1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:05,280 Human beings have the capacity to perform acts of both stunning 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:11,360 ugliness and incredible beauty. On the ugly side are acts like 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:16,560 war crimes, torture, other acts of cruelty and oppression. 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,680 On the beautiful side, people often surprise us with acts of 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,240 kindness, compassion, understanding, service, 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,320 sacrifice. Think of doctors willingly 7 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,560 heading into war zones to save lives. 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,759 Sometimes even a small, seemingly insignificant act of 9 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:36,200 love can be so moving it brings you to tears. 10 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:42,120 Both the really ugly acts and the really beautiful acts have 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,760 something in common. They both reveal what a person 12 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,800 values. Specifically, they reveal an 13 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:57,520 equation or comparison that person values something more 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,480 then they value something else. What makes an act of cruelty 15 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,000 horrifically ugly is that the perpetrator values their own 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:12,800 power or pleasure above someone else's basic human dignity. 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,240 They treat the other person as less than human. 18 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,160 They value their own enjoyment or profit more than the other 19 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,560 person's humanity. What makes it truly beautiful? 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,040 Act beautiful isn't the person who's valuing someone else's 21 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,560 well-being more than something else that would otherwise be 22 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,000 valuable to them. Someone who dives into an icy 23 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:41,680 river to try to save a drowning child values the possibility of 24 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:46,520 saving that child's life more than the certainty of otherwise 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,320 preserving their own. They're counting that child's 26 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,280 life as more valuable than their own. 27 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,000 And so both ugly acts and beautiful acts are revelations. 28 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,320 They're flashpoints. They show in an instant what 29 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,280 someone is made of. They show what they value. 30 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,320 They show what someone puts first in their heart. 31 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,680 This morning we continue our series in Mark's gospel with 32 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,440 chapter 14, verses 1 to 11. If you don't have a Bible, you 33 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:17,480 can feel free to put up your hand. 34 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,560 Someone will bring you one. If you don't have a Bible, like 35 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:21,240 at home, you can feel free to keep it, read it. 36 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:22,400 We'd love to talk to you about it. 37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,960 I don't see any need for Bibles. All right, that's fine. 38 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:33,080 In this passage, Mark 14-1 to 11, the wheels on the train 39 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,160 leading to Jesus's death begin to turn. 40 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:43,760 What Jesus promised will happen, that he will be betrayed to his 41 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:51,960 death now begins to happen. Our passage holds up two 42 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:58,200 intensely ugly evil acts that mirror each other and one 43 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:03,320 intensely beautiful act that not only contrasts with the evil 44 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:08,160 acts, it even confounds those who saw it happen. 45 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:14,680 This was an act that was so beautiful only Jesus understood 46 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:19,320 it rightly. Please listen as I read Mark 14, 47 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:26,280 verses 1 to 11. It was now two days before the 48 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,840 Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief 49 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,240 priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by 50 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:40,680 stealth and kill him, for they said not during the feast, lest 51 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,040 there be an uproar from the people. 52 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,560 And while he was at Bethany, in the House of Simon the Leper, as 53 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:54,320 he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster 54 00:03:54,320 --> 00:04:00,040 flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, And she broke the 55 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,120 flask and poured it over his head. 56 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,720 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, Why was 57 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,680 the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have 58 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,720 been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor. 59 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,360 And they scolded her, but Jesus said, Leave her alone. 60 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,200 Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing 61 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,560 to me. For you always have the poor 62 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,840 with you, and whenever you want you can do good for them. 63 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,760 But you will not always have me. She has done what she could. 64 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,880 She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 65 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,320 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is 66 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:47,200 proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done we'll be told 67 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:52,280 in memory of her. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one 68 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:55,400 of the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray him 69 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,080 to them. And when they heard it, they 70 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:03,240 were glad and promised to give him money, and he sought an 71 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:11,160 opportunity to betray him. In our passage, the two 72 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,360 intensely ugly acts form a sandwich around the one 73 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,400 intensely beautiful act. In verses one to two, the 74 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,320 religious authorities plot to kill Jesus. 75 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:29,760 In verses 10 and 11, Judas, one of Jesus 12 disciples, decides 76 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,800 to betray Jesus to the authorities to hand him over to 77 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,760 death. Stuffed in between In verses 3 78 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:44,520 to 9, an anonymous woman shows extravagant devotion to Jesus. 79 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,520 She performs an act that values Jesus so highly nobody 80 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,040 understands it but Jesus. So as we walk through the 81 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,040 passage, we're going to consider first the beginning, then the 82 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,040 end, then the middle. We'll spend most of our time on 83 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,360 the middle. These ugly acts and the one 84 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:03,080 beautiful act turn on one question. 85 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,320 What does Jesus deserve from you? 86 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:11,560 That's the key question our passage raises. 87 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:16,000 What does Jesus deserve from you? 88 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:21,600 The contrasting actions in our passage reveal how much the 89 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,880 different characters valued Jesus. 90 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,040 For the High priest in Judas, he was nothing. 91 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:31,520 In fact, he was less than nothing. 92 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,080 For the anonymous woman, he was everything. 93 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:41,400 What does Jesus deserve from you .1? 94 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,560 Not hatred. What does Jesus deserve from 95 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,040 you? Not hatred. 96 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,400 But hatred, of course, is what the religious authorities felt 97 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:55,040 and showed toward Jesus. Hatred is what motivated them to 98 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,040 plot his death. We just saw this in verses one 99 00:06:58,040 --> 00:06:59,840 to two. Looking at the beginning of 100 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:05,000 verse one, it was now two days before the Passover and the 101 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,480 Feast of Unleavened Bread. This makes it the Wednesday 102 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,960 before Good Friday. The Passover and the Feast of 103 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:16,520 Unleavened Bread were two parts of a single week long religious 104 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,160 festival. The Passover was a meal that was 105 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,400 celebrated on a single night. It was a yearly memorial of 106 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,960 God's saving work in the Exodus. And the Feast of Unleavened 107 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,840 Bread followed the Passover for the next 7 days. 108 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,200 For those seven days the Israelites would clean out all 109 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,920 the leaven from their homes and they would eat unleavened Bread 110 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,720 as a reminder of the time when God brought them out of Egypt in 111 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,680 such a hurry they didn't have time to have any leavened bread. 112 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,440 So you could use the term Passover for either the one 113 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,800 night meal or the whole festival that extended for a week. 114 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,600 Verses one and two continue. And the chief priests and the 115 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,960 scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill 116 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,600 him, for they said not during the feast, lest there be an 117 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,840 uproar from the people. The chief priests and the 118 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,440 scribes are religious authorities who have opposed 119 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:09,200 Jesus throughout Mark's Gospel, and here their opposition to Him 120 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,160 comes to a head. They're not content with 121 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,680 opposing him. They want to eliminate him. 122 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,840 But they have a problem. During the Passover, in the 123 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,480 Feast of Unleavened Bread, the population of Jerusalem swelled 124 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,680 by a factor of at least five, maybe 10. 125 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,560 Jerusalem might have had about 30,000 year round residents, but 126 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,520 during the three yearly pilgrimage feasts that would 127 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:37,559 balloon to at least 150,000, maybe more like 300,000. 128 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:41,799 And during the Passover, expectations of deliverance ran 129 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:44,400 high. The festival celebrated the time 130 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,200 when God delivered his people from living under an oppressive 131 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,560 other nation. Here in Jerusalem in the 1st 132 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:55,440 century AD, the Jews are once again living under an oppressive 133 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,640 foreign power, so tensions were high. 134 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,720 Passover was not only a reminder of God's faithfulness to His 135 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:06,640 people in the past, it was also a reminder of everything that 136 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,160 was painful in the present. And the scribes and chief 137 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,720 priests know that Jesus is a popular teacher. 138 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,640 Jesus has been teaching openly in the temple before large 139 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,680 crowds. The authorities want to kill him 140 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,400 off, but they can't just come in and snatch him out of the 141 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:23,760 temple. It might cause a revolt, it 142 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,560 might cause a protest, and that might either result in direct 143 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:30,200 opposition to them, or it might cause such a stir that the 144 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,720 Romans come in and stamp it out and then revoke or restrict 145 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,800 privileges and liberties that they've had. 146 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:37,720 So they don't want the people to oppose them. 147 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,160 They don't want the people to make such a mess that Rome is 148 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,280 going to come in and crack down. So the authorities are caught 149 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,520 between a rock and a hard place. Their hatred of Jesus means they 150 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,240 want him gone, but they don't know how to do that without 151 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:55,200 hurting their own position. So it's likely that they simply 152 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,800 wanted to wait out the week long festival before taking action. 153 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,160 It's only two days away. It only lasts for a week. 154 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,800 People will then go home. Things will quiet down. 155 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,520 Then they can find a way to quietly remove Jesus from the 156 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,840 scene. That was their intent. 157 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:20,040 Part of their plan came true. They would arrest Jesus and have 158 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,280 him killed. But it wouldn't be on their 159 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,360 timeline. It would be on God's timeline. 160 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,440 What timeline was that? Jesus would be killed two days 161 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,080 later on the very day of Passover. 162 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,760 Ancient Jews counted days from evening to evening, so the 163 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,960 evening of the Last Supper and the morning of the crucifixion 164 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:44,280 were considered one day. It's still the Passover when 165 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,880 Jesus gets killed. Why was Jesus crucified on the 166 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,560 very day of the Passover? Because he is the true and 167 00:10:53,560 --> 00:11:00,360 perfect Passover lamb. Israel were slaves in Egypt and 168 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:04,400 God rescued them from oppression, but he also taught 169 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:09,520 them a lesson about a deeper bondage that they lived in a 170 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,360 greater debt than anything that a slave could be in is the 171 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,800 bondage and burden of their sin. On the night when God brought 172 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:21,240 them out of Egypt, He sent a destroyer, an avenging Angel, to 173 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,760 strike down all the first born of Egypt as his wrath against 174 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,120 the Egyptians. And he had the Israelites kill a 175 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,920 lamb. It's mere blood on every 176 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:35,440 doorpost of every household, so that the destroyer would spare 177 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:40,120 those houses and those houses only. 178 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,200 The Israelites were not redeemed because they were better than 179 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,120 the Egyptians. The Israelites were not redeemed 180 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,840 because they were morally superior to the Egyptians. 181 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,520 The Israelites deserve to have that avenging Angel due to their 182 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,040 own first born, exactly what God did to the Egyptians. 183 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:02,480 The only difference was they had the blood of a lamb smeared 184 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,960 above their door. This is one of the clearest 185 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,600 pictures in the whole Old Testament of what Jesus came to 186 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,560 do. He came to become the true and 187 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,960 perfect Passover lamb. Each of us deserves death for 188 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,920 our sins. Each of us deserves God's wrath. 189 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:21,720 Each of us has rebelled against Him. 190 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,440 Each of us has turned against God. 191 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,400 And what we deserve is to be struck down, not merely in our 192 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,240 mortality, but struck down eternally in hell forever. 193 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,480 The ultimate purpose for which God the Eternal Son became 194 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:42,000 Incarnate was to become this Passover lamp, to shed His blood 195 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:47,200 for the complete forgiveness and redemption of everyone who turns 196 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,040 from sin and trusts in Him. If you've never turned from sin 197 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,640 and trusted in Christ, believe in Him today. 198 00:12:53,040 --> 00:13:00,560 His blood is the full price paid for all of the sins of all who 199 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,320 will believe, so repent and trust in Him. 200 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,000 On the third day he rose from the dead, showing that death had 201 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,800 no power over Him, and death will have no power over all 202 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,160 those who trust in Him. If you believe in Jesus, you 203 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,600 will be raised forever by the power of His resurrection. 204 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:23,400 Brothers and sisters, members of Trinity Baptist Church marvel at 205 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:29,160 God's Providence. Human hatred led to Jesus's 206 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:35,080 death, but God works through that evil on His own timeline to 207 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:36,880 bring about the redemption of all who believe. 208 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,680 JC Raul has a beautiful reflection on how God's 209 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:41,480 Providence is displayed in these verses. 210 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,040 Raul says in every way the counsel of these wicked men was 211 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,600 turned to foolishness. They thought they were going to 212 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,200 put an end forever to Christ's spiritual Kingdom, and in 213 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,480 reality they were helping to establish it. 214 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,520 They thought they would make him vile and contemptible by 215 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:01,040 crucifixion, and in reality they made Him glorious. 216 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,440 They thought to have put Him to death privately and without 217 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,720 anyone seeing. Instead they were compelled to 218 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,080 crucify him publicly and before the whole nation of the Jews. 219 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,120 They thought to have silenced his disciples and stopped their 220 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:17,640 teaching, and instead they supplied them with a text and a 221 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:22,480 subject forever more. If you're not a believer in 222 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:27,200 Jesus, how would you describe your own attitude toward him? 223 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:32,680 Maybe neutral or indifferent? Maybe kind of distantly 224 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:37,080 respectful of his teaching? Maybe curious but unsure. 225 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,520 I doubt you'd say that you flat out hate him. 226 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:48,520 But I want to ask you, what about Jesus and his teaching do 227 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,400 you not like? Is there anything in Jesus 228 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:57,760 himself, or the things he says and does that provokes maybe 229 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,160 even intense dislike on your part? 230 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,520 If there is, what's the what's the root of the conflict? 231 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:10,040 What's the nub of the issue between you and Jesus? 232 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,720 When it comes to responding to Jesus, there ultimately is no 233 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,120 neutrality. Finally, there's no 234 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,080 indifference. In the end, you're either for 235 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:27,040 Jesus or against him. You're either with Jesus, or you 236 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,320 will suffer for all eternity without him. 237 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:35,600 Jesus often provokes dislike. Jesus even provokes hatred, but 238 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,560 he never deserves it. He's got the Son Incarnate. 239 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,160 He's perfectly righteous and perfectly merciful. 240 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,960 He's perfectly holy and perfectly compassionate. 241 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,960 He deserves not hatred, but the precise opposite of hatred, 242 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:56,160 namely perfect love. So often we give Jesus something 243 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,320 much more like the opposite of what He deserves. 244 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,520 Certainly that's what his follower Judas did in the most 245 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:08,160 grievous, imaginable way. So point #2 not betrayal. 246 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:10,760 What does Jesus deserve from you? 247 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,640 Not betrayal. Remember, we're considering the 248 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,760 outside parts of the sandwich 1st, and now we're skipping to 249 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,360 the end looking at verses 10 and 11. 250 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,440 In verses one and two, as we just saw the scribes and chief 251 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,280 priests start trying to plot Jesus's death. 252 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,440 Then in verses 10 and 11, Judas becomes the key that can set 253 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,520 their plot in motion. Look again at verses 10 and 11. 254 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,000 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12, went to the chief 255 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,360 priests in order to betray him to them. 256 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,480 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give 257 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,440 him money, and he sought an opportunity to betray him. 258 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,320 Judas's actions here are the mirror image of the scribes and 259 00:16:56,320 --> 00:17:00,320 chief priests they were seeking. He was seeking, they were trying 260 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,440 to figure out how to get rid of Jesus by stealth, and he was 261 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,920 seeking an opportunity. They wanted to seize and kill 262 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,760 Jesus. Judas wanted to hand him over so 263 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,400 that they could. Judas had unique access to 264 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,760 Jesus. The 12 disciples were Jesus's 265 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,599 inner circle. So Judas could give the scribes 266 00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:26,440 a way to seize Jesus. Perhaps in the quiet, in the 267 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:32,200 dark, away from crowds where nobody would interfere, Judas 268 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,320 could provide just the opportunity they were looking 269 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,080 for. Now, the Gospel of Mark is not 270 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:42,280 explicit about Judas's motive. It does come right after the 271 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,960 woman's a seemingly wasteful gift, and the report of these 272 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,560 events in John's Gospel makes Judas's greed explicit, so we're 273 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,360 probably justified in seeing greed as the last straw that 274 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,400 broke the camel's back. We do learn that the scribes 275 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,880 offered to give Judas money in exchange for betraying Jesus, 276 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,480 but we don't know whether Judas would have counted on that as a 277 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,160 reward or they just did it to sort of sweeten the deal. 278 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,400 Instead, Mark's focus here, by not even explicitly specifying a 279 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,840 motive, is to simply focus on the sheer hatred and act of 280 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,480 betrayal. Mark doesn't give us an explicit 281 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,360 reason, because there is no good reason. 282 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:25,920 Judas heart toward Jesus is just as bad as the scribes, and even 283 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,000 worse. He doesn't just hate him, he 284 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,760 betrays him. He doesn't just oppose him, he 285 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:37,640 takes advantage of the unique access he had to him in order to 286 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,200 have him destroyed. Did you notice the telling 287 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,200 detail at the beginning of verse 11, speaking about the scribes 288 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,160 and the chief priests? And when they heard it, they 289 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,120 were glad. What a haunting detail. 290 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,720 What a bitter truth. When Judas came offering a way 291 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,040 to fulfill their plan, they rejoiced. 292 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,200 Their hearts were so thoroughly turned against Jesus that the 293 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,080 prospect of their plans being fulfilled brought them a thrill 294 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:15,920 of sinful pleasure. We learned in both Luke and John 295 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:20,880 that Judas's betrayal was incited by Satan himself, and 296 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:27,400 yet Judas remains responsible for the evil of his own heart. 297 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:33,760 Obviously, Judas's act of betraying Jesus is unique, and 298 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,760 it is uniquely terrible. This is the single greatest sin 299 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,640 anyone ever committed against Jesus. 300 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,760 So we want to be careful not to identify too quickly or to 301 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:48,160 totally with Judas. Yet an analogous way, we can 302 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:53,840 still be tempted to betray Jesus in a whole variety of lesser 303 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:57,320 ways, though none of these might be as serious as Judas's 304 00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:59,080 betrayal. We can be tempted to betray 305 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:06,800 Jesus by minimizing or hiding our commitment to Him when we 306 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:08,400 think it'll cost us with other people. 307 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,280 We can betray Jesus by compromising with the world's 308 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:20,200 values, beliefs, and morals. We can betray Jesus by 309 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:26,560 ingratitude for what he's done for us, by treating his dying 310 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,680 love for us as a light thing. No big deal. 311 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:36,200 We can betray Jesus by choosing sin over serving him. 312 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:41,280 And the sad reality is that some professing Christians do betray 313 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,800 Jesus by abandoning him altogether. 314 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,520 Now all true believers persevere to the end. 315 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,560 No true believer can give up Jesus fully or finally. 316 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:57,600 Yet many who claim to believe in Jesus do completely turn away 317 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:01,040 from him. Hebrews 6 describes those who 318 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:05,360 fully give up on Jesus as doing the following. 319 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:12,040 They are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm 320 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:19,840 and holding him up to contempt. Apostasy is the greatest act of 321 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:24,360 betraying Jesus. What can you do to guard against 322 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:29,680 the very first creeping roots of a temptation to betray Jesus? 323 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,400 What could tempt you to sell Jesus out? 324 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,640 Would you ever sign on the dotted line if the world 325 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:42,040 promised you X in exchange for betraying Jesus? 326 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,240 How would you fill in that blank? 327 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:52,400 Or how can you help others resist every impulse that points 328 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,800 them in the direction of betraying Jesus? 329 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,040 What has Jesus done to deserve betrayal, whether Judas's or 330 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,320 ours? Absolutely nothing. 331 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:12,960 What does he deserve instead? Not hatred, not betrayal .3, but 332 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,680 devotion. What does Jesus deserve from 333 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,800 you? Not hatred, not betrayal, but 334 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,520 devotion. This is the main point of verses 335 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,760 3 to 9, and it's really the main point of the whole passage. 336 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,680 Mark sandwiches it between these acts of hatred and betrayal to 337 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,640 highlight it by contrast. Now, because this is such a rich 338 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,400 and full section, I'm going to walk through it in three sub 339 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,960 points. What Jesus deserves from you is 340 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,920 total devotion. Here comes three features of 341 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:50,400 that devotion #1 which we see in verse 3. 342 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:58,720 Devotion to Jesus is costly. Devotion to Jesus is costly. 343 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,440 Jesus deserves that you give him everything. 344 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:08,720 Looking at verse 3. And while he was at Bethany in 345 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,040 the House of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a 346 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,320 woman came with an alabaster flask, appointment of pure nard, 347 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,840 very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his 348 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,160 head. Bethany is a small town just 349 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,520 outside Jerusalem where Jesus and his disciples have been 350 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,640 staying in the days leading up to the Passover. 351 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:32,880 Here Jesus and his disciples are at a meal that would have had 352 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,200 the character of a banquet or a party. 353 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,720 That's what the phrase at table means. 354 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:40,920 If they're reclining at a table, that's a kind of festive 355 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,920 occasion. Now the meal is being hosted by 356 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,360 Simon the leper. We don't know anything else 357 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:50,040 about this Simon. Presumably he was someone whom 358 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,240 Jesus had healed of leprosy. Ancient Jews didn't use 359 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,320 surnames. They didn't have last names, and 360 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,160 Simon is one of the most common names of the day. 361 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,200 So just about every Simon would have had some kind of nickname 362 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,840 or tag, a way of identifying who they were. 363 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,960 So Jesus and his disciples are in the midst of this party when 364 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,160 an anonymous woman enters and does something very unusual, 365 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:18,240 something very unconventional. John identifies this woman as 366 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:22,160 Mary, the sister of Lazarus, but Mark keeps quiet about her 367 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,520 identity, so we'll just stick with her anonymity. 368 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,960 The guests at the banquet were presumably all male. 369 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,360 It would have likely been Jesus, his disciples, maybe a few other 370 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:34,840 male guests. At a banquet like this in 1st 371 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,320 century Judea, it would have been customary for women to only 372 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:43,320 enter to serve food and drink. So this woman enters, in a sense 373 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:47,400 to serve, but by no means to serve food and drink to the 374 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,840 guests. She brings in a jar of very 375 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:55,360 fine, very expensive perfume in a jar that is itself very 376 00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:58,160 valuable. We learn in verse 5 that the 377 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:03,480 perfume was worth 300 denarii, which was an entire year's wages 378 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,960 for a day laborer. Call it $50,000 in today's 379 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:08,560 money. What did she do with it? 380 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,880 She breaks the jar and she pours the whole bottle over Jesus's 381 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,880 head. Now, anointing with perfume was 382 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,200 a sign of honour and affection. It's something that ancient Jews 383 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,560 might have done to show hospitality to an especially 384 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,920 honored guest. And the normal way to do it will 385 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,000 be to trickle out just a few drops. 386 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,040 That's all you needed to get the effect. 387 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:34,120 Just like with perfume or Cologne today, a little bit is 388 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:38,040 enough. That's also why the jar this 389 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,320 woman had would have likely had a long neck with a very thin 390 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,560 opening. Why? 391 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,640 So that when you pour it out, only a few drops come at once. 392 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,000 The valuable perfume would come out a teeny bit at a time. 393 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:51,560 But that's not what the woman does. 394 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:54,920 Instead, she breaks the jar and dumps the whole thing out. 395 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,720 This is essentially a family heirloom. 396 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,840 It may well have been passed down through generations. 397 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,760 It's something like a life savings in liquid form. 398 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,440 It could well have been a kind of financial security against 399 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,560 potential hardship. What does she do with it? 400 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:18,920 She pours it all out on Jesus. She gives it all up for Jesus. 401 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:24,000 As Sinclair Ferguson put it, in gratitude for the past. 402 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:30,560 She poured her future and her security on Jesus. 403 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:37,800 What is this picture? Jesus deserves your total 404 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,440 devotion. This woman's baffling act is a 405 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,600 picture of that. It's way more perfume than 406 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,920 anybody needs. It's presumably the most 407 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:51,080 valuable possession she has. Motivated by love for Jesus, she 408 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,360 devotes it all to Jesus. She can think of nothing better 409 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:59,320 to do with her most valuable possession then spend it all on 410 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,800 Him in one go. No one commanded her to do this. 411 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,120 No one asked her to do this. Instead, she took the initiative 412 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,760 she considered the most meaningful, costly way that she 413 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,360 could serve Jesus. And she did it. 414 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,760 How can you live a life devoted to Jesus? 415 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,880 First and foremost, trust in Him to save you. 416 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,520 Believe everything He teaches, especially His promises. 417 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:36,320 Build your life on His promises. Devote your hopes to what He 418 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,480 promises you. Resolve to give Him your 419 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:44,080 complete obedience. Decide that obeying Jesus is 420 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:46,360 worth it, no matter what it costs you, no matter what you 421 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:48,720 lose, no matter what you have to give up. 422 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:55,400 Love Him more than everyone and everything. 423 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,960 Don't give up Jesus for anything. 424 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,280 Instead, give up anything for Jesus. 425 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,800 What might it look like for you to live a life that's more and 426 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:16,200 more devoted to Jesus? Are there any things you take 427 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,480 for granted in your life that you might rethink? 428 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,000 Any things you think are simply owed to you or that belong to 429 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,600 you by rights that you might willingly consider giving up? 430 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:34,760 Why does Jesus deserve this total devotion if he's just 431 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:39,400 another human being? This would be insane and absurd. 432 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,040 Jesus deserves this total devotion because he's God 433 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,800 Incarnate. Just like a couple chapters ago 434 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,320 where the widow gave 2 coins all she had to live on, this woman 435 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,440 gives Jesus all she had. And in so doing she doesn't 436 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:59,320 contradict but instead fulfills the command to love God with all 437 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,840 her heart, soul, mind, and strength. 438 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:05,720 She loves God with all her heart, soul, mind and strength 439 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:11,720 by giving all she has to Jesus. One of the challenges of 440 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,120 applying this passage practically for us today is that 441 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,320 the woman's act was fitting because it was done to Jesus 442 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:23,880 himself in person, His body. She could show her devotion to 443 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,040 Jesus by doing something directly to Jesus. 444 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,440 Now that Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, 445 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:37,240 we don't have Him here with us. So how do we show our devotion 446 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,840 to Him? In addition to the spiritual 447 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:44,920 postures toward Him that I've already mentioned, we also show 448 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:49,840 our devotion to Jesus by serving His people, as Jesus says in 449 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,880 Matthew 2540, referring to those who believe in Him. 450 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,480 Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, 451 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:03,600 my brothers, you did it to me. What we do to other believers 452 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:08,480 for His sake, we do to Him. When you serve other Christians 453 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,680 out of love for Christ, you are devoting yourself to Christ. 454 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,720 We don't have Jesus with us bodily like this woman did. 455 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:18,840 So how can you show your devotion to Jesus? 456 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,080 By caring for His spiritual body. 457 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:27,280 She prepared His physical body for burial. 458 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:33,360 We prepare His spiritual body for resurrection. 459 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:40,640 What can you do this week to show Jesus your devotion to him? 460 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,440 Whatever it is, it's going to cost you something. 461 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:49,640 Devotion to Jesus is costly. Sub .2 devotion to Jesus is 462 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,360 criticized. We see this in verses 4 to 5. 463 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:58,640 Devotion to Jesus is criticized. Look at verses four and five. 464 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,960 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, why was 465 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:05,920 the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have 466 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,640 been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor. 467 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:13,960 And they scolded her. Note that it's some in the 468 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,800 plural who grumble about the woman's act. 469 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,080 These are presumably some of Jesus disciples. 470 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,040 We learned from some of the other gospels that Judas himself 471 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:29,680 objected, but Mark here says some, so Judas can't be the only 472 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,520 one. This also means that whatever 473 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,880 Judas's objective or or motive for objecting was, it doesn't 474 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,960 mean that all those who objected shared Judas's motive. 475 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:43,880 I think most of those who objected simply saw this as a 476 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,280 waste. You could call it poor 477 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,280 stewardship. Doesn't make economic sense. 478 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,840 Think how many poor people a year's wages could feed. 479 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:59,040 Think of all the good that this wasted perfume could have done 480 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,440 if somebody had just sold it and then carefully stewarded the 481 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:07,120 proceeds. Doesn't that good to many people 482 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,760 outweigh this weird, wasteful act? 483 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:17,000 So I don't think we're meant to find the objection itself to be 484 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,120 evil. I don't think we're even meant 485 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,440 to find it kind of unreasonable in human terms. 486 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,280 Under normal circumstances, it would be entirely reasonable, 487 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:33,200 but these aren't normal circumstances because Jesus is 488 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,800 there. Jesus deserves total devotion. 489 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,880 What this woman did was fitting because she did it to and for 490 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,240 Jesus. The equation makes sense only 491 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,200 because Jesus was the recipient. We'll talk about that more in 492 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,840 the next sub point. For now, we need to consider the 493 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:54,680 fact that this woman was criticized. 494 00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:00,240 And notice she wasn't criticized despite her devotion to Jesus. 495 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,080 She was criticized for her devotion to Jesus. 496 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:15,040 She is the only woman in a room full of men besides Jesus. 497 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,400 All the men in the room get it wrong. 498 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:26,760 This one woman surrounded by men is the only one to get Jesus 499 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:32,440 right, and Jesus is the only one who gets her right. 500 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,920 As we'll see. Jesus himself will defend and 501 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:41,760 praise her for her act. Sometimes non believers 502 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,280 criticize Christians devotion to Jesus. 503 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,920 It looks like a pure waste. If you're not a Christian, they 504 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,840 might say to you that that money you're spending on church stuff 505 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,480 that could be better used serving people and meeting 506 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:55,840 practical needs in the community. 507 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,680 They might think that time you spend studying the Bible would 508 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:03,200 be better spent learning about wrongs in the world and figuring 509 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,760 out how to write them. By definition, to a non 510 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:11,639 believer, it's in a sense reasonable to consider devotion 511 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:14,880 to Jesus as a waste. A waste of time, a waste of 512 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,239 talent, a waste of money, a waste of effort. 513 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,040 Couldn't you be spending all that in better ways? 514 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:29,440 Sometimes, though, professing believers criticize devotion to 515 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,159 Jesus. Sometimes their criticism 516 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,600 reveals that, in fact, the ones doing the criticizing aren't 517 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:40,760 actually believers at all. If you criticize other 518 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,480 Christians for being so zealous about going to church or sharing 519 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:49,199 the gospel or reading the Bible and praying, take a good look at 520 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:53,600 your own heart. It might just be that the 521 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:58,840 devotion you're criticizing is absent completely from your 522 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,600 heart, and that's why you're criticizing it. 523 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,640 It might be that your lack of devotion to Jesus gives the 524 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,080 spiritual state of your own soul away. 525 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:14,400 Sometimes though, not only non Christians criticizing devotion 526 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,480 to Jesus, not even those who may prove to be false Christians 527 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,000 criticizing devotion to Jesus. Sometimes even genuine born 528 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:26,120 again believers will criticize other believers for not despite 529 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:30,640 their devotion to Jesus. This can especially happen when 530 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:36,120 someone else's devotion to Jesus might cost you something. 531 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:43,200 Over the centuries, countless Christian parents who I trust 532 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:48,560 were genuine believers have pleaded with their children not 533 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:53,120 to become missionaries. I don't claim to speak to every 534 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,320 possible circumstance here or every possible situation or 535 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:01,800 rationale, but sometimes what you have in the situation of a 536 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,960 parent or family member pleading with someone not to go far away 537 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:10,840 for Jesus sake is a genuine believer criticizing another 538 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:16,560 genuine believer because of their devotion to Jesus. 539 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:23,720 Someone has to set their face toward a place where Jesus is 540 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:26,960 not known or very little known, and they have to do all it takes 541 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,240 to get there. They have to do all it takes to 542 00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:31,600 stay there. They have to do all it takes to 543 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:37,560 not look back. Somebody's got to do that to 544 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,440 keep on fulfilling the Great Commission. 545 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:45,320 These days, with air travel and with electronic communication, 546 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:48,560 it's easier than ever to come back. 547 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,400 It's easier than ever to get pulled off the field. 548 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,600 Someone has to make that resolve and keep that resolve. 549 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:04,120 And often in the face of initial opposition from family or 550 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,200 continued opposition from family. 551 00:37:13,390 --> 00:37:17,830 It might not be a sacrifice that someone makes for the sake of 552 00:37:17,830 --> 00:37:22,880 advancing the gospel, might not be universally understood by 553 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,280 those who know and love you, but it's worth it. 554 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:28,800 Why? Because Jesus is worth it. 555 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,360 Because it's an act of devotion to Him. 556 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,560 That type of devotion is the equivalent of breaking the whole 557 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:41,000 jar of your life and pouring it out on Jesus. 558 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:51,480 Sometimes you might let even the anticipation of being criticized 559 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:55,560 by a fellow believer turn you away from some act that would 560 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,680 express devotion to Jesus. Joe Bird gave me a good example 561 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,200 of this this week, reflecting on some of his own experience, 562 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:04,200 which also reflects some of mine. 563 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:07,120 Say a group of Christian friends are out together at a 564 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:11,200 restaurant. Is is somebody going to be that 565 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,280 awkward, pushy Christian who shares the gospel with your 566 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,000 server? Maybe it should be you, but you 567 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,880 think, oh, I don't want to be the extremo Christian. 568 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,800 I don't want to be the awkward Christian. 569 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,720 I don't want to be the one to make everybody else 570 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:26,600 uncomfortable. What's going on there? 571 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,960 You're anticipating criticism, or at the very least awkward 572 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:36,720 glances, a cold shoulder, implicit criticism, and how your 573 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:39,720 friends then relate to you. But think about what's happening 574 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,720 there. So often. 575 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:47,360 God uses one person's boldness to encourage, to inspire, to 576 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,480 embolden other Christians. Your example could elevate the 577 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:52,040 whole group. This happened to me. 578 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,000 I remember a time about a year and a half ago, I was out to 579 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:55,920 lunch with a group of Christian friends. 580 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:59,520 Joe's example brought this to my minds as we were leaving. 581 00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,080 My dear friend, one of the best evangelist I've ever known, 582 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,480 Welton Bonner, shares the gospel with our server on the way out. 583 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,360 I was encouraged. I was convicted. 584 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,000 Man, I should have done that. I was it. 585 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,480 It so stuck with me that later that afternoon, like the next 586 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,160 thing I was going to was an appointment at a bank with one 587 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:18,920 of the reps of the bank. I'm like sitting across. 588 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:19,800 We're getting to know each other. 589 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,520 Welton's example so inspired me that I had a spiritual 590 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,720 conversation with that that bank Rep and invited that person to 591 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:27,400 come to church the very next Sunday. 592 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,560 Welton's boldness elevated me. Welton's boldness convicted me. 593 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,920 It made a difference. His costly devotion to Jesus 594 00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:41,160 directly bore spiritual fruit in my life that very day. 595 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:46,320 Don't let other believers standards lower yours. 596 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:54,440 Instead, be willing to raise the bar on others devotion to Jesus. 597 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:00,120 Don't be surprised by criticism of your devotion to Jesus. 598 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:03,760 Don't let criticism deter you from devoting yourself to Jesus. 599 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,600 Pray for anyone who criticizes your devotion to Jesus that they 600 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:12,200 would grow more devoted to Him. Do not work for the world's 601 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:15,040 approval. Don't even work for fellow 602 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:16,040 believers. Approval. 603 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,360 Instead, work for Jesus approval. 604 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:26,640 Which brings us to #3 devotion to Jesus is celebrated. 605 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:34,560 Devotion to Jesus is celebrated. We see this in verses 6 to 9. 606 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:40,640 Celebrated by whom? By Jesus look first at verse 6. 607 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:44,280 But Jesus said leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? 608 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:45,720 She has done a beautiful thing to me. 609 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,040 I remember they were scolding her. 610 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,400 They were criticizing her to her face. 611 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:55,640 So Jesus steps in to defend her. Jesus asserts that they have got 612 00:40:55,640 --> 00:41:02,400 both him and her wrong and she's got him right. 613 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:07,640 He says she's done a beautiful thing to him. 614 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:10,920 Why is it beautiful? Why is it fitting? 615 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,680 Why is it lovely? Because the worth of the gift 616 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:18,240 matches the worthiness of the recipient. 617 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:24,880 The value of her sacrifice gestures toward the value of the 618 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:28,560 one she's sacrificing for. Jesus worth everything. 619 00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:31,000 And in a symbolic sense, she gives him everything. 620 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:32,880 That's what makes her act beautiful. 621 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,480 That's what makes her act not a bad example, but a beautiful 622 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:38,920 example. She is an example of what it 623 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,280 means to forsake everything and follow Christ. 624 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,960 She's an example for all of us of what it means to deny 625 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,840 ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. 626 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:53,000 Jesus continues in verse 7. For you always have the poor 627 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,080 with you, and whenever you want you can do good for them, but 628 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,800 you will not always have me hear. 629 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:04,320 Jesus quotes the first part of Deuteronomy 15 verse 11. 630 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:08,400 That whole verse says, for there will never cease to be poor in 631 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,920 the land. Therefore I command you, you 632 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,480 shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy, and 633 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,800 to the poor in your land. So when Jesus quotes the first 634 00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,960 half of the verse, he expects them to remember the 635 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,400 second-half. Jesus is not down grading or 636 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,720 diminishing the importance of caring for the poor. 637 00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:30,000 Instead, he's implying that caring for the poor is a 638 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:33,080 binding, ongoing duty. Now, in ancient Israel, there 639 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:36,280 were set times and ways in which ancient Jews would donate to the 640 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,920 poor, and they could also do do so by free will offerings or 641 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,920 giving alms. So how should devotion to Christ 642 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:49,480 relate to care for others in need, both inside and outside 643 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:52,840 the church? Just a few summary applications. 644 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:57,680 Love for Christ should inspire love for both insiders and 645 00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,680 outsiders, believers and non believers. 646 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,720 Devotion to Christ should lead us to devote ourselves to good 647 00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:06,240 works. Devotion to Christ should 648 00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:09,440 inspire us to care for others inside and outside the church in 649 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:12,080 both spiritual and physical ways. 650 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:18,880 Devotion to Christ should lead us to seek both the temporal and 651 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:24,840 the eternal well-being of both believers and unbelievers, as 652 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:28,960 Paul says in Galatians 610. So then, as we have opportunity, 653 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:33,600 let us do good to all men and especially those of the 654 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:37,720 household of faith. So in verse 7, Jesus is saying 655 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,560 care for the poor is a valid concern, and there are many 656 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:43,120 other times to care for the poor. 657 00:43:43,240 --> 00:43:46,920 In fact, there are all other times to care for the poor. 658 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:51,080 This time is unique. Why? 659 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:56,040 Because Jesus is with them now and he won't be much longer. 660 00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:01,040 As He says in verse 8, she has done what she could. 661 00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:05,880 She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 662 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:08,200 She has done what she could. What does that mean? 663 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,640 She has given all that she had to give. 664 00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:16,000 Just like the poor widow, but on a very different scale. 665 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:21,480 What Jesus cares about is not the size of the gift, but the 666 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:25,400 state of the heart. And then Jesus says she did this 667 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,720 to anoint his body for burial. Now, he might mean that she did 668 00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:33,680 this knowingly and intentionally because she understood that his 669 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:36,360 predictions of his death were about to be fulfilled. 670 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,760 That's possible. It's also possible that Jesus is 671 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:41,960 saying she acted better than she knew. 672 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:45,440 What she thought was merely an act of devotion and affection 673 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:50,560 was also an act of preparation. What she did to show forth her 674 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:57,040 love for Him was also showing forth his dying love for her. 675 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:01,800 In other words, this woman's act pictures not only a proper 676 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:05,320 response to the gospel, it also hints at the gospel itself. 677 00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:10,000 It hints at the infinite value of the death Christ is going to 678 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,400 die. It hints at the infinite worth 679 00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:18,200 of Christ giving himself totally for us on the cross. 680 00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:24,600 It shows that not only is Jesus infinitely precious, so is His 681 00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,960 coming death. But Jesus commendation of this 682 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:30,960 woman's act doesn't stop with his death. 683 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:34,520 It also looks forward to and beyond His resurrection. 684 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:37,640 Look at verse 9. And truly I say to you, wherever 685 00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:40,840 the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done 686 00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:44,800 will be told in memory of her. This promise was fulfilled by 687 00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:47,640 the very act of Mark writing it down in his gospel. 688 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,520 Wherever the gospel is going to go, the Gospels will go with it. 689 00:45:51,720 --> 00:45:54,440 So here we are hearing about this woman's act and fulfillment 690 00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:58,920 of Jesus own promise. We're on the other side of other 691 00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:02,080 side of the world from Jerusalem 2000 years later. 692 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:04,880 Here Jesus promises being fulfilled. 693 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:11,960 Her act deserves such commemoration because it 694 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:16,680 demonstrates total devotion and displays the worth of Jesus's 695 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:19,360 death. But Jesus is looking beyond his 696 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,560 death. He's confidently looking forward 697 00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:25,440 to a time when the gospel will be proclaimed in all the world. 698 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,840 He's implying his resurrection and his ascension and the 699 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,480 outpouring of the Spirit. The gospel would not be good 700 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:36,760 news if Jesus stayed dead. The resurrection is what makes 701 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:45,200 Jesus's death worth proclaiming. Devotion to Jesus is celebrated. 702 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:49,640 The world may criticize it, nominal believers may criticize 703 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:54,800 it, even genuine believers may criticize it, but Jesus himself 704 00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:58,720 celebrates it. Jesus commended her devotion, 705 00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:02,760 and Jesus will commend your devotion. 706 00:47:03,720 --> 00:47:09,320 Jesus publicly celebrated her act of service to him, and Jesus 707 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,840 will publicly celebrate your acts of service to him. 708 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:16,840 So labour to win Jesus's approval, Labour to please him, 709 00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:20,600 labour to win his declaration of well done, good and faithful 710 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:25,600 servant. Is Jesus's commendation of you 711 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:30,720 enough? Is Jesus's celebration of you 712 00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:36,040 enough? Is Jesus enough for you when He 713 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:39,440 takes away something you counted on or refuses to give you 714 00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:44,520 something you deeply desire? Jesus deserves to be enough for 715 00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:47,040 you. So let the promise of 716 00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:51,640 commendation from Christ on the last day enable you to endure 717 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:55,040 any hard things someone else says about you now. 718 00:47:56,320 --> 00:48:02,120 Let your life be full of beautiful acts done for Jesus 719 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:05,600 sake. The difference between an ugly 720 00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:10,560 act and a beautiful act is the equation deep in your heart 721 00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:14,840 that's motivating it. What is worth sacrificing? 722 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:20,680 Who or what is worth sacrificing for? 723 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:28,080 Will you give Jesus what he deserves from you? 724 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:37,870 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we praise you 725 00:48:37,870 --> 00:48:41,630 for ordaining in your infinite mercy that Jesus would give 726 00:48:41,630 --> 00:48:44,430 everything to everything for us and everything to us. 727 00:48:45,070 --> 00:48:49,400 We pray by your grace and the empowering work of your Spirit, 728 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:55,120 we would give everything to him. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.