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Jesus Anointed at Bethany
Jesus Anointed at Bethany John 12:1-11 Key Verse: 12:3 “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Chapters 11 and 12 of John’s Gospel form a transition from Jesus public ministry to the events surrounding his death on the cross and resurrection. In these chapters Jesus steps back from his public ministry to spend some quiet time with his disciples. In this passage Jesus is once again in Bethany where he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is at a dinner party being held in his honor. Martha, as usual, is busy serving Jesus and the other guests. Her brother Lazarus is reclining at the table with Jesus and Mary is pouring out all of her love and devotion on Jesus. From Mary we can learn how we should worship Jesus. We should give Jesus our best love. We shouldn’t hold anything back. In contrast to Mary, we have Judas Iscariot and the chief priest who were only thinking about their own selfish ambitions. May God help us to learn from Mary how we should worship our Lord and Savior Jesus. First, a dinner in Jesus’ honor (1-3). Look at verse 1. “Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.” As we have studied throughout John’s gospel, Jesus lived on God’s time schedule. According to that time schedule, Jesus had six days left before his death. For at this Passover Jesus would become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. As Jesus entered Bethany, he knew he was going to die soon, but he was not sorrowful or fearful. He was victorious and joyful because Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus wants us to live with resurrection faith. Even though we face real problems and dangers, we can always have victory through resurrection faith. It is because our destination is the kingdom of God, where we live forever with our Lord Jesus Christ. When we have Jesus, we can have victory every day, no matter what the situation may be. Look at verse 2. “Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.” The family was so thankful to Jesus for raising Lazarus from the dead. Now Lazarus was there, laughing and eating, right in front of them. They were so happy to have him back. They were even happier to realize the deep, deep love of Jesus. They realized that Jesus’ love was stronger than death. They knew Jesus was their good shepherd who would lead them safely to the kingdom of God. The dinner party was a foretaste of the victorious wedding supper of the Lamb in the kingdom of God. The family members expressed their love and gratitude toward Jesus, each in their own way. Martha served, as usual. Martha was active, decisive and hardworking. She enjoyed serving others and this was how she showed her to Jesus. Lazarus, on the other hand, was at the table reclining with Jesus. There was no trace of any sickness in him. He probably looked strong and vibrant. He had inner peace and his face radiated with life. He expressed his love and thanks to Jesus by reclining with him at the table. Perhaps he had become like his sister Mary who loved to just sit at Jesus feet and listen to what he had to say. Lazarus also had a very powerful personal life testimony about the power of Jesus. Lazarus had been dead, but when he heard the voice of the resurrection and the life, he was raised up again. It is very likely that the other dinner guests were hanging on the edge of their seats, hoping Lazarus would describe his death and resurrection in detail. Then there was Mary. She was quiet and as we learn in Luke chapter 10, she loved just to sit at Jesus feet and listen to him speak. She was usually overshadowed by the hardworking Martha, but at this time Mary’s heart was almost bursting with love and thanksgiving for Jesus and she was about to do something that would completely overshadow all of Martha’s serving. Look at verse 3. “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Let’s think deeply about Mary’s action. In the first place, there is the meaning of the perfume. It was made of pure nard, which was probably imported from eastern India. It was not some cheap smelly colored water from the local drugstore; it was top of the line, imported, like a fine French perfume costing four hundred dollars an ounce. I don’t know much about perfumes, but I have heard that for a woman, perfume makes an identity statement. It says, “This is me.” When Mary poured this perfume on Jesus it was a very personal act of love. This perfume was not only Mary’s signature, it was also something of great value to Mary. By pouring it on Jesus, Mary was confessing that Jesus was most precious to her. To those who truly know Jesus, he is more precious than anything else. To Mary, Jesus was more precious than this very expensive perfume. She was probably saving this perfume for her wedding day. To Mary Jesus was more precious to her than any husband could ever be. Jesus was everything to Mary. When Mary poured her perfume on Jesus’ feet she gave her treasure to Jesus – she gave everything to Jesus. In the second place, we need to consider the way Mary offered the perfume to Jesus. This kind of perfume was usually used sparingly, just a drop behind the ear, or on the wrist. One bottle should last for many years. But Mary poured the entire pint, all sixteen ounces, on Jesus all at once. Mary’s act was extravagant; it was beyond reason or practicality. Mary really wanted Jesus to know how precious he was to her. SBy pouring out the perfume on Jesus like this, Mary gave her heart to Jesus. She poured out all her affection on Jesus without limit. It was her act of worship. Finally, Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. Mary’s act was the outpouring of her whole heart to Jesus, and yet, it was not an expression of uncontrolled emotion. Mary deeply realized that even her best treasure was not worthy of Jesus, so Mary poured the perfume on his feet, in a humble expression. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. Mary was really humble and reverent. To a woman, hair is another signature element of her personality. St. Paul says that a woman’s hair is her glory. Women can spend hours washing, conditioning, treating, curling, and styling their hair. Yet Mary wasn’t concerned about her hair. In fact she used her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet in a most humble way. By this gesture she meant that her greatest glory was to serve Jesus, no matter how humbly. Mary’s act of worship is great, but we must think about her motivation. Why did she do this? First of all, she was worshiping the Son of God. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, she saw God in Jesus. She saw the Son of God who gives life, even to the dead. Jesus was not just a friend of the family, or a father-like shepherd, or a wonderful rabbi. Jesus is God. Secondly, Mary had resurrection faith. She saw life after death and the kingdom of God. Mary was no longer bound by the temporal things of the world. When she believed in Jesus, she had eternal life. So she could pour out her earthly treasure freely. Thirdly, there is a note of repentance in Mary’s worship. She realized she had been so wrong to doubt his love. It was a sin that had grieved Jesus’ heart. Mary was truly sorry for her doubt and repented sincerely. It is most important for each of us to realize that Jesus is the Son of God who gives life. We must accept his love personally. Then we can worship Jesus with great affection, resurrection faith, and sincere repentance. The outer expression varies. Some, like Martha, offer their hard work, some, like Lazarus, their testimony, and some, like Mary, their treasure. We should freely worship Jesus according to our personal faith. We express our worship to Jesus in so many ways, but the important thing is that we express our worship whole heartedly. We shouldn’t hold anything back. Like Mary, we should be willing to pour everything we have for Jesus. One way we can express our worship to Jesus is by following his example in serving others, especially through one-to-one Bible study. John’s gospel reveals that Jesus taught the Bible one-to-one to many kinds of people. Jesus shepherded people with divine love until they met God personally. We should follow Jesus’ example. This requires heart devotion and the sacrifice of time and money. Sometimes people whom we have loved sacrificially leave our ministry and go elsewhere. We are tempted to feel sorry about this. However our sacrifice to serve others with the word of God is not just a waste of our time, it is our act of worship given to Jesus. Let’s think for a moment about what happened to Jesus’ feet? The feet of Jesus, which Mary had treated with such great affection and honor, were later nailed to the cross. A spike was driven through them. Mary watched that event in shocking detail. We can imagine how she felt. However, God raised Jesus from the dead. God exalted him to the highest place and made him King of kings and Lord of lords. In Revelation 1:15a, John describes him in glory, saying, “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace....” What is done for Christ turns into heavenly glory for the children of God. The person we care for who seems never to change will someday bear the likeness of Christ. Let’s carry out one-to-one Bible study with the attitude of worship and the hope of glory. Second, Judas Iscariot loved money more than Jesus (4-6). As Mary was performing her beautiful act of worship, the scene was interrupted by an objection. One of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot, spoke up: “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” On the surface, Judas’ words sounded reasonable, but John points out that his motive was evil. He wanted to sell the perfume and keep the proceeds for himself. It is shocking that a disciple of Jesus could have such an evil mind in the very presence of Jesus. Yet it happened. Why? Judas did not see Jesus as the Son of God. Judas did not value Jesus more than a few ounces of perfume or some money. In the end he would betray Jesus for thirty silver coins. The he would commit suicide and suffer eternal condemnation in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. We must examine our hearts. If we despise the pure worship of Jesus, something is wrong. If we love money or anything else more than Jesus we will betray Jesus in the end. Third, Jesus defends Mary and blesses her offering (7-11). Judas tried to make Mary’s sincere act of worship look foolish. True worship of Jesus often evokes strong opposition from religious hypocrites. True worship of Jesus evokes criticism from selfish people who hate to sacrifice anything for others. Judas’ words poisoned the atmosphere of worship that Mary’s act created. His words might cause the other disciples to become critical as well. So, how did Jesus respond? First, Jesus said, “Leave her alone.” Jesus defended Mary and her right to worship him freely. When we give our all to Jesus he will defend us with his life and with all the forces of heaven. I think these simple words of Jesus pierced the hearts of all the disciples, especially Judas, and they began to shiver. They knew Jesus was serious. Then Jesus honored Mary’s act. Look at verse 7 again. “‘Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ‘It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.’” Jesus revealed God’s purpose for Mary’s perfume. Mary had been saving this perfume, not really knowing what it was for. When she offered it to Jesus, it was simply her expression of worship. According to Jesus, however, God had a great purpose for this perfume, far beyond Mary’s intention. It was God’s anointing of Jesus’ body for his burial. It became part of God’s eternal redemptive history. We don’t always know how Jesus will use our offering. However, we can be sure that when we offer anything like Mary did, purely and humbly, Jesus is pleased to give it eternal value in his world salvation work. It is a great blessing to be used in God’s eternal redemptive history. Apart from gaining the salvation of our souls and an inheritance in the kingdom of God, it is the greatest blessing we can receive. When Mother Barry went to Korea as a missionary in 1955, she didn’t know exactly how God would use her life. She was simply ready to serve in any capacity that the Lord wanted, so for this she studied Korean diligently. The Lord accepted her sacrifice of everything, including the most precious thing, and used her so mightily as a Bible teacher and shepherd for Korean students and a coworker for Dr. Samuel Lee for 40 years. Now the fruit of her life has spread all over the world and she has become a mother of nations in our generation. We can imagine how much Jesus was encouraged by Mary’s act. It was because it mirrored what God would do with Jesus. Jesus was about to die on a cross for the sin of the world. Jesus was about to be broken and poured out, shedding his blood for sinners. Jesus was God’s one and only Son. Jesus is God’s greatest treasure. Yet God poured out his Son’s life for sinners. Jesus’ blood is holy and sinless. Jesus’ blood is eternal and has life-giving power. Jesus’ blood can cleanse any sin. It can heal any sinner and make him a holy child of God. Like Mary pouring out her precious perfume on Jesus, God lavished his love on us by pouring out the blood of Jesus for each of us. 1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God.” God’s love for us meant Jesus had to die. No one could really understand, but somehow Mary recognized him as the Son of God. Mary loved him enough to pour out her treasure on him and Jesus loves us enough to pour out his treasure on us. I am sure that Jesus was greatly encouraged by Mary’s act at this critical moment. Look at verse 8. “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Here Jesus is reminding us of the truth that Moses declared in Deuteronomy 15; we will always have the poor among us. We can and should serve the poor anytime. However, there should be a priority in the minds of Jesus’ disciples. We must love Jesus first and we must love Jesus the most. Only then will our service for others, including the poor, have any real and lasting value. As the dinner party progressed, word spread that Jesus was there. Many people wanted to see him. Many also wanted to see Lazarus. The power of resurrection was spreading all over the area and many were putting their faith in Jesus. This made the chief priests very upset and they decided to kill Lazarus as well. They wanted to stop the spread of the gospel by any means. This seems kind of ridiculous. After all, Lazarus had already been dead once and his coming back to life was causing all kinds of people to put their faith in Jesus. What if they killed him and Jesus raised him again? What would they do then? They didn’t think of this because their selfish ambition to get rid of Jesus and his influence made them irrational. While Martha, Lazarus, Mary and their dinner guests worshipped Jesus as the Son of God, Judas and the chief priest let their own selfishness blind them from the truth. In today’s passage we learn that Jesus is the Son of God and we must worship him with all our hearts – with our best treasure. Jesus is the most precious to God, yet God gave his precious one and only Son as the Lamb of God to save us from our sins. When we accept Jesus we are saved. We must also become sacrificial people who learn to give our best to Jesus. May God help each of us to identify our own treasure, give it to Jesus, and be used preciously in his work for his glory and honor. |
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