Do you turn if you've got a Bible to Matthew 26.
Matthew 26.
I'm quite a strong believer in biographies at bedtime.
!
It shows us how God has blessed people in the past.
A good biography is inspirational.
My favourite biography is the memoirs and remains of Robert Murray McShane.
I've read it with some of you in the church and I love it.
As I read about Robert Murray McShane, he was a preacher in the 19th century, he died when he was 28.
He makes me want to be a better man.
He makes me want to love God more.
He makes me want to get up earlier to pray more.
He makes me want to preach more fervently, more feelingly.
As I've read that book a number of times, it is godliness that is most attractive.
Robert Murray McShane makes me want to do more for the Lord.
But there's another element, isn't there, which we often feel when we read biographies.
How on earth did he do it?
Because I can't get up early enough.
I wish I could.
I certainly can't pray long enough.
Do you find that?
I find that very difficult.
I get too distracted.
I can't preach as fervently as Robert Murray McShane.
When it comes to people, when it comes to heroes, I think there's a fine line, isn't there, between inspiration and discouragement.
People can be, can't they, deeply inspiring, but they can also leave us mere mortals just feeling a little bit depressed.
Why aren't I more like them?
Have you ever felt like that?
Why aren't I more like them?
I can't be like them.
And what I often feel about heroes is how I feel when I read this story of the woman at the start of chapter 26.
Because on this woman, she pays a terribly high price to honour the Lord Jesus.
She is devoted to the Lord Jesus in an outstanding super Christian, Mary McShane kind of way.
She too is prepared to make huge sacrifices in order to serve Jesus.
And so I wonder how you react to her.
Does she inspire you?
Or does she leave you discouraged at the weakness of your own faith?
And your love for Christ?
And that's what I want us to explore this evening.
But before we get to this woman, though, we first must hear that Jesus is reminding us that he is going to die.
So point one is the price he is going to pay.
Chapter 26, verse 1, brings the public teaching of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel to a close.
And now the attention is not on the public teaching, but on preparing his disciples for what is about to take place.
And he says to them in verse 2, he says, you know that after two days the Passover is coming,
and the Son of Man, that's how Jesus refers to himself, will be delivered up to be crucified.
Jesus predicted his death several times, but here he adds a crucial detail.
Here he says, I'm telling you when it's going to happen.
And he says, I'll be handed over to be crucified during the Passover.
And you will know that the Passover was that Jewish festival which recalled and celebrated how they were delivered from Egypt.
That great moment when God brought them through the Red Sea, when God delivered them and brought plagues on the Egyptians,
but he passed over the houses of the Israelites.
And on that night, all those years ago, do you remember,
the Israelites were distinguished by the blood of a lamb painted on a door.
So they marked this annual reminder of God's kindness, secured by the blood of a lamb.
And here you find Jesus telling them, my death is going to be at Passover time.
It is at Passover time that I will render my life.
He's beginning to suggest to them, isn't he, that he is the new Passover lamb.
He is the new way to be safe in the face of death.
It is his blood which we shelter under.
And here Jesus drops the hint.
But when he has his last meal with them, later on in chapter 26, he explains it further.
But at this point, Matthew doesn't stop to explain.
He just simply tells us, this is what Jesus is predicting.
But this is also exactly what the Jewish leaders are plotting.
It's striking that he uses the word then at the start of verse 3.
If this was a movie, wasn't it, you'd have split scenes.
You'd have a scene where Jesus tells his disciples he's about to be crucified.
And then you would cut straight to the temple, the palace of the high priest.
And the camera would zoom in on that conversation.
Taking place.
And we would hear of them planning and plotting Jesus' arrest and execution.
And it's a stunning reminder to you and I at the start of chapter 26 that Jesus is not going to be caught by surprise.
What is about to happen to him is part of God's plan and God's foreknowledge.
There is nothing here which is outside of God's control.
The chief priests and the elders are in their headquarters.
And no doubt they think, we are in control.
We're about to take control of the situation.
But they're not in control, are they?
Jesus is in control of it.
And what they are planning
is what Jesus has predicted.
And ironically, I think Matthew tells us that they are in the palace,
behaving like they have some kind of sovereignty.
But in reality, there is only one who is sovereign here, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is king.
And we see this even in what they say.
Look at verses 4 and 5.
And they plotted together.
It's got echoes of Psalm 2.
They plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
But they said, I'm not doing the feast.
Lest there be an uproar among the people.
They wanted to avoid killing Jesus during the Passover.
So they don't want to stir up trouble for themselves among Jesus' supporters.
The population of Jerusalem swells during Passover time.
It's a great festival.
And so politics is always a little bit more risky at that point.
But of course, Jesus has said it will be during the Passover.
It will be exactly then, when he is handed over, and so it proved to be.
The Jewish leaders aren't in control.
They can't even do what they propose to do.
The events that are about to unfold will unfold exactly as God wants.
Exactly as Jesus predicts.
But having reminded us so explicitly of the price that Jesus will pay,
Matthew then chooses to tell us of the price this nameless woman pays.
Verse 6.
Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask.
A very expensive ointment.
And she put it on his head as he reclined at table.
It is nothing if not extravagant.
It is.
Matthew explicitly tells us it was very expensive.
Experts reckon it's some sort of alabaster jar that would have been a kind of family heirloom of some sort.
Some people say that it was equivalent to a year's wages.
Some say more.
Whichever way you look at it, it wasn't a bottle of aftershave that you can buy at the post office.
It was an extremely generous gesture.
And you note, that's not how the disciples saw it.
Can you see what they say?
They say, verse 8, what a waste.
And they take the moral high ground.
And they point out, well, what could have been done with the money?
Verse 8.
This could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.
They thought the woman's action is unnecessary and quite frankly bizarre.
Even frivolous.
And it's hard not to sympathize with them.
It's a pretty strange thing for this woman to do.
If someone spends a lot of money on buying me a present, I prefer that it was something that I could actually use.
My brother worked out that in the church that he was at, that if he dropped into a sermon in November,
there, that he liked a certain type of food, that's what he got for Christmas.
So one year he dropped in that he liked Ferrero Rocher.
He's got hundreds of boxes of Ferrero Rocher.
You think we don't need that.
You see this gift here, isn't it?
The disciples, how do they feel about this gift?
They feel it's completely unneeded.
It's not as if Jesus was any richer walking away from it.
But nevertheless, the money has been spent, as it were.
And you can't help thinking, can you?
Verse 9.
It's a good point.
The poor.
Think what good could have been done with this money.
Think about the cash value.
What you could have done with that.
But Jesus says you're missing the point.
They call it a waste.
But can you see what Jesus calls it in verse 10?
He calls it beautiful.
Jesus, aware of this, said to them,
Why do you trouble the woman?
For she has done a beautiful thing to me.
You notice in verse 13,
Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world,
what she has done will also be told in memory of her.
Jesus is honoured by what this woman did.
He's honoured by the extravagance of her action.
And it says something, doesn't it,
about how much she values the Lord Jesus.
It says something about what she thinks Jesus is worth.
What she thinks about what Jesus deserves.
It is not economically rational.
But some things transcend economics.
Although I hasten to add, this doesn't transcend reason.
Because what this woman does is thoughtful and well-judged action,
even if it is extravagant.
And the woman believes that Jesus' presence is a rare jewel.
And at this moment of history,
and at this moment in her life,
and her honouring him is actually more important,
far more important,
than giving to the poor.
And amazingly, and wonderfully, and shockingly,
Jesus agrees with her.
And that's why he says,
what she has done will be told in her memory.
She has honoured him,
and so she too will be honoured.
And indeed, the fact that we're reading about her in 2023,
and literally millions know of her,
and read about her,
down through history,
it's evidence, isn't it,
that Jesus was right.
And it's a fascinating thing,
that Jesus honours her in this way.
When you think of all the people,
I'm down through history,
who've had great titles,
and great achievements,
and they've had letters after their name,
but now they're forgotten.
When you think of the New Year's honours list,
at the start of this month,
do you remember who the people are on that list?
You mean to tell me you can't remember Pauline D,
the very first female councillor and mayor,
in the town of Wem, Shropshire?
She's a member of the British Empire Medal.
Or what about Mary Buck?
You know Mary Buck, don't you?
From Swanage.
She worked tirelessly in the COVID vaccination centre.
She's so well known.
Or Sue Sayer.
Sue Sayer,
that world-renowned,
famous founder of the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust,
who received the honour for services
to wildlife protection and conservatism.
We know her, don't we?
We haven't got a clue.
So many, isn't it,
of worldly honours are forgotten.
And yet, this is a woman in Matthew's account
who doesn't even have a name.
And yet she's known and she's remembered
by every generation that reads Matthew's Gospel.
And she's known and she's admired
for what she does for Jesus.
And that is why I think she's nameless here.
She's not nameless in the other Gospels,
but she's nameless here.
Because what Jesus wants to honour
is not who she is,
but as much as what she's done.
Because of what she did,
gives honour to Jesus.
And it alerts us, doesn't it,
to Jesus' worth.
It tells you and I that Jesus
is someone who is worth paying
a very high price for indeed.
And that's why Jesus sees
her extravagant act of devotion
as a thing of beauty.
But Jesus sees an even deeper
significance in her action.
Possibly, in fact, I think
almost certainly deeper
than the woman understood.
She didn't grasp.
Look at verse 12, what it says.
It says,
So Jesus sees her act
as a special kind of anointing.
The kind of anointing
that dead bodies were given.
The pouring out of a perfume
was like Jesus being embalmed.
And Jesus sees this beautiful moment
as a step in his preparation
for that moment
to which his whole life
has been directed to.
That moment when he will
lay down his life
for his people
in a way that she couldn't
have understood
at this point.
Even this woman
would be saved
by the death
her anointing
was preparing him for.
And then in the last
three verses of the passage,
can you see the cost,
the price of betrayal,
verse 14 to 16?
The price of betrayal.
And I think Matthew
suddenly brings
into the foreground
what's been in the shadow
for much of the gospel.
He tells us very matter-of-factly
Judas,
one of the twelve,
goes to the Jewish leaders
and he offers
to hand Jesus over to them.
to hand Jesus
over to them.
But the question he asks
in verse 15
I think really helps us.
It gets to the heart
of the point.
He asks,
what will you give me
if I deliver him
over to you?
What is Jesus worth to you?
What is the price
you're willing to pay?
What is the cost?
He asks.
And their answer is
I'm 30 pieces of silver.
It's what a slave
was worth
in the Old Testament
at times.
It's what a shepherd
got paid.
Either way,
it's not a lot of money.
Judas agrees to the sum.
And so Jesus,
Judas plays the part
of the economic realist.
except his act
is not rational at all.
Because in agreeing
to that sum,
he agrees,
doesn't he,
with the chief priest.
What was Jesus worth
for Judas?
To Judas?
Not very much.
And of course,
this is what the disciples
were struggling with
in verse 8.
They were not convinced
that Jesus was worth
what the woman did.
So can you see
the whole section
of Matthew 26?
It's all about people
who undervalue Jesus.
And the disciples
thought that this woman's
beautiful extravagance
was a waste.
Judas would rather
profit from Jesus' death
than prevent it.
And the Jewish leaders
were only too willing
to part with some
loose change
to get what they wanted
all along.
woman.
And in their way,
all these characters
undervalue Jesus.
That's the backdrop.
And so together,
they form this backdrop
of undervaluing Jesus.
And the contrast
is this nameless woman.
And she alone,
of all the key players
in the story,
values Jesus
for what he's really worth.
She alone
sees Jesus
for who he truly is.
She alone
seems eager
to give to Jesus
what he truly deserves.
She is extravagant
while all the others
are stingy
or worse.
And worst of all
is Judas.
One of the twelve.
Jesus' closest friends.
Those he confided in.
And yet he decides
that following
a so-called king
who was going to
surrender his life
wasn't worth it.
Thirty pieces of silver
would be worth more.
And in verse two,
Jesus predicted.
Notice the words.
Can you see what it says?
Handed over
to be crucified.
Delivered up
to be crucified.
At that point,
we don't know
who by.
But by the time
we come to verse 16,
we make the discovery,
don't we,
that Jesus
will be handed over
by his friend.
The ESV
doesn't help us
as much as it should,
but that language
of handed over
is in both
verse two
and in verse 16.
It turns out
that Judas
is the handover man.
And so the change
of events
has started
that will lead
to Jesus' death,
the fulfillment
of the prediction.
And so
there's something else
we see.
These three sections
have got something
else in common.
because not only
is Jesus
worth being debated
all the way through,
but Jesus' death
is on view
at every point.
So in verse four,
the Jewish leaders
are plotting
Jesus' death.
And the woman
with the alabaster jar
is preparing
Jesus for his death.
And then we see
Judas receiving money
to bring about
Jesus' death.
Each in their own way,
these people
are anticipating it.
but only one
had any hint
that Jesus' death
was part of
what made Jesus worthy.
And only one
would benefit
from Jesus' death
and would be enriched
far more generously
than she had been
generous to him.
And it really is
the difference
between that nameless woman
and everyone else
in the story.
And I think it's
at the heart
of this section
of Matthew,
surrounded by people
who want to
participate in
the killing of Jesus.
This woman lovingly
prepares his body
for what he must
undergo.
And surrounded by
people who
undervalue Jesus,
she sees his true
worth and she
treats him accordingly.
And so it's her
action that shines
like a floodlight
against the dark
backdrop
that these other
characters provide.
people who
are not
but as I said
at the start
of this sermon,
I'm in danger
of finding
this woman's act
more discouraging
than inspiring.
I'm left
wondering to myself,
if I had been
sitting around the
table at that
dinner party,
what would I have
done?
What would I have
said?
I'm left feeling
it's pretty unlikely
I'd have said
anything different
to the disciples.
I'm left feeling
that her devotion
is very difficult
for me to match.
Maybe my faith
is weak in
comparison.
My love
paltry
compared to
hers.
And though
I feel in my
heart I should
be inspired by
this woman,
the fact is
I can come away
from this story
deflated and
discouraged by her.
What I've come
to see as I've
studied this
passage is if I
did walk away
like that,
I've completely
missed the point
of the passage.
Because Matthew
does not want
you and I to be
discouraged by this
woman, nor does
he want me to be
inspired by this
woman.
He wants me to
see Jesus.
He wants me to
see what she
saw, and that's
the secret.
Because what
makes this woman
want to honour
Jesus and to pay
such a high price
to honour him
so extravagantly,
what makes her
willing to pay
such a high price
to save Jesus,
Jesus does.
Because she
sees what
Jesus is worth.
And because she
sees Jesus
clearly.
And what she
does is the
most natural
thing to her
in the world.
is the
moment.
And what I
want to impress
upon you tonight
at the end of
this Lord's Day
is this is
massive.
It's a massive
mistake to see
something like
this woman does
and marvel at
her faith.
It's a mistake
because it falsely
assumes that what
makes this woman
different to me is
that she's got more
faith, or she's got
a stronger faith,
or something like
that.
That's the very
thing, isn't it,
that creates
discouragement.
But in actual
fact, if there is a
difference between
her and me,
it's simply that
she values Jesus
more highly than
I do.
That she has seen
Jesus more clearly
than I have.
And that's the
mistake that I think
I've made in the
past with biographies
like Robert Murray
McShane.
That I think what
makes them different
is the amount of
faith they had,
or the strength of
their love for
Jesus.
But in actual
fact, their life
is simply a product
of the fact
that they see
Jesus more
clearly.
And this woman
has come to
realize what
Jesus is worth.
And that is the
way with everyone
who pays a great
price to serve
Jesus and honor
him extravagantly.
There are no
super Christians.
Do you hear that?
There are no
super Christians.
Christians.
There is just a
super Christ.
There are no
super Christians,
but there are
Christians who see
Jesus Christ.
And who treat
Jesus for all
he's worth.
And there are
Christians whose
vision is blurred
of the Lord Jesus.
And therefore,
they are pretty
stingy or worse.
what would it
take, I wonder,
for us to give,
let's just say,
a year's worth of
salary to the
work of the
kingdom?
What would it
take for you and
I to surrender a
life of comfort
and to sacrifice
greatly for the
kingdom?
What would it
take for us to
hand over all our
biggest fears to
Jesus and go where
he wanted us to go
and do what he
wanted us to do?
This lameless woman
would tell us one
thing.
She would tell us,
see Jesus.
Know who he is.
And know him as a
king who died because
he is worthy.
And when you know
Jesus' true worth
deep down in your
soul, there will be
nothing that you'd
rather hang on to
than him.
And there will be
nothing at all to
fear in surrendering
to him.
Come to think of
it, what would it
take to give a
tenth of our salary
to the work of the
church?
Or to simply pray
more?
What would it
take for us to
truly repent and
break those sins
that we constantly
battle with?
What would it
take for us to
speak more
enthusiastically
about Jesus
to family and
friends?
What would it
take for us to
have those
difficult conversations
that we know we
should have but
they're terrified of
having?
What would it
take for us to
love more graciously
those we find
hard to live?
And this
nameless woman
would tell us
the same thing.
See Jesus.
Because this
passage isn't
really about this
woman.
This passage
isn't about this
woman.
It's about the
man whose
head she
covers with
perfume.
She is
nameless but
he is not.
At the end of
the day we
don't need to
know her, do we?
But we need to
know what
compels her to
act the way she
did and this
passage keeps
thrusting before
you and I
what is Jesus
worth?
And the
answer is he
is worthy.
he is worthy
of what this
man did for
him and
much, much
more.
Jesus' name is
a name that we
do know because
at the end of
the day we do
need to know
him.
And the
more we know
him the more
likely we are to
see that what the
world regards as a
waste, being as a
Christian, living
faithfully as a
Christian, standing
firm as a Christian
like we heard
this morning, even
giving of our
lives to kingdom
ministry, giving
yourself to the
life of God's
church, those
things aren't a
waste, but they're
beautiful in the
sight of God.
And more to the
point, the more
that we know him,
the more likely we
are to see what we
sometimes regard as
wasteful, as
beautiful to him.
So as I kind of
bring this message
to you, as we
seek to share the
gospel and live out
the gospel in front
of our neighbours
and friends,
remember that
people that you
live amongst and
work amongst don't
really need you to
tell them how much
faith they ought to
have.
And they don't
primarily need you
to tell them that
their lives are
empty.
If they're not
Christians, they
know that.
You'll primarily
need you to tell
them about the
Christian worldview,
Christian ethical
standpoint.
They don't even
really need a kind
of set of
propositions that
you want them to
believe.
What they primarily
need, in fact,
what they desperately
need to do is they
need you to introduce
them to Jesus.
With all the
compassion and the
conviction and
earnestness of those
who know Jesus
well.
And know how
much he's worth.
And as your
minister, you don't
need me to tell you
primarily how
important evangelism
is or what
method you ought to
use or what
kind of diagrams
and little images
you should use.
Or how to answer
the tricky questions
that people ask.
Those things are
important.
But if we can be
trained in that, but
if we don't put
people to Jesus, we
produce far more
discouragement than
inspiration.
And what you need
more than anything,
what I need more than
anything, is to see
Jesus clearly.
And to be absolutely
gripped by that
compelling sense of
what he is worth.
love.
And so what I need
most and what you
need most is not
more time.
And it's not more
resources.
And as a church, what
we need is not more
generous donors and
not more ministry
partners.
At the end of the day,
the only thing that
sustains Christians
through the trials and
temptations and
exhaustion and
exhilaration of living
as a Christian is a
worshipful heart.
And there's only one
thing that creates a
properly worshipful
heart and that is
knowing Jesus.
Because when we know
him well, we will
appreciate him.
And we'll value him.
And we'll pay great
costs and we'll make
great sacrifices because
we know he is worthy.
And we'll play small
steps and take small
steps of Christian
progress.
because we'll have a
settled conviction that
there is no higher
privilege, no richer
blessing than knowing
Jesus.
Those who know Jesus
best are those who
know the price he has
paid.
The price paid is the
most expensive and
generous price that
could ever be paid.
And those who know
Jesus best know that
this nameless woman's
extravagance towards him
was just a shadow, a
picture of his
extravagance towards
us.
And in the light of
that, nothing we could
ever do for him is a
high price.
Those who know Jesus
best know that there
is no cost so great
that we wouldn't
gladly pay it.
Because he is and he
was and he is and he
always will be worthy
of it.
And this has become a
favorite story of mine,
not because the woman
inspires me, but because
this act reminds me of
how worthy the Lord
she serves us.
Some of you have
actually made great
sacrifices for the
Lord Jesus and every
sacrifice you have made
for the Lord Jesus has
been utterly sensible.
And this woman encourages
you and I to keep
surrendering ourselves to
Jesus and she does that
not by pointing to
herself, but by pointing
to Jesus.
That's a very different
kind of inspiration.
She says, I need to pray
this simple prayer to
Jesus every day.
Please open my eyes to
see you more clearly.
C.T.
Stead has fascinated me
since I was a little
boy.
Charlie Stead, he was a
cricketer for England.
He was in the name of
the cricket team.
He gave it all to be a
missionary.
I think it's fair to say
that C.T.
Stead was nuts and pretty
impossible to work with.
He was certainly very
hard at work to live
with.
He saw his wife for
three weeks in the last
seven years of his life.
I think she was probably
relieved.
But C.T.
Stead said this, because I
think he understood
Matthew 26.
He said, if Jesus Christ
be God and died for me,
then no sacrifice can be
too great for me to make
for him.
Let's pray.