Extraordinary Love

Good morning. So, this morning we are reading from Matthew chapter 26 and verse 1 to 29.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

So, starting verse 1, we read.

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,

You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the place of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

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

But they said, Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.

Now, when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leopard,

a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment,

and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying,

Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.

But Jesus, aware of this, said to them,

Why do you trouble the woman?

For she has done a beautiful thing to me.

For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

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.

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot,

went to the chief priests and said,

What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?

And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

And from that moment, he sought the opportunity to betray him.

Now, on the first day of unleavened bread,

the disciples came to Jesus, saying,

Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?

He said,

Go into the city to a certain man and say to him,

The teacher says,

My time is at hand.

I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.

And the disciples did,

as Jesus had directed them,

and they prepared the Passover.

When it was evening,

he reclined at the table with the twelve.

And as they were eating, he said,

Truly, I say to you,

one of you will betray me.

And they were sorrowful,

and began to say to him,

one after another,

Is it I, Lord?

He answered,

He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.

The Son of Man goes as it is written of him.

But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It will have been better for that man if he had not been born.

Judas, who would betray him, answered,

Is it I, Rabbi?

He said to him,

You have said so.

Now as they were eating,

Jesus took bread,

and after blessing it,

broke it and gave it to the disciples,

and said,

Take, eat.

This is my body.

And he took a cup,

and he had given thanks.

He gave it to them,

saying,

Drink of it, all of you.

For this is my blood of the covenant,

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you,

I will not drink again of these fruits of the vine

until that day when I drink it with you

in my Father's kingdom.

This is the word of God.

Thank you, Soda and Florence.

Let's pray together as we come before God's word.

Father God, thank you for your word that gives life.

We think of Psalm 19,

speaks about how your word enlightens our eyes,

gives life to the soul.

It's sweeter than honey and great riches.

God, as we come to your word this morning,

we pray that you will speak to us.

We pray that you will feed our souls,

that you will encourage us.

God, we pray that through your word,

you will draw us to yourself.

And Lord, help us to be men and women.

Help us to be a church in the great city of Hong Kong

that is like Mary,

that worships you wholeheartedly

with everything that we have.

We pray this in your great and your gracious name.

Amen.

On August the 30th, 1993,

long before half of you were born,

an American musician and singer-songwriter

by the name of Michael Lee Adde,

he had a stage name called Meat Loaf.

I don't know if any of you remember him,

which is a terrible stage name, by the way.

But he released this song,

his one and only hit single.

Anyone know what it was?

Bernard knows what it is.

I would do anything for love,

but I would not do that.

Anybody know that song?

I would do anything for love,

but I would not do that.

And Michael Adde says,

over the last 30 years,

he actually passed away last year,

over the last 30 years,

the number one question he's been asked

in almost every interview he's ever given,

what is the that?

What is the thing that you would not be willing to do?

Friends, let me ask you,

what would you be willing to do for love?

What would you not be willing to do?

What is your limit,

the one thing that you would not do,

even for the one that you love?

Well, this morning,

we are looking at this passage of Scripture,

and it's all about love.

And it's about two people,

and their extraordinary thing

that they will do

for the one that they love.

This passage is broken up into two sections.

The first one, 1 to 16,

and the second one, 17 to 29.

And so let's look at it together.

And so the first one

is the extraordinary love

of an unknown worshiper.

The extraordinary love

of an unknown worshiper.

Now, this section is full of contrasts,

and Matthew wants us to see

the various contrasts

that are happening here.

We have the high priest,

and the leaders,

and the religious leaders

on the one hand,

and we have an unnamed woman

on the other hand.

We have all the social elites,

the who's who of Jerusalem,

and this social outcast

who meets in the house

of another social outcast,

the leper.

We have the palace of Caiaphas

and the house of Simon the leper.

We have plotting and scheming

done in secret,

and we have the open worship

and devotion of this lady.

And Matthew's trying to show us something

by contrasting the actions

and the thinking

and the behavior

of this woman,

who he doesn't name,

and all the people

that are around her.

And on either side of the story

of this lady who brings

this expensive perfume,

pours it out in Jesus,

on either side of her

are these religious people,

Caiaphas, the elders,

the leaders,

and Judas Iscariot,

one of the disciples,

people who should have known

who Jesus was,

people who should have been

full of worship

and devotion

and adoration,

and yet somehow

they blinded to who Jesus is.

They cannot see him.

And so they don't worship him.

And yet in the middle of that,

we see this lady,

unnamed, unknown in many ways,

and yet she brings

this extravagant worship

to Jesus.

And so let's look at,

let's look at what she does.

Let's look at verse 6 onwards

with me.

Matthew doesn't name her,

but we actually know

from John's Gospel

she is Mary,

who is the sister

of Martha and Lazarus,

that family that Jesus

loved so well.

And she comes to Jesus,

this is a few days

before his death

and his crucifixion,

she comes to Jesus

with an alabaster flask

full of very,

very expensive perfume.

perfume.

We know it is about

a year's wages

for a kind of

entry-level job.

Think 200,000 Hong Kong,

right?

Perfume, 200,000.

And she comes to Jesus

and one of the other Gospels

tells us that she

breaks the jar open,

she doesn't just uncork it

and gently put the flask back.

The flask itself

was extremely precious,

not the kind of thing

that you'd find

in an ordinary person's home.

Some commentators said

it's the kind of thing

that would be passed down

as a family heirloom.

So it's an extremely

precious flask.

She breaks it open

and she pours

the whole lot

on top of Jesus

in this act of worship

and devotion.

Now for us,

that may seem like

a very strange thing to do,

right?

Someone comes as a guest

at a dinner party

and you bring

your most expensive perfume

and pour it on top of them.

But in the first century,

this was a common way

of showing hospitality,

showing care to your guests.

When any guests

came to your house,

you would wash their feet

with water,

you would pour oil

on their head

as a way of showing care

and hospitality to them.

And so in some ways,

this is a usual act,

but what's unusual

is the extent of it,

how lavish

and extraordinary she is.

She holds nothing back.

Taking this family heirloom

kind of vase,

this extremely expensive perfume,

and in one instant

pours it all out

on Jesus.

The point here

is that here we have

this unnamed woman

in Matthew's gospel list,

someone of low social standing.

She's not in the temple,

she's not in the palace,

she's in the house of a leper,

another social outcast,

and yet she so loves

and so devotes herself to Jesus,

she holds nothing back from him.

Nothing is too valuable,

too precious,

two off limits

in her worship

and her devotion to Jesus.

And yet contrast that

just to the person

who comes after us.

Look at verse 14, right?

Then one of the twelve,

in other words,

one of the disciples,

those who have been with Jesus

for three years following him,

whose name was Judas Iscariot,

went to the chief priest

and said,

what will you give me

if I deliver him over to you?

And they paid him

thirty silver coins.

Judas has just seen

this woman

pouring out

a year's wages

of extravagant love

and worship.

And what does he do?

He makes plans

to go to the leaders

and he sells Jesus

for four months' wages,

just a fraction of the price.

The price of a common slave.

Judas comes in

and sells Jesus

to them.

While Mary is lavishly

loving Jesus,

the son of glory,

Judas is making plans

to enrich his own pockets

and line his own pockets.

And Matthew's point is this.

Who is Jesus

and what is he worth?

Matthew's point is

he wants us to see

who is Jesus to us.

How do we view Jesus?

Because here are

a whole lot of people,

some very religious people,

some very people

that have followed Jesus

and they've followed

all the rules

and yet they don't see him

for who he's worth.

In fact, actually,

when they see Jesus,

they see something else.

They see,

how can I enrich myself?

And here is a simple lady.

She doesn't have

all the bells and whistles,

maybe not very educated,

certainly not social elite,

certainly not in the inner circle,

and yet she sees Jesus

for who he is.

She sees him

for all that he's worth.

And the answer

that Matthew wants us to see

is Jesus Christ

is worth

the most extravagant worship

and the most costly love.

And that it's not a waste

to pour out your life,

even the things

that are most precious

and valuable to us,

it's not a waste

to pour that out

in the service of Christ,

our King.

At the church office,

we've been trying

to rebuild our website recently

because we closed down the app

and so we're trying

to make our website

mobile friendly.

And so Jeremy and I

have been looking

at the website

a bit recently

and this week

I looked at our website

and do you know

what the front page

of our website says?

Anybody know?

The opening line

says something like this,

loving God deeply,

delighting in the gospel lavishly.

And then look

at the first line there,

we as a church family

believe that God

is magnificent,

deserving of

wholehearted devotion.

Well,

one of the things

that I've learned

is never believe

what any organization

writes on their website,

right?

I mean,

any organization,

whether it's

Catholic Pacific

or a church

or HSBC,

they're going to tell you

what they want you

to think,

right?

Or they're going to tell you

what they aspire

to be like,

but what they aspire

to be like

and what's in reality

may be two very

different things.

I wasn't sure

whether to laugh

or smile or cry

when I saw this

this week

and I was preparing

for this sermon,

right?

Loving God deeply,

loving God extravagantly,

loving God lavishly.

Is that true of us?

Is that true of me?

Here we see

what that means.

What does it mean

to love God deeply?

Well,

Mary shows us.

Matthew wants us

to see that Jesus Christ

is worthy

of the most lavish

and deep devotion

because all around Jesus

are these religious people,

right?

People who should have seen

what Jesus was worth

and yet they miss it

completely.

Look at the first one.

Look at verse 3 and 4

with me.

It says,

verse 3,

Then the chief priests

and the elders

of the people

gathered in the palace

of the high priest,

Caiaphas,

plotting together

in order to arrest Jesus

by stealth

and kill him.

Now,

if you're familiar

with the Gospels,

it's easy to read

over that quickly,

but just slow down

and think about it.

Who was the high priest?

The high priest

is the most important person

in the nation of Israel.

He's the person

that oversees

all worship,

all the temple,

all the sacrifices.

He's the one person

that oversees

all other priests.

Everything that happens

in the temple compound

is his responsibility.

And so,

all the priests

who day in and day out

are offering worship

and praise

and incense

and praise to God,

he oversees all of it.

He's the one person

who represents

the nation of Israel

as he goes

into the most holy place,

the inner part

of the sanctuary,

once a year

as Israel's representative

to encounter

the presence of God.

He's the one person

that oversees

all the sacrifices.

And what weekend

is coming up?

Passover,

when almost a million people

are going to flood

into Jerusalem

and offer sacrifices

of lambs

in remembrance

of Passover.

And Caiaphas

is the one person

who should oversee

all of it.

And yet,

what's on his mind

this weekend?

Not worship,

not sacrifice,

but murder.

They're plotting

and they're scheming

how to secretly

arrest Jesus

and kill him

because of the threat

to their own

political ambitions.

You know,

Caiaphas was quite

a shrewd guy.

At the time

of the first century,

the Romans had said

that the high priest

could only be in office

for one year at a time,

one year term,

and then he had to hand over.

Caiaphas made a deal

with the Romans

and ended up in office

for 18 years

as he lined his own pockets

and enriched himself.

And then,

in John's gospel,

he issues these amazing words.

He says to a couple of people,

don't you understand

it's better for us

that one man,

Jesus,

should die for all the people

rather than the whole nation

should perish.

Now,

Caiaphas is not talking

about Jesus' sacrificial death

on the cross

for the sins of the world.

What he's talking about

is Jesus is causing

an uproar

and the Romans

are going to get tired of us

and they are going to come

and stamp out our authority

and take control.

Better for us

to kill Jesus

than we lose

our favored status

with the Romans.

So who's Caiaphas

thinking about here?

He's thinking about himself,

right?

Here before him

is the King of Glory,

Jesus Christ,

the eternal God

and all he's thinking about

is his pockets.

Or think about Judas,

right?

What's going on with him?

He has somebody

who knows how to say

the right things,

do the right things,

act the part

and yet

there's a whole other side

to his life

where nobody's watching

that's going on

and he thinks

that nobody knows

what's going on.

He's double-sided

except Jesus,

of course,

knows what's going on.

Jesus says to him,

one of you will betray me

and Judas says,

not I, Lord, right?

And Jesus just

quietly nods

and says,

yes,

it's as you've said.

And so even though

he's already gone

and negotiated

the price for Jesus' head,

here he is

at the Passover meal

taking the bread

and the cup

and celebrating

the grace of God

to God's people

and yet all the while

there's a whole other

double life

that's going on

behind the scenes,

right?

And what about

the disciples?

They possibly have

the best intentions,

they see Mary's

extravagant worship

and immediately

they think of

all the good things

that could have been done

and so they're annoyed,

they're indignant,

they say,

what a waste,

all this,

we could have done

all sorts of good ministry,

we could have had

our name in light,

we could have served

the poor,

we could have expanded

our ministry

and yet even their

good intentions

doesn't stop them

from Jesus' rebuke.

Verse 10,

why do you trouble

the woman?

She has not wasted

the money,

she's done something

beautiful.

Verse 11,

you will always have

the poor with you

but you will not

always have me.

Jesus is saying here

that to love Jesus

above all

with all of our

affections,

all of our worth,

all of our wealth,

with everything we have

is never a waste.

The extraordinary love

of an unnamed woman.

Friends,

who is Jesus Christ

and what is he worth

to us this morning?

Maybe put it another way,

the question Matthew

is asking us is,

what's more important

to us than Jesus Christ

this morning?

What holds us back

from giving our entirety

to him?

Now for some of us,

maybe it's not finances

and wealth

in her situation

that was it

but maybe for some of us

it's our reputation,

right?

We think,

okay money,

I can dispose of that

but what people think

of me,

what my family thinks

of me,

what my colleagues

will think of me.

Friends,

this woman must have

known and seen

and heard the grumblings

of people going on

around her

and yet she comes

and issues her all.

For some of us,

our reputation

is what holds us back.

Maybe for some of us

it's a relationship,

right?

It's someone you

we're dating,

we think I'll give

anything for Jesus

as long as he doesn't

touch that relationship.

That is something

I cannot give up.

Friends,

maybe for some of us

it's a career,

it's a job,

you've dedicated

years to studying,

your parents have

paid for your education,

you feel like I could

never walk away

from this career

that I've dedicated

myself to.

But maybe Jesus

is asking you

to take a bold step

of faith

and to contemplate

doing something

extravagant for him.

Maybe for some of us

it's the cost

to bear

of forgiving

somebody that's hurt us.

You know,

Jesus says,

as I've forgiven you,

so you should forgive

one another.

It may be

you feel like

that's the one thing

that I hold on to

and it's too much

to let go

of the right

that I feel

aggrieved by

someone else's hurt.

Friends,

what would we be

willing to give up

for Jesus?

Matthew shows us here

that Jesus Christ

is worthy

of extraordinary love,

extraordinary devotion,

such lavish

pouring out

of our lives

in worship

for Jesus.

Jesus.

Now,

the question,

that's the first part.

Now,

the question is this,

how do we love

Jesus like this?

I mean,

how do we become

the kind of people,

let me put it this way,

I long for myself

and I long for us

as a church

to love Jesus like this.

We've said it

many times before,

we don't need

to be a famous church,

we don't need

to be a big church,

we don't need

to be the talk

of the town,

but I long for us

to be a church

that worships

and loves Jesus

like this.

But the question is,

how do we become

like that?

And we were talking

before the service,

you know,

us as leaders,

we can really try

our best to manipulate you.

We can beat you

over the back,

proverbially,

say,

you must be better,

you must be more devoted,

don't you know

how amazing Jesus is?

You don't worship

Him like that,

you terrible Christians,

okay,

we can shout at you.

We can manipulate you

and say,

well,

you'll get all these

rewards in heaven

if you really love

Him like that.

You know,

we can do

all sorts of things.

But actually,

that doesn't work,

right?

The human heart

doesn't respond

to manipulation,

doesn't respond

to pressure,

doesn't respond

to being scolded.

So how do we

as a church

become the kind

of church

that loves Jesus

like this

from the heart,

not just out of

pressure or manipulation?

What did Mary know,

what did Mary see

that caused her

to give not just

this expensive perfume,

but actually her whole self?

I think part of the clue

is found in verse 12

and 13.

Look at it with me.

Look at verse 12.

Jesus says,

in pouring out this perfume

on my body,

she has done it

to prepare me

for burial.

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.

somehow Mary saw

or connected

or understood

who Jesus was

and what he had

come to do.

I don't think Mary

understood the full gospel.

I don't think

she understood it all,

but somehow

the eyes of her heart

had been opened

to see

that Jesus Christ

was not just a good man,

not just a great teacher.

Somehow she had come

to see that he had

to die

and that he would

rise again

and that the good news

of the gospel

that the prophets

had spoken about

for hundreds of years

was somehow

connected with him.

Remember Mary

and Martha

and Lazarus

were some of

Jesus' closest friends.

In John 11

when Jesus raises

Lazarus from the dead,

just before that

he has a conversation

with Martha,

Mary's sister,

and he says to her,

I am the resurrection

and the life.

Whoever believes in me,

though he die,

yet shall he live.

He says,

do you believe these things?

And she says,

yes Lord,

I believe that you

are the Christ

the Son of God

who is coming

into the world.

So Mary's sister Martha

says,

you are the Christ,

the anointed one,

the long-awaited Messiah King

who has come

into the world

to save us.

And I think Mary

had heard

of the many times

that Jesus says,

the Son of Man

is going to Jerusalem,

will be killed

and will rise

on the third day.

And somewhere along the line

she's connected the dots

and understood

this is the Messiah King.

And so she knew

about the extraordinary love

of an unlikely Savior.

And that's our second point today.

The extraordinary love

of an unnamed woman

is fueled

and motivated

by the extraordinary love

of an unlikely Savior

and deliverer.

Because look at what happens

in verse 17

and onwards.

This section

is all about

the Passover.

Look at how many times

Matthew

writes the word Passover

in the first three verses.

He says,

the disciples came to Jesus

saying,

where will you have us

prepare the Passover?

Jesus says,

go into the city

and tell the man,

I want to prepare

the Passover

at your house.

So the disciples

did as Jesus

had directed them

and they prepared

the Passover.

This entire section

is all about

the Passover.

But what was

the Passover?

Well,

the Passover

was this feast,

this celebration

in Israel.

It's the most important

celebration

in the history

of Israel.

It's like

Chinese New Year

and Christmas

and Easter

all rolled into one.

Where literally

almost every family

in the whole of Israel

will descend

on Jerusalem,

a couple of million people,

and they will celebrate

God's deliverance

from Egypt,

how God saved

and delivered

His people

by the blood

of the Lamb.

And why is it called

the Passover?

Because when God's people

were slaves

in Egypt,

one-off thousand years

before Jesus came,

how did God

deliver them?

Well,

God brings His judgment

on the nation of Israel

and on Pharaoh

because of His wickedness.

And so,

all of Egypt,

the firstborn son

of every family

is going to die.

God had warned them

and spoken to them

and called them

to repent

and to turn

and to listen to Him.

They won't have it

and so God says,

fine,

have things your way,

but there's a price.

And the consequences

for your wickedness

and rebellion

is that the firstborn son

of every family

is going to die

except for those

who will trust in God.

And what does it look like

to trust them?

They are to take a lamb

and to sacrifice it

and to take the blood

and to put the blood

in a bowl

and they're to stand

at the doorway

of their house

and they're to paint

the door frames

of their house

in the shape

of a cross

with the blood

of the lamb.

And that night

as judgment comes

over Israel,

every house

that has the blood

of the lamb

painted the shape

of the cross

in the door frames

of their house

will be passed over

and they will be saved.

And so those families

are delivered and saved.

And so the next day,

Pharaoh says,

okay, fine,

get out of Egypt.

And a couple of hundred

of thousand,

maybe million people

leave Egypt,

are saved and delivered,

set free

from an enemy

that they could not

save themselves from.

They are saved

by the blood of the lamb

as judgment passes over them

because they trusted in God.

And so every year

on the second month

of the year,

all of Israel

comes to Jerusalem,

they come to the temple,

they sacrifice lambs

and they celebrate

the Passover,

the time when God

saved them

by grace alone

from an enemy

that they could not

save themselves from.

And if you celebrated

the Cedar meal

with us over the last

few years at Easter,

you'll remember

some of the elements,

right?

All these amazing elements

at the Passover meal.

They eat the bitter herbs

to remember

the bitterness

of their time in Egypt.

They drink salt water

to remember the tears

that they cried

as they cried out to God

for deliverance.

They eat this mixture

of nuts and herbs

and fruit,

kind of like a mixture

of the clay

that they had to make

these clay bricks.

And they drink

this cup of wine

and every cup of wine

they proclaim the blessing

from Exodus chapter 6,

Exodus 6 · chapter mention

right?

Except this year,

in Matthew 26,

something's going to be different.

The Passover's

going to be different.

Jesus turns

this 2,000 year old tradition

on its head

because this year

Jesus rewrites the script.

And so as Jesus

is with his disciples

in Jerusalem

about to celebrate

the Passover,

the time when God

saved his people

from judgment,

Jesus rewrites the script.

And rather than picking up

the unleavened bread

and breaking in various pieces

and saying,

Blessed art thou,

Lord God of heaven,

creator of all things,

for from you

come the bread of the earth,

Jesus takes the unleavened bread

and he breaks it

and he says,

Take.

Eat this.

This is my body

that is broken for you

for your deliverance.

And rather than taking

a cup of wine

and saying,

Blessed are you,

Lord God of heaven,

creator of the earth,

from you come the fruit of the vine,

Jesus takes the wine,

the third cup,

and he says,

Take and drink this.

This is my blood

that is going to be poured out

for you

for your deliverance.

Friends,

you see what Jesus is saying here?

The Passover and the Exodus

is what constituted

the people of God.

It's what made them

the people of God.

The people of God

and the nation of Israel

were saved by God's grace.

That's what made them

who they were.

And Jesus now comes

and he says,

I am the true lamb of God

that is going to be sacrificed.

I am going to be sacrificed

to save God's people

that all those who trust in me

will be saved from judgment to come.

Not just from Pharaoh,

not just from Egypt,

but from hell,

from judgment,

for all eternity.

Jesus is instituting

a new covenant

the covenant

that Moses and Jeremiah

and Ezekiel spoke about.

A covenant

where all those

who come to him

and trust in him

will be saved

from their sins,

past, present,

and future,

forever.

Forgiveness for all people.

Where those

who were once rebels

will be transformed

into his family,

to sons and daughters.

Jesus comes

and he says

that I will save

God's people

by my extraordinary love.

The extraordinary love

of an unlikely savior.

And throughout this passage,

Jesus is entirely

in control of everything.

Look at verse 2.

I don't know if you remember.

Verse 2 says,

Jesus says,

after two days,

the Passover is coming,

the Son of Man

will be delivered up

and crucified.

The whole of Matthew's gospel

has been moving

in this climax.

And now,

over this passage

lies the shadow of Calvary.

And yet,

Jesus is unflinching.

He's not one bit concerned.

Jesus knows

what Judas is going to do.

He knows

what the high priest

is talking about.

He knows

every single bit of detail.

He's unflinching.

Because Jesus

is orchestrating

everything towards the cross.

Because this is why he came.

To die on the cross

for us.

Look at verse 5.

It says,

I love this.

It says,

Caiaphas says,

let's kill Jesus,

but not during the Passover,

unless there be an uproar

amongst the people.

So,

Caiaphas says,

listen,

let's wait for the Passover

to be over

and then you'll kill Jesus.

Except it didn't work out

how Caiaphas wanted,

right?

When did Jesus die?

Well,

John's Gospel tells us

that it seems

that at the very moment

that thousands of lambs

are being sacrificed

in the temple,

up on the hill

behind the temple

is the true Lamb of God

breathing his very last

at that very moment.

See,

Caiaphas didn't want Jesus

to die of Passover,

but Jesus is orchestrating

the whole thing

because he's the true

Lamb of God.

Friends,

we started off saying

that this passage

is about the extraordinary

love of two people.

It's about Mary's

extraordinary love

for the Messiah

that she's come to love,

Jesus Christ.

But even more than that,

it's about Jesus'

extraordinary love

for people like you and I.

That he would go to the cross

and take on our sin

and our shame

and our brokenness

and our rebellion

and our guilt.

Jesus would go to the cross

for sinners like you and I.

that we can know him

and love him

and be included

in his family.

That now we really

can worship him

and adore him

as he deserves.

In John chapter 11,

John 11 · chapter mention

we spoke about it earlier,

when Jesus

hears that Lazarus

is ill,

John tells us,

he says,

now Jesus loved Martha

and her sister Mary

and Lazarus.

Jesus loved this family.

We saw earlier

Mary's love for Jesus

radical and extravagant,

deep and personal.

But friends,

that's nothing compared

to Jesus' radical love

for the world

for sinners like us.

Radical and extravagant,

deep and deeply personal.

That Jesus,

the Son of God,

would suffer for you and I.

And friends,

you know how we,

like Mary,

can give up everything

and worship him?

It's only by knowing

his love for us.

It's the extravagant love

of Jesus

that fuels our love

for him.

And the point here

is only as we see

Christ's love for us

can we actually

in any way

love him in return.

In 2017,

there was a British

parliamentarian,

politician

called Tim Farron.

He was the leader

of the Liberal Democratic Party,

which is the third

biggest party.

They're not the Labour

or the Conservatives.

But in 2017,

they were kind of

like the kingpins.

It was quite a powerful position

as the Labour and Conservatives

were fighting for power.

And Tim Farron

was the leader

of the party.

And one day,

his party

makes some decisions

that go against

his convictions

as a follower of Jesus.

And so he resigns

as the party leader.

And it was a remarkable

decision

because he's in his 40s,

because he's at the high

point of his career.

He's kind of the top

of his career.

He couldn't progress

any further.

And out of nowhere,

he resigns

as the leader

of the party.

And he almost demotes

himself to some,

you know,

backbencher,

ordinary parliamentarian.

And someone comes to him

and says,

why would you do that?

I mean,

you've got,

you're at the top

of your career.

Why would you walk

away from it now?

And Tim Farron quoted

the words from the old hymn

when I surveyed

the wondrous cross.

He says,

were the whole realm

of nature mine.

They were an offering

far too small.

Love so amazing,

so divine,

demands my life,

my soul,

my all.

See, friends,

at Watermark,

we talk about Jesus

and the gospel

and his grace a lot.

And the grace of God

is not meant to make us lazy.

We're not meant to say,

oh, Jesus died on the cross,

I can do whatever I want.

I can sin however I want

because Jesus covered it all,

right?

Who cares?

No, no, friends,

the love of Christ

is so amazing,

so divine,

so extravagant.

It's meant to cause

a fireball of explosion

in our hearts

that says,

Jesus,

have my life,

my soul,

my life,

my all.

Friends,

it's entirely impossible

to be very religious

and yet end up

like Judas Iscariot.

It's entirely possible

to be very religious

and end up

like Caiaphas.

How are we going

to be those

that are so in love,

so enamored

with Jesus Christ

that we pour out

our all with him?

Ironically,

it's not by looking

at Mary and saying,

I want to be more like her.

It's not by looking

at Mary and saying,

what are the three lessons

we can learn

from her life?

It's actually forgetting

about Mary altogether.

It's forgetting

about ourselves altogether.

It's by looking at Jesus

and seeing what he did

on the cross for us.

And as we see

the extraordinary love

of Christ

for sinners like us,

it will melt our hearts

to love him in return.

This is how we love

like Mary.

Not by looking at her,

but by looking at Jesus.

Friends,

is there anything

that you won't do for love?

Anything that's too far,

too hard to let go of?

Come to Jesus

and let his extraordinary love

melt your heart

that you too

can worship him

as he deserves.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus,

we must confess

that as we look

at this passage,

we don't love you

anything like

what you deserve.

Father,

I must confess

that my heart

is probably more closer

to that of Caiaphas,

thinking about my own kingdom,

my own will,

my own life,

probably closer

to Judas Iscariot,

thinking about

how I can enrich myself

in really loving you

wholeheartedly.

Jesus,

this morning we confess

we need your grace,

not only to save us

from our sins,

but to change our hearts.

Jesus,

we need your extravagant love

to come and melt our hearts

to love you in return.

And so Christ,

I pray,

won't you come

and do that amongst us.

Lord Jesus,

as we come to the communion table now

and we take the elements,

I pray,

God,

open the eyes of our hearts

to see our depravity

and our sin,

to see our hopeless condition,

to see how utterly lost

we were without you,

and to see your great mercy

and your great love for us.

God,

may we see in these elements

this morning,

more than just a wafer

and some juice,

but Jesus,

the Son of glory

and His amazing love for us.

And God,

come and change us.