Honoured Guests Readings: Mark 14:1-11 John 13:1-11 Introduction: HOSANNA!! Have you ever been the guest of honour? Perhaps at a Birthday, a work farewell or a Graduation. What did you do as you celebrated? Do you remember the Insurance Ad on TV for Rhonda, IMAGINE BEING CHEERED LIKE THAT!!! Now, the Queen, I reckon she would have to get sick of being bowed and curtsied to everywhere she went and she is always waving. Weddings too, where the Bride and Groom are the honoured guests. Some just love being in the limelight others don t!! Then as I was preparing for today, the song Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast kept coming to mind, sung by the French candlestick Lumiere. Then I see this sign at a number of people s houses, Christ is the head of this Home, the Unseen Guest at every meal, and the Silent Listener at every conversation. I wonder if we lived with that in our minds all the time would our words and our behavior be any different? Then we see what, today, we call Palm Sunday Jesus entering the city being honoured, praised, worshipped and uplifted. He was the Guest of Honour. In Luke, some of the Pharisees asked Jesus to tell his disciples to be quiet but Jesus replies, If they keep quiet, the rocks and stones will start to sing. Nothing was going to stop Jesus being honoured that day!!! Hosanna was sung originally as an appeal for deliverance. He was to be the Messiah, their deliverer but He was not going to claim it in the way that they had envisaged. What a contrast to the walk we looked at least week, when he walked through the streets of Jerusalem carrying his cross to Golgotha. Into Jerusalem He was praised and glorified, to Golgotha he was mocked and beaten. Into Jerusalem He was exalted with songs of praise, to Golgotha He was tormented with spitting and insults. Into Jerusalem He was to be the chosen and triumphant Messiah, to Golgotha He was to be the slaughtered sacrificial lamb. What happened to cause such a change, in a nutshell he honoured His Father and HE did what He had set out to do. To provide the only way that man could restore relationship with His God through redemption, through becoming the ultimate sacrifice. In our theme of meals, let s look a little at what he did at a couple more meals, that lead him to be crucified. 1/ Jesus is Honoured One such meal was where Jesus was dining at the home of Simon the Leper, a couple of days before Passover. As he was reclining at the table, (the Jews, after the exile, borrowed this custom form the Romans.) So as he was reclining a woman came to him with an alabaster flask full of a pure nard ointment. She broke the flask and poured it over Jesus head. Both Matthew and Mark have her pour the ointment over his head, Luke and John have the woman, pouring the ointment on Jesus feet. How would you feel today if someone came up to you at 1
the tea table and did this? A kiss and a foot washing were the ordinary, customary greetings given to a guest, yet, in each of the gospel accounts, the host has neglected to offer Jesus this common courtesy. The woman has graced the feet of Jesus with honors that Simon withheld. Her actions of love are in stark contrast to Simon s lack of love and lack of propriety toward his guest. What is the reaction? In Luke, the host sarcastically says if this man referring to Jesus, was a prophet he would have known the sort of woman who was touching him, a sinner. Luke is the only one that refers to her as a sinner, and we assume she was a prostitute which may not have been the case as in Luke s culture when respectable women appeared in public, their silence was expected. This was not the case with prostitutes, who were expected to be verbally entertaining... The woman s silence suggests that she did not have this freedom precisely because she was not a prostitute. No one is surprised at her presence at the meal, women were often around it is not the presence of the woman which causes anger it is what she does. AND what she does is extravagant; the perfume she pours over Jesus is worth a whole year s wages. Can you imagine taking that and just pouring it out? Thousands of dollars evaporating into thin air gone forever. A year's worth of manual labor, gone, just like that. This shows us something of the intensity of this woman's love for Jesus. How do you show your love for Jesus? What are you willing to pour out for Him? She must have known what she was doing, and how much it had cost her. The disciples didn't object to the anointing in itself. They didn't object to the perfume. What they objected to was the extravagance. The disciples accuse her of wastefulness and excessiveness saying she could have given this money to the poor. In their eyes this was ridiculous, irrational, even sinful, they lost sight of Jesus and in so doing failed to see how much this moved him. How does Jesus react? He says, Leave her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. What are the beautiful things you do for Jesus? What do they cost you? He goes on, For you will always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. The amount of perfume she had was the exact amount used for burial. How did she know? Jesus body, because of how and when he died, was not anointed before he was buried as was the usual custom. This woman gave Him the honor of properly and nobly preparing Him for that death. Perhaps her extravagant, loving sacrifice helped Him face the cross for all of us. And so this woman finds herself in the untraditional position of priest and prophet and in the upside-down Kingdom of Jesus, it makes perfect sense. She got it!! She understood, she knew Jesus was going to die. I suspect this is why they complained about the waste of money exhibited by the anointing. They imagined that their ministry with Jesus would continue for months and years to come. You can sense the sadness in Jesus words when he reminds them, yet again, that he will not always be with them, that he is preparing for the most difficult days of his life. This 2
woman understood this as did the other women who followed Jesus and who stayed with him right to the end. Anointing the feet models service, discipleship, and love. In a culture in which a woman s touch was often forbidden, Mary dares to cradle the feet of Jesus. Rather than measuring out a small amount of oil, the woman breaks the jar and pours it all out. She s all-in, fully committed, sparing no expense. This woman in Mark s gospel couldn t do much, but she did what she could, when she could. She couldn t keep the Jewish leaders from falsely accusing Jesus, she couldn t make sure he got a fair trial, she couldn t stop him being crowned with a crown of thorns, she couldn t keep the soldiers from crucifying Him or the crowds from mocking Him. But she could show her love and devotion for him in a beautiful act of worship. She did not think is this how I should treat a Rabbi? She was not afraid of public opinion. Her love freed her from that fear. She was not afraid to do something out of the ordinary. Mary did not ask the disciples if it was OK. No, Mary broke with tradition as Jesus so often did. She broke the limits of what is public propriety. She didn't even ask Jesus if it was OK. She just seized the opportunity, and did it. How do you express your devotion to Jesus? Do you worry what others may think? Do you let the proper, religious way dictate how you express your love for Jesus? Do you do what you can, when you can? What this woman did blew Jesus away, she had done a beautiful thing for him and he could have just thanked her nicely. BUT No in Mark and Matthew s gospel, Jesus says, wherever the gospel is preached, this story must be told, too. It is practically as important as the gospel itself! What this woman did is an essential part of the story of Jesus and it must be told in memory of her. Jesus is glorifying her and preserving her actions for all time. What a remarkable thought that at every communion, every Easter service, every cathedral and every tent revival, from Israel to Africa, from Europe to China, this woman s story should be on our lips, right along with Christ s. 2/ Jesus Honours His Disciples Within a few verses of each other Mark records one of the greatest acts of love toward Jesus when this woman honored Him with her extravagant gift and one of the greatest acts of love toward the disciples by Jesus, as He honors them by washing their feet at their final meal together before Jesus is arrested. The humility of the woman s action foreshadows the foot washing that is to come in John s gospel. Jesus imitates Mary by washing the feet of the Twelve, telling them to do the same. Foot-washing was a necessity in Palestine. The streets were dusty and people wore sandals without socks or stockings. It was a mark of honor for a host to provide a servant to wash a guest s feet; it was a breach of hospitality not to. The disciples should have been falling over one another to wash His feet, but it never entered their minds. Earlier they had been arguing about who would be the greatest, and Jesus advised them Whoever wants to be first must 3
place himself last of all and be the servant of all. But here in the Upper Room they are apparently, all waiting for someone to serve them. So we see Jesus taking the place of the lowest kind of slaves, who were called the people of the towel. They were called this because it was their job to wash the feet of those who were superior to them. Even Jewish slaves did not have to wash the feet of others. Here Jesus reversed normal roles and assumed the place of a servant rather than that of a rabbi. It was unthinkable of a Rabbi, a teacher to wash feet. He even dressed Himself as a slave, when Jesus took a servant s towel He set aside His honor. Matthew 20:28 Jesus says, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. He humbly showed us how to serve. We see again Peter missing the point Never at anytime Lord will you wash my feet!! When Jesus insists, Peter then naively announces Then wash my hands and head to (meaning his whole body!!) Jesus says it is only His feet that are dirty. Our feet carry an enormous load. Did you know that the average person walks the equivalent of three times around the earth in a life time? And the foot itself is a complex mechanism made up of 23 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 muscles and tendons. Your Feet represent all of you, If your feet hurt, your whole body hurts. If your feet are cold, you are cold all over. If your feet are dirty, you can t feel clean until your wash your feet. SO Jesus washed their feet AND NONE OF THE DISCIPLES EVEN SAID THANK YOU. In the Upper Room that night celebrating, the disciples were occupied with other matters. Jesus was occupied with the weighty matters of eternity. He knew that before the night ended, He would go to Gethsemane where He would labor in prayer before His Father and the others would fall asleep and desert Him. He knew that the Romans would arrest Him and put Him on trial. Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him before the cock crowed. He knew that before twenty-four hours would pass, He would be condemned, rejected by His people, beaten, crucified and buried. He knew that He would bear the sins of His people on Calvary and die in their place. His mind carried all these burdens, and still He wanted to serve His men. The hardest part of all was that He knew that Judas would betray Him. Jesus actually knew He was stooping down to serve the one who would soon stoop to perform history s worst act of treachery. In a Jewish home (at Passover) the Father places 3 pieces of matzo bread inside a cloth. For Christians, and also for Messianic Jews the 3 pieces of bread represent Father, Son and Holy Spirit one of them is broken Jesus, and it is hidden in a cloth reminding us of the grave clothes used to wrap the body of Jesus. The host takes a piece of the bread and dips it into the CHAROSETH a paste made of apples, cinnamon, dates, nuts and wine and also into some horseradish. It is known as the Hillel sandwich. Jesus was the host of the Passover meal so there came a point when he made up his Hillel sandwich. The Hillel sandwich is always given to the guest of honour; surely Jesus was 4
the guest of honour! BUT Jesus answered, It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish. Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot. Judas received the Hillel sandwich. Jesus considered and made Judas to be the guest of honour despite the act of betrayal he was about to perform... what amazing love he shows! Jesus performed the most menial of tasks and honoured Judas, who treated the Creator of the universe as being someone worth no more than 30 pieces of silver. What a stark contrast to the woman s sacrificial, extravagant gift of around "three hundred pieces of silver" equivalent to a year s wages) to the "thirty pieces of silver" of Judas' betrayal. Judas deemed Jesus to be valued 10 times less worthy, than the perfume the woman had anointed him with. He sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver which was the going price for a slave (perhaps he thought if Jesus wants to act as a slave, by foot washing, I ll sell him for that amount!!!) The Priests must have thought they got a bargain. His eyes were focused on money. Her eyes were focused on the eternal as she demonstrated her dedication to Jesus. When do your eyes shift their focus from Jesus? What distracts you? What causes you to sell out? Doesn t Jesus example tell us something special about service? Doesn t it remind us that we are not called to serve only those who are like us, or even those who care for us? We are called to serve all people - the lovely and the unlovely, the friendly and the not-so-friendly. When was the last time you "washed the feet" of someone like Judas? 3/ Jesus Honours the Father Everything Jesus did at His final meal reminds us of Who He is and what He came to this world to do, of how He honoured us and His Father. When Jesus rose from supper. He had already risen from His fellowship with God the Father and God the Spirit, leaving the realms of Heaven to come to earth, to get his feet dirty. When Jesus laid aside His outer garment. Jesus had already laid aside His heavenly glory to be born in human flesh in a stable. When Jesus girded Himself with a towel. The word refers to a knotted cloth, or a slave s service apron. Jesus had already robed His deity in humanity when He came to this earth as a man. When Jesus poured water into a basin to cleanse the dirty feet of His men. Jesus would soon pour out His precious blood to cleanse and redeem us. When Jesus washed and dried the feet of the disciples. Jesus would wash away the awful stains of sin from all those who would receive Him! When Jesus honoured His Father and us He gave everything he had. He gave his very life. Some people thought God would never allow himself to be crucified, a number of people were expecting a triumphant King but God does things out of the ordinary. Jesus shows us total commitment, total sacrifice, so that we might respond to him with all that we have. Because He honoured His Father, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God s grace that he lavished on us. What an amazing love, what an amazing sacrifice so that we might live, and live for eternity. 5
Words from Philippians 2:6 8, summarise how he honoured His Father, Jesus always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. 7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. 8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death his death on the cross. Conclusion: How do we honour Jesus today? On Palm Sunday when the crowd welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, they were full of praise and devotion and adoration and I am sure we would have been a part of this crowd enthusiastically waving our palm branches and shouting Hosanna. I am also sure we would have been a part of the crowd who not long after shouted for the release of Barabbas. This shows the weak side of our humanity, how when the going gets tough or how when we don t get what we want or what we are expecting then we sell out!! What do you sell out on Jesus for today? Will you respond like the woman with extravagant love to thank the Lord for His priceless gift of life to us, or like Judas with excessive greed that betrays Jesus for some coins, futile desires, or empty promises? How will you honour Jesus? Is He honored in your home? Would He feel comfortable at your dinner table? Would He feel at home with what you watch, read and listen to? Do you honor Him from your heart? Are you looking for ways in your everyday life to bring honor and glory to Christ? Whether you are or not, He has created for you a place of Honour with Him, I hope you will do whatever it takes to ensure you receive it. I hope it will be your choice to honour Him because in the end all beings will honour Him whether they want to or not. For the rest of the Philippians 2 reading says: 9 God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. 10 And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, 11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Honour Him with your love, with your worship, with your life, make your cries of Hosanna, Glory to God in the Highest, ring loud, ring true and ring for eternity!!!. Ange van der Leeuw 9/4/17 6