Matthew 26:1-16

Do you turn if you've got a Bible to Matthew 26.

Matthew 26.

I'm quite a strong believer in biographies at bedtime.

!

It shows us how God has blessed people in the past.

A good biography is inspirational.

My favourite biography is the memoirs and remains of Robert Murray McShane.

I've read it with some of you in the church and I love it.

As I read about Robert Murray McShane, he was a preacher in the 19th century, he died when he was 28.

He makes me want to be a better man.

He makes me want to love God more.

He makes me want to get up earlier to pray more.

He makes me want to preach more fervently, more feelingly.

As I've read that book a number of times, it is godliness that is most attractive.

Robert Murray McShane makes me want to do more for the Lord.

But there's another element, isn't there, which we often feel when we read biographies.

How on earth did he do it?

Because I can't get up early enough.

I wish I could.

I certainly can't pray long enough.

Do you find that?

I find that very difficult.

I get too distracted.

I can't preach as fervently as Robert Murray McShane.

When it comes to people, when it comes to heroes, I think there's a fine line, isn't there, between inspiration and discouragement.

People can be, can't they, deeply inspiring, but they can also leave us mere mortals just feeling a little bit depressed.

Why aren't I more like them?

Have you ever felt like that?

Why aren't I more like them?

I can't be like them.

And what I often feel about heroes is how I feel when I read this story of the woman at the start of chapter 26.

Because on this woman, she pays a terribly high price to honour the Lord Jesus.

She is devoted to the Lord Jesus in an outstanding super Christian, Mary McShane kind of way.

She too is prepared to make huge sacrifices in order to serve Jesus.

And so I wonder how you react to her.

Does she inspire you?

Or does she leave you discouraged at the weakness of your own faith?

And your love for Christ?

And that's what I want us to explore this evening.

But before we get to this woman, though, we first must hear that Jesus is reminding us that he is going to die.

So point one is the price he is going to pay.

Chapter 26, verse 1, brings the public teaching of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel to a close.

And now the attention is not on the public teaching, but on preparing his disciples for what is about to take place.

And he says to them in verse 2, he says, you know that after two days the Passover is coming,

and the Son of Man, that's how Jesus refers to himself, will be delivered up to be crucified.

Jesus predicted his death several times, but here he adds a crucial detail.

Here he says, I'm telling you when it's going to happen.

And he says, I'll be handed over to be crucified during the Passover.

And you will know that the Passover was that Jewish festival which recalled and celebrated how they were delivered from Egypt.

That great moment when God brought them through the Red Sea, when God delivered them and brought plagues on the Egyptians,

but he passed over the houses of the Israelites.

And on that night, all those years ago, do you remember,

the Israelites were distinguished by the blood of a lamb painted on a door.

So they marked this annual reminder of God's kindness, secured by the blood of a lamb.

And here you find Jesus telling them, my death is going to be at Passover time.

It is at Passover time that I will render my life.

He's beginning to suggest to them, isn't he, that he is the new Passover lamb.

He is the new way to be safe in the face of death.

It is his blood which we shelter under.

And here Jesus drops the hint.

But when he has his last meal with them, later on in chapter 26, he explains it further.

But at this point, Matthew doesn't stop to explain.

He just simply tells us, this is what Jesus is predicting.

But this is also exactly what the Jewish leaders are plotting.

It's striking that he uses the word then at the start of verse 3.

If this was a movie, wasn't it, you'd have split scenes.

You'd have a scene where Jesus tells his disciples he's about to be crucified.

And then you would cut straight to the temple, the palace of the high priest.

And the camera would zoom in on that conversation.

Taking place.

And we would hear of them planning and plotting Jesus' arrest and execution.

And it's a stunning reminder to you and I at the start of chapter 26 that Jesus is not going to be caught by surprise.

What is about to happen to him is part of God's plan and God's foreknowledge.

There is nothing here which is outside of God's control.

The chief priests and the elders are in their headquarters.

And no doubt they think, we are in control.

We're about to take control of the situation.

But they're not in control, are they?

Jesus is in control of it.

And what they are planning

is what Jesus has predicted.

And ironically, I think Matthew tells us that they are in the palace,

behaving like they have some kind of sovereignty.

But in reality, there is only one who is sovereign here, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is king.

And we see this even in what they say.

Look at verses 4 and 5.

And they plotted together.

It's got echoes of Psalm 2.

They plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

But they said, I'm not doing the feast.

Lest there be an uproar among the people.

They wanted to avoid killing Jesus during the Passover.

So they don't want to stir up trouble for themselves among Jesus' supporters.

The population of Jerusalem swells during Passover time.

It's a great festival.

It's a great festival.

And so politics is always a little bit more risky at that point.

But of course, Jesus has said it will be during the Passover.

It will be exactly then, when he is handed over, and so it proved to be.

The Jewish leaders aren't in control.

They can't even do what they propose to do.

The events that are about to unfold will unfold exactly as God wants.

Exactly as Jesus predicts.

But having reminded us so explicitly of the price that Jesus will pay,

Matthew then chooses to tell us of the price this nameless woman pays.

Verse 6.

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask.

A very expensive ointment.

And she put it on his head as he reclined at table.

It is nothing if not extravagant.

It is.

It is.

It is.

Matthew explicitly tells us it was very expensive.

Experts reckon it's some sort of alabaster jar that would have been a kind of family heirloom of some sort.

Some people say that it was equivalent to a year's wages.

Some say more.

Whichever way you look at it, it wasn't a bottle of aftershave that you can buy at the post office.

It was an extremely generous gesture.

And you note, that's not how the disciples saw it.

Can you see what they say?

They say, verse 8, what a waste.

And they take the moral high ground.

And they point out, well, what could have been done with the money?

Verse 8.

This could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.

They thought the woman's action is unnecessary and quite frankly bizarre.

Even frivolous.

And it's hard not to sympathize with them.

It's a pretty strange thing for this woman to do.

If someone spends a lot of money on buying me a present, I prefer that it was something that I could actually use.

My brother worked out that in the church that he was at, that if he dropped into a sermon in November,

there, that he liked a certain type of food, that's what he got for Christmas.

So one year he dropped in that he liked Ferrero Rocher.

He's got hundreds of boxes of Ferrero Rocher.

You think we don't need that.

You see this gift here, isn't it?

The disciples, how do they feel about this gift?

They feel it's completely unneeded.

It's not as if Jesus was any richer walking away from it.

But nevertheless, the money has been spent, as it were.

And you can't help thinking, can you?

Verse 9.

It's a good point.

The poor.

Think what good could have been done with this money.

Think about the cash value.

What you could have done with that.

But Jesus says you're missing the point.

They call it a waste.

But can you see what Jesus calls it in verse 10?

He calls it beautiful.

Jesus, aware of this, said to them,

Why do you trouble the woman?

For she has done a beautiful thing to me.

You notice in verse 13,

Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world,

what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

Jesus is honoured by what this woman did.

He's honoured by the extravagance of her action.

And it says something, doesn't it,

about how much she values the Lord Jesus.

It says something about what she thinks Jesus is worth.

What she thinks about what Jesus deserves.

It is not economically rational.

But some things transcend economics.

Although I hasten to add, this doesn't transcend reason.

Because what this woman does is thoughtful and well-judged action,

even if it is extravagant.

And the woman believes that Jesus' presence is a rare jewel.

And at this moment of history,

and at this moment in her life,

and her honouring him is actually more important,

far more important,

than giving to the poor.

And amazingly, and wonderfully, and shockingly,

Jesus agrees with her.

And that's why he says,

what she has done will be told in her memory.

She has honoured him,

and so she too will be honoured.

And indeed, the fact that we're reading about her in 2023,

and literally millions know of her,

and read about her,

down through history,

it's evidence, isn't it,

that Jesus was right.

And it's a fascinating thing,

that Jesus honours her in this way.

When you think of all the people,

I'm down through history,

who've had great titles,

and great achievements,

and they've had letters after their name,

but now they're forgotten.

When you think of the New Year's honours list,

at the start of this month,

do you remember who the people are on that list?

You mean to tell me you can't remember Pauline D,

the very first female councillor and mayor,

in the town of Wem, Shropshire?

She's a member of the British Empire Medal.

Or what about Mary Buck?

You know Mary Buck, don't you?

From Swanage.

She worked tirelessly in the COVID vaccination centre.

She's so well known.

Or Sue Sayer.

Sue Sayer,

that world-renowned,

famous founder of the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust,

who received the honour for services

to wildlife protection and conservatism.

We know her, don't we?

We haven't got a clue.

So many, isn't it,

of worldly honours are forgotten.

And yet, this is a woman in Matthew's account

who doesn't even have a name.

And yet she's known and she's remembered

by every generation that reads Matthew's Gospel.

And she's known and she's admired

for what she does for Jesus.

And that is why I think she's nameless here.

She's not nameless in the other Gospels,

but she's nameless here.

Because what Jesus wants to honour

is not who she is,

but as much as what she's done.

Because of what she did,

gives honour to Jesus.

And it alerts us, doesn't it,

to Jesus' worth.

It tells you and I that Jesus

is someone who is worth paying

a very high price for indeed.

And that's why Jesus sees

her extravagant act of devotion

as a thing of beauty.

But Jesus sees an even deeper

significance in her action.

Possibly, in fact, I think

almost certainly deeper

than the woman understood.

She didn't grasp.

Look at verse 12, what it says.

It says,

So Jesus sees her act

as a special kind of anointing.

The kind of anointing

that dead bodies were given.

The pouring out of a perfume

was like Jesus being embalmed.

And Jesus sees this beautiful moment

as a step in his preparation

for that moment

to which his whole life

has been directed to.

That moment when he will

lay down his life

for his people

in a way that she couldn't

have understood

at this point.

Even this woman

would be saved

by the death

her anointing

was preparing him for.

And then in the last

three verses of the passage,

can you see the cost,

the price of betrayal,

verse 14 to 16?

The price of betrayal.

And I think Matthew

suddenly brings

into the foreground

what's been in the shadow

for much of the gospel.

He tells us very matter-of-factly

Judas,

one of the twelve,

goes to the Jewish leaders

and he offers

to hand Jesus over to them.

to hand Jesus

over to them.

But the question he asks

in verse 15

I think really helps us.

It gets to the heart

of the point.

He asks,

what will you give me

if I deliver him

over to you?

What is Jesus worth to you?

What is the price

you're willing to pay?

What is the cost?

He asks.

And their answer is

I'm 30 pieces of silver.

It's what a slave

was worth

in the Old Testament

at times.

It's what a shepherd

got paid.

Either way,

it's not a lot of money.

Judas agrees to the sum.

And so Jesus,

Judas plays the part

of the economic realist.

except his act

is not rational at all.

Because in agreeing

to that sum,

he agrees,

doesn't he,

with the chief priest.

What was Jesus worth

for Judas?

To Judas?

Not very much.

And of course,

this is what the disciples

were struggling with

in verse 8.

They were not convinced

that Jesus was worth

what the woman did.

So can you see

the whole section

of Matthew 26?

It's all about people

who undervalue Jesus.

And the disciples

thought that this woman's

beautiful extravagance

was a waste.

Judas would rather

profit from Jesus' death

than prevent it.

And the Jewish leaders

were only too willing

to part with some

loose change

to get what they wanted

all along.

woman.

And in their way,

all these characters

undervalue Jesus.

That's the backdrop.

And so together,

they form this backdrop

of undervaluing Jesus.

And the contrast

is this nameless woman.

And she alone,

of all the key players

in the story,

values Jesus

for what he's really worth.

She alone

sees Jesus

for who he truly is.

She alone

seems eager

to give to Jesus

what he truly deserves.

She is extravagant

while all the others

are stingy

or worse.

And worst of all

is Judas.

One of the twelve.

Jesus' closest friends.

Those he confided in.

And yet he decides

that following

a so-called king

who was going to

surrender his life

wasn't worth it.

Thirty pieces of silver

would be worth more.

And in verse two,

Jesus predicted.

Notice the words.

Can you see what it says?

Handed over

to be crucified.

Delivered up

to be crucified.

At that point,

we don't know

who by.

But by the time

we come to verse 16,

we make the discovery,

don't we,

that Jesus

will be handed over

by his friend.

The ESV

doesn't help us

as much as it should,

but that language

of handed over

is in both

verse two

and in verse 16.

It turns out

that Judas

is the handover man.

And so the change

of events

has started

that will lead

to Jesus' death,

the fulfillment

of the prediction.

And so

there's something else

we see.

These three sections

have got something

else in common.

because not only

is Jesus

worth being debated

all the way through,

but Jesus' death

is on view

at every point.

So in verse four,

the Jewish leaders

are plotting

Jesus' death.

And the woman

with the alabaster jar

is preparing

Jesus for his death.

And then we see

Judas receiving money

to bring about

Jesus' death.

Each in their own way,

these people

are anticipating it.

but only one

had any hint

that Jesus' death

was part of

what made Jesus worthy.

And only one

would benefit

from Jesus' death

and would be enriched

far more generously

than she had been

generous to him.

And it really is

the difference

between that nameless woman

and everyone else

in the story.

And I think it's

at the heart

of this section

of Matthew,

surrounded by people

who want to

participate in

the killing of Jesus.

This woman lovingly

prepares his body

for what he must

undergo.

And surrounded by

people who

undervalue Jesus,

she sees his true

worth and she

treats him accordingly.

And so it's her

action that shines

like a floodlight

against the dark

backdrop

that these other

characters provide.

people who

are not

but as I said

at the start

of this sermon,

I'm in danger

of finding

this woman's act

more discouraging

than inspiring.

I'm left

wondering to myself,

if I had been

sitting around the

table at that

dinner party,

what would I have

done?

What would I have

said?

I'm left feeling

it's pretty unlikely

I'd have said

anything different

to the disciples.

I'm left feeling

that her devotion

is very difficult

for me to match.

Maybe my faith

is weak in

comparison.

My love

paltry

compared to

hers.

And though

I feel in my

heart I should

be inspired by

this woman,

the fact is

I can come away

from this story

deflated and

discouraged by her.

What I've come

to see as I've

studied this

passage is if I

did walk away

like that,

I've completely

missed the point

of the passage.

Because Matthew

does not want

you and I to be

discouraged by this

woman, nor does

he want me to be

inspired by this

woman.

He wants me to

see Jesus.

He wants me to

see what she

saw, and that's

the secret.

Because what

makes this woman

want to honour

Jesus and to pay

such a high price

to honour him

so extravagantly,

what makes her

willing to pay

such a high price

to save Jesus,

Jesus does.

Because she

sees what

Jesus is worth.

And because she

sees Jesus

clearly.

And what she

does is the

most natural

thing to her

in the world.

is the

moment.

And what I

want to impress

upon you tonight

at the end of

this Lord's Day

is this is

massive.

It's a massive

mistake to see

something like

this woman does

and marvel at

her faith.

It's a mistake

because it falsely

assumes that what

makes this woman

different to me is

that she's got more

faith, or she's got

a stronger faith,

or something like

that.

That's the very

thing, isn't it,

that creates

discouragement.

But in actual

fact, if there is a

difference between

her and me,

it's simply that

she values Jesus

more highly than

I do.

That she has seen

Jesus more clearly

than I have.

And that's the

mistake that I think

I've made in the

past with biographies

like Robert Murray

McShane.

That I think what

makes them different

is the amount of

faith they had,

or the strength of

their love for

Jesus.

But in actual

fact, their life

is simply a product

of the fact

that they see

Jesus more

clearly.

And this woman

has come to

realize what

Jesus is worth.

And that is the

way with everyone

who pays a great

price to serve

Jesus and honor

him extravagantly.

There are no

super Christians.

Do you hear that?

There are no

super Christians.

Christians.

There is just a

super Christ.

There are no

super Christians,

but there are

Christians who see

Jesus Christ.

And who treat

Jesus for all

he's worth.

And there are

Christians whose

vision is blurred

of the Lord Jesus.

And therefore,

they are pretty

stingy or worse.

what would it

take, I wonder,

for us to give,

let's just say,

a year's worth of

salary to the

work of the

kingdom?

What would it

take for you and

I to surrender a

life of comfort

and to sacrifice

greatly for the

kingdom?

What would it

take for us to

hand over all our

biggest fears to

Jesus and go where

he wanted us to go

and do what he

wanted us to do?

This lameless woman

would tell us one

thing.

She would tell us,

see Jesus.

Know who he is.

And know him as a

king who died because

he is worthy.

And when you know

Jesus' true worth

deep down in your

soul, there will be

nothing that you'd

rather hang on to

than him.

And there will be

nothing at all to

fear in surrendering

to him.

Come to think of

it, what would it

take to give a

tenth of our salary

to the work of the

church?

Or to simply pray

more?

What would it

take for us to

truly repent and

break those sins

that we constantly

battle with?

What would it

take for us to

speak more

enthusiastically

about Jesus

to family and

friends?

What would it

take for us to

have those

difficult conversations

that we know we

should have but

they're terrified of

having?

What would it

take for us to

love more graciously

those we find

hard to live?

And this

nameless woman

would tell us

the same thing.

See Jesus.

Because this

passage isn't

really about this

woman.

This passage

isn't about this

woman.

It's about the

man whose

head she

covers with

perfume.

She is

nameless but

he is not.

At the end of

the day we

don't need to

know her, do we?

But we need to

know what

compels her to

act the way she

did and this

passage keeps

thrusting before

you and I

what is Jesus

worth?

And the

answer is he

is worthy.

he is worthy

of what this

man did for

him and

much, much

more.

Jesus' name is

a name that we

do know because

at the end of

the day we do

need to know

him.

And the

more we know

him the more

likely we are to

see that what the

world regards as a

waste, being as a

Christian, living

faithfully as a

Christian, standing

firm as a Christian

like we heard

this morning, even

giving of our

lives to kingdom

ministry, giving

yourself to the

life of God's

church, those

things aren't a

waste, but they're

beautiful in the

sight of God.

And more to the

point, the more

that we know him,

the more likely we

are to see what we

sometimes regard as

wasteful, as

beautiful to him.

So as I kind of

bring this message

to you, as we

seek to share the

gospel and live out

the gospel in front

of our neighbours

and friends,

remember that

people that you

live amongst and

work amongst don't

really need you to

tell them how much

faith they ought to

have.

And they don't

primarily need you

to tell them that

their lives are

empty.

If they're not

Christians, they

know that.

You'll primarily

need you to tell

them about the

Christian worldview,

Christian ethical

standpoint.

They don't even

really need a kind

of set of

propositions that

you want them to

believe.

What they primarily

need, in fact,

what they desperately

need to do is they

need you to introduce

them to Jesus.

With all the

compassion and the

conviction and

earnestness of those

who know Jesus

well.

And know how

much he's worth.

And as your

minister, you don't

need me to tell you

primarily how

important evangelism

is or what

method you ought to

use or what

kind of diagrams

and little images

you should use.

Or how to answer

the tricky questions

that people ask.

Those things are

important.

important.

But if we can be

trained in that, but

if we don't put

people to Jesus, we

produce far more

discouragement than

inspiration.

And what you need

more than anything,

what I need more than

anything, is to see

Jesus clearly.

And to be absolutely

gripped by that

compelling sense of

what he is worth.

love.

And so what I need

most and what you

need most is not

more time.

And it's not more

resources.

And as a church, what

we need is not more

generous donors and

not more ministry

partners.

At the end of the day,

the only thing that

sustains Christians

through the trials and

temptations and

exhaustion and

exhilaration of living

as a Christian is a

worshipful heart.

And there's only one

thing that creates a

properly worshipful

heart and that is

knowing Jesus.

Because when we know

him well, we will

appreciate him.

And we'll value him.

And we'll pay great

costs and we'll make

great sacrifices because

we know he is worthy.

And we'll play small

steps and take small

steps of Christian

progress.

because we'll have a

settled conviction that

there is no higher

privilege, no richer

blessing than knowing

Jesus.

Those who know Jesus

best are those who

know the price he has

paid.

The price paid is the

most expensive and

generous price that

could ever be paid.

And those who know

Jesus best know that

this nameless woman's

extravagance towards him

was just a shadow, a

picture of his

extravagance towards

us.

And in the light of

that, nothing we could

ever do for him is a

high price.

Those who know Jesus

best know that there

is no cost so great

that we wouldn't

gladly pay it.

Because he is and he

was and he is and he

always will be worthy

of it.

And this has become a

favorite story of mine,

not because the woman

inspires me, but because

this act reminds me of

how worthy the Lord

she serves us.

Some of you have

actually made great

sacrifices for the

Lord Jesus and every

sacrifice you have made

for the Lord Jesus has

been utterly sensible.

And this woman encourages

you and I to keep

surrendering ourselves to

Jesus and she does that

not by pointing to

herself, but by pointing

to Jesus.

That's a very different

kind of inspiration.

She says, I need to pray

this simple prayer to

Jesus every day.

Please open my eyes to

see you more clearly.

C.T.

Stead has fascinated me

since I was a little

boy.

Charlie Stead, he was a

cricketer for England.

He was in the name of

the cricket team.

He gave it all to be a

missionary.

I think it's fair to say

that C.T.

Stead was nuts and pretty

impossible to work with.

He was certainly very

hard at work to live

with.

He saw his wife for

three weeks in the last

seven years of his life.

I think she was probably

relieved.

But C.T.

Stead said this, because I

think he understood

Matthew 26.

He said, if Jesus Christ

be God and died for me,

then no sacrifice can be

too great for me to make

for him.

Let's pray.