Responses to Jesus

Thanks so much, Beth.

And if you haven't worded out yet, I'm Archie.

I'm the pastor in training here.

And it's my pleasure to be opening God's word for us this morning.

If you don't already have it open in front of you, do get that passage open.

It's on page 1079 of the Pew Bibles.

And I really do mean that.

Get it open in front of you, even if it's on a screen.

Although if it is on a screen, put your phone in airplane mode.

Because we know that you'll get distracted otherwise.

Why don't I pray before we open God's word together?

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father, I pray that this morning you would be at work amongst us by your Holy Spirit.

Helping us to see a much bigger picture of who Jesus is.

And what he has done for us.

For we pray in his precious name.

Amen.

And when my sister-in-law was a teenager, Karina is her name, she entered a competition.

It was a Harry Potter competition.

She had to write a letter about why she loved those books so much.

And the winner was going to win a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando.

Very exciting.

And Karina didn't win.

But she was a runner-up.

And 14 runners-up were given specially produced and signed copies of the first Harry Potter book.

Those books were never released for sale.

There are only 15 copies in the world, apparently.

Now, last year, there was a fire in their block of flats.

It was pretty bad.

And a lot of their stuff was smoke damaged.

One of the flats on the ground floor of their building was basically destroyed.

The staircase up to their flat was declared unusable.

And they had to move out.

And so a few months ago, they were able to get back into their flat to get some of their stuff.

And Karina had basically forgotten all about this book.

And as she was looking for stuff that it was worth taking out of the flat, she found it tucked away at the back of a cupboard.

She decided then to see whether this book might be worth something.

She took it to an auction house.

And last month, this book sold for £15,000.

Here's the point for us this morning.

If she had known how much that book was worth, if she'd known how valuable it was, there is no way it would have been stuck at the back of a dusty cupboard.

And I'm pretty sure it would have been one of the first things that she would have taken with her when they realized that their flat was that they were going to have to move out.

We treat things, don't we, according to their value.

Not necessarily their monetary value, as in the case of this book, but how valuable things are to us dictates how we treat them.

When I was about 16 years old, and I remember this so clearly, I was at a party.

I was standing at the fireplace with a friend of mine's big brother.

And he was at university.

I was 16.

He was maybe four years older than me.

And I just thought he was so cool.

You can imagine, right, little Archie looking up to this guy.

And he said this.

This was his advice for me.

This Christianity thing is all fine and well.

It's good to have faith.

But just don't take it too seriously.

Don't let it get in the way.

You've got a life to live.

And he totally missed the point, hadn't he?

I didn't see this at the time.

But looking back, he just didn't understand the value of the thing.

The value of Jesus at all.

If Jesus really is who he claims to be, if he really did the stuff that we've been reading about in John's Gospel together,

then the response to that is not, don't take this too seriously.

The response has got to be, you can give this everything that you've got.

Because Jesus is valuable.

There is nothing more valuable.

It's worth it.

So that's where we're going this morning.

But to get us into it, just notice how the passage that we've just read, and thanks so much for reading, Beth.

Just check out how this is structured.

If you come back to chapter 11 with me first, really quickly.

In chapter 11, we've seen over the last couple of weeks, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

And that's kind of a foreshadowing of Jesus' own resurrection and his promise of power over death,

that one day there'll be eternal resurrection for life for us as well if we trust him.

But then in verse 53, right at the end of chapter 11, they're plotting to take his life.

We saw last week that Jesus would die, that it would be a death in our place sort of dying,

his death for our life, the free offer of eternal life.

They're plotting to kill Jesus then before our passage starts.

And then if you come back to chapter 12 and have a look at verse 10,

we get a reminder in chapter 12, verse 10,

the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well.

That is, as well as Jesus.

So either side of our passage this morning, we're reminded that Jesus is going to die.

And then in verse 1, verse 1 of chapter 12, as if it was necessary,

as if we'd forgotten what we read in chapter 11, this reminder, see in verse 1,

Jesus is in Bethany where Lazarus lives, whom Jesus raised from the dead.

And we've literally just read that.

Then again, look down in verse 9.

A load of people have come to get a look at Jesus, but not only Jesus,

Lazarus 2, you know, the guy, verse 9, whom he raised from the dead.

The point that I think John is making this morning,

this passage is sandwiched between these reminders,

reminders that Jesus is on his way to die,

a death in our place sort of death,

but also reminders that he is powerful over death,

that with him resurrection is possible.

Why does John give us this structure?

Well, chapter 11, verse 2, before the Lazarus thing,

John tells us about Mary,

and he says that she was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment

and wiped his feet with her hair.

Now, obviously, as you read through John's gospel,

that scene hasn't happened yet.

And I think that John simply wants to put what is to come,

Lazarus' resurrection and the promise of eternal life,

in the context of what Mary is going to do.

In other words, this whole section from the start of chapter 11

to the end of our passage is supposed to hang together.

It comes as a package.

And what we get in our passage this morning,

essentially, is responses.

We get Mary's response to what Jesus has done,

but we also get a response from another guy.

Now, I don't know if you've ever met someone called Judas.

I've definitely never met someone with that name.

I imagine it's one of the least popular names going today.

We all know why.

The name is basically synonymous with traitor, isn't it?

Mary, on the other hand,

is a name that apparently has been in the top 10 most popular names

more times than any other.

It's a super popular name.

And that won't be a surprise.

It's Mary and Judas responding in our passage this morning,

responding to what Jesus has done.

And John intentionally puts them together

to contrast the positive response of Mary with Judas.

Before we get there, he sets the scene.

Have a look at verse 2.

They're in Bethany, Lazarus' hometown.

And then in verse 2,

here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor.

Martha served while Lazarus was among those

reclining at the table with him.

So here's the setting.

It's a dinner party, a kind of banquet, if you like,

a celebration in honor of Jesus,

a celebration in honor of what he's just done.

Again, notice the reminder, as if we needed it,

that Lazarus is very much alive.

But check out what Mary does in verse 3.

Mary took about half a liter of pure nard,

an expensive perfume, and she poured it on Jesus' feet.

I remember reading that as a teenager and just thinking,

that is so weird.

Like, what a weird thing to do.

So what's going on?

Well, firstly, what is nard?

And to my wife's chagrin,

I know almost nothing about 21st century perfume,

let alone first century perfume.

But I did some reading,

and apparently nard comes from the Himalayas,

which is quite a long way away from Israel.

Apparently it's super rare,

and we'll see it's super expensive.

And half a liter is quite a lot of perfume.

This is an incredibly extravagant thing

for Mary to have done.

In fact, we'll come back to it,

but see in verse 4,

Judas tells us exactly how much this perfume is worth.

You might have 300 denarii in your translation.

That's what's there in the Greek.

Your translators might have helpfully converted that

to a year's wages.

300 denarii was more or less equivalent

to the average year's salary.

Just to put that into perspective,

the average salary in Edinburgh today

is about 36,000 pounds.

Can you imagine taking that amount of money

and just pouring it out?

It's incredibly extravagant.

Deb, I've forgotten to bring my clicker up.

Do you mind just moving the slides along for me?

I'll give you a nod when to do so,

and the next one, thanks.

And why does she pour it on Jesus's feet?

Well, feet washing was a pretty normal

cultural thing to do.

You can imagine dusty roads and sandals.

There was always foot washing going on

in the ancient world,

and especially at the start of a dinner party.

Generally, the servants,

maybe sometimes the host,

would kind of wash the guests' feet.

But what Mary is doing here

is so much more than simple foot washing, isn't it?

I mean, doing it with perfume is pretty weird,

but it gets weirder as we keep reading

because she wiped his feet with her hair.

That's such a weird thing to do.

And I think it's actually weirder than I thought

because culturally, the hair in ancient Israel,

it was like the crowning glory of a woman's femininity.

I mean, I know that some women today love their hair,

but it's lost its symbolic freight, I think.

Jewish women would always wear their hair up

because otherwise it was kind of like

to show their modesty.

And so to let it down like this

and wipe Jesus' feet is a really strange thing to do.

Why is she doing it?

Well, it might look weird,

but it is the most remarkable display

of humility and affection to Jesus.

And it is just totally the appropriate response

to who he is and what he's done.

Why?

Because it recognizes the value of the man.

It is incredibly affectionate.

If you could move the slides on,

a couple did, that'd be great.

And notice the effect that what she's done

has on the house.

And this is an incredibly public act.

At the end of verse three,

the whole house was filled

with the fragrance of the perfume.

Like just the nature of what she's done,

those in the room can obviously see it.

But more than that,

everyone in the house can smell it.

What she's doing here,

it's not a private display of affection for Jesus.

It's not simply all about her and him.

It's incredibly public.

This is Mary's response.

It's extravagant and affectionate and public.

And we'll come back to each of those

as we put the whole thing together at the end.

But for now,

I think we can ask of ourselves

if we're not already doing this,

as we consider how we respond

to what Jesus has done

and what he promises to do for us.

How extravagant and affectionate

and public is our response?

We'll come back and think through

each of those things in turn at the end,

but just keep that whirring

at the back of your mind in the meantime.

And before we get there,

see how Judas responds.

We see in verse four,

John reminds us

that this is one of Jesus's disciples.

He also tells us

that Judas is later going to betray him,

which actually John does every single time

he mentions Judas in this gospel.

And it's key, actually,

as we read into verse five,

notice Judas's objection in verse five.

Why wasn't this perfume sold

and the money given to the poor?

In other words,

what a massive waste of money.

And let's be honest,

if John hasn't just told us

what to think of Judas,

the temptation would be

to sympathize with him, wouldn't it?

Maybe that still is the temptation.

I mean, 36,000 pounds,

the equivalent of surely

giving that to the poor

is going to be much better

than just pouring that money

all over the floor.

And notice how Judas's response

is just the total opposite to Mary.

Her response was incredibly extravagant,

and his, it looks reasonable,

but it's incredibly cheap.

See, as if to make it clear

that we shouldn't be on Judas's side,

John reveals in verse six,

Judas didn't say this

because he cared about the poor,

but because he was a thief.

As a keeper of the money bag,

he used to help himself

to what was put into it.

He wasn't really concerned

with helping the poor at all,

but rather about the cut

that he could take

if they sold the perfume.

This is Judas's response.

His words are cheap,

but more than that.

Where Mary was incredibly

affectionate towards Jesus.

Again, Judas is exactly the opposite.

It's cold and calculated.

It's incredibly selfish.

And of course,

where Mary's extravagant devotion

was public,

Judas's cheap selfishness

was a sly private affair,

helping himself to the money bag

while no one was looking.

It's private.

And I actually think

that's the really shocking thing here.

I think that's why John reminds us

of Judas's betrayal

every time he comes up,

because it was a shock to them,

to John and the other disciples.

I mean, this is the money bag guy.

He'd been trusted by Jesus.

In fact, he looked like

a devoted follower of Jesus

until he didn't.

But all along,

he was serving himself

and not Jesus.

And it is true today

that it is absolutely possible

to look like

the most devoted Christian,

to be serving

in whatever way at church,

whether that's welcome

and tea and coffee

or teaching at kids' church

or leading services

and preaching,

to look the devoted Christian,

maybe to be busy

trying to serve the poor

and alleviate poverty,

chasing social justice,

being the kind neighbor.

Notice,

all really good things to do.

It's possible to do

all of that

and yet to fail

to respond rightly

to what Jesus has done

in your heart,

to fail to respond rightly

to what he has promised to do.

I don't know where your heart

is at with this

as I speak.

Maybe just a chance

for some introspection

for, I guess,

a personal spiritual MOT.

Maybe ask yourself this morning,

are there ways

that my response to Jesus

in my heart of hearts,

that it is actually

privately cheap and selfish,

can outwardly look identical

to the right response

for a time?

But I wonder,

are there ways

that we know

that our Christian lives

are serving ourselves

more than they serve Jesus?

So Jesus sees

these two contrasting responses

and this is his verdict

in verse 7.

Leave her alone.

It's clear, isn't it,

which response Jesus is after.

He speaks sharply to Judas here.

Leave her alone.

As he sees straight through him,

he knows that though his response

might look reasonable

on the surface,

that it is incredibly

selfish.

And as we keep reading,

we get this slightly

strange phrase,

it was intended

that she should save

this perfume

for the day

of my burial.

Now when John tells us

that it was intended,

he's saying,

God intended this.

Now of course,

this isn't the day

of Jesus' burial yet.

We're getting there,

but we're not there yet.

But this kind of anointing

with perfume

was something

that the culture

did to a dead body.

As we've seen,

this section of John's gospel

is definitely making us

think about that coming day,

about Jesus' death.

And so,

what we're being told here

is that God intended

that Mary would perform

this act of service

at this time

to help build that picture,

to continue to point

to what was to come.

And so,

Jesus' verdict is clear.

Mary's done

the appropriate thing,

even if she didn't

necessarily understand

what she was doing.

Her extravagant,

affectionate public response

was the right thing to do,

but she didn't necessarily

understand the full weight

of what she was doing.

Something more

seems to have been going on.

I don't think she realized

that it pointed

to the day of his burial.

And you know,

I think very often

we might miss

the impact and significance

of our response to Jesus.

In our hearts,

when we serve him

rather than ourselves,

the impact and significance

of what we do

and what we say,

as God takes that

for his purposes,

when we sing together

and you give it everything

and you dare

to express yourself,

I don't know

if you realize

the encouragement

that you give

to those around you

as you respond in that way.

When you go towards

that visitor

and speak a word of welcome

or simply just make

a cup of tea

or serve on tech

or sound or creche

or whatever else it is,

as we do that,

if we're serving Jesus

in our heart of hearts,

the impact and significance

of what we're doing,

we might not realize it,

but it might just have

echoes in eternity.

At this stage,

I realize you might have

got this far

and maybe you're still

with Judas.

Like if not actually,

then at least in theory,

this is a massive waste

of money

and it might have been

much better

to have used that money

to serve the poor.

Well, Jesus continues

to explain his verdict.

See what he says.

You will always have

the poor among you,

but you will not always

have me.

I think this verse,

this bit here contains

the key challenge

of this chapter.

At least this is the thing

that I've found

most deeply challenging.

Jesus is not saying here,

let me make this clear,

that they should not

be concerned with the poor.

In fact, Jesus is quoting

from Deuteronomy chapter 15 there

Deuteronomy 15 · chapter mention

and when he says that

you will always have

the poor among you,

that's not to say,

and so there's no point

in giving to the poor.

In fact,

in Deuteronomy chapter 15,

Deuteronomy 15 · chapter mention

the meaning is essentially

the opposite of that.

And so instead,

what he is saying

is that what he has come

to do is just much

bigger than that.

His mission

is the crucifixion.

He's come to die

in the place of his people

so that they might be

forgiven and live

and he's raised Lazarus

from the dead

because he's going to

rise again himself

so that his people

might do the same

to live forever,

eternally resurrected.

And this is challenging,

but Jesus is saying

that that is so much bigger

than alleviating poverty.

Do we believe that

this morning?

That doesn't mean

that giving to the poor

is a waste of time.

It doesn't mean

that social justice

of any kind

should just be shrugged aside.

It definitely doesn't mean

that we should just

shut ourselves away

and sing songs

and pray

in a sort of devoted huddle.

Instead,

what it means

is that this greater purpose,

the mission of Jesus,

his crucifixion

and resurrection,

the promise of forgiveness

and eternal life,

bringing people

into his kingdom,

that this should inform

and control

and empower

everything that we do.

And you know,

I don't think that that means

we should be giving

to the poor less.

In fact,

I'd imagine it means

we'd be giving

to the poor more,

but with this sort of

mission in mind

as we do,

that all of it

would be shaped

around an extravagant

and affectionate

and public response

to Jesus.

I began by telling you

about a friend's

big brother

and he told me

that it was a good idea

to be a Christian

but warned me

not to take it

too seriously,

not to let it get

in the way

of living my life.

And he could not

have been more wrong.

This is not

the first century.

Jesus isn't here,

at least he's not here

bodily.

We can't just pop

to Harvey Nichols

and buy their most

expensive perfume

and pour it all

over his feet.

But I asked earlier

how we were doing

on this

and I wonder

what you thought.

How extravagant

and affectionate

and public

is our response?

Well,

let's just take

each of those

in turn.

Firstly,

how extravagant

is our response

as we respond

to the gospel

like this?

At Mary's

extravagant response,

she's poured out

a litre of perfume,

a year's wages worth.

That's £36,000.

Remember,

it looks like

a massive waste.

Judas thought

it was a massive waste.

Here's what

Watchman Nee,

the Chinese evangelist,

said that he would

have said to Judas.

But if the Lord

is worthy,

how can it be

a waste?

It might be

for us

giving a certain

portion of our

earnings to the church

or to the work

of the gospel.

It might be

refusing a promotion

at work

because you know

the demands

that that will

place on your time

and you'd much

rather sacrifice

that for the sake

of the gospel.

It could be

any number of things.

I don't know

if you've ever

made a costly move

like that.

I bet if you did,

the people around you

didn't understand

what you were doing.

Maybe your friends

and family

saying things like that

is such a waste.

Too extravagant,

maybe.

But if we really

get the enormity

of what Jesus

has done here,

then the extravagant

response,

extravagant giving,

it's no longer

really uncomfortable

or sacrificial

or really costly

to us.

If the gospel

is true,

then extravagance

is really good.

If the gospel

is true,

then a life

devoted to Jesus

is a life

well lived.

How extravagant

is our response?

How affectionate

is our response?

Mary's response,

not only extravagant,

but also affectionate

to get down

on her hands

and knees

and let her hair

down and wipe

Jesus' feet,

the intimacy

and devotion

of that act.

And again,

I want us to see

that if the gospel

is true,

then not only is this

the appropriate response,

but it is so good

to respond like this,

to express our love

and affection

for the one

who first loved us.

Do you know,

most churches

across the world

find our inability

here to express

our emotions

really strange.

British.

And it's true

that we can be

very British.

But loving Jesus,

expressing our affection

for him,

it really is very good.

Because what we're doing

here is not just

an intellectual exercise.

I know it can feel

like that in this

sort of moment

with our Bibles open

and the guy at the front

apparently explaining

the text.

But something much more

is going on here.

As we open God's word,

as his spirit moves

among us

and as he speaks

to us,

it's good to respond

like this.

It might not be

in our character

to be overly expressive.

I get that.

That's fine.

But I think we can often

just use that

as an excuse.

And so as we respond

in song

in a moment's time,

I wonder,

will you be prepared

to express

your affection for Jesus?

That might be

a quiet tear

in your eye.

It might be singing

at the top

of your lungs.

And maybe you'll even

want to raise your hands.

I don't know

what it's going to look

like for you.

But I do know

that it's okay.

In fact,

it is very good

for us to express

our affection

for Jesus.

How affectionate

is our response?

And finally,

how public

is our response?

Mary's response,

extravagant

and affectionate,

it was also public

as the smell

of the perfume

diffused throughout

the house.

It's very easy,

isn't it,

to respond to Jesus

privately,

quietly,

that sort of

personal relationship

with Jesus.

Maybe it's a cup

of coffee in the morning

with your Bible open

or listening to

some worship music

or going for a walk

on your own

and taking in creation.

Maybe it's pen to paper

and something artistic

for you.

And look,

none of those

are bad things.

In fact,

if you're not investing

in your private devotional

life with Jesus,

then can I really

encourage you to do that?

Find something

that works for you.

But this morning,

we need to see

that if we limit

our response

to behind closed doors,

we're missing out

on a wonderful blessing.

The Christian life

of response to Jesus

is supposed to be

lived out amongst

other people.

Yes,

in church,

as we encourage

one another,

but also whether

that's at home

or school

or work

or the club

or the gym

or the coffee shop,

wherever it is,

does your response

to Jesus

so completely inform

how you live

that people can't

help but notice?

Is it public?

You know,

of all the implications

of what Mary does

for us,

I think this is

the hardest.

Maybe that's just me,

but the temptation

to be understated,

to respond privately,

but ultimately

to keep it to myself,

the fear of man,

of what they might

think of me

if I'm prepared

to let my response

to Jesus

really inform

my life in front of them,

not as a show,

not for the sake

of people-pleasing,

but in serving Jesus.

If I'm honest,

I find that really hard.

Maybe you can pray

for me in that,

that my response

to Jesus

with my friends

and my family

that don't know him

at the rugby club,

would you pray

that my response

to Jesus

would affect

more of what I do?

That it would be

increasingly obvious

and public

to people

that as I love him

and become more like him,

that people might

see that in me,

that they might

see it in you.

I wonder where

your head's gone

as I've asked

those questions,

how extravagant

and affectionate

and public

is your response.

Wherever your head

has gone on those things

and will be convicted

in different directions,

please don't do

nothing about it.

We don't just do this

to grow our knowledge

or, as Graham was saying,

to kind of have

a good time together

on a Sunday morning.

We do it to prepare

ourselves for Monday.

One of the ways

we do that here

is growth groups.

We meet during the week

in groups

to think about

how God's word

actually applies

to our lives.

That might not be

your bag

and that's okay.

You don't need

to sign up

to those

if you don't want to.

But if you think

you'd find it helpful

to be in a group

like that,

please do sign up.

We'd love to plug you in.

And if you are

in one of those groups,

as you meet this week,

please be honest

with each other.

Can you think

about those three questions

that I've asked

and be honest

with how you're doing

with each of them

so that we might be able

to pray for one another

as we apply God's word

to our lives.

Just as we finish,

remember where we started.

It was with my sister-in-law's

Harry Potter book

worth so much more

than she possibly

could have imagined.

If we go away

thinking anything

this morning,

as we see

what Jesus has done

for us,

as we consider

these chapters

of John's gospel

that we've been in

over the last few weeks,

as we consider

how we would

respond to that,

just go away

with this.

A bottle of expensive

perfume poured out

in service of him

is nothing

compared to the love

that he poured out

in dying for us.

is nothing

making me happy.