WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.839 Welcome to the third lesson on beauty, art, and the gospel. 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.200 Today's class is entitled Beautiful Things. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.839 There's a handout on the table there if you haven't gotten one. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:22.300 We'll learn today that Mark 14 offers us a lesson on beauty. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.519 There are two things that I'd like to point out about Mark 14 today. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.259 First, God uses beautiful things to correct our mistaken perceptions. 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:38.159 And second, beautiful things point to the death of Jesus. 00:00:39.219 --> 00:00:44.539 Can someone please read from either your Bible or the handout, the passage from Mark 14. 00:00:48.120 --> 00:00:53.359 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:58.619 a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:01.500 and she broke the flask and it poured over his head. 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:04.340 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:06.620 Why was the ointment wasted like that? 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:10.859 For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor. 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:12.480 And they scolded her. 00:01:13.019 --> 00:01:14.680 But Jesus said, Leave her alone. 00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:16.099 Why do you trouble her? 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:17.840 She has done a beautiful thing to me. 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:22.079 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:24.060 But you will not always have me. 00:01:24.420 --> 00:01:25.579 She has done what she could. 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:28.100 She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 00:01:28.700 --> 00:01:32.760 Truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:35.219 what she has done will be told in memory of her. 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:44.359 So again, there are two things that I'd like to point out about this passage. 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:50.260 This morning, God uses beautiful things to correct our mistaken perceptions. 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.840 And beautiful things point to the death of Jesus. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:05.240 Before we explore how God uses beautiful things to correct our mistaken perceptions, 00:02:05.740 --> 00:02:07.280 what does it mean to perceive? 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.000 As usual, the Oxford English Dictionary gives us a few definitions. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:19.980 Two are here important for understanding how God uses beautiful things to correct our mistaken perceptions. 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:26.219 Firstly, perception as an awareness of a thing or person through the senses. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.159 Secondly, spiritual understanding. 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:33.659 So we'll look first at the first definition. 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:40.120 We'll focus in this lesson on two types of perceptions that occur in the story. 00:02:40.799 --> 00:02:45.039 The perceptions of Jesus and the rest of the guests first. 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:54.340 So in one way, the perceptions of Jesus and the other guests in the home of Simon the leper overlap. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:58.060 In the first way that I've offered from the dictionary. 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:00.680 And in another way, they diverge. 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:03.560 In the second definition, spiritual understanding. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:06.159 So first, the overlap. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.799 The guests and Jesus are equally aware of each other. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.420 In Matthew, in his recounting, he specifies that the guests include disciples. 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:20.340 Mark does not identify the guests. 00:03:20.980 --> 00:03:23.400 Even though he doesn't name disciples among them, 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.380 it is possible that there were disciples at the home of Simon the leper. 00:03:28.420 --> 00:03:30.939 And most importantly for today's lesson, 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:34.280 both Jesus and the disciples perceive a woman, 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:36.300 likely an uninvited guest, 00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:40.720 who brings a package into the home of Simon the leper. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:47.939 So what was this package that the uninvited guest brings into the home of Simon the leper? 00:03:48.700 --> 00:03:51.060 In the terms of Mark, verse 3, 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:56.219 an alabaster flask of ointment, a pure nard, very costly. 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:01.960 The Greek term for the alabaster flask is one word, alabastron. 00:04:02.760 --> 00:04:06.500 As the name suggests, it was typically made of alabaster, 00:04:06.920 --> 00:04:09.880 a soft rock used for carving and typically white. 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:12.960 This type of vessel was for perfume. 00:04:13.519 --> 00:04:16.860 The choice of the word ointment in the passage on your handout 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:20.860 does not necessarily mean that the woman carried something that was not perfume. 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:25.480 Rather, the term ointment reflects the thickness of ancient perfumes, 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:27.159 which were oil-based, 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:30.920 as opposed to the thinner alcohol-based perfumes of today. 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:37.379 So perfumes or aromatic oils at the time of Jesus were ointment-like in their consistency. 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:41.439 This blue alabastron is, 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:45.520 yeah, so we have a few examples here. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:50.839 They're from the eastern Mediterranean, 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:56.719 from around the time when the woman would have visited Jesus in the home of Simon the leper. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:03.639 So projected here is one from the museum in Israel from the first century after the birth of Christ. 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:09.839 It is likely that tools were used to create the onyx-like pattern that you see on it in yellow. 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:13.099 It's a bit hard to see. Sorry about that. 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:15.800 It is about six by one and a half inches. 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:19.699 We also have another example. 00:05:21.020 --> 00:05:28.160 It's blue, and it has bands that get tighter as the vessel tapers inward, 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:30.800 and it has handles unlike the previous one. 00:05:31.780 --> 00:05:34.519 And then we also have one with a very long neck. 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:38.500 Again, short, but the longest of the three. 00:05:40.080 --> 00:05:44.639 This one is from the first century to the hundredth year after Christ, 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:48.899 so it may have been used while Jesus was being anointed in Bethany. 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:51.079 It is the longest of the three. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.180 Yeah, narrow neck. 00:05:54.159 --> 00:05:57.139 So these kinds of vessels became more widely accessible 00:05:57.139 --> 00:06:01.680 with a glass-blowing technique from the first century after Christ. 00:06:02.219 --> 00:06:06.579 This technique involves liquefying glass and blowing it into various shapes. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:10.479 Glass-blowing allowed for greater and less expensive production 00:06:10.479 --> 00:06:13.079 during the time of the story in Mark 14. 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:17.159 So while the flask, or in its Greek, the alabastron, 00:06:17.599 --> 00:06:20.459 that the woman breaks and pours over the head of Jesus 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:22.300 was likely not very expensive, 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:25.120 the perfume inside the vessel was. 00:06:25.740 --> 00:06:28.539 It had been extracted from the spikenard plant. 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:32.860 So notably, the woman at the home of Simon the leper 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:35.920 does not intend to preserve any of the expensive perfume 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:37.939 that she has reserved for Jesus. 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:41.480 Usually because so little was used at a time, 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:45.259 people used animal skin and elements from the stem of a plant 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:46.340 to cap the bottle, 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:48.800 but this was not the case for the woman 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.680 who Jesus and the other guests both perceive. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:57.860 Both Jesus and the guests indeed see the woman enter the house of Simon the leper, 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:01.540 hear the shards of the flask fall to the ground, 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:04.860 and smell the perfume that will linger in the house 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:07.480 and on Jesus' body beyond that evening. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:11.699 And yet, while both Jesus and the guests 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:14.379 are aware of the woman's actions through their senses, 00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:18.199 they have different spiritual understandings of what has occurred. 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:21.819 This refers to the second definition of perception, 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:23.339 which I put up earlier. 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:26.560 So we're going from sensory awareness of the woman, 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:28.560 seeing the woman approach Jesus, 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.480 hearing the flask break, 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:33.560 smelling the perfume as she pours it over his head, 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:35.599 to the different understandings 00:07:35.599 --> 00:07:39.079 that Jesus and the other guests have of the woman's actions. 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:42.060 Let's begin with a guess. 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:45.000 The guests count the cost of the perfume. 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:48.099 They put its worth at 300 denarii. 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:52.860 A denarius a day was the average earning of an agricultural worker. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.199 So the guests perceive that the perfume would have been 00:07:56.199 --> 00:08:02.620 around a year's worth of work. 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:19.660 In order to better understand the guest's perceptions 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:21.639 or understandings of the woman, 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.120 let's look at the Greek term that gets translated as waste 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:26.500 in the passage from Mark. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:27.920 Apoleia. 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:29.600 In the New Testament, 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:33.519 this term refers to someone who does not last into eternity. 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:35.100 What will be destroyed? 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.620 What will perish? 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:40.360 While the guests accuse the woman of wasting the perfume 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:41.899 and not wasting herself, 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:44.740 it is possible that their expressed perceptions 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:47.000 carried undertones of condemnation, 00:08:47.259 --> 00:08:48.440 but it isn't certain. 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:51.320 In his teachings in the book of Matthew, 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.000 Jesus uses the term Apoleia in contrast to life. 00:08:55.760 --> 00:08:57.060 Enter by the narrow gate, 00:08:57.180 --> 00:09:00.620 for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:03.200 and those who enter by it are many. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:07.120 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:09.019 and those who find it are few. 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:13.679 In Jesus' long prayer to the Father in John 17, 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:16.360 Jesus expresses his care of the disciples 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.159 and says that only one, the son of destruction, 00:09:19.379 --> 00:09:20.240 has been lost. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:23.720 So Judas, known for his theft and betrayal of Jesus 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:26.480 to the chief priest, is characterized by Apoleia. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.019 And the word Apoleia is also used in relationship 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:31.899 to Judas in the book of Acts. 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.059 And the term also gets repeated later in Acts 00:09:36.059 --> 00:09:39.059 when the former magician Simon tries to bribe Peter 00:09:39.059 --> 00:09:42.259 to give him power to grant others the Holy Spirit 00:09:42.259 --> 00:09:43.699 through the laying on of hands. 00:09:44.359 --> 00:09:45.599 Peter rebukes Simon, 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:49.099 may your silver perish with you, he exclaims, 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:52.219 because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. 00:09:53.319 --> 00:09:56.219 In Romans, Paul uses the metaphor of the vessel 00:09:56.219 --> 00:09:58.539 to write how some are destined for mercy 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:01.959 and some are destined for destruction or Apoleia. 00:10:02.619 --> 00:10:05.299 So the word Apoleia in Matthew, John, 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:08.419 Acts and Romans is used in reference to the idea 00:10:08.419 --> 00:10:11.179 of people who do not live eternally with God. 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:13.779 Again, while the guest accused the woman 00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:15.959 of wasting the perfume and not herself, 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:18.759 it is possible that their expressed perceptions 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:20.299 carried undertones of condemnation. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.099 So if you haven't read the Mark passage, 00:10:26.459 --> 00:10:29.299 feel free to read it on the handout 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:32.679 and take a few minutes individually 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:35.179 to place yourself in the shoes of a guest. 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:38.399 How would you perceive the uninvited presence 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.279 of the woman, the breaking of the flask, 00:10:41.620 --> 00:10:43.599 and the pouring of the expensive perfume 00:10:43.599 --> 00:10:44.859 on Jesus' head? 00:10:45.859 --> 00:10:48.679 So feel free to just take a few minutes individually 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.779 to think about that and to put your... 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:54.959 like, oh, like, oh, I should have... 00:10:54.959 --> 00:10:58.860 How are you feeling about this? 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:01.679 Smile, like a comfy face. 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:02.120 Something. 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:06.159 Especially if I'm... 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.000 Yeah, I think I would just say that I'm just going to talk to him right away. 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:12.579 But I think that I'm thinking about it. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.679 Yeah, I don't know if I'm wondering. 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:16.319 I mean, what's part of this? 00:11:16.319 --> 00:11:20.959 One of the things I've learned is like, oh, we should have seen. 00:11:20.959 --> 00:11:22.819 What is going forward? 00:11:22.959 --> 00:11:25.519 Well, also there's someone who's trying to prove himself righteous. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:28.139 Yeah, I would wonder if I can see that. 00:11:31.019 --> 00:11:34.720 Although the disciples certainly have a precedent for misunderstanding. 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:36.340 I'm just in this reading situation. 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:57.940 You know, to declare love with force. 00:11:57.940 --> 00:12:08.040 Which, you know, the apostles, the men around him, they didn't do that, but she did. 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:11.540 Which I thought was pretty amazing. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:12.420 Yeah. 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:13.660 Especially at that time. 00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:26.879 In our groups, we were talking about how it's hard to, like, to not think about how Jesus perceives her when we're thinking about how we're perceiving her. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:32.340 So we're, like, trying to align ourselves or disalign ourselves from that a bit for a second. 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:45.500 And Ben mentioned that a modern corollary of the situation could be driving in your car and, like, someone or a woman stops and asks to come into it. 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:54.179 And, like, this awkward situation of, like, this car is demanded right now to be a hospitable space to this stranger. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.320 And she might do something in this. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.059 Like, what's going to happen? 00:12:58.820 --> 00:13:00.059 I thought that was helpful. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:01.539 All right. 00:13:01.659 --> 00:13:04.539 So to Jesus' perceptions. 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:06.440 What does he say? 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:08.039 He says, leave her alone. 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:09.299 Why do you trouble her? 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:11.959 She has done a beautiful thing to me. 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:14.399 For you always have the poor with you. 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:17.039 And whenever you want, you can do good for them. 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:19.339 But you will not always have me. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:21.219 She has done what she could. 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:24.620 She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 00:13:25.939 --> 00:13:34.679 So another translation, in a few other translations, the beautiful thing gets translated as good deed. 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:39.000 So the guests perceive waste in the woman's uninvited presence. 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:45.179 Breaking of the flask of perfume and use of the expensive perfume for Jesus' head. 00:13:45.939 --> 00:13:48.279 Jesus, however, corrects their perceptions. 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:57.740 When Jesus says that the woman has done a beautiful thing or good deed to him, he corrects the concept for them. 00:13:58.439 --> 00:14:01.759 These concepts would have been informed by proverbs like, 00:14:02.199 --> 00:14:08.240 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.600 Jesus does not deny this. 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.600 Whenever you want, he says, you can do good for them. 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:18.259 But he also adds that those present will not always have him. 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:24.539 He points again to his death when he says that the woman has prepared his body for burial. 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:29.419 A good deed, says Jesus, includes consideration of his death. 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:38.120 We see this also in Mark 2, where people are confused by the fact that Jesus' disciples do not fast. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:43.839 Jesus responds that while he is present with them in the way that he was in the Gospels, 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:46.620 it is not time to fast, but to feast. 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:52.059 When he is taken away, when he dies, then it will be time to fast. 00:14:52.059 --> 00:15:03.259 So the goodness of fasting and feasting here are related to, should be considered in light of Jesus' death. 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:14.279 So now that we have seen how God uses the actions of the woman to correct the conception of beauty and goodness 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:16.939 of those present at the home of Simon the leper, 00:15:17.319 --> 00:15:21.399 and how the beauty of the woman's gift gives testimony to the death of Jesus, 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.580 we will explore the element of head anointing included in this gift. 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:32.740 This element of anointing on the head may have had undertones of both kingship and death. 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:38.639 Interestingly, this head anointing in Mark reminds us that this is not a scene 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:44.300 that has captured the imaginations of many artists who deal with the topic 00:15:44.300 --> 00:15:47.980 of an unexpected act of reverence towards Jesus by a woman. 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:52.580 Such artists were likely more inspired by narratives in Luke, 00:15:52.580 --> 00:15:56.240 in which a sinful woman wets the feet of Jesus with her tears, 00:15:56.580 --> 00:16:02.920 wipes them with her head, kisses his feet, and anoints Jesus' feet with oil. 00:16:04.180 --> 00:16:08.860 Mary and John likewise anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair. 00:16:09.540 --> 00:16:15.420 These narratives seem to have inspired paintings by the early Netherlandish painter, 00:16:15.420 --> 00:16:21.360 Derek Boots, who was influenced, for those of you who are familiar with the art historical canon, 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:23.820 Jan van Eyck from the 14th century. 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:34.639 These narratives of reverential women in John and Luke may be also inspired a drawing created with pen and brown ink 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:37.259 by Venetian painter Paolo Veronese. 00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:41.060 Here are Jesus and a woman who grasps his ankle. 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:49.220 They form part of a crowd of more than 25 figures, not including those peering down from the balcony. 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.320 So they're kind of, oh, sorry, that's not very clear. 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.019 They're not very prominent in the picture. 00:16:56.060 --> 00:17:04.319 And then on your left, this narrative also seems to be the source for French painter Pierre Soubliera, 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:09.059 with a more identifiable representation of Jesus. 00:17:09.059 --> 00:17:18.159 And another Frenchman from the 19th century depicts this act of reverence from a woman who washes the feet of Jesus. 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:21.460 James Tissot, who painted in London. 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:27.419 And then, again, washing the feet of Jesus. 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:36.960 Sochi Wontanabe, who used to be an artist in residence at the Overseas Ministries Study Center on Prospect Street. 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:45.259 And then from Bulgaria, Julia Stankova, who pays attention to the hair also of the woman in Jesus' feet. 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:54.000 So these images, they intersect with the story from Mark, but they also diverge from it. 00:17:54.779 --> 00:17:58.680 One of the main divergences is that the woman anoints the head of Jesus. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:05.299 This is important because an anointing of the head with oil had specific connotations. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:11.220 Stories from the Old Testament suggest that an anointing of the head with oil, 00:18:11.660 --> 00:18:15.119 specifically olive oil, was reserved for kings. 00:18:15.259 --> 00:18:19.059 So the prophet Samuel anoints King Saul with oil, 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:25.019 and someone whom Elisha appoints anoints King Jehu with oil. 00:18:26.599 --> 00:18:31.240 The Lord also instructed that high priests be anointed on the head with oil. 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:38.559 So it is possible that Jesus understands the woman's breaking of an alabastron 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:42.839 and anointing of his head with oil as a sign of her knowledge of him. 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:46.799 Jesus is to be honored, and he would also have to die. 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:54.299 So while the woman seems to have understood this reality of his death 00:18:54.299 --> 00:18:57.559 through her actions that prepare Jesus for burial, 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.259 the guests who consider them wasteful likely did not. 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:09.480 Indeed, a Messiah that would have had to die on a cross was contrary to Jewish expectations of a Messiah. 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:17.720 So scripture bears witness to the difficulty of grasping a suffering God. 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:25.660 In 1 Corinthians, Paul labels the crucified Christ a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles. 00:19:26.380 --> 00:19:29.680 Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would be a rock of stumbling, 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:32.880 a trap, a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:39.840 The Jewish character in Celsus, a work from the early Christian writer, Origin of Alexandria, 00:19:40.620 --> 00:19:47.080 grapples with the difficulty of Jesus, Jesus' divinity and his suffering on the cross. 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:52.520 The disciples themselves and those who surround Jesus at the time of his death 00:19:52.520 --> 00:19:57.760 also demonstrate their resistance to understanding how the Messiah would have to die. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.879 They, like the guests at the home of Simon the leper, 00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:05.500 also reject the beautiful knowledge of the woman with the alabaster jar. 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:11.319 So this is why Jesus had to keep reminding them throughout Mark of his death. 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:15.980 Could someone read Mark 8, 31-33? 00:20:16.819 --> 00:20:20.660 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things 00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:24.220 and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, 00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:27.180 and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:31.359 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:34.859 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:36.700 Get behind me, Satan, he said. 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:40.400 You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. 00:20:41.700 --> 00:20:42.519 Thank you, Lydia. 00:20:43.259 --> 00:20:46.140 And then Ben, Mark 9, 30-32. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:51.299 They went on from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know. 00:20:51.299 --> 00:20:53.720 For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, 00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:57.960 The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.059 And when he is killed, after three days he will rise. 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.559 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.740 Mark 10, 32-34. 00:21:10.100 --> 00:21:11.460 Matt, would you be able to read that? 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:11.740 Sure. 00:21:11.740 --> 00:21:18.620 And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:22.299 And they were amazed, and those who followed him were afraid. 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:27.819 And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:33.819 See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:38.899 And they will condemn him to death, and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:44.139 And they will mock him, and spit on him, and flog him, and kill him. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.659 And after three days he will rise. 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:56.179 Alright, so the main points that Mark 14 offers us on beauty. 00:21:56.819 --> 00:22:00.379 God uses beautiful things to correct our mistaken perceptions, 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:03.619 and beautiful things point to the death of Jesus. 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:15.319 So for a few minutes, I'd like you to reflect individually on how the woman in Mark points to the death of Jesus. 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:21.179 Once you're done doing that, you can ask yourself, 00:22:21.439 --> 00:22:25.419 Has anything recently reminded you of Jesus' death? 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:30.720 If you're having a hard time, you can think to Mark 14. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:35.880 You can also think to a sermon from a few weeks ago on Luke 21, 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:41.759 when we learned about a poor widow who puts two copper coins into the offering box of the temple. 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:45.720 She gives out of her poverty everything she had to live on. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:48.839 This kind of sacrifice points to the death of Jesus, 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:53.140 who laid down not only his money, but his life fully for us. 00:22:53.140 --> 00:22:58.360 So have you witnessed any similar acts of sacrifice or generosity recently? 00:22:59.520 --> 00:23:02.240 You can just begin by meditating on this story, 00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:06.780 and then think about reminders in your own life. 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:13.160 She said, 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:17.799 that was just an' shell as a gift of reason. 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:22.279 The book bears还turned on her daughter whose bringing her formal The Bi� on her own. 00:23:22.539 --> 00:23:27.500 So that when we chose her endorsement of the schoolulating Jesus, 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:28.740 she also 아닙ed. 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:29.899 That's it. 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:32.579 EAST is not going to be an unattainful toy .