Mark chapter 14, and we're going to read the first 26 verses.
Let's hear from God in his word.
Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away,
and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him.
But not during the feast, they said, or the people may riot.
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the leper,
a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made of pure nard.
She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, why this waste of perfume?
It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor, and they rebuked her harshly.
Leave her alone, said Jesus.
Why are you bothering her?
She has done a beautiful thing to me.
The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them anytime you want.
But you will not always have me.
She did what she could.
She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.
I tell you the truth.
Wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.
They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money.
So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb,
Jesus' disciples asked him,
Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?
So he sent two of his disciples, telling them,
Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.
Follow him.
Say to the owner of the house he enters,
The teacher asks,
Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?
He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.
Make preparations for us there.
The disciples left, went into the city, and found things just as Jesus had told them.
So they prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the twelve.
While they were reclining at the table eating, he said,
I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him,
Surely not I.
It is one of the twelve, he replied, one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him,
but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man.
It would be better for him if he had not been born.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying,
Take it, this is my body.
Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them,
and they all drank from it.
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, he said to them.
I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine
until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Now, we're going to consider together Jesus' story of sacrifice
and our story within that.
I want to begin by recognizing that there are events and stories
that shape our lives.
So this week, on the 6th, is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings,
the Allied invasion of German-occupied France via the Normandy beaches.
And that day is of huge significance,
and it reminds us that our freedom came at a significant and a violent cost.
So as a nation, every year it is right and proper
to have a day of remembrance,
to say we will remember them with gratitude.
And perhaps for some of us, and certainly for us still as a nation,
our stories are shaped by that great sacrifice
made during the Second World War.
And in a sense, that mirrors for us the central message of Christianity,
which tells us of Jesus, the Son of God,
who has come into the world that he created on his own rescue mission.
He is the one who comes to save us from our slavery to sin leading to death.
And again, he frees us through costly sacrifice.
We speak about salvation as a gift of God's grace.
To us, it comes free.
We receive it by faith in the Lord Jesus,
but it comes at great cost to God in the giving of his one and only Son, Jesus.
So here in Mark chapter 14,
we are being prepared for this, as it were,
decisive battle that's to take place on the cross.
Jesus is once again preparing his disciples for that moment.
So I want us this morning to consider together Jesus' sacrifice.
And to do that, asking whether his cost of the cross,
whether that shapes your life and mine,
whether the significance of that sacrifice impacts our life,
our day-to-day reality.
To ask ourselves, do we remember him?
Do we honor Jesus for his love and his sacrifice with our lives?
So we're going to do that by looking at three stories of sacrifice
that we find here in Mark 14,
beginning with Jesus' story of sacrifice and salvation.
If you look at verses 1 and 2, and then verse 12 as well,
we're reminded of the context where all this takes place.
The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
are just a couple of days away,
reminding us that as we think about the journey theme
in the second half of Mark's gospel,
we're coming to the climax.
We're coming close to the cross.
But we need to think about what is this Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Well, in history, as we find it in the Old Testament,
from the time of the Exodus,
it was a celebration of God's redemption of his people who were slaves,
setting them free so they might become the people of God.
And so every year, the people would gather together for a festival
to remember to have a sense of thanksgiving to God.
So at this moment, as we come to Mark 14,
this is a time when the population in Jerusalem expands and explodes
because so many people are coming to worship God for this festival.
We see this in Edinburgh with our own festivals
where the population swells hugely.
It's a time of joy and expectation.
It's also a time of asking the question,
will God deliver us once again?
Maybe this year.
Will this be the day he sets us free from our enemies
so we can become the people of God
and enjoy freedom in our own land?
Now, how does Jesus fit into this story?
And how does Jesus fit into those hopes that the people had?
Well, he makes clear that he comes to fulfill God's rescue.
He is the final act in God's great drama of redemption.
And he comes to reinterpret God's story
to make clear that he is central
in God's plan of salvation and rescue for his people.
So let's look at verse 13 to 15.
So the disciples have just asked,
where do you want us to go and make preparations?
And what becomes clear in that little section
is both that Jesus desires to share the Passover
with his disciples,
and also he's made plans, he's made preparations.
So there's the signal,
look for the man carrying the jar of water,
and the upper room is already ready for them.
Jesus has his timetable.
There is plots going on behind the scenes,
but Jesus is making sure that he can share this Passover
so he can explain the significance of the Passover
in light of the cross.
He's eager to fill in the blanks for the disciples
to see how he fits into God's great plan of salvation.
He is, in a sense, the last chapter.
I borrowed an Agatha Christie audiobook a few weeks ago
from the library.
And if you borrow a book, an audiobook from the library,
you get 21 days to listen and not a second more.
So those 21 days came and went
when I was literally just about to listen
to the last chapter.
So if you imagine, there's been really complex plot.
I also questioned who might have done it,
and all of a sudden,
the story's just got this big gap for me.
So I had to go and find a copy for resolution.
Without the last chapter,
it just didn't tie together.
It didn't make sense.
Well, Jesus is going to say to us
that he is God's final chapter
in the great story of rescue and salvation
that began in the Garden of Eden
through the Exodus all the way
to where we are here.
Jesus is how all the different threads,
all the different promises
that we find in the Old Testament come together.
He is the hero in this story
of God's story of sacrificial love.
How does he make that clear to his disciples
here two days before the cross?
He makes it clear by reinterpreting for them
the Passover meal.
So while families used to eat the Passover
and it would be a chance for them
to retell the story of the Exodus
and they would use the symbols of bread
and wine as a way to tell the story,
Jesus now uses that meal
to speak about the cross.
Those symbols that used to tell
of God's past saving grace
are now used to talk about
God's future saving act of grace
as Jesus will shortly die on the cross.
So let's read together
in verse 22 and following
where we read,
while they were eating,
Jesus took bread,
gave thanks and broke it
and gave it to his disciples saying,
take it,
this is my body.
Then he took the cup,
gave thanks and offered it to them
and they all drank from it.
This is my blood of the covenant
which is poured out for many,
he said to them.
I tell you the truth,
I will not drink again
of the fruit of the vine
until that day
when I drink it anew
in the kingdom of God.
Now I want to just draw our attention
to three things that Jesus is saying
about the cross in light of the Passover.
First, he's speaking,
looking forward to the costly sacrifice
of the cross.
So the bread and wine of the Passover meal
were a reminder of that first Passover lamb.
That lamb that was killed
and his blood sprinkled
so that the judgment of God
could pass over his people
so that they might be set free
to meet with God in Mount Sinai
to become the people of God.
And then you think about
John the Baptist's words
early in Jesus' ministry
when he said,
Jesus is the lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
And Jesus is saying exactly that here.
He's saying,
the costly sacrifice of that lamb
points forward to the costly sacrifice
that I'm about to make
in dying on the cross,
in my body being broken,
and my blood being shed
so that the judgment of God
might pass from you
because it falls on me
so that you might be set free
because of my sacrifice.
Jesus is also reinterpreting
the Passover
to speak of covenant love to us.
So remember,
Israel was set free
to enter into that wonderful covenant
where God said,
I will be your God
and you will be my people.
But for that to happen,
whenever there was covenants made
in the Old Testament,
we'd be thinking about it
on Sunday evenings,
there needed to be sacrifice.
There needed to be sprinkling.
There needed to be washing from sin.
There needed to be cleansing
and forgiveness.
And that's what the cross
also speaks to us about.
Jesus says,
this is my blood of the covenant.
This is the blood of the new covenant.
And the new covenant that's promised
in Jeremiah 31
is again,
that I will be your God.
And it's a promise,
I will forgive your sin
and your wickedness
and remember them no more.
And Jesus is saying,
I'm going to die
so that can be true
for anybody
who puts their faith in me.
And he also uses the Passover
to speak of his complete salvation.
Especially we see that in verse 25.
So he's told them many times
he's about to die
and he said that he's going
to be given as a sacrifice.
But then he says,
I won't drink it again.
I won't drink again
of the fruit of vine
until the day when I drink it
anew in the kingdom of God.
What's he saying?
He's saying,
I'm going to die,
but that's not going to be
the end of the story.
Jesus approaches the cross
confident of victory
and vindication
and resurrection.
And here he is drawing on
this picture
that we find in the Bible
of the kingdom of God
as a great feast.
And Jesus is the one
who is the entry for us
into that feast,
the pathway into true joy.
And Jesus is saying,
just as I am assured
of victory and vindication
and new life beyond death,
so too for anybody
who puts their trust in Jesus,
we have that same confidence
of life beyond death.
This feast in the presence of God
can be ours
and it's secured for us
by the cross of Jesus.
So here is Jesus
and he's contemplating his death.
He knows it is close.
And he's going there
to conquer sin and death
by his death
and his resurrection.
And that reminds us
that in Jesus
we have a Savior
that we can trust.
It reminds us
that we have a Savior
who loves us
and loves us deeply.
It's a reminder
that we have someone
who we can trust
both in our life
and with our death.
Here is Jesus,
the one who's come
as Lord and King.
But notice
that he's never self-serving.
Notice that he's never
about his own interests.
Rather,
he is the servant king.
He is the loving king.
The king who saves
by sacrificing himself.
You know,
we admire,
don't we,
the self-sacrifice
of others.
We admire those soldiers
who gave their lives
for our peace
and for our freedom.
And those are incredible acts.
They're just small expressions
of Jesus
and his life
and his blood
poured out for many.
And what we need
today
is
to see
that loving sacrifice
and to receive it
and to let
that sacrifice
work itself
into our hearts
so that it would
transform
the story
of our lives.
So we've seen
Jesus' story
of salvation
by sacrifice.
Let's now look
at Judas' story
in this.
Judas' story
of tragic
sacrifice.
So in light
of what Jesus
is saying
he's about to do,
in light of his
supreme sacrifice,
the story of Judas
stands for us
as a tragic one,
doesn't it?
He wanted
treasure
but the treasure
that he pursued
turned out
to be fool's gold.
Let's think
about what Judas
had
at this point
in the story.
Verse 10,
we're told
Judas Iscariot
was one of the
twelve.
He was in
Jesus'
inner circle.
He had
friendship
with the
Son of God.
He had been
with Jesus
hearing his
teaching,
witnessing
his miracles,
being part
of
serving
alongside
Jesus.
He heard
Jesus
predict
that he
would
go to
the
cross
to give
his life
as a
ransom
for many.
And then
look at
verses
18 and
19.
So here
they are
at the
Passover
and while
they're
reclining
at the
table
eating,
Jesus
said,
I tell
you the
truth,
one of
you will
betray
me,
one who
is eating
with me.
They were
saddened and
one by
one they
said to
him,
surely
not I.
Now here's
the remarkable
thing.
There is no
sense in
which Judas
stands out
as the
black sheep
among the
disciples.
There is no
sense that he
is the odd
one out,
treated
differently.
So when
Jesus said
someone's
going to
betray
me,
every eye
turned to
Judas.
No,
he was
treated as
a friend.
He was
invited in
by Jesus.
He even
had his
feet
washed.
That same
evening.
What did
Judas have?
He had the
love and
the friendship
of the
Son of
God.
But what
did he
pursue?
What did
he give
up?
He gave
up friendship
with Jesus
in exchange
for cash.
Verse 10,
Judas,
one of the
twelve,
went to
the chief
priest to
betray
Jesus to
them.
They were
delighted to
hear this
and promised
to give
him money.
you.
So Judas
is going
to get
some money
for betraying
Jesus,
but he's
also
going to
receive
judgment.
Verse 21,
the Son of
Man will
go just
as it is
written about
him,
but woe
to that
man,
the judgment
of God
on the
man who
betrays
Jesus.
What a
tragic
exchange,
what a
tragic
sacrifice.
Judas
has
made.
In the
book of
Romans,
in chapter
one,
Paul takes
us to
the nature
and the
heart of
sin,
where we
choose to
worship
created
things rather
than our
creator,
God.
Here is
Judas
choosing to
live for,
to value
supremely,
money over
love and
friendship of
Jesus,
the Son of
God.
I think
it's a
helpful
question for
us to
reflect on.
What do I
think is
worth sacrificing
everything for?
And we may
have one
answer, but
do our
lives and
that answer
line up?
What do I
think is worth
sacrificing
everything for?
Are we
putting our
job,
leisure and
entertainment,
family,
security,
approval from
others ahead
of Jesus?
How does
the Bible
answer that
question?
What's worth
sacrificing
everything for?
Only the
gospel of the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
That's the
priceless
treasure.
That's the
one thing
worth devoting
all our
heart and
life to.
And so
Judas stands
for us as
a warning
of the
consequence of
getting that
answer wrong.
Jesus said,
you can gain
the whole
world and
yet lose
your eternal
soul.
We need to
learn to
think long
term.
I read a
great piece of
parenting advice
a couple of
months ago.
It said in
those moments
where your
kids are
driving you
crazy, to
ask yourself
the question
before you
yourself go
crazy, will
this thing
matter in
five years?
In other
words, try
and take the
long-term
view and deal
with it in
that
perspective.
That's
something we
need to do
with our
own life
decisions and
priorities and
directions.
That thing
that we are
living for,
that thing
that is
driving us
to snow,
will it
matter in
five years,
in 50
years, in
5,000 years
when we are
dead and
we're either
in heaven or
hell?
Will that
thing that
we are
tempted to
put in
front of
Jesus,
will it
matter?
Will it
be worth
it?
you and
I, we
need to
weigh our
gods, as
it were, in
the balance,
to reflect for
ourselves on
the relative
worth of
our idols
versus the
absolute
worth of
the Lord
Jesus.
Because we
see from
Judas that
he gave up
the prospect
of forgiveness
and eternal
life and
friendship with
God and
joy with
God and
the feast
of God
for some
silver coins.
Jesus had
said, and
Judas was
there, greater
love has
no one than
this, that
he lay down
his life for
my friends.
You are my
friends if
you do what
I command.
Judas was
offered this
greatest of
all loves,
but he gave
the tragic
response, I
don't want
your friendship.
I don't
want you.
I choose
another God
to live
for.
We say
don't let
that be
your story
here today.
Ask God
to make the
glory of
Jesus, to
make the
wonder of
Jesus'
salvation shine
so brightly
in your life
that everything
else takes
its proper
place.
sacrifice.
So that
Jesus has
first and
best.
So that we
would never
let Jesus
costly and
loving sacrifice
mean nothing
to us.
So there's
Judas' story
of sacrifice.
But then
we get
ourselves to
the beginning
of Mark
14, we
come to
the woman's
story of
beautiful
sacrifice.
So before
the Passover
meal that
Jesus shares
with the
disciples, there
is this other
meal taking
place at
the home
of Simon
the leper.
And there
at this meal
we see too
a display
of costly
sacrifice.
Verse 3,
while he
was in
Bethany,
reclining at
the table in
the home of
a man known
as Simon
the leper,
a woman
came with
an alabaster
jar of
very expensive
perfume made
of pure
nard.
She broke
the jar
and poured
the perfume
on his
head.
So this
jar was
probably
some kind
of valuable
family heirloom
passed down
through the
generations
of extreme
worth, but
she smashes
it there and
then in
order to
anoint
Jesus with
this sweet
smelling perfume.
Well, some
people are
shocked and
angered.
We see that
in verse 4
and 5.
They think
our actions
are so extreme,
so over the
top to
waste this
perfume on
Jesus.
And so
they rebuke
her.
But what
does Jesus
do?
Jesus
defends her
and he
defends her
because of
the beautiful
thing that
she has
done, the
beautiful
sacrifice that
she has
made.
They accuse
her of not
caring for
the poor.
Jesus in
verse 7 is
in effect
saying, she's
caring for
the poor
when she
cares for
me.
You know,
all through
the Psalms
we have
the picture
of the
poor but
righteous
sufferer.
And that
perfectly
captures who
Jesus is,
particularly
through his
suffering and
death.
Jesus, the
poor, righteous
sufferer of
the Psalms,
is cared
for by
this woman
and her
sacrifice.
And so she
is blessed
for her act
of devotion
to her
vision.
Verse 8,
she did
what she
could.
She poured
perfume on
my body
beforehand to
prepare for
my burial.
She honors
Jesus and
she prepares
his body
for burial.
Whether she
realized it
or not,
it's not
clear from
the text.
But what
is clear
is that her
actions
perfectly line
up with
God's timing
and God's
will.
Unlike that
of Judas,
this woman
has a right
vision of
Jesus, a
right estimation
of his
value.
Jesus will
shortly die
the Passover
to deliver
salvation and
freedom to
the people
and Jesus
is prepared
by this
anointing
for his
burial.
This story
takes place
in between
the plots
of the
teachers of
law and
the chief
priests and
the betrayal
of Judas
in verse
10.
And it
stands as a
really striking
and beautiful
contrast to
their acts.
And Jesus
gives an
amazing approval
to this woman
in verse 9.
I tell you
the truth,
whatever the
gospel is
preached
throughout the
world,
what she
has done
will also
be told
in memory
of her.
That this
act of hers
will become
part of the
gospel storyline.
It will help
to reveal
something of
God's good
news.
And so
Mark and
Matthew both
record this
act and
this setting.
So what
does her
sacrifice
reveal about
the gospel?
Well,
let me
suggest at
least this.
Again,
in Romans,
Paul says
in chapter
12,
verse 1,
I urge
you in
view of
God's mercy
to offer
your bodies
as living
sacrifices,
holy and
pleasing to
God.
This woman's
sacrifice shows
us what
happens when
God's mercy
and grace
works itself
into a
heart and
into a
life, where
a person is
able to
see, to
truly see
the value,
the worth,
the beauty,
the glory
of Jesus.
Because her
perfume is
poured out as
devotion, it's
poured out as
worship, and
it anticipates
the fact that
just a couple
of days later,
Jesus' blood
will be poured
out for
her to
bring her
to God.
So we see
Judas.
Judas was
blind, he
was cold to
Jesus'
sacrifice, but
this woman, in
striking contrast,
has been
captured by
God's great
love in the
sending of
Jesus.
Friends, again,
let me suggest
that what we
need to do is
we need to
look on his
sacrifice.
We need to
look and
keep looking
to the
glory of
our salvation
as we see
it at the
cross, till
it leads us
to love like
this woman,
till it leads
us to
wholehearted
worship like
this woman,
till it leads
us to that
kind of
devotion that
she showed.
It's seeing
God's mercy
at the cross
that fuels
our worship,
that fuels
our sense of
grateful,
loving response.
That's what
motivates the
Christian life.
A sense of
duty won't
do it.
What we need
is to see
God's glory
as revealed
at the
cross.
So we need
to ask the
Spirit to
work it into
our hearts,
because we
need this for
ourselves.
We need this
to sustain
our faith and
our hope and
our joy,
but we also
need it for
our witness,
because this
is what's
going to make
our Christian
community
attractive.
That when
we're so
captured by
Jesus'
sacrifice,
that we
will make
sacrifices
ourselves.
That we
will sacrifice
our honor
to serve
others with
humility.
That we'll
sacrifice our
comfort in
order to
welcome
outsiders in
our communities
and in our
churches.
It's as we
see all that
Jesus has
sacrificed for
us that will
cause us to
be glad to
be able to
sacrifice our
time to
walk with
someone else
through pain
and suffering.
So with
God's help,
our stories will
point to the
great gospel
story.
That our
small sacrifices
will cause
people to
pay attention
to Jesus'
great sacrifice.
Because we're
called to live
in the light of
Jesus'
beautiful,
self-giving
sacrifice to
reflect it in
our worship
and in our
mission.
Thank you.