1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:05,400 Jesus is always on mission. He's going places, but if you 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,360 will cry out to him, he'll take detours and visit you. 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,440 Luke chapter 10, verse 38. We're going to, we're going to 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,560 look at a family. We're, we're entering into the, 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,440 the Easter season. You know, we're, we're next week 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,840 is going to be Palm Sunday and then we have Easter. 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:26,800 I can't believe it's already upon us. 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,120 So I want, I didn't want to start a new series because we're 9 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:31,720 going to get into the Easter season. 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:37,400 So I want to look at a family that LED right up to the passion 11 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,600 narrative. The passion narrative is that 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,600 Passion week where Jesus suffered. 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,560 You know, the word passion literally means to suffer. 14 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,600 So ladies, if your husband says I'm passionate for you, baby, 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,960 that means he's willing to suffer for you. 16 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,280 Amen. That was an opportunity for you 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,440 ladies to wave your hankies and say Amen. 18 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,840 Woo. So we're we're willing, you 19 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,720 know, when we're passionate for God, we're willing to suffer for 20 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:03,480 him. And so we're going to look at 21 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,640 coming right up to this passion narrative and there's a family I 22 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,080 want to look at this morning. It's interesting how God will 23 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,640 move through families. He'll deal with families. 24 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,480 Do you recognize that in in Scripture, we have a number of 25 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,360 families that God would call one and reach the others? 26 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:25,320 History is replete with stories of one or one man or one woman 27 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:29,000 that encountered God, and God swept through their entire 28 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,560 family many times. There were many healings and 29 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,080 miracles in that family. God restoring the generations 30 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,080 and out of that family would become story after story of God 31 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,840 touching the nations of the earth through one family. 32 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,520 And so God is a family God. Do you know that there's a 33 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,080 reason he refers to himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 34 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,240 Jacob? He refers to himself 35 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,320 generationally through this one particular family. 36 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,400 And now that's not isolated to the patriarchs. 37 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,360 That is, that is how God operates in the here and now. 38 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,000 I told the first service that in a very real sense, in the 39 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,120 spirit, there is a coat of arms over your, your family. 40 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,400 You know, a coat of arms was the, the old English people. 41 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,960 They would have a coat of arms and they would have different 42 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:17,520 icons. They would have different words 43 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,600 that summed up the legacy and the calling, the assignment of 44 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,640 that household. And they would live with that 45 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,360 over them. They would, they would 46 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,720 understand that this is what we are called to. 47 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,440 They were called to nobility and courage and so forth. 48 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,040 And there's a very real sense in which God has that for families, 49 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,080 that God moves through families and wants to operate through 50 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:40,480 them. And in this passage, we're going 51 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,160 to meet this family. It was made-up of three 52 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:44,720 siblings. They may have had more, but we 53 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,760 don't know about the others. But we do know there was two 54 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,880 sisters, Mary and Martha, and a brother, Lazarus, and they were 55 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,000 a family. And in this passage, Jesus is 56 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:56,560 coming through. He's on the move. 57 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,680 He's on his way somewhere. And the older sister, Martha, 58 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,760 says, hey, would you come to our house? 59 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,600 And so Jesus drops by and comes to their house. 60 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:12,160 And so another passage that there's three primary passages. 61 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,080 And then there's a parallel passage that speak of this 62 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,960 family, these siblings. One of the passages say that 63 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,440 this house belongs to Martha. It's the one we're looking at 64 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,560 right now. But another passage says the 65 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,640 house was owned by Simon the leper. 66 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,240 And many scholars believe that Simon was probably the father of 67 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:36,200 Mary, Martha and Lazarus and that indeed, Jesus healed him. 68 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,480 And that's he would, that's how the family met Jesus. 69 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,600 And they're very close to Jesus. And you'll see after this 70 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,360 passage where Jesus, Martha says, hey, come to our house. 71 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,480 Jesus will find his way back to their place again and again 72 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:55,360 because he was welcome there. And I don't know about you, but 73 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,240 I want my house to be that kind of house. 74 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,680 I want our church to be that kind of church. 75 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,040 Jesus is looking for places he can visit. 76 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:06,560 Look at, listen to what it says here. 77 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,200 This is beautiful, verse 38 of Luke chapter 10. 78 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,840 Now as they went on their way, so it's saying Jesus was in a in 79 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,240 a, in a village. He was ministering to a group of 80 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,279 people. They went on their way and Jesus 81 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,560 went on his way. It says Jesus entered a village. 82 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,280 So Jesus came to town. You know, Jesus visits cities. 83 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,240 He still does. There are cities that have been 84 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,000 touched by the Spirit of God, nations that have been touched 85 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,320 by the Spirit of God. There's such a thing 86 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,800 theologically as God's omnipresence. 87 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,360 God's everywhere present, but there's such a thing as his 88 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,400 manifest present. And those are two different 89 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,720 things. There are places that God will 90 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,400 come to more. He'll be there more than he is 91 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,200 in other places. And so Jesus entered a village 92 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,760 and a woman named Martha welcomed him in him into her 93 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,240 house. And so even though he was in the 94 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,080 city, he needed a homeowner, somebody to say, hey, come to 95 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,400 our place, somebody that would host his presence. 96 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:06,520 And that's still the way God operates. 97 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,640 God will visit places. He'll be passing through and, 98 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,200 and you see it throughout Jesus ministry that he'll be on his 99 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,960 way somewhere and someone will intercept him and invite him or 100 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,280 call out to him or and petition him. 101 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,680 You know the blind Bartimaeus, he yells out, Jesus, son of 102 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:29,280 David, do not pass, ask me by. Jesus is on his way somewhere, 103 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,040 but he ends up taking a detour and doing a miracle. 104 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,600 And you'll see that throughout Jesus's ministry, Jesus was 105 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,280 easily interruptible in his schedule. 106 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:45,080 He really was, and he still is. Jesus is always on mission. 107 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,080 He's going places, but if you will cry out to him, he'll take 108 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,080 detours and visit you. But he only visits the places 109 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,760 where he's invited to visit. He didn't go to everybody's 110 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:58,080 house. He went to Martha's because 111 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,680 Martha stepped up and said, hey, come to our house today. 112 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,960 And so he came to a city or a village and then he came to a 113 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,840 house because he was invited. He was on his way. 114 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,200 And often you'll, you'll see this, we don't have time to 115 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,720 develop this, but you'll see this in the ways of God that 116 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:22,080 Jesus will be on his way and he will almost walk by enticing you 117 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:26,080 to call out. You know, when, when the the 118 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,200 disciples were in the boat and Jesus walked on water, he wasn't 119 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,440 coming to them, He was walking by and they cried out. 120 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:38,920 And then he answered Moses. Moses is watching his the sheep, 121 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,280 and he looks up and he sees a burning Bush and he's wondering 122 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,920 why is it not being consumed? He sees something supernatural. 123 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,880 We don't know how many shepherds saw something supernatural 124 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,360 happening on the mountainside, but it says Moses said to 125 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,720 himself, I must see this thing, why it does not consume. 126 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:03,040 And when he turned aside to go, the Lord spoke to him. 127 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,040 And so there's this thing of God capturing our attention and we 128 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,680 capture his. And God will do things 129 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,960 supernatural in your vicinity to see what are you going to do 130 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,440 about it? Are you hungry for him to pass 131 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,560 by? Are you content to just be in 132 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,160 the house when he's there? Because listen to what happens 133 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,920 here. This is this is disturbing and 134 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,280 insightful at the same time, OK. It says Martha welcomed him into 135 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,560 her house and she had a sister called Mary who sat at his feet 136 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:36,200 and listened to his teaching. So even though Martha invited 137 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,480 him in, she was a good host. She invited him in, she failed 138 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,920 to sit at a seat. You can be in a visitation of 139 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,440 the Lord and miss out on what God is saying. 140 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,480 You can be the one that invited him to come and be so busy 141 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,560 serving the move, serving the visitation that you miss out on 142 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,440 what he's really doing because Martha. 143 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:03,040 It says verse 40, but Martha was distracted with much serving. 144 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,000 She was the one who invited him to come and then was distracted 145 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:16,360 from him when he arrived. There comes a point and when God 146 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,080 visits that everything else has to be laid aside. 147 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,240 He has to be the one necessity. He's the one portion you go 148 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,080 after. And those are the words that 149 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,480 that Luke uses here. So Martha was distracted with 150 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:34,840 much serving and she went up to him, Jesus, and said, Lord, do 151 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:39,000 you not care? My sister has left me to serve 152 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:40,640 alone. Isn't that interesting? 153 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:42,880 She's complaining, Lord, don't you care? 154 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:47,680 She was frustrated with her sister and judged her sister. 155 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,840 And then she began to be frustrated with the Lord and 156 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:55,400 said, Lord, don't you care? We've got to be very, very 157 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:01,640 careful in judging the motives of brothers and sisters because 158 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,360 we can attribute, we can see someone do something and think 159 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,680 if I was doing that, this would be my motive. 160 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,480 Impose our motives on them when that's not their motives. 161 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,240 And then we get wonky. We get sideways. 162 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,480 You know, Wonky's a real world, real word. 163 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:22,720 We can get wonky with a brother and a sister, she says. 164 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,960 Lord, do you not care? She was accusatory towards God 165 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,520 over a perceived injustice. Inaccurate assumptions will 166 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,840 always lead to more inaccurate assumptions. 167 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,000 Repentance over the secondary assumptions won't hold unless 168 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,080 you get to the primary one. That's for another day. 169 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,960 But she says my sister has left me. 170 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,040 Her accusation towards the Lord was rooted in an accusations 171 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,040 towards her sister. She felt abandoned in the work 172 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,600 and when in actuality this could not be further from the truth. 173 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,280 While she was accusing her sister of laziness and 174 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,880 selfishness, she had actually Mary had actually been motivated 175 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,160 by a higher set of values, a hunger for God. 176 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,720 When we attribute motives to others actions, we come to wrong 177 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,760 conclusions and then we take those to God and accuse him as 178 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:10,240 well. So she says Lord tell her false 179 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:14,000 assumptions lead to inaccurate accusations and cause us to try 180 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,520 to dictate to God things that he should do, and we pray prayers 181 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,360 he'll never answer. She had accused her sister and 182 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,280 then dictated to the Lord how he should solve it. 183 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:26,760 But she diagnosed the problem wrong. 184 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,800 She had a wrong description, so she had a wrong prescription and 185 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,760 the Lord wasn't interested. So it it's interesting, she 186 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,360 says, my my sister has left me. And Martha's frustration. 187 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:41,880 She misunderstood Mary's motive. She assumed that she simply did 188 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:43,800 not want to work. She failed to understand that 189 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:45,760 there was a greater desire motivating her. 190 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,760 She wasn't running from work. She was pursuing intimacy. 191 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:50,320 She wasn't trying to get out of something. 192 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,280 She was trying to get into something and while Martha 193 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,680 claimed it was Mary leaving her, Jesus framed it as Mary choosing 194 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:58,080 him. This. 195 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,720 There's a difference of motive. Frustration will always cloud 196 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,920 your discernment. So the Lord said it says the 197 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,640 text says but the Lord said but it's a conjunction introducing 198 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,080 an unexpected response or turn of events. 199 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,640 The Lord's activities are often introduced with a But you ever 200 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:23,000 notice that we're praying one thing and but the Lord, and he's 201 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,400 correcting us in His activity. Listen to what the Lord says. 202 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,880 But the Lord answered Martha, Martha, you are anxious and 203 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,880 troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. 204 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,760 Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from 205 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,960 her. So he said if, if there's out of 206 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,000 all the portions, all the things we can do, we need to make sure 207 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,280 we choose the one thing. And if we don't have room for 208 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,360 anything else that we hold to that one thing and that one 209 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:56,760 portion is sitting at his feet. And the, the irony is, is that 210 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:01,320 you can actually get God to visit your house and because of 211 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,240 his presence, you get so caught up and serving the, the 212 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,680 visitation that you fail to really receive. 213 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,200 I've heard of men of God admitting that they backslid 214 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,240 while hosting revival. It's not that they went out and 215 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,520 got into sin, It's that they lost their intimacy with the 216 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:24,240 Lord. And so Martha had to learn a 217 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,880 strong lesson here. And so Mary had chosen that 218 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,400 which was necessary. And so it's a, it's a beautiful 219 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,960 passage, but it's a, it's a warning for all of us that we 220 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:39,760 can attract his presence through our hunger and then get so busy. 221 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:44,520 In fact, when you attract God's presence to your life, when God 222 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,920 begins to visit you, when, when you posture your life in such a 223 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,280 way that he really does encounter you, what will happen 224 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,080 is something will be imparted to you that will make others want 225 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,080 to pull on that thing. They're going to, they're going 226 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,520 to want to put a demand on what you received. 227 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:05,080 And the danger is the irony is this, that the very thing that 228 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,800 being with him makes others want to be with you and can act their 229 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,400 desire and the demand they place upon you can actually pull you 230 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:15,760 from the source of what you originally got. 231 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,960 So you get a portion and then other people want that. 232 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:25,320 And it takes greater discipline to stay in the secret place when 233 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,560 people are putting a demand on what you carry than it did in 234 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:30,760 the 1st place to get it. Hope that makes sense. 235 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:31,960 I hope you know where I'm going with that. 236 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:36,440 And so there's a discipline. And the tragedy is there's a lot 237 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,320 of men and women who initially they have a hunger for God. 238 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,120 God touches them. There's there's a fresh touch, a 239 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,760 fresh anointing comes on their life, a fresh revelation, fresh 240 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,160 perspective that they carry. And other people begin to put a 241 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,280 demand on that and they get so distracted that they lose the 242 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,200 source of what they once had. And what they become is an echo 243 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,880 of what they once were. They serve moldy manna. 244 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,640 They don't have a fresh word. And so we've got to make sure 245 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,480 that we're staying in the secret place. 246 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,720 And in fact, it takes greater discipline to stay in the secret 247 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,320 place once God has touched you than it did in the 1st place. 248 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,000 And Mary is an example to us. She's a beautiful picture of 249 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,160 someone who never lost her hunger. 250 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,920 She was impacted. This is a family who was 251 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:32,480 impacted by God early on. And then she in fact, what we're 252 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,640 about to read, it says that this will never be taken from her and 253 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:41,120 this story of this woman will be spoken of wherever the gospel 254 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,120 goes in all the earth that was Jesus words. 255 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,640 It's going to be a tribute to this woman because of her heart 256 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,640 posture towards me. She'll be talked about from now 257 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,640 until Jesus returns. There's something that happened 258 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,360 with her. Listen to what he says here, and 259 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:56,600 then we're going to go to another passage. 260 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,040 We're going to have to skip the middle one. 261 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:00,680 But it says one thing is necessary. 262 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:05,000 Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken 263 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,600 from her. He said something has been 264 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,040 imparted to her which she'll never let go of. 265 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,640 Something has happened. She wasn't just in a visitation. 266 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,080 She found intimacy in the middle of it. 267 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,320 It's not good enough to be in a house where God's moving. 268 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,680 Do you have a personal relationship? 269 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,240 Do you have a personal hunger in your heart that you are putting 270 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,040 yourself before Him and you're wanting to hear His voice? 271 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,800 You want to hear Him speak to you because those are the things 272 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,480 that can never be taken away. You can be in the midst of a 273 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,600 move of God and witness tremendous miracles and you can 274 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,320 fall away from God. But if you will learn to sit at 275 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,120 His feet and commune with Him personally, and God minister to 276 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,360 you, the things that will never be taken from you are the things 277 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:59,280 you hear from Him. It's not the sermons you hear or 278 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,720 the meetings you are in, but it's the things He ministers to 279 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,680 you personally. And so there's something was 280 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,760 imparted to Mary. So we have the next passage. 281 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,600 Just real quick here, I'll give you the outline so that you can 282 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,240 go back and look at this yourself. 283 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,680 But there are three primary passages that talk about these 284 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:18,520 siblings. OK? 285 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,800 There's Luke 1038 through 42. We just talked about it. 286 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:26,080 And this seems to be where they met him, or at least where the 287 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,160 first time they're mentioned so much so that Luke says there was 288 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,640 a woman named Mary. Well, you and I have it. 289 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,280 Knowing the word. We're very familiar with Mary 290 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,280 and Martha and Lazarus, but it was the first time they were 291 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,800 introduced and Martha enticed him and said, hey, come to our 292 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,720 house. We want to we want to host you 293 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:45,320 on your way to where you're going. 294 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,600 Don't pass us by then. John 11, John 11 is where they 295 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,480 send word. Now they've developed a 296 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:57,080 relationship with him such that it says in John 11, Jesus loved 297 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:02,280 Lazarus, He loved this family. There was something significant 298 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:06,000 that had been forged in their relationship Jesus had with them 299 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,000 that he didn't have with others. And so when crisis hits, they, 300 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:13,880 they send word for Jesus and they said Lazarus is sick. 301 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:19,640 And rather than responding immediately, Jesus waits 3 days. 302 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,240 And then on the third day he tells the boys, OK, guys, saddle 303 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,640 up, we're going to Bethany. Lazarus is sick. 304 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,480 He's been sick and now he's asleep. 305 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,920 And they said, but Jesus, if, if he's asleep, if he's sick, he 306 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,200 needs to sleep. And I said, no, essentially he 307 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,440 said, this is euphemism. He's dead and we're going to go 308 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,880 raise him. And they're like, Lord, you 309 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,880 think this is a good idea? They're about a mile walk 310 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,600 outside of Jerusalem. And they're like, Lord, do you 311 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,440 really think this is a wise thing to do 'cause you're, 312 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,400 you're a wanted man, they're going to try to kill you? 313 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,080 I think it was Thomas, the man of faith said, OK, let's go die 314 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:58,600 with him. You know, real faith. 315 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,720 You know, you had committed what he lacked in faith, he had in 316 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,080 commitment. Let's go die with them. 317 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:09,360 And so they go and Jesus comes and Martha, they, she hears, 318 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,040 well, he's still coming towards the town, the masters here. 319 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:16,600 So Martha gets up, but Mary, the one who sat at his feet, doesn't 320 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,200 move. She's so disillusioned. 321 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,520 Her heart is so wounded by sending word and having a delay. 322 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,720 You ever been there? And in fact, sometimes the 323 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:33,560 worshippers are more vulnerable to that woundedness than the 324 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,120 servers are. And so Martha goes and out to 325 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,640 Jesus and she has a theological discussion with them. 326 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,400 She actually they start talking about eschatology and the 327 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,280 resurrection at the end time and Jesus engages her. 328 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,760 But both of them come to Jesus with the same question. 329 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,280 They said, Jesus, if you would have been here, he wouldn't have 330 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,160 died. If you would have this, this 331 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,560 wouldn't have happened. That painful dialogue that 332 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,680 probably every believer throughout all of history has 333 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,240 had with the Lord. Lord, if you, then this wouldn't 334 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,120 have happened. And Jesus walks her through and 335 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:10,720 then he says, where's Mary? Martha goes back, says Mary, the 336 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,000 master's calling for you. And only then when she is called 337 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,840 by him does she get up. And she says the same thing as 338 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,960 her sister. But this time Jesus doesn't talk 339 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,640 eschatology or any theology. He weeps with her. 340 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,600 Scripture is very clear that we're to weep with those who 341 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,080 weep and laugh with those who laugh. 342 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,640 And when somebody's going through a crisis, they don't 343 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,920 initially need a theological discussion. 344 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,960 Martha engaged Jesus theologically, so he engaged 345 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:42,960 her. Mary came and her heart was 346 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,760 heavy, and so Jesus wept. And it's the shortest verse in 347 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,680 all of Scripture. It's a beautiful passage. 348 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:51,560 You go back and look at it today, John, Chapter 11. 349 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,280 It says these two words. Jesus wept, and he wept just 350 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,840 before he was going to call Lazarus out of the tomb. 351 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,120 He knew he was about to turn this grieving funeral into a 352 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,040 celebration, a party, and yet he wept. 353 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,800 Why? Because he was grieved over 354 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,760 seeing the effects of sin on all these people and he knew this is 355 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,240 not what they were created for. His heart was broken and he 356 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,520 grieved. He, he prayed, he cried out. 357 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:24,280 Matter of fact, in the Greek, there's, there's one part word 358 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,880 in there that says that he groaned in anger, this 359 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,120 frustration with what he was seeing. 360 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:32,160 And then he healed Lazarus. He raised him from the dead. 361 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:39,760 CS Lewis famously said that Jesus is the tears of God, that 362 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,800 God is not some distant deity immune to our our struggle. 363 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,160 That he entered into our affairs and he became one of us. 364 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,840 And he, he feels the feelings of our infirmity. 365 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:51,840 He's moved by what we go through. 366 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,160 Don't ever let the enemy lie to you. 367 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,760 That God is uncaring and unknowing with what you're going 368 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,560 through. I was telling the first service 369 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:06,000 one of I have this huge regret from about 20 / 20 years ago. 370 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:12,920 Now it's 1 of this huge regret. I was driving to a cemetery to 371 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,560 do the funeral for a stillborn child. 372 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,320 It was heartbreaking. This family was so excited to 373 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,480 have a baby and it didn't make it. 374 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,880 And so now it was time for the burial and I'm driving to the 375 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,960 cemetery and the Lord spoke to me and he said, as you close the 376 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,880 service, he said you're to announce this on the front end. 377 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,320 As you close the service, it's going to begin to gently rain. 378 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:40,280 And you tell the family that those are my tears and I failed. 379 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,720 I didn't say it. I thought, oh man, Lord, what 380 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:47,240 you know, what if it doesn't and had this wrestling with God? 381 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,440 But nonetheless, as I'm just closing the service, all of a 382 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,600 sudden, the most you know how the rain when it starts just 383 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,520 sounds pitter patter. It just started raining like 384 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,440 that and I shared with the mother later. 385 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,760 I'm sure it would have meant more to her to hear on the front 386 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,360 end. I deeply regret I didn't say it, 387 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:10,480 but the fact is it was a vivid lesson to me that God wanted me 388 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,080 and wanted them to know. I am moved by what you go 389 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:16,880 through. I'm touched by the feeling of 390 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,720 your infirmities. And Jesus didn't stop crying 391 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,560 when he sat on the right hand of the Father. 392 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,400 God has emotions in Scripture. We can grieve the Spirit. 393 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,840 God has anger. He looks in the earth and he's 394 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,440 he's angry about things. God is the ultimate multitasker, 395 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:41,320 OK? He's extremely happy and joyous 396 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:42,680 about things. He's looking on. 397 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,720 Scripture says he's laughing, but he's also very grieved and 398 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,200 weeping all simultaneously. And he can relate with what 399 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,000 you're going through. And don't ever let the enemy lie 400 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,720 to you that God is not touched by what you're going through. 401 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,960 And so we see this in Lazarus is now resurrected. 402 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,600 This is the second installment of the Mary, Martha and Lazarus 403 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,160 narrative. And so now we move into the 404 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,200 passage we wanted to get to and we've got 8 minutes. 405 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,360 So let's look at John chapter 12. 406 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:24,480 Listen to this. So it says I'm sorry, I got to 407 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:33,840 get there, John chapter 12 and it says 6 days before the 408 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,400 Passover. So this is the Passion week. 409 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,720 This is the time where Jesus is entering into what Jesus, in 410 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:47,560 another passage describes as the hour when darkness reigns, where 411 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:53,880 he allowed himself to be subjected to the evil intentions 412 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:59,480 of man and the very real fallen Angel named Lucifer, and he 413 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,400 allowed himself to be subjected to that for our sake. 414 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,280 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany. 415 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,000 Isn't it interesting that he returned there? 416 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,160 Nobody else understood what Jesus was about to go through. 417 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:17,480 He had told them. He had said, hey, listen, guys, 418 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,680 I'm going to be arrested. I'm going to be crucified, 419 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,440 turned over, crucified. And on the third day I'll raise. 420 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:23,640 And it kept going over their head. 421 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,040 They couldn't compute because they had saw all that he had 422 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,600 done and they thought, man, we're in the ground floor of 423 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,920 this emerging Kingdom. He is the Messiah. 424 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,520 This we're going to take over. This is going to be amazing. 425 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,440 They're arguing about who gets to sit at his right hand and 426 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,720 he's telling guys, you don't understand, I'm going to be 427 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,920 crucified. But Jesus understood. 428 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:50,440 And so where does he go? He goes back to Bethany because 429 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,760 he found a place that he was welcomed, that he was hosted. 430 00:24:54,760 --> 00:25:02,120 Well, I really do believe that God looks for those who will 431 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:07,080 weep with him when he weeps. I believe that God looks for 432 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,520 those who will answer his emotion with our human emotion. 433 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,280 God is looking for friends. You know, I, I have friends that 434 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,920 I laugh with and I love, love friends that I laugh with. 435 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,320 But there's, there's some friends that I cry with and 436 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,240 those are the guys that I look for when I'm really going 437 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,520 through something. There's an intimacy in the 438 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,400 fellowship of his sufferings that Paul talked about. 439 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,240 Paul said, I want to know him in the power of his resurrection. 440 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,440 We're all in woo and in the fellowship of his sufferings. 441 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,960 There's an intimacy there where we enter into the emotions of 442 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,320 God and Jesus was looking for those type of people. 443 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,800 He went to Bethany and if you look throughout Jesus life, 444 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,200 there was this one place. Scripture is very clear. 445 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,440 He had no place to lay his head. He didn't have a home. 446 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,360 But if he had a place he returned to, it was Mary and 447 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:04,840 Martha and Lazarus's house, because they had his heart, and 448 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,240 that's what explicitly says, and he loved them. 449 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,320 And so he returns there, going into the hardest week he'd ever 450 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,760 have as a man, 6 days before the Passover. 451 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:21,920 Jesus therefore came to Bethany when Lazarus was where Lazarus 452 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:23,920 was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 453 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,320 We know at the end of the last chapter that the Pharisees, the 454 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,960 ruling class, that the religious rulers now had a price not only 455 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,160 on Jesus head. They weren't only trying to off 456 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,160 him, they were, they had a price on Lazarus's head because it's 457 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,240 hard to discredit a man's ministry when you've got someone 458 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,800 he raised from the dead walking around testifying about it. 459 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,400 It's kind of a pesky reality you need to rid yourself of if 460 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,720 you're going to discredit them. So Lazarus was reclining. 461 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,640 So listen to this. Martha served. 462 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,760 There she is, do it again. Martha served. 463 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,640 Lazarus was reclining with him at the table and Mary took a 464 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:04,280 pound of expensive ointment made from Piernard and anointed the 465 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,880 feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. 466 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,240 The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 467 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,160 This is the beginning of Passion Week. 468 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,520 This is how it starts right here. 469 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:24,960 Jesus retreating to the House of some people that just wanted to 470 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,080 entertain him just wanted to hear his heart just wanted to 471 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:33,760 minister to him. So when he was entering into his 472 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:38,120 last and hardest week, where does he gravitate towards the 473 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:43,200 house at Bethany and what does he find Martha serving him. 474 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:45,880 Lazarus hanging out. Can you imagine? 475 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:51,040 So this family, you got to understand if, if scholars are 476 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:55,520 correct, and I think it's probable that Simon the leper, 477 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,320 who was no longer a leper, owned this house and his kids, 478 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,360 probably their first encounter with this Rabbi Jesus was their 479 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:06,280 dad who they could no longer hang around. 480 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,240 Suddenly he's whole, he's back home and they're like, man, 481 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,560 we're hanging out with this guy. We're going, we're, we're, we're 482 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:18,640 going to be his disciples. And then he comes to their house 483 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,080 and he imparts something to Mary that's never going to be taken 484 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,920 from her. Then Lazarus dies, He doesn't 485 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,520 answer their call because his delay meant there was going to 486 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,200 be a greater breakthrough. It's always that way, by the 487 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,880 way, whenever God says no, it's because there's something 488 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,680 greater he's looking to give us. That's a sermon for another day. 489 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,200 But that that needs to make you shout a little bit. 490 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,520 So there he he's delayed. Now they're sitting here at the 491 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:52,080 table of Simon, the former leper and their brother who the King 492 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,480 James Version so eloquently says he stinketh. 493 00:28:55,720 --> 00:29:00,840 He was decomposing. Jesus waited so there was no way 494 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,440 medical science could discredit what he was about to do. 495 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,080 He literally just decomposing. And there he is sitting at the 496 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:10,120 table next to Jesus eating bagels or something. 497 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,640 I don't know, lamb, you know, they're just hanging out. 498 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,240 I mean, what an amazing setting. And Mary, the one who'd been 499 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,680 given something she would never recover from. 500 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,080 She just, she couldn't handle it anymore. 501 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,440 She just had to do something extravagant. 502 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,760 She and she remembered I've got this jar, this alabaster jar, an 503 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,160 alabaster jar was like a translucent marble and they were 504 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,440 very beautiful. And actually they were more like 505 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,680 a flask and there was a long thin neck They would carve and 506 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:43,360 and it would be sealed to protect this very, very 507 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:46,920 expensive stuff. Now in this case, it says she 508 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:51,640 has a pound of it. Usually it was sold by, by a 509 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,840 little less, a little more rather than an ounce, just over 510 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,640 an ounce because it was very, very expensive and it was very, 511 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,640 very potent. And so it was used in burial. 512 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,480 It was used for special occasions, even to anoint kings 513 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:10,120 and so forth. But she had a pound jar. 514 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,080 I don't know where she got this. They, they think that this 515 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,400 substance likely came from India. 516 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,600 So it wasn't readily available. Very expensive, very strong 517 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:24,600 smelling and she's got a pound of it in a jug and she just she, 518 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,840 she can't hold, hold it anymore. She gets up, goes and gets this 519 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,000 thing, breaks it open and dumps it on his head. 520 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,800 And then she begins to wash his feet with it. 521 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:38,960 It says the whole house filled with the smell and she she pulls 522 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,800 her hair down and she starts cleaning his feet with this 523 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,840 perfume. Now, I don't know about you, but 524 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,080 I would have been a little uncomfortable. 525 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,800 That's a little much, to be honest. 526 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:54,760 I'm just warning you. You ever come to my house and 527 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,640 start washing someone's feet with your hair crying? 528 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,920 I'm going to be a little bit uncomfortable, let alone to be 529 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,280 the one being washed. And Jesus, she's down there, you 530 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,600 know, and, and there's all this symbolism here. 531 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,800 Hair for a woman. She wouldn't show her hair out 532 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:13,240 in public. They usually kept their head 533 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,440 covered. Now indoors in her own home, she 534 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,120 could have her hair shown, but she usually wouldn't let it 535 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,000 down. Usually that was for the husband 536 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,760 in the bed chamber. It just wasn't something like 537 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,320 matter of fact, Paul, if you remember in First Corinthians, 538 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,360 he said a woman's hair is her glory. 539 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,440 So what does she do? She is so this gratitude, this 540 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,640 praise, this affection for him erupts within her and she looks 541 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,960 and she she goes and gets this jar, breaks it open and she just 542 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:41,960 begins to weep and she pulls her hair down. 543 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,080 She doesn't have a cloth. She just starts using her hair 544 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,520 and she's cleaning his feet and Jesus is just kicking back, 545 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:54,520 letting her do it again. I told you I was uncomfortable. 546 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:56,200 I'd be uncomfortable. Listen to what it says of the 547 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:02,520 disciples. But Judas Iscariot, one of his 548 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,920 disciples who was about to betray him, said, why was this 549 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,800 ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? 550 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,040 I want to say it was the Matthew passengers. 551 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:17,320 A corresponding passage. It says in that that the 552 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,440 disciples were indignant, they were ticked, they were this is 553 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,160 unjust. And and the, the idea behind the 554 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,000 heat, the Greek word we translate it had the idea of 555 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,840 this is unjust. This is this is just you're, 556 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,840 you're wasting stuff. And it literally says in that 557 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,920 passage, why this waste? Now I want you to think about 558 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:43,000 that. They're saying, Jesus, this is 559 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,480 too much. You're wasting it on Jesus. 560 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,360 What is waste? Waste is using something of 561 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,320 greater value on something of lesser value. 562 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,720 And so it's wasted. And essentially they were 563 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:00,680 saying, Jesus, man, we think you're awesome. 564 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:06,200 But this is a bit much. If you do the math, this 565 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,480 ointment was worth almost a year's wages. 566 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:14,000 Now I love that it's almost a year's wage. 567 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,480 See, your year's wages are different than mine and yours 568 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:18,600 and yours. And we all have a different It's 569 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,960 not about we're not competing. Who gives one more dollar in the 570 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,160 offering or shouts a little louder and worship. 571 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,840 But what it is, is how much is it for us? 572 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,040 And she was willing to just, in one fell swoop, break this thing 573 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,760 open and pour it out on him. And she loses it. 574 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,040 And the whole house is filled with the Roma and the disciples 575 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:42,440 say, why this waste? They are offended by this 576 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,640 extravagance. And what does Jesus say? 577 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,160 And and they say, why don't you give it to the poor? 578 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:50,960 You know, it could have been sold for the poor. 579 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,600 You ever heard someone say that they drive by someone with a 580 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,960 nice house or a nice car? Oh yeah, they drive that or they 581 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,200 live in that, you know, You know how many poor kids that could 582 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,600 feed in Africa? You notice they never say that 583 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,560 about their house. They're saying it about the guy 584 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:08,960 who lives in one bigger They're always thinking about how 585 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,639 someone else's income or someone else's money or someone else's 586 00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:14,560 house could be sold to feed the poor. 587 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,719 And so Jesus addresses that. He says this is not because they 588 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:20,679 cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and 589 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:22,880 having charge of the money bag used to help himself. 590 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,560 So Jesus said leave her alone that she may keep it. 591 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,199 She may keep it for the day of my burial. 592 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:33,679 So this is what he says. He said listen what she just 593 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:35,600 did. She's going to keep it. 594 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:40,760 Keep what what she just did. She's going to remember this on 595 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,600 the day of his burial. She's going to take that with 596 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,080 her because she's got the fragrance in her hair. 597 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,239 She's been it's on him, it's on her. 598 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,760 And when she sees him die, her whole world is going to come 599 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,920 crashing down. And don't you know, if she 600 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:55,960 wouldn't have given that extravagant offering, she would 601 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,600 have so regretted she didn't understand what's going on. 602 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,120 But she would have thought if I just would have gave him my all, 603 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:03,480 if I would have let him know what he meant to me. 604 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,120 But now she gave it and she's got something. 605 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,920 And on that day, she's going to comfort herself with that. 606 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,560 She doesn't understand the resurrection thing yet. 607 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:13,320 All she knows is I love this guy. 608 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,840 I, I, I just want to, I want to give everything to him. 609 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,840 And the fragrance of her offering is still in her hair as 610 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,560 she's watching him die. And she's going to. 611 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:30,640 So this, this encounter, this extravagant offering that she 612 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:36,000 gave was going to be for his burial for her personally. 613 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,840 But Matthew says something else. He says she has done this to 614 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:44,840 prepare me for the day of my burial. 615 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,080 And the Greek, it's ego. He's he's saying she did it for 616 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:53,240 me so that I will be prepared. Man, I've been thinking, Lord, 617 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:57,600 what does that mean? What, what kind of preparation 618 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:02,000 would Jesus need? And I'm convinced that in the 619 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,800 frailty of his humanity, in the midst of that beating, when he's 620 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,760 being whipped, his hair's hanging down and matted with 621 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:11,720 blood, he can still smell the fragrance and he's comforted. 622 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,240 You know, Mary was one of the only ones that stayed with him 623 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:16,880 at the cross. And if she's standing there, he 624 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,280 could still spend this is this is some heavy stuff. 625 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,800 This is like the guy who comes in and whoa, way too much 626 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:26,000 aftershave that Jesus had this fragrance that was coming with 627 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,240 him and she could smell it and he could smell it and he's 628 00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:32,000 comforting himself by her worship and her commitment to 629 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,080 him. You say, does God really need 630 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:35,880 comforted? He did in his flesh. 631 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,960 He needed there was a reason the angels came and strengthened him 632 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,400 and she was he was strengthened by the sacrifice of this woman. 633 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,120 Go ahead and stand so you know I'm going to quit. 634 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:54,240 Listen to me. God is moved by your past 635 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:56,720 sacrifices. Laura came into my office. 636 00:36:57,360 --> 00:36:59,320 I want to say it was Friday and she said, pastor, I was 637 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,880 listening to this worship album by a certain guy and she said, 638 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,480 man, we she used to listen to it when we were in a season of 639 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,960 outpouring. And she said, it just made my 640 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,720 heart long for those days. And she was telling her, Lord, I 641 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:13,840 would love to go back to that. And then she's correcting 642 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:14,560 herself. Yeah. 643 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,400 But Lord, I know we can't live in the past. 644 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:19,160 And, you know, we need to look towards the future and enjoy the 645 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,880 moment. And the Lord said, Laura, I like 646 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:27,560 those memories, too. I like to look back at those 647 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,120 times as well. Do you know that you have 648 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:34,600 memories with God that he loves to go back to and remind you, 649 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:36,720 and you can enter back into that moment? 650 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,080 Those sweet nothings he whispered in your ear, those 651 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,520 mean something to God. God is not an unemotional, 652 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,080 distant deity. He's moved by those things. 653 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,240 We've talked about it before, but it bears repeating. 654 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:55,880 Psalm 132 is very, very clear. Solomon is dedicating the 655 00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:59,200 temple, and he begins his prayer like this. 656 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:06,360 Oh, Lord, remember David. Parentheses my dead father and 657 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,840 the suffering that he endured. Lord, I'm asking that you would 658 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:14,200 make good on the promises and he reminds God, God remember the 659 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:17,720 price my dad paid and it moves God's heart in the moment. 660 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,160 Listen your journey, the hardship you've been through and 661 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:22,600 that you're still going after him. 662 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:26,040 The, the, the, the times where God has revealed himself in that 663 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,800 eruption of just affection that you have, the, the fact that you 664 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:33,320 want him to come to your house, the fact that you want to sit at 665 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,600 his feet, all of that means something. 666 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:40,400 Even the episodes of those encounters from years ago, God 667 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,520 still remembers those things. We've got to get our head around 668 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,080 this. The emotions of God. 669 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:48,480 God can be grieved, he can be angered, He's happy. 670 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:53,280 And we there's this affection that we come into the orbit of 671 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:59,120 when we begin to realize God is very much emotional towards us. 672 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:04,920 Amen. So Passion Week begins with him 673 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:09,400 retreating to the House of somebody who just wanted to host 674 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,560 his presence. I don't know about you, but I 675 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:17,240 want, I want, I want to rename my street Bethany and drop by 676 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:17,960 here. Lord. 677 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:22,920 Hey, thanks for watching. At Heartland Church, we love to 678 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:24,680 worship the Lord and we love His Word. 679 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,680 In fact, if you could jump on and subscribe to our YouTube 680 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:30,920 channel, you could make sure that you don't miss any of the 681 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,040 services. We'd love to have you join us 682 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:36,120 live or in person every week. See you next time.