1 2015, Reverend Steve Carlson Tabernacle Baptist Church West National Avenue West Allis, Wisconsin

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1 I. Introduction Attitudes March 22, 2015 John 11:55 12:11 Since we are at a good spot to interrupt our study of Galatians, it seemed appropriate to do so so that we could begin to prepare our hearts and minds for the awesome day we will celebrate in two weeks Resurrection Sunday or Easter. Jesus arrest, death on a cross, and resurrection 3 days later wasn t a surprise for Him and it shouldn t be for us. Turn to Luke 18: This wasn t the first time Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection Luke records 2 earlier times in Luke 9:22 and Luke 12:50. Several weeks before His anointing in Bethany, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead John recorded this earlier in John 11: Jesus had been healing and teaching for 3 years but this miracle had been the last straw for the Jewish leadership and they had put out a warrant for Jesus arrest. Knowing that the threat to His own life was serious but that the time wasn t right yet, Jesus had left Bethany and had gone to a region north of Jerusalem near Bethel. However, as the Passover approached, Jesus returned to Bethany and stayed with the family of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Rather than turning Him in like some criminal, the Lord s friends gave a dinner in His honor. Here they expressed their acceptance and love for Him and especially their gratitude for His bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Little did they know that this was the beginning of the end. True to their personalities and their gifts, Martha served and Mary worshipped Jesus. The account of Mary s anointing of her Lord is found in Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9 as well as here. Luke records a different anointing in Luke 7: In Luke s account, a former harlot anointed Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee. In the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and John, Mary was a virtuous woman who anointed Jesus in the house of Simon, the former leper. Luke s event took place in Galilee, while the account we are looking at today took place in Judea. In Luke 11:23 Jesus said, He who is not with me is against me. This is what we see in today s Scripture: Attitudes there was an attitude of acceptance and love and there was an attitude of unbelief and hatred. II. Attitudes of Acceptance and Love of Jesus A. Martha Martha is the first example of acceptance and love of Jesus. How many people were present at the dinner isn t known, but at least Jesus, the Twelve, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and probably Simon the former leper were there. Even though she wasn t at home the banquet was in Simon the leper s house, Martha was involved in serving the meal. She was motivated by loving gratitude to Jesus 1

2 and by a desire to honor Him in the way she knew best: by using her gifts. There is no rebuke, as there had been at a previous meal it was all about her heart. Hebrews 13:16 says, Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. In her serving, Martha was doing good and was sharing her gifts with others. Although her work gets overshadowed by Mary s dramatic act of worship, Martha s humble service on this occasion was no less commendable and no less pleasing to the Lord. B. Mary Mary is the second example of acceptance and love. Whenever possible, Mary would sit at Jesus feet and listen to Him teach. Because of her attention to what He said, I suspect Mary had an inkling of what was going to happen to Jesus. Mary s anointing of Jesus head and feet was an act of pure love. Mary would have impressed everyone when she poured the extremely expensive perfume on Jesus head and body and feet, but she shocked everyone when she wiped His feet with her hair! The Jews considered washing the feet of another person to be degrading, a necessary task to be done only by the most lowly of slaves. (Remember in John 13:1-15, at the last Passover meal in the upper room, not one of the Twelve was willing to serve the others by washing their feet, so in a supreme act and example of lowliness, Jesus did it?) But even more shocking than her costly perfume and lowly washing of Jesus feet was the fact that Mary let down her hair. For a respectable Jewish woman to do that in public would have been considered indecent; even immoral. But Mary was not concerned with the shame she might face as a result of her actions. She wasn t deterred by what others thought. Instead, she was focused on honoring Christ and pouring out her love on Him; she gave no thought to any perceived shame that it might bring to her. The perfume was worth 300 denarii or a year s wages; that would be around $20,000 in today s terms. To demonstrate her acceptance and her love and her complete surrender to the Lord, she poured it all out on Jesus. According to Matthew and Mark she began with His head and finished at His feet. Perhaps if we, like Mary, would sit at Jesus feet more often and listen to His words with our hearts, we would give more to Him, too. Nard was a fragrant oil extracted from a plant native to the mountains of northern India. Obviously, perfume made from nard was very costly because of the work to harvest it and the great distance from which it had to be imported. Perhaps Mary had purchased this perfume so that when she died it could be used on her body. But, with the coming of Jesus, anointing Him was more important than anything else. The perfume most likely made up a sizeable portion of Mary s net worth. In 2 Samuel 24:24 David said, I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing. Mary, too, 2

3 refused to offer the Lord something that cost her nothing. She acted in absolute love and adoration of her Lord and Savior she gave Him the best that she had. What Mary did was a blessing to Jesus and a blessing to her own life. She was also a blessing to Simon s home as it was filled with the fragrance of Mary s act. Even today she is a blessing to the church around the world. Her one act of devotion, regardless of cost in value or in reputation, is still repeated today as Christians give themselves completely and joyfully to Jesus Christ. Then we see... III. Attitudes of Unbelief and Hatred of Jesus A. Judas Judas is the first example of unbelief and hate. The stunned silence that must have followed Mary s startling and unexpected actions was suddenly broken by a voice raised in protest. Wanting to appear pious, Judas acted outraged over such an extravagant waste of money when he said, Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages over $20,000! Although John doesn t say it, Matthew and Mark imply that some of the other disciples felt the same way. Sadly, these are the first words of Judas found in any of the Gospels. Unknown until later, Judas was a thief and was in the habit of stealing money from the money bag he carried. No doubt, by the time Jesus and the disciples had arrived at Bethany, Judas had already decided to abandon Jesus. But he wanted to get what he could out of what he considered a bad situation to get some financial compensation for the three years he had wasted on Jesus. Judas disapproval of Mary s actions wasn t because of the loss of an opportunity to do more for the poor but to Judas own loss of opportunity to steal from the common purse. Jesus immediately defended Mary as He sternly rebuking Judas. He said, Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. Like Caiaphas s unsuspecting prophesy of Jesus death for the salvation of the world in John 11:49-52 where he said, It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish, Mary s outpouring of her love and acceptance of Christ had a deeper significance, too. In Matthew s record in Matthew 26:12, Jesus said, When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. In the anointing she had just done, Jesus saw a symbol of His soon coming death and burial. Her anointing represented the one Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus would later perform on His body after His death and the anointing she and the other women would not able to do when they came to the tomb following Jesus resurrection. If Judas had really wanted to help the poor, Jesus reminded him that he would not lack the opportunity to do so, You will always have the poor among you. The Lord was not criticizing the giving of charity to the poor, but rather He was challenging the disciples to keep their priorities straight. 3

4 The opportunity to do good to Him, as Mary had done, would not last long. All of Jesus disciples need to keep their priorities straight. Sometimes we must choose between what s good and what s better. Judas was at a crossroads. Unmasked as a hypocrite, pretending to care for the poor while in reality embezzling from the common purse, he faced the ultimate decision. He could fall at Jesus feet in humble repentance, confess his sin, and seek forgiveness. Or he could pridefully harden his heart, refuse to repent, surrender to Satan s influence, and betray the Lord. Sadly, he chose the second choice. Turn to Mark s account of Jesus anointing turn to Mark 14:3-11. Judas chose unbelief and hatred of this supposed Jesus the Christ B. The Chief Priests Not surprisingly, the second example of unbelief and hatred is the chief priests. The crowds flocking to Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus didn t escape the attention of the Jewish leaders. Lazarus was alive, and the evidence of his resurrection was so clear that they couldn t deny it. Lazarus was an undeniable testimony to the power of Jesus Christ. The leaders had already decided to kill Jesus and now they expanded their plot their hatred John wrote that they made plans to kill Lazarus as well. When men are determined not to believe the gospel, there is no end to the crimes to which they are driven. Since many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him, the chief priests had to act to save their power and prestige. Unbelief stops at no crime. Lazarus was innocent; they could bring no charge against him; but they deliberately plotted murder rather than believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The scene was set for Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem and later His betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. IV. Conclusion Looking back, there are several things we can learn from this passage. A. We need to spend time at Jesus feet so that we make right choices; so that we can keep our priorities straight. Did you notice that although Mary gave her best to the Lord, she was misunderstood and criticized for what she did? The same thing can and does happen to Christians today, but if, like Mary, we spend time at Jesus feet studying His Word, we can make the right choices and not be conformed by the world. In Hebrews 12:2 we read, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. B. Three things need to be in a Christian s life: work, worship, witness. In the story this morning, we see several people who are examples to us of just that. Martha represents work as she served the dinner that had been prepared for the Lord. This was just as much a fragrant offering as Mary s 4

5 perfume. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. This was Martha s purpose to bring glory to God. Mary represents worship giving her all to Jesus. As Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. This is what Mary did as she anointed Jesus with the valuable perfume and let down her hair to wash his feet. Finally, by not going into hiding but by being visible, Lazarus represents witness. Turn to Matthew 5: People went to Bethany to see this man this witness who had been raised from the dead. These three disciples of Jesus represent 3 things that should be in every Christian s life: work, worship, and witness. C. Finally, no one can be neutral regarding Jesus. Jesus warned in Luke 11:23, He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. Whether loving and serving Him like Mary and Martha, or hating and opposing Him, like Judas and the chief priests, everyone must decide what to do with Jesus. Joshua said in Joshua 24:15, Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. In less than a week even the crowd that first came to Jesus is going to make their choice and demand, Crucify Him! Crucify Him (Luke 23:20). Be careful; choose wisely, the choice a person makes will determine his or her eternal destiny, as Peter said in Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." 5