceiver in the process.
He didn't tip them off to his true motive.
What they came to find out later
was that Judas wasn't concerned for the poor at all.
Judas was the keeper of the purse for the group.
John says in John chapter 12
that he would help himself to the purse.
In other words, he was stealing from the group.
Later they find this out.
What Judas is concerned about in this moment
is not the poor people
who need some food for the evening.
What he's concerned about
is 300 denarii getting added to the purse
so that he can take his cut
without anybody realizing what he's doing.
And here's what Judas does.
He begins to persuade others in the room.
There's a deceitful influence here.
He wins them over to his position
that he doesn't even hold,
which is a warning for us, isn't it?
It's a warning for us.
Don't get carried away in judgment
on the basis of someone else's opinion.
Start first with the word of God
and make your judgment
against the measurement of God's truth,
not what someone else thinks
about any given circumstance.
We would do well to remember this.
When it comes to spiritual issues,
when it comes to social issues,
don't get carried along
with the mindset of people around you
without first looking at the truth of God.
If they had stopped and thought for a moment,
they would have seen the folly
of what they were saying.
But they were carried along
by a man who in his heart
just wanted to steal the money.
It's amazing how many Christians
have too quickly followed
another person's influence
only to find out later
that it was all a selfish ruse.
Be careful of that.
I think the third thing
is probably fairly common
even among us today
and it's just simple envy.
It's hard not to imagine
that pure jealousy
was at the root
of some of the criticism.
Maybe not,
but we know the easiest way
to minimize our own weaknesses
to others
is to diminish the strength
of other people around us.
We try to build ourselves up
by tearing other people down.
If we're embarrassed
that Mary did this
and we should have done it
but we didn't,
the first thing we're going to do
is try to criticize what she did
so it doesn't make us
look quite as bad.
Perhaps there's some of that
happening in the room.
Either way,
it was surprising opposition.
And I just want to encourage you
through this
to persevere
through such opposition.
Every act of devotion
is going to hit
some form of obstacle.
Persevere.
I want to also remind you
to be careful
that you are not
the opposition yourself.
Encourage people
to lavish on Jesus
all of their devotion
and worship
and let's encourage them
and join them in doing so.
Main point number three,
divine commendation.
Divine commendation.
Look with me at verse six.
Jesus said,
leave her alone.
Why do you trouble her?
She's done a beautiful
thing to me.
I don't want to read emotion
into the text unnecessarily.
But when have you ever
known someone
to casually
or nonchalantly
intervene
to protect another person?
We don't do that.
No, this is,
this carries with it
a sternness,
a passion.
Leave her alone.
Why would you ever
condemn her
for doing this
of all things?
Why would you
try to stop her?
They had judged
Mary's action
as wasteful.
Jesus saw it
as beautiful.
And the bottom line
here is that
if God is pleased,
it doesn't matter
who isn't.
Let me just say that again
for the people
in the back.
If God is pleased,
it doesn't matter
who isn't.
Of course,
that doesn't give us
an excuse
to just do what we want
and claim that
this is at God's pleasure.
We do it based
on the word of God.
But when we faithfully
live according
to God's word,
we can be at peace
when people hate us
for it.
Please the Lord.
Worship the Lord.
Live for Him.
Give your devotion
to Him.
Two quick things
Jesus commends her for.
The first is her
priority of devotion.
Her priority of devotion.
Look at verse 7.
You always have the poor
with you,
Jesus said.
And whenever you want,
you can do good for them.
But you will not
always have me.
Her critic said
she was fanatical.
Jesus declared
that her priorities
were right where
they needed to be.
Sinclair Ferguson said,
here were men
who were more interested
in their service
than their master.
Which is an interesting
thought here.
There is a danger
in becoming more concerned
with Christian mission
than with Christian worship.
In fact,
this has led many churches
to replace the true gospel
with a social gospel
that links salvation
to efforts in social reform
and mission
as primarily social engagement.
Now, to be sure,
Christians will inevitably
engage in ministry
to their community.
James said it,
James chapter 1,
religion that is pure
and undefiled
before God the Father
is this,
to visit orphans
and widows
in their affliction
and to keep oneself
unstained from the world.
Clearly,
the action
of a Christian life
that's devoted to Jesus
is going to be involved
in social engagement.
We understand that.
But Jesus' statement
even implies it.
He implies that there is
this ongoing necessity
of serving the poor
around us,
but the priority
of the Christian life
must first be worship
of God,
devotion to His truth.
And our social engagement
must flow through
our devotion to Jesus,
not eclipse it.
The purpose of Lakeside Bible Church
is to glorify God
first through worship
and through making disciples
and then through mission
to the community around us.
But as soon as we start
to deceive ourselves
into thinking
that the true purpose
of our church
is to engage
with the poor
in the Cornelius area,
then we'll start
to diminish
the necessity
of the gospel.
We'll start to diminish
the necessity
of doctrine.
And we mustn't do that.
It's a recipe
for disaster
in churches
that will immediately
follow in liberal theology.
We must focus
our worship of Jesus
understanding His truth
and then allow
our service
to the community
and the people around us
to flow through that
and from that,
not the other way around.
Her priorities
were right in the right place.
Jesus commends her for it.
The second thing here
is He commends her
for the proportion
of her devotion.
Verse 8,
she has done
what she could.
The implication,
she has done
all that she could.
Notice it's,
the commendation here
is not based
on the amount
Mary gave,
but the proportion
of her gift
to the whole.
What pleased the Lord
is not that she gave
so much.
What pleased the Lord
was that she gave
everything.
Which reminds us
of the last story
we heard
in chapter 12.
Jesus points
to the widow woman
in the temple,
the two small
copper coins
that she gives
and He's so impacted
by her devotion
to God.
And He uses
a very similar
statement here
about Mary.
But their gifts
are on two
different extremes
as far as their
monetary value.
God doesn't judge
your devotion
based on what
others do.
He judges
your devotion
based on what
you can do.
And He's pleased
whether it's
two lepta
as a widow woman
or whether it's
a year salary
from Mary.
He is glorified
and pleased
in what they did.
Which brings us
to our final point.
We'll be finished.
Gospel connection.
Verse 8.
She has anointed
my body beforehand
for burial.
Truly I say to you,
wherever the gospel
is proclaimed
in the whole world,
what she has done
will be told
in memory of her.
Now this is
interesting here.
Jesus had foretold
His crucifixion
and resurrection
to the disciples
on at least
three occasions
and they just
couldn't come to grips
with what that meant.
We've looked at that
extensively in Mark's
gospel.
Is it possible
that Mary
Mary had begun
to understand
what the disciples
continued to miss?
Maybe.
Let me make
the case for it.
There's only
two other places
in the scriptures
that we find Mary,
the sister of Martha
and Lazarus.
First one's in Luke
chapter 10,
I think.
Jesus comes to
their home
and there's a bit
of a dramatic event
that unfolds.
Mary started helping
Martha with the meal
and eventually
she finds herself
seated at the feet
of Jesus.
That's where she
wanted to be.
Martha gets upset
about that.
She runs to Jesus
and she says,
would you please
do something
about Mary?
I'm in here
serving all by myself
and she's just
sitting out here
and what does
Jesus say?
She's chosen
the good portion.
I will not take
that away from her.
He didn't condemn
Martha for her serving
but he wasn't going
to take away
Mary's worship either.
Where does she
find herself routinely?
At the feet of Jesus.
Listening to Jesus.
Taking in
what Jesus had to say.
Watching what Jesus
did with his life.
The next thing we see
is when Lazarus
is dead.
John chapter 11.
Jesus finally makes
it to Mary and Martha.
Most of the exchange
happens with Martha.
But what is it
that Jesus says
to Martha
which inevitably
would have been
passed on to Mary?
I am the resurrection
and the life.
whoever believes in me
though he be dead
he will rise.
He will live again
and then they witness
the miraculous power
over death
that Jesus had
in Lazarus.
Now
I'm not saying
Mary had it all
put together.
I'm just saying
she spends her time
with Jesus
listening to him.
She's witnessed
his resurrection power
in her own brother's life.
She's heard him say himself
I am the resurrection.
Is it possible
that Mary listened
well enough
to understand
something's about
to go down with Jesus
and I want to make sure
I show him my love
and worship
now?
I think so.
Whether or not
she understood it all
is up for debate.
But what is certain
from the text
is that Jesus affirmed
that her act
was symbolic
of his coming death
on the cross.
she has anointed
my body beforehand
for burial
he says.
Then he proclaims
that her actions
would be
perpetually remembered
wherever the gospel
is preached
through the whole world.
Now memorializing Mary
wasn't about Mary.
It was meant
to bring our thoughts
back to the cross
because Jesus says
what she's done
really has a lot
to do with my death.
And when we think
of Mary
we're not supposed
to just think
about Mary
we're supposed
to think about Jesus
what he has done
for us.
Jesus takes this
act of devotion
and he connects it
to the gospel
of his death
and resurrection
which screams
off the page
to us
this truth
that Christian
devotion
begins
and ends
with the gospel
of Jesus.
It begins
and ends
with the crucifixion
and resurrection
of our Lord.
Think about it.
What did Jesus
do on the cross?
He makes a full
atonement
for the sin
of all who will believe.
He suffers
our death.
He suffers
our hell.
He takes
the wrath
of God
in our place.
And then
his resurrection
shows
that his atonement
was satisfactory
to God the Father
and that he alone
has power
over life
and death.
Why do we gather
on Sunday?
Not to feel better
about all the stuff
we did wrong
during the week.
We gather
to celebrate
the crucifixion
and resurrection
of Jesus.
Why do we express
devotion to the Lord
on Sunday
or any other day?
Because of the cross
and the resurrection.
It's all about
the gospel of Jesus.
Everything brings us
back to him
and to what he has done
for us
and it provides
the motivation
for us
every day.
Why will I live
holy today?
Because Jesus
died for me.
Why will I go
to church today?
Because Jesus
died for me.
Why will I teach
my kids the Bible?
Because Jesus
died for me.
Why will I live
my life for him?
Because Jesus
has done so much
for me.
It all comes back
to the gospel.
It's the gospel
we proclaim.
It's the gospel
we believe
and it's the motivation
for our total devotion
as faithful followers.
Now in conclusion
let's look at these
last two verses.
Okay.
I don't want any
Eutychuses
falling out of the window
this morning.
All right.
Burst in.
Then Judas Iscariot
who was one of the twelve
went to the chief priest
in order to betray him
to them.
And when they heard it
they were glad
and they promised
to give him money
and sought an opportunity
to betray him.
Here's the back half
of the Mark and Sandwich
here in Mark 14.
He began with the chief
priest and scribes
trying to figure out
how they're going
to kill Jesus.
He ends with how
Judas betrayed
the Lord to them.
Matthew and Mark
both sandwich
Mary's story
in between
these two things.
Could it be
that Jesus'
response to Mary
is what finally
pushed Judas
over the edge?
Had he finally
had enough?
I think so.
Sinclair Ferguson
again points this out.
He says it's significant
that this particular event
seemed to act
as the catalyst
to bring Judas
and the chief priest
together.
The one thing
that he could not
tolerate
was such wholehearted
devotion to Jesus
which had no other
motive
than love
for him.
And I think
part of Mark's
motive here
is to contrast
the difference
between true
and counterfeit
discipleship.
I believe
Judas
truly believed
that Jesus
was the Messiah.
I think
Judas
was unwilling
to accept
what Jesus
taught
was the true
purpose
of the Messiah
so that
in following
Jesus
he was looking
to gain
something from
Jesus
that he
wasn't actually
offering.
Track with me.
Judas
thinks
Jesus
is Messiah
that means
power and wealth
for all who
follow him.
I'm going to
stick in close
to this guy
because when he
rises to the top
I want to be
right there with him.
And for three years
he patiently
endures the teaching
he patiently
endures the hardship
thinking
that when they
finally get
to Jerusalem
this is what's
going to unfold
and I'm going to
be a part of that
process.
But as they
got closer
and closer
to Jerusalem
in this third year
he quickly
begins to
realize
that Jesus
is not
who I
think he
is
or at least
not he's
not the
Messiah
that I
think he
is.
I'm not
going to
get from
him what
I thought
I was
going to
get.
So Judas
cuts his
losses
and he
gets whatever
he can
out of it
which ends
up being
just 30
pieces of
silver
the cost
of a
slave
and he
betrays the
Lord
and he
runs away.
Why?
Because he
thought Jesus
was an
imposter?
No.
Couldn't
have.
He
witnessed
all the
stuff.
He
knew there
was
something
significant
about
Jesus.
What he
refused to
accept is
what Jesus
was offering.
Jesus
wasn't
ending up
going to
do for
Judas
what Judas
actually
wanted.
So he
follows that
as a
disciple for
a while
and eventually
he runs
away.
Mary
stands in
stark contrast
to this.
Here
Mary out
love for
Jesus
gives up
the thing
that is
most precious
to her
probably.
Judas
on the
other hand
runs away
from Jesus
because he
did not
receive
some precious
thing
from Jesus
in a material
sense that is.
Do you see the
difference here?
One is a
true follower
of Jesus.
One is a
counterfeit.
one has
truly come
to faith
in who
Jesus is
and what
Jesus
actually
came to
do.
One has
been
entertained
by Jesus
intrigued
by him
for a
little
while
but
eventually
falls
away.
That's
the difference
between the
two.
I think
Mark's
pointing that
out to
us here
in this
story.
Judas
represents
a host
of people
in each
generation
I think
who come
to Jesus
not in
faith
but in
hopes of
leveraging
his power
and his
compassion
into a
better life
for themselves
and eventually
when they
realize that
Jesus is
different than
what they
supposed
they betray
him to
pursue
some other
thing in
the world.
It's easy
to desire
the benefits
that may
come from
Jesus'
hand
more than
desiring
Jesus
himself
and I
think this
is the
key
difference
between
Mary
and Judas
between
the true
disciple
and
the
counterfeit
which leads
us to
ask a few
questions.
Is your
profession of
faith and
devotion
based on
who Jesus
is
and what
he has
accomplished
in his
death and
resurrection
or are you
coming to
Jesus for
some other
thing or
for some
other reason?
That's an
important question
we need to
ask.
Is my
devotion to
him based
on the
gospel or
something else?
Only the
one who
comes to
faith and
follow Jesus
as Lord
will actually
come to see
his true
worth and
will persevere
through that
hardship.
But then if
you're a
believer there's
other questions
we can ask
this morning.
Piercing
questions perhaps
that aren't
related so much
to whether or
not I'm a
true believer.
I know I'm a
true believer.
But is my
devotion to
Christ costing
me anything?
The passion that
I had for
Jesus in the
beginning hasn't
seemed to wear
down.
Am I as
faithful to
him as I
have always
been?
Am I
intentional,
calculated in
the way that I
live my life
for him?
Am I holding
anything back
from him?
Thank you.