A Beautiful Thing

I want you to see now how Mark sets the scene for us.

This is another one of those, we've called them literary sandwiches.

Scholars call them Markan sandwiches, where he'll start with a story,

he'll insert a different story, and then he'll come back to conclude the first story at the end.

That's really what Mark's doing here.

He sets the scene with the first two verses.

It was now two days before the Passover, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread,

the chief priest and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,

for they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.

And so these two verses here introduce this final subsection of Mark's gospel.

All of the focus is now turning to the suffering, death, and ultimately resurrection of Jesus.

Remember what Mark stated in the very first verse of the book was his purpose.

His purpose is to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and the Son of God.

And by God's grace, and through the work of God's Spirit,

he has skillfully set forth his argument, which finds its glorious conclusion in these last three chapters.

And though believers look on these moments with understandable joy,

they really are very dark and disturbing.

We're told that the Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread are within two days' time from beginning.

The ruling body of the Jews here, mentioned as the chief priest and the scribes,

probably meant to be a reference to the Sanhedrin.

They are hurriedly and stealthily pursuing the death of Jesus.

They've plotted for years.

This has been building up all through Mark's gospel, this antagonism of the leaders among the Jews.

They are now at a point where they can wait no longer, and they're waiting for the opportune moment,

which presents itself here when one of Jesus' closest friends agrees to help them.

And as they carry out this plan, all of Jesus' disciples abandon him,

and he's left utterly alone to face the agony of the cross.

And it's amid this context that Mark inserts this beautiful story of devotion and worship.

We say, well, why exactly is this here?

Why don't we think it's hard for us to see that this story itself carries on the theme that Mark has woven

throughout his whole book on the nature of true and genuine discipleship.

We've seen that time and again.

And what we see happening here with this woman,

it's not so much a picture of that initial decision to be a follower of Christ.

Remember, is it chapter 8 where Jesus says,

If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Right?

And he sets forth the terms for discipleship.

Well, that's a moment that we may, that's a decision we make at the moment of conversion, isn't it?

Our hearts are awakened in faith to the person of Jesus Christ.

We respond then with an affirmative action that we're going to leave everything else behind

and we're going to follow Christ with our lives.

But that spirit and attitude and mindset of discipleship does not end in that moment.

It's carried on perpetually throughout the entire life of the believer in Jesus.

And what we see really unfolding, the purpose I think for it here in Mark chapter 14 of this story

Mark 14 · chapter mention

is to give us a picture of what it looks like for a believer in this ongoing spirit and attitude of devotion

and sacrifice and worship and leaving all things behind, even precious things,

in order to be fully and completely devoted to Jesus.

I really think that's what we're to take from this story.

While the Jews are rejecting Jesus and the 12 are abandoning Jesus,

this woman's action stands out as a beautiful illustration of wholehearted devotion to Jesus.

And if you want to know how true discipleship is expressed in a believer's life,

you need look no further than to this woman.

Even Jesus himself said what she's done is not going to be forgotten.

People are going to talk about it forever.

Wherever the gospel goes, they're going to talk about this moment.

And here we are, 2,000 years later, and we're talking about this moment.

Four things about this passage I want to point out to you.

The first thing is this.

I want you to see extraordinary devotion.

Extraordinary devotion.

What does it look like for a believer in Christ to continue in faithful discipleship?

Well, it begins and ends with extraordinary devotion.

Look at verse 3.

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,

as he was reclining at table,

a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly,

and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

Now, neither Matthew or Mark reveal the woman's identity.

Luke doesn't cover this particular event.

But John chapter 12, in fact, if you want to write that in the margins of your notes,

John 12 · chapter mention

I want to encourage you to go and read that passage later on this afternoon.

You're going to hear me say some things probably today that you don't find in Mark 14.

You're going to find it in John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

and I just probably won't take the time to tell you to flip back and forth.

Okay, so write that in the margins and go and read it later.

John chapter 12 actually tells us who this is.

John 12 · chapter mention

This is Mary.

Mary, who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

That's who it is that performs this act.

Now, Jesus had been staying in Bethany.

We know that already.

It's a two-mile walk from Jerusalem,

and a group of Jesus' followers were holding a dinner party in his honor.

That's the purpose of the gathering here together.

It's not at Mary's house.

It's actually at another man's house named Simon.

And it's during this gathering that we're told Mary interrupts the dinner,

and she has this unusual but extravagant display of honor.

I mean, it is unusual, isn't it?

Maybe even for their culture it would have seemed somewhat unusual.

Certainly for our culture, this is kind of a weird thing.

She brought in a box of very expensive perfume or oil.

She broke its container open and then proceeded to pour its contents on the head

and on the feet of the Lord Jesus.

That's kind of strange.

The oil that's used here, we're told, is pure nard.

Your translation may say spike nard.

It's the same thing.

It was an aromatic ointment probably from the Himalayan mountains in Asia.

It was especially pungent.

And its most common use in this particular culture of Jesus' day

was as an oil to anoint dead bodies.

It covered up the stench.

The smell of it was so aromatic and strong.

It covered up the stench of decomposition in dead bodies.

That's what people would most likely use this for.

And the value and purpose of the perfume

is what made Mary's action actually so extravagant.

Ironically, it's actually also what made people so offended by what she did.

There's more to this action than just the giving of a luxurious gift.

In fact, there's four things I want to point out about Mary's worship here

that show us that this really was an extraordinary act of devotion.

First thing is this.

It was costly.

Her act itself, her worship itself was costly.

The cost of such a bottle of ointment was, we're told,

equivalent to at least 300 denarii,

which is a year's salary.

Now, can you imagine, just in the monetary value of this perfume,

can you imagine men taking a year's worth of your salary,

going this Christmas,

and buying the equivalent of whatever your salary is in perfume for your wife?

A single bottle of perfume worth a year's salary.

And then can you imagine if your wife then comes to church next week

and decides she's going to pour the entire contents of that bottle of perfume on me?

You might be a little offended by that, right?

Why?

Partly because of the sheer value of it.

It's very expensive.

Oil, very expensive ointment.

But the value here, what cost Mary so much,

was much more than monetary value.

You understand that, right?

It likely had tremendous sentimental value.

Mary's likely not the type of person that would have had the means just to go and buy this.

Most likely it was an heirloom passed down from her family.

Perhaps it had been passed down from generation to generation.

Maybe they would even break open maybe the stopper of the bottle

and just use a few drops at a time whenever a loved one would pass away

and they continued to pass it down.

Maybe that was the circumstance for Mary.

I don't know.

Typically a gift like this would have been given as a part of a woman's dowry.

And we don't know the nature of all of Mary's relationships.

All we know is that she's probably not the type of person

that could have just gone out and bought this.

It had sentimental value.

It's been given to her probably by somebody that loved her very much

and that she loved her very much as well.

But it also had value in the security that it provided to her.

Right?

It's not only sentimental.

If it's really worth a year's salary,

she knows that if Mary ever gets into a tough spot in life,

she knows she can at least sell the nard.

And in the process of selling that,

she can at least buy herself a year's worth of comfort,

a year's worth of time and security.

It's not just about the money.

There's an emotional attachment to this gift.

There is a securing attachment to this gift.

But the purpose of it as well gives it really great value.

Like a family who wants to honor the death of a loved one

in the most meaningful possible way,

this object had an honorable purpose reserved for the people that Mary loved the most.

In other words, it cost Mary significantly to lavish this worship on Jesus,

something we should all take careful note of here in this story.

It wasn't just about the money.

There was a lot more value to this object than just that.

And she was willing to give up all of it.

The money, the security, the sentimental nature,

the purpose for another person that this would have had.

She's willing to give all of that up in order to give it to Jesus,

in order to express this devotion to Jesus.

And isn't this the nature of true worship?

True worship always cost us something.

Always.

And when I say worship, I don't mean just merely the gathering on a Sunday morning.

When we talk about worship, we're not boxing it up into an event.

We're talking about the overflow of our life in response to the goodness of Jesus

and the person of God and his character.

Our whole life is to be lived as an act of worship to him.

That always cost us something.

In fact, it always cost us everything.

As is exemplified here in Mary.

But it wasn't just costly.

It was calculated.

Her worship, her devotion was calculated.

We shouldn't be quick to accuse her of being careless or rash.

The unusual nature of what she did, I think,

communicates that her actions were actually very thoughtful.

They were thought out.

But then consider this.

They're not in Mary's house.

This party's at someone else's house.

So it's not like they're in the middle of the party

and Mary just gets this idea that up in the closet, I've got this thing.

This would be pretty cool to do.

And she just does it spontaneously.

That's not the picture that we get here.

Mary has thought about this ahead of time.

She has seen in this act a way to express her love for the Lord.

And she goes home.

She gets the ointment.

And she brings it along with her.

It was calculated.

It was intentional.

She did it on purpose.

Nobody shows devotion to Jesus on accident.

It doesn't happen.

You don't just wake up one morning and say,

you know what?

I think I'm going to live my life for the Lord today.

No, it's the buildup.

It's a calculated response to who Jesus is and what he has done.

And it's daily, intentionally living out our lives in this expression of devotion.

It's costly.

It's calculated.

Third, it was unreserved.

It was unreserved.

Mary didn't break the box's seal in order that she might pour some of the oil on Jesus.

She broke the neck of the flask itself.

The word here indicates crushing.

She has crushed the container itself.

Why?

In order that she might empty all of its contents on the Lord.

When it came to her worship and devotion, she held nothing back for herself or for anyone else.

She gave it all to Jesus.

A consistent picture of discipleship in Mark's gospel, isn't it?

Are you seeing why Mark is including this now?

Look at what she's doing.

She doesn't pour a few drops and then save the rest for Lazarus or for a future husband.

No.

She gives all of her devotion to Jesus.

Any other devotion in her life would have to flow first out of her love for Jesus.

Do you see?

Fourthly, it was humble.

It was humble.

Now, how can we know that Mary just wasn't showing off?

Because that's easy to do, isn't it?

It's easy to find a public way to demonstrate what you believe is an expression of worship.

We see that happen in churches all the time.

People stand on a platform and put on a good show or whatever it is that they're doing.

How can we know that that's not what Mary was doing?

After all, it's a room full of men in a male-dominated society.

Maybe perhaps she had this thought that said, I'll show these men.

I'll do more for Jesus than what any of them have ever done.

I don't think that's what she was doing.

And the reason I don't think that's what she is doing is because of what John 12 emphasizes to us.

Matthew and Mark both say that she pours this on the head of Jesus.

John emphasizes a different part.

She pours it on the feet of Jesus.

John says that after she pours it on the feet of Jesus, she takes her hair and she begins to wipe the feet of Jesus.

You know what she's doing?

She's literally washing his feet.

She's washing his feet.

An act reserved for slaves.

She was doing for Jesus in this moment what the 12 were going to refuse to do for Jesus in just a couple of days.

He was going to have to go through this extreme example of servant-heartedness for his disciples

that they could have learned the lesson if they had just paid attention to Mary a few days before.

It's humble service.

Her worship wasn't about herself.

It was about serving Jesus.

Even in the most humiliating of ways if necessary.

Such is our worship to the Lord.

Four things this communicates to Jesus in this moment.

What is it that Jesus thinks as Mary does this?

What is it that we are to look at this act and say this is what her act communicates?

First, it communicates this.

Jesus, you are more precious to me than my most precious possession.

Nothing, Lord, that I have is more valuable than you.

Everything that I have is yours.

Even the thing that I love the most.

Now you fill in the blank of whatever that is for your life.

It may not be a material object like it was for Mary.

Maybe it's a person.

It's a person.

Those of us who are parents, we understand this, right?

We love our children so much.

Sometimes we love them too much.

So that we love them even maybe more than what we love our spouse.

Or perhaps even that we love our Savior.

Is your children more precious to you than even Jesus is precious to you?

Maybe it's a job.

I will do this thing.

I'll get to Jesus when I can.

But this is what's really important to me.

Maybe it's a hobby.

Maybe it's something else.

What is it that's so precious to you in your life?

Could you legitimately communicate to Jesus in the devotion that you express to him on a day-to-day basis

that, Jesus, you are more precious to me than anything else in this life?

That's what her act expresses here.

Communicates that.

It doesn't just communicate that.

She says, I'll hold nothing back as I follow you, Lord.

I'll hold nothing back.

I'm not just giving you a few drops.

I'm not just giving my kids to you on Sunday.

I'm giving my kids to you every day.

I'm not just counting on the Adventure Club people to teach my children.

I'm going to teach them.

Why?

Because Jesus is more precious to me.

And I want them to know his preciousness.

The treasure that he is.

So we can go on down the line and we can point to things.

He says, I'm not going to hold anything back from you, Jesus.

I'm going to give you all.

What else does it communicate?

I'm willing to serve you, Jesus, in the humblest of ways if necessary.

If no one ever notices me.

If no one ever cares.

If everyone thinks that what I'm doing is pointless and useless.

I don't care.

I will serve you in whatever way you want me to serve you.

The big picture of what this communicates.

I believe in you.

I believe you are who you say you are.

I believe you've done for me what you said you would do.

And in response to that, I give you all of my worship and all of my devotion to the Lord Jesus.

Extraordinary devotion is what we see here.

Number two.

We see surprising opposition.

Surprising opposition.

Verse four.

There were some who said to themselves indignantly,

Why was the ointment wasted like that?

This ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.

And they scolded her.

This is quite the turn of events, isn't it?

If you weren't familiar with this story, and I'm sure all of you are familiar with it,

but if you weren't familiar with this story, you would probably step back at first and say,

Wow!

That's incredible!

And how was it that the people in the room responded?

They scolded her.

How dare you do that, Mary, they say.

You could have done so much more with that than give it to Jesus.

Now we expect this kind of opposition from the world.

We're not surprised by that.

At least we shouldn't be.

But the indignation toward Mary here came from people who claim to follow Jesus.

It's amazing how quickly Christians resort to devouring one another.

It's no wonder the apostles so often in the New Testament had to exhort the churches

to stop with the pettiness and focus on the unity that is found in the gospel.

As wonderfully gracious as Jesus is, his people are routinely schismatic.

And the problem is that too many of our divisions find their source in the unloving, hypercritical way

that we scrutinize one another's service for the Lord.

Can I remind you what Paul said to the Galatians?

Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

If we just continually go after each other and one another's service through the Lord,

eventually there won't be any of us left, essentially is what Paul says.

The truth is that the others in the room should have applauded Mary rather than scold her.

I don't mean to insinuate that all divisions are unnecessary.

It's not what I mean.

I think you understand what I'm getting at here.

But some are unnecessary.

What they should have done for Mary is said,

Wow, I wish I would have thought of that.

What an act.

Think about who's in the room.

They're at the house of Simon the leper,

which we know nothing about him except one thing.

At one time, he had leprosy, and now he doesn't.

And most likely, the reason he's hosting this party in his house

is because Jesus is the one that cleansed him from the leprosy.

But it's not Simon the leper that we see lavishing Jesus with such extravagant worship.

I'm not saying that he was a part of the crowd that was condemning her,

but he's not the one that's highlighted here either.

Who else is in the room?

Lazarus is in the room.

And let me just remind you,

just a few days before this,

Lazarus was dead.

And because of Jesus,

now he's alive.

But it's not Lazarus lavishing this worship.

All the disciples are there.

Look at all the things Jesus had done for them

and allowed them to see

and allowed them to understand

what he was going to do with their lives.

Yet it's Mary is the one.

They should have applauded her.

They should have joined her in this act of worship,

but it's not what they did.

And so that begs the question,

why?

Why would they condemn her in this way?

I came up with three reasons.

Maybe you'd come up with more.

First, I think they have misplaced priorities.

Misplaced priorities.

I'm going to say more about this in a minute,

but the basis of their reaction

is that they judged her act as a waste.

So in one sense,

they're virtue signaling in a way

that we're very accustomed to in our own culture.

Rather than judge her action for what it was,

they judged it for what it wasn't.

So they paid no attention to the fact

that what Mary was doing,

she was doing for Jesus.

They only focused on who she wasn't doing it for,

which in this case was the poor.

And the irony in that

is that by regarding her worship as wasteful,

they implied that Jesus was undeserving

of this act of devotion.

They put their social agenda

above their gospel agenda.

Okay?

I think that's part of the problem.

We're going to come back to that in a moment.

The second part of this is deceitful influence.

Deceitful influence.

We refer back to John chapter 12 in this.

John 12 · chapter mention

John tells us that the ringleader

of the whole ordeal was Judas Iscariot,

which isn't surprising if you understand

the way the rest of the story unfolds necessarily.

John says that it was Judas

who first brought this up,

and he persuaded the others in the room

to come along aside him,

but that he was a deceiver in the process.

He didn't tip them off to his true motive.

What they came to find out later

was that Judas wasn't concerned for the poor at all.

Judas was the keeper of the purse for the group.

John says in John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

that he would help himself to the purse.

In other words, he was stealing from the group.

Later they find this out.

What Judas is concerned about in this moment

is not the poor people

who need some food for the evening.

What he's concerned about

is 300 denarii getting added to the purse

so that he can take his cut

without anybody realizing what he's doing.

And here's what Judas does.

He begins to persuade others in the room.

There's a deceitful influence here.

He wins them over to his position

that he doesn't even hold,

which is a warning for us, isn't it?

It's a warning for us.

Don't get carried away in judgment

on the basis of someone else's opinion.

Start first with the word of God

and make your judgment

against the measurement of God's truth,

not what someone else thinks

about any given circumstance.

We would do well to remember this.

When it comes to spiritual issues,

when it comes to social issues,

don't get carried along

with the mindset of people around you

without first looking at the truth of God.

If they had stopped and thought for a moment,

they would have seen the folly

of what they were saying.

But they were carried along

by a man who in his heart

just wanted to steal the money.

It's amazing how many Christians

have too quickly followed

another person's influence

only to find out later

that it was all a selfish ruse.

Be careful of that.

I think the third thing

is probably fairly common

even among us today

and it's just simple envy.

It's hard not to imagine

that pure jealousy

was at the root

of some of the criticism.

Maybe not,

but we know the easiest way

to minimize our own weaknesses

to others

is to diminish the strength

of other people around us.

We try to build ourselves up

by tearing other people down.

If we're embarrassed

that Mary did this

and we should have done it

but we didn't,

the first thing we're going to do

is try to criticize what she did

so it doesn't make us

look quite as bad.

Perhaps there's some of that

happening in the room.

Either way,

it was surprising opposition.

And I just want to encourage you

through this

to persevere

through such opposition.

Every act of devotion

is going to hit

some form of obstacle.

Persevere.

I want to also remind you

to be careful

that you are not

the opposition yourself.

Encourage people

to lavish on Jesus

all of their devotion

and worship

and let's encourage them

and join them in doing so.

Main point number three,

divine commendation.

Divine commendation.

Look with me at verse six.

Jesus said,

leave her alone.

Why do you trouble her?

She's done a beautiful

thing to me.

I don't want to read emotion

into the text unnecessarily.

But when have you ever

known someone

to casually

or nonchalantly

intervene

to protect another person?

We don't do that.

No, this is,

this carries with it

a sternness,

a passion.

Leave her alone.

Why would you ever

condemn her

for doing this

of all things?

Why would you

try to stop her?

They had judged

Mary's action

as wasteful.

Jesus saw it

as beautiful.

And the bottom line

here is that

if God is pleased,

it doesn't matter

who isn't.

Let me just say that again

for the people

in the back.

If God is pleased,

it doesn't matter

who isn't.

Of course,

that doesn't give us

an excuse

to just do what we want

and claim that

this is at God's pleasure.

We do it based

on the word of God.

But when we faithfully

live according

to God's word,

we can be at peace

when people hate us

for it.

Please the Lord.

Worship the Lord.

Live for Him.

Give your devotion

to Him.

Two quick things

Jesus commends her for.

The first is her

priority of devotion.

Her priority of devotion.

Look at verse 7.

You always have the poor

with you,

Jesus said.

And whenever you want,

you can do good for them.

But you will not

always have me.

Her critic said

she was fanatical.

Jesus declared

that her priorities

were right where

they needed to be.

Sinclair Ferguson said,

here were men

who were more interested

in their service

than their master.

Which is an interesting

thought here.

There is a danger

in becoming more concerned

with Christian mission

than with Christian worship.

In fact,

this has led many churches

to replace the true gospel

with a social gospel

that links salvation

to efforts in social reform

and mission

as primarily social engagement.

Now, to be sure,

Christians will inevitably

engage in ministry

to their community.

James said it,

James chapter 1,

James 1 · chapter mention

religion that is pure

and undefiled

before God the Father

is this,

to visit orphans

and widows

in their affliction

and to keep oneself

unstained from the world.

Clearly,

the action

of a Christian life

that's devoted to Jesus

is going to be involved

in social engagement.

We understand that.

But Jesus' statement

even implies it.

He implies that there is

this ongoing necessity

of serving the poor

around us,

but the priority

of the Christian life

must first be worship

of God,

devotion to His truth.

And our social engagement

must flow through

our devotion to Jesus,

not eclipse it.

The purpose of Lakeside Bible Church

is to glorify God

first through worship

and through making disciples

and then through mission

to the community around us.

But as soon as we start

to deceive ourselves

into thinking

that the true purpose

of our church

is to engage

with the poor

in the Cornelius area,

then we'll start

to diminish

the necessity

of the gospel.

We'll start to diminish

the necessity

of doctrine.

And we mustn't do that.

It's a recipe

for disaster

in churches

that will immediately

follow in liberal theology.

We must focus

our worship of Jesus

understanding His truth

and then allow

our service

to the community

and the people around us

to flow through that

and from that,

not the other way around.

Her priorities

were right in the right place.

Jesus commends her for it.

The second thing here

is He commends her

for the proportion

of her devotion.

Verse 8,

she has done

what she could.

The implication,

she has done

all that she could.

Notice it's,

the commendation here

is not based

on the amount

Mary gave,

but the proportion

of her gift

to the whole.

What pleased the Lord

is not that she gave

so much.

What pleased the Lord

was that she gave

everything.

Which reminds us

of the last story

we heard

in chapter 12.

Jesus points

to the widow woman

in the temple,

the two small

copper coins

that she gives

and He's so impacted

by her devotion

to God.

And He uses

a very similar

statement here

about Mary.

But their gifts

are on two

different extremes

as far as their

monetary value.

God doesn't judge

your devotion

based on what

others do.

He judges

your devotion

based on what

you can do.

And He's pleased

whether it's

two lepta

as a widow woman

or whether it's

a year salary

from Mary.

He is glorified

and pleased

in what they did.

Which brings us

to our final point.

We'll be finished.

Gospel connection.

Gospel connection.

Verse 8.

She has anointed

my body beforehand

for burial.

Truly I say to you,

wherever the gospel

is proclaimed

in the whole world,

what she has done

will be told

in memory of her.

Now this is

interesting here.

Jesus had foretold

His crucifixion

and resurrection

to the disciples

on at least

three occasions

and they just

couldn't come to grips

with what that meant.

We've looked at that

extensively in Mark's

gospel.

Is it possible

that Mary

Mary had begun

to understand

what the disciples

continued to miss?

Maybe.

Let me make

the case for it.

There's only

two other places

in the scriptures

that we find Mary,

the sister of Martha

and Lazarus.

First one's in Luke

Luke 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10,

I think.

Jesus comes to

their home

and there's a bit

of a dramatic event

that unfolds.

Mary started helping

Martha with the meal

and eventually

she finds herself

seated at the feet

of Jesus.

That's where she

wanted to be.

Martha gets upset

about that.

She runs to Jesus

and she says,

would you please

do something

about Mary?

I'm in here

serving all by myself

and she's just

sitting out here

and what does

Jesus say?

She's chosen

the good portion.

I will not take

that away from her.

He didn't condemn

Martha for her serving

but he wasn't going

to take away

Mary's worship either.

Where does she

find herself routinely?

At the feet of Jesus.

Listening to Jesus.

Taking in

what Jesus had to say.

Watching what Jesus

did with his life.

The next thing we see

is when Lazarus

is dead.

John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

Jesus finally makes

it to Mary and Martha.

Most of the exchange

happens with Martha.

But what is it

that Jesus says

to Martha

which inevitably

would have been

passed on to Mary?

I am the resurrection

and the life.

whoever believes in me

though he be dead

he will rise.

He will live again

and then they witness

the miraculous power

over death

that Jesus had

in Lazarus.

Now

I'm not saying

Mary had it all

put together.

I'm just saying

she spends her time

with Jesus

listening to him.

She's witnessed

his resurrection power

in her own brother's life.

She's heard him say himself

I am the resurrection.

Is it possible

that Mary listened

well enough

to understand

something's about

to go down with Jesus

and I want to make sure

I show him my love

and worship

now?

I think so.

Whether or not

she understood it all

is up for debate.

But what is certain

from the text

is that Jesus affirmed

that her act

was symbolic

of his coming death

on the cross.

she has anointed

my body beforehand

for burial

he says.

Then he proclaims

that her actions

would be

perpetually remembered

wherever the gospel

is preached

through the whole world.

Now memorializing Mary

wasn't about Mary.

It was meant

to bring our thoughts

back to the cross

because Jesus says

what she's done

really has a lot

to do with my death.

And when we think

of Mary

we're not supposed

to just think

about Mary

we're supposed

to think about Jesus

what he has done

for us.

Jesus takes this

act of devotion

and he connects it

to the gospel

of his death

and resurrection

which screams

off the page

to us

this truth

that Christian

devotion

begins

and ends

with the gospel

of Jesus.

It begins

and ends

with the crucifixion

and resurrection

of our Lord.

Think about it.

What did Jesus

do on the cross?

He makes a full

atonement

for the sin

of all who will believe.

He suffers

our death.

He suffers

our hell.

He takes

the wrath

of God

in our place.

And then

his resurrection

shows

that his atonement

was satisfactory

to God the Father

and that he alone

has power

over life

and death.

Why do we gather

on Sunday?

Not to feel better

about all the stuff

we did wrong

during the week.

We gather

to celebrate

the crucifixion

and resurrection

of Jesus.

Why do we express

devotion to the Lord

on Sunday

or any other day?

Because of the cross

and the resurrection.

It's all about

the gospel of Jesus.

Everything brings us

back to him

and to what he has done

for us

and it provides

the motivation

for us

every day.

Why will I live

holy today?

Because Jesus

died for me.

Why will I go

to church today?

Because Jesus

died for me.

Why will I teach

my kids the Bible?

Because Jesus

died for me.

Why will I live

my life for him?

Because Jesus

has done so much

for me.

It all comes back

to the gospel.

It's the gospel

we proclaim.

It's the gospel

we believe

and it's the motivation

for our total devotion

as faithful followers.

Now in conclusion

let's look at these

last two verses.

Okay.

I don't want any

Eutychuses

falling out of the window

this morning.

All right.

Burst in.

Then Judas Iscariot

who was one of the twelve

went to the chief priest

in order to betray him

to them.

And when they heard it

they were glad

and they promised

to give him money

and sought an opportunity

to betray him.

Here's the back half

of the Mark and Sandwich

here in Mark 14.

He began with the chief

priest and scribes

trying to figure out

how they're going

to kill Jesus.

He ends with how

Judas betrayed

the Lord to them.

Matthew and Mark

both sandwich

Mary's story

in between

these two things.

Could it be

that Jesus'

response to Mary

is what finally

pushed Judas

over the edge?

Had he finally

had enough?

I think so.

Sinclair Ferguson

again points this out.

He says it's significant

that this particular event

seemed to act

as the catalyst

to bring Judas

and the chief priest

together.

The one thing

that he could not

tolerate

was such wholehearted

devotion to Jesus

which had no other

motive

than love

for him.

And I think

part of Mark's

motive here

is to contrast

the difference

between true

and counterfeit

discipleship.

I believe

Judas

truly believed

that Jesus

was the Messiah.

I think

Judas

was unwilling

to accept

what Jesus

taught

was the true

purpose

of the Messiah

so that

in following

Jesus

he was looking

to gain

something from

Jesus

that he

wasn't actually

offering.

Track with me.

Judas

thinks

Jesus

is Messiah

that means

power and wealth

for all who

follow him.

I'm going to

stick in close

to this guy

because when he

rises to the top

I want to be

right there with him.

And for three years

he patiently

endures the teaching

he patiently

endures the hardship

thinking

that when they

finally get

to Jerusalem

this is what's

going to unfold

and I'm going to

be a part of that

process.

But as they

got closer

and closer

to Jerusalem

in this third year

he quickly

begins to

realize

that Jesus

is not

who I

think he

is

or at least

not he's

not the

Messiah

that I

think he

is.

I'm not

going to

get from

him what

I thought

I was

going to

get.

So Judas

cuts his

losses

and he

gets whatever

he can

out of it

which ends

up being

just 30

pieces of

silver

the cost

of a

slave

and he

betrays the

Lord

and he

runs away.

Why?

Because he

thought Jesus

was an

imposter?

No.

Couldn't

have.

He

witnessed

all the

stuff.

He

knew there

was

something

significant

about

Jesus.

What he

refused to

accept is

what Jesus

was offering.

Jesus

wasn't

ending up

going to

do for

Judas

what Judas

actually

wanted.

So he

follows that

as a

disciple for

a while

and eventually

he runs

away.

Mary

stands in

stark contrast

to this.

Here

Mary out

love for

Jesus

gives up

the thing

that is

most precious

to her

probably.

Judas

on the

other hand

runs away

from Jesus

because he

did not

receive

some precious

thing

from Jesus

in a material

sense that is.

Do you see the

difference here?

One is a

true follower

of Jesus.

One is a

counterfeit.

one has

truly come

to faith

in who

Jesus is

and what

Jesus

actually

came to

do.

One has

been

entertained

by Jesus

intrigued

by him

for a

little

while

but

eventually

falls

away.

That's

the difference

between the

two.

I think

Mark's

pointing that

out to

us here

in this

story.

Judas

represents

a host

of people

in each

generation

I think

who come

to Jesus

not in

faith

but in

hopes of

leveraging

his power

and his

compassion

into a

better life

for themselves

and eventually

when they

realize that

Jesus is

different than

what they

supposed

they betray

him to

pursue

some other

thing in

the world.

It's easy

to desire

the benefits

that may

come from

Jesus'

hand

more than

desiring

Jesus

himself

and I

think this

is the

key

difference

between

Mary

and Judas

between

the true

disciple

and

the

counterfeit

which leads

us to

ask a few

questions.

Is your

profession of

faith and

devotion

based on

who Jesus

is

and what

he has

accomplished

in his

death and

resurrection

or are you

coming to

Jesus for

some other

thing or

for some

other reason?

That's an

important question

we need to

ask.

Is my

devotion to

him based

on the

gospel or

something else?

Only the

one who

comes to

faith and

follow Jesus

as Lord

will actually

come to see

his true

worth and

will persevere

through that

hardship.

But then if

you're a

believer there's

other questions

we can ask

this morning.

Piercing

questions perhaps

that aren't

related so much

to whether or

not I'm a

true believer.

I know I'm a

true believer.

But is my

devotion to

Christ costing

me anything?

The passion that

I had for

Jesus in the

beginning hasn't

seemed to wear

down.

Am I as

faithful to

him as I

have always

been?

Am I

intentional,

calculated in

the way that I

live my life

for him?

Am I holding

anything back

from him?

Thank you.