Mark 14: 1-11

Heavenly Father, we thank you that as we come to this portion of Mark that looks at the gradual abandonment of your Son,

Lord, that in this time we will hold fast to him by your Spirit.

Lord, that you would reveal to us what true worship looks like.

And although on one hand it may seem very convicting because it is hard to worship you in the way that you would desire us to worship you,

and yet you are a God that loves to extend mercy and grace and loves to patiently refine us and sanctify us and help us to grow in you.

So Lord, may this morning be a time where we do just that.

We grow in you. We learn from you.

And as a result of all of it, we will worship you in the way that you'd want us to worship.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

If you want to follow along, we're in Mark chapter 14, verses 1 to 11.

Mark 14:1–11

There's a stack of Bibles in the back, if you didn't bring yours.

And there's also, I think there's a couple of the Black Gospel of Mark books.

And it's just on one side, it's lined paper for taking notes.

The other side, it's the text.

And you're more than welcome to grab one of those and keep it.

But if you can, please follow along.

So here we are.

We've just wrapped up chapter 13.

Chapter 13 had a lot of prophecy about the end of the age.

And if I'm honest, it was a bit of a, I felt like I was walking into landmines in dealing with it.

And yet, going into this week, chapter 14, great relief in a sense from being finished talking about end times.

But now we enter into the very heavy portion of scripture where Jesus begins, in a sense, his passion.

Where he gets abandoned gradually.

And Judas Iscariot will be the first one to abandon him.

As we'll see in verse 11.

So just a bit of a background here.

Jesus has spent time in Jerusalem.

The triumphal entry happens in chapter 11.

And he begins these indictments against the false worship that's happening in Jerusalem.

And, I mean, he does not speak cryptically at all.

He just goes right for it.

And attacks the religious leaders for negating their responsibility to the people of God.

In 13, chapter 13, he leaves Jerusalem.

He goes to the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem.

And he pronounces the fall of Jerusalem.

But also connects it, like I said, to the end of the age.

And it's a bit of that end times theology that we looked at.

The prophecy of Jesus.

Now, he is in Bethany.

Bethany is just outside of the city limits.

And the Passover is fast approaching.

He is at a place, we don't know exactly where in Bethany.

But he's at Simon the Leper's house.

And interestingly about Simon the Leper, two things that are of note.

Whenever you see these seemingly random names in the Bible, they're like ancient footnotes.

Mark is writing for contemporaries.

So the idea would be if somebody is skeptical, because skepticism existed 2,000 years ago,

they could find Simon the Leper and verify it.

Or they could find somebody that knew Simon the Leper and acted as an ancient footnote.

Also, what's interesting is that Simon is called Simon the Leper.

But we know that lepers have no place in society because they're contagious.

So maybe it would be better to understand Simon as the former Leper.

Because here he is, seemingly a part of society hosting people.

Something that would never have happened if he still had leprosy.

So, did Jesus connect with him?

Was he a recipient of the grace and healing and mercy of our Lord Jesus?

It would seem likely.

So, Jesus is there.

The preparations are being made for the Passover.

And Jerusalem here is getting swollen.

By the time the Passover will come, the population of Jerusalem will be five times what it is in normal times.

It's a pilgrimage holiday.

People are coming there to worship.

And with the pilgrimage come the messianic fervor.

However, the people, by and large, are not okay with Roman rule.

And there is always the potential for rioting to happen.

People are looking for God to liberate them.

So, with all that as a bit of a background,

Jesus reclines at the table of Simon the Leper.

And we can jump into the text in verses 1 and 2.

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleathered Bread.

And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

For they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar by the people.

So, the religious leaders, their hatred of Jesus continues to grow.

So, the first instance of their desire to kill Jesus comes in chapter 3 of Mark,

where the Pharisees and the Herodians have colluded to figure out a way to destroy Jesus.

And here it continues on.

And there's a few other parts in the narrative where the religious leaders are here to,

have gathered to destroy Jesus.

And what they want to do here in verses 1 and 2 is to make sure that they take Jesus out

in such a way as to not somehow elevate his messianic claims,

nor to start some kind of riot which would result in further Roman occupation.

They're crafty.

One of the things it says here in verse 1 is they were looking for ways to arrest him by stealth.

They, this is like murderous intent in the first degree.

This has been planned out for weeks and months, maybe even years.

And they are trying to avoid any kind of situation where it's going to result in more oppression

or more of an elevation of Jesus.

So, here they are as Israel's religious leaders.

And their job, and this is where Jesus attacks them back in chapter 11 and 12,

their job is to lead God's people to truth,

to the scriptures,

to the hope of the good news that God will not just liberate them from Rome,

but liberate them from sin and from death.

And here they are plotting to kill the very one that the scripture points to.

It is a remarkable thing.

And just on the side, I don't have this in my notes,

kind of have to figure out what to cut, what to keep.

But notice here it doesn't say all the Jews.

It's like some kind of like blanket general statement against Jewish people.

With the history of the church, unfortunately, the Jews have been called Christ killer.

But in fact, here it makes it very clear,

it is the chief priests and the scribes, the religious leaders that are at work here.

And in a sense, because of sin, Jesus dying for our sins,

we are the ones responsible for his death as well.

It's an aside.

That's not what we're going to get into, but I'll just bring that up.

So the religious leaders, the backbone of Israel,

they are doing Israel a huge disservice.

They're doing God's people a huge disservice here.

And in classic Mark fashion, he's going to show how deeply wrong they are

by contrasting the religious elites, the scribes, and the chief priests to another figure.

And in this case, it's going to be an unnamed woman.

It's significant that he does it.

And through this contrast, he's going to show us and his readers

what extravagant and costly worship looks like.

The worship that God desires, what it really looks like.

And that's what we're going to be exploring this morning.

So three points for clarity's sake.

We're going to be looking at what true worship is.

And the first thing is that it is costly and selfless.

The second thing is that true worship is rooted in the gospel and the triune God.

And the last thing is that true worship is rooted in the sovereign will of God.

So true worship is costly and selfless.

It's rooted in the gospel and the triune God.

And the last is it is rooted in the sovereign will of God.

So let's look at the first one.

True worship is costly and selfless.

So we'll return back to the narrative.

Jesus is in Bethany.

He's reclining at this table with the guests of Simon.

It would not be uncustomary for the host to have some kind of perfume

or something to wash the feet, to mask the smell.

This is 2,000 years ago.

Air conditioning is not invented.

It's getting hot.

People don't bathe every day.

You don't want to eat with this smell.

So it would not be...

It would be customary for there to be some kind of perfume or ointment to mask the smell.

And we'll jump into the text now.

And we'll see how, on one hand, it seems customary what's happening.

On the other hand, it seems completely lavish and over the top.

So look with me in verses 3 and following.

And while he, Jesus, 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 Jesus' head.

So in walks this woman.

She's unnamed.

Mark keeps her unnamed.

In the tradition, she might be Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

But Mark keeps her unnamed.

And I think he does that for a purpose.

So she is simply unnamed.

She's a woman interrupting men.

Not a problem necessarily in our day,

except for maybe it would be rude for anybody to interrupt anybody.

But in this case, it's a woman who has lower status.

She is unnamed.

And she is interrupting a group of men sitting at table.

That's a problem.

She likely, because of her little status,

has this expensive jar of perfume.

And because she has little status,

it's unlikely that this is something that she just picked up at the market.

But it's a good possibility that's a family heirloom.

Something that's been passed down.

Something of great worth.

It's something of a bit of a rainy day savings.

So if crops fail or something happens,

they have something so precious and expensive

that they could trade it for food.

But by and large, we can understand that this jar of ointment,

it was very costly and very important.

Potentially her most important item that she had.

It had deep, deep value.

And notice too that she doesn't just dab a little bit on a rag

or just pour a little bit on Jesus' head and rub it around.

What does she do?

She takes the flask and she breaks it.

She smashes it.

There's no going back.

There's no collecting the drippings.

Everything that she has in this flask,

this family heirloom,

this very pricey item,

it is spent completely and wholly on Jesus alone.

It is something that is, I think, hard to understand

because later on we see that the cost of this would be a year's wage.

I don't know what the average median income is,

but imagine an item, tens of thousands of dollars,

just spent in one shot.

I'm not sure we can quite grasp it,

but whatever you hold dear,

you give it away.

Okay, imagine you finally,

you know, your days of buying a used car,

they're over.

You're buying a new car for the first time.

Maybe this isn't applying to anybody,

but you know, you've spent tens of thousands of dollars on a car

and you cash it in, you send it back,

you sell it,

and you take whatever money you've made

and you give it away.

It's hard to fathom that

because it's so bizarre.

You never see that in our culture,

in our city.

Maybe you know somebody who's done something kind of like it,

but by and large it seems so outlandish

and this is what this woman is doing.

And it is an act of deep worship and devotion.

It is costly to this woman.

Her worship was indeed costly.

She spent everything she had on Jesus.

But what's interesting here is that

the cost of the perfume isn't what is commended.

It is her faith and her heart that is turned towards Christ.

Interestingly, if you go back in chapter 13,

there is,

or sorry, in the end of chapter 12,

there's a very similar scene with another woman

who is also unnamed,

but in this case she's a widow

and she's at the temple

and she has two coins

and Jesus makes it very clear that that's all she had

and she gave it to God.

And in a sense,

with the widow

and with this unnamed woman,

with this jar of pure nard,

they are spending all that they have

and really kind of burning all the bridges.

They're not making a contingency plan

as they are entering into what it means to serve and love God.

They are not hedging their bets.

Maybe it's not going to work out if I worship the Lord.

If I put my hope in Him,

He might fail.

I should come up with a backup plan.

None of that.

But in both cases,

and especially in here

with the breaking of the flask of ointment,

there's no going back.

All the eggs are in the Jesus basket, so to speak.

This level of devotion is complete.

It's whole.

It is all in.

Completely all in.

And constantly we have seen in Mark,

oftentimes what's interesting is,

in Mark,

the vast majority of instances

where women are in the narrative,

it's vastly positive

in terms of their faith

in how they are approaching Jesus.

But we see the rich man

who comes to Jesus in chapter 10,

who comes up to Him and says,

like, look at me.

Look at all the things that I have done.

I am charitable.

I am righteous.

And Jesus says to him,

sell everything you have and follow me.

And because his heart was

wanting to be righteous

in a way that would kind of

bolster his own reputation

or not necessarily infringe

on his own rights,

it says that the man went away

with great sorrow

because he had many possessions.

Here, this woman is saying,

in a sense,

to hell with my reputation,

to hell with my hopes and other things.

I am trusting wholly in Jesus.

And it is,

I don't know,

I mean, in some ways,

I come to this text

and I want to,

I mean, I haven't lived a long life,

in a sense.

I haven't gone through

a ton of trials.

The people that,

I think I've mentioned this in the past,

the people that have died in my life

have been older.

I haven't gone through

difficult situations.

And my temptation

is to speak of a type of moderation

when it comes to

religious fervor.

And this text is blowing that

out of the water.

And,

and the zeal that it's calling for,

the devotion that it's calling for,

is,

I mean,

you could try to explain it away

in some kind of

roundabout,

find a loophole,

find something,

I don't know,

but,

the text is quite clear

that this woman's devotion

is total.

and it is not just

a description

of what is happening,

but it's a prescription for us.

And it is hard,

I'll be honest,

as,

just personally,

but also,

as a pastor

who is opening God's word

to say to the congregation,

this is what true worship looks like.

Because,

I would put forward,

I would,

I would ask you guys,

I'd put forward to you

that this isn't my true worship.

I have contingency plans.

I'm hedging my bets.

I don't think that way,

but I,

or I don't,

I don't actively talk that way,

but I think that way.

Maybe you do too.

And yet,

here we have

it very clear

that this woman's faith

is commended.

The woman with two coins,

her faith is commended,

her worship is commended,

because there's a devotion to it

that is completely on,

on Jesus.

So,

worship,

worshiping God

calls for every aspect

of our life.

And,

there's aspects that are respectable

to give to the Lord,

but there's other aspects

that might not be respectable,

or they would infringe

too much on our own

desires and hopes.

When I was,

when I was

in the early stages

of planting,

I met up with as many pastors

and ministry leaders

as I could.

not to

get like money or anything,

but I'm like,

I don't know what I'm doing.

Like,

share.

Like,

what have,

what have,

what's been your experiences?

I want to hear stuff.

And,

it's interesting

what people will,

like people will agree

to meet you with,

meet with you if,

you know,

they're going to be talking

about their own experiences.

So,

a lot of people took me up

on the offer.

But,

one pastor said,

the,

some of the other gods

that,

that his people worship,

among them are the gods

of minor hockey.

And,

I heard that and I was like,

oh my goodness,

interesting.

I didn't have,

I mean,

we have kids.

I think Nora was the only one

at the time.

But,

all too often,

we want to give,

say our children,

the best opportunities.

We want to have the best opportunities.

And,

those opportunities

aren't necessarily bad,

but they conflict.

I'm not picking on minor hockey.

I think minor hockey is great.

But,

they,

but they conflict.

And,

we have an opportunity

to either relegate God,

and we're not necessarily

talking about church,

but that's a part of it,

but to relegate God

to the,

to the fringes,

so that we can flourish

in the ways that we want

to flourish.

Or,

we have to sacrifice

certain things.

Or,

engage with them

in a way

that is not all in.

So,

it's not just minor hockey,

it's anything.

Moderation often

is the key to life,

but in Christianity,

moderation is the cry

of the defeated Christian.

And,

that's,

that's,

anyways,

I,

I kind of,

I say it in a,

in a,

in a very,

I humbly put that forward to you

because,

I mean,

it cuts deep to me as well.

And why?

Why is moderation

the cry of the defeated Christian?

Because the Christian faith

is a,

is a,

is a faith of selfless,

self-giving,

self-denying,

trusting love.

And how on earth

can that be given

in moderation?

How can you love

somebody in moderation?

And if you feel,

like,

the weight of that,

I think that's good.

Now,

we're not going to stay

feeling,

like,

guilted down.

We want,

we want the gospel

to liberate us

because it is the message

of freedom.

But moderation

is,

I mean,

I'm going to,

I'm going to moderately

love Christine.

I mean,

I probably do,

I don't mean to,

it's because I'm a sinful man,

but,

but moderation

in relationships,

it's,

I mean,

I,

you feel it.

You feel like you're

second fiddle

to whatever else.

We need to be

honest with ourselves

about what true worship is.

So worship

that is true,

that God accepts it,

it is costly.

And it's not,

as we've seen,

about a monetary value,

but it's about

a generosity of heart

that is,

that is rooted

in selfless,

self-giving,

self-denying,

and trusting love.

So the generosity

and devotion

and worship

of this unnamed woman

has up till now,

and for the rest of Mark,

it is

worship

par excellence.

It is,

it is the

standard of worship

in all of

Mark's account,

in his narrative.

There is,

there is nothing

in a sense,

I mean,

you could couple it

in a,

with,

with the,

with the widow

in chapter 12,

but really this woman,

she is worshiping

in the way that,

that is held

at the highest esteem.

Not the disciples.

Those that have been

traveling with Jesus,

hearing what he has to say

time and time again.

it is not

the disciples,

it is this woman.

And a reason for this

is that the disciples

have still yet to grasp

that Jesus is destined

for the cross

as the Passover lamb

that will take away

the sins of the world.

So of course,

the disciples do not

see this

as an act of

legitimate worship

to imitate

or to applaud,

but rather a show

of complete waste.

Remember,

Jesus,

he has talked

about his death

plainly.

Chapter 8,

it is kind of like

the pinnacle in a sense

of,

of,

of Mark's narrative.

And he asks the disciples,

who do people say

that I am?

And they list off

a bunch of names,

but who do you say

that I am?

You are the Christ.

Peter says that

and then Jesus goes on

to talk about

how the Christ

has to die and suffer.

And what does Peter do?

He starts rebuking Jesus.

Same word here

of the disciples

rebuking this woman.

And Jesus says,

get behind me,

Satan.

Peter,

you are,

you are proclaiming

a gospel of Satan,

which is no gospel at all.

And the disciples

seem to,

they seem to

not quite grasp this,

but it is always,

it seems like,

the one on the fringe,

the fringes,

they are the ones

that get it

in Mark's account.

And this woman

is one of them.

So the true worship

that we see,

it is costly.

It's lavish.

But also,

it is rooted

in the gospel

and the triune God.

Look with me

in verses 4 to 9.

There were some

who said

to themselves indignantly,

I'll pause really quickly here.

Those some,

I mean,

includes other people,

but it,

those people

that are indignant here

are the disciples.

It's very clear

in the narrative

and especially

in verses 10 and 11

when Judas

takes off,

that the indignant ones

are the disciples.

So I'll start

with verse 4 again.

There were some

who said to them,

to themselves,

indignantly,

why was the ointment

wasted like that?

For this ointment

could have been sold

for more than 300 denarii

and given to the poor.

And they scolded her.

Other translations,

they rebuked her.

But Jesus said,

leave her alone.

Why do you trouble her?

She has done

a beautiful thing to me

for you always

have the poor with you

and whenever you want,

you can do good for them.

But you will not

always have me.

She has done

what she could.

She has anointed

my body beforehand

for burial.

And 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.

Isn't that interesting

that we are reading

and legitimizing

Jesus' words

this morning?

I mean,

this happened

just outside of Jerusalem

2,000 years ago.

We're in Ottawa

in 2023

and Jesus' words

are ringing true

in verse 9.

Jesus knows

that he's headed

to the cross.

He has spoken

about this

in parables

and plainly

I mentioned

about chapter 8.

His death

is the critical component

to the gospel.

That good news

that ushers

in the kingdom

of God.

repent and believe

in the gospel.

Chapter 1

verses 15.

It's the thesis

in a sense

of all of

Mark's

narrative

of Jesus' life.

So what this woman

is doing

by way of the Holy Spirit's

prompting

is doing a wondrous

deed to Jesus

to the Son of God

that recognizes

his immeasurable worth

but also recognizes

that suffering

is connected

to the gospel

because she is

preparing him

for burial.

That no mere man

goes to the cross

but the incarnate God

will die

for the salvation

of all those

who trust in him.

So we have the Son

Jesus

accomplishing

the will

of the Father

being anointed

for burial

by a woman

who has been

prompted

by the Holy Spirit.

I mean

this woman

unnamed woman

she is

clearly

she clearly

has affections

a deep longing

to connect

with Jesus

and to know

Jesus'

delight

in her life.

This is the work

of the Holy Spirit.

So here

already

again

not necessarily

explicitly

but very much

implicitly

we see

the triune God

at work

in the good news

the gospel

of Jesus.

That true worship

must always be rooted

in the good news

that the triune God

has come

to save his people.

So worship

must ultimately

be about God

and what he has proclaimed.

That means

our agendas

our style

of work

not necessarily

style

but the substance

of our worship

is not really

up for debate.

We can

worship God

in different styles

absolutely

and that's part

of that whole

Holy Catholic Church

that we alluded to.

But when it comes

to who God is

and what he has done

the substance

the content

of the faith

that's not really

up for debate.

That is why

the indignation

of the disciples

is more egregious

than their contempt

for the woman.

Indignantly

they scolded

and rebuked her

but really

they have expressed

indignation

towards Jesus himself.

They have

like Peter

back in chapter 8

have affirmed

Jesus as the Christ

but have

I mean their brains

in a sense

they're absent

of what the good news is

and how it's completely

connected to suffering.

That at the core

of what it is

for the good news

is Jesus

to die

upon the cross.

And this

connection

between the life

of faith

and sacrifice

it seems wasteful

and completely

unpragmatic

to those

that have not been

considering

or searching

or prompted

by the Holy Spirit.

And in a sense

it is

what this woman

is doing

is very

what's pragmatic

about it?

One man

gets oil

that might

stick with him

for a few days

besides he's

going to die.

I mean

sell the oil.

It's tens

of thousands

of dollars.

Feed the poor.

I mean

the Passover

was supposed to be

a time where

you extend charity.

So there's nothing

pragmatic about

what she's doing.

But for us

if we

if we have put

our faith and hope

and trust in Jesus

we are seeing

that she is

participating

in the gospel

itself.

That

how can you

waste something

on Jesus

as if his

worthiness

kind of hits

a ceiling

so we can

only give him

so much

but then

he's not really

worth it

to keep going

or to keep

giving him praise

to keep giving him

honor.

to pour out

our lives

for him

it's not worth it.

This woman

she understands

the worthiness

of Jesus

and she understands

that sacrifice

is deeply

connected to

the gospel.

So

the disciples

and the woman

are completely

at odds

and through

this contrast

we see

that true worship

it must be

rooted in truth

of who God

is and what

he has come

to do

or else

worship

or else

it's a false

worship

it's them

worshipping

something else

or in part

which isn't

true worship.

So the Christian

faith has always

and must always

be rooted

in truth

in the gospel

in the triune

God

and this must

be revealed

to each

and every one

of us

by the Holy Spirit

just like this

woman.

That doesn't

mean it's

going to be

easy.

I mean I

think we

touched on

this earlier

in the sermon.

Worshipping

God in the

ways that

he has

called us

to

it is

costly

it is

difficult

because by

and large

it goes

against the

message

the predominant

message of

this city

of this

country

of our

culture

it's

difficult

it is

we find

ourselves

in a sense

being sympathetic

to the

disciples

this doesn't

make sense

this isn't

pragmatic

this isn't

furthering my

goals

and yet this

is the way

that God

has called

us to

worship

so what

do we do

how do we

live for him

how do we

navigate all

this

I think

deep down

and this is

why we've

seen it

in the

liturgy

repentance

is a

key part

of the

Christian

life

because we

are bound

to mix

up our

priorities

we are

bound

to

chicken

out

and I'll

just say

this

I went

to visit

family

in 2017

and at the

time I wasn't

a pastor

I was an

intern

a dear

dear

intern

but before

that when I

visited my

family I

worked as

a support

worker for

people with

special needs

and I

worked on

Parliament Hill

I had a

secular job

and I was

fine to go

as a

Christian

to visit

my family

who are

not

Christians

at all

various

degrees

of

religiosity

but not

in the

Christian

faith

so I

could go

there

and I

could just

get along

we could talk

about work

it was fine

but when I

went in 2017

to visit

all of a sudden

I worked for the

church

and the

temptation

to

not

worship

God

in my

life

to downplay

my devotion

to him

to

change

a subject

really

quickly

or

to

I don't

know

whatever

I was

studying

in seminary

oh I'm

doing graduate

work

or something

like that

the temptation

was high

and I was

there for

less than

a week

sometimes

I was

faithful to

the Lord

in how I

in a sense

bore witness

to him

how I

worshipped

him

and

very

uncomfortable

conversations

and

other times

I chickened

out

and I

felt like

trash

I really

did

this life

is not

easy to

worship God

in spirit

and in truth

according to

who he is

and what he

has done

because the

world is

against us

in a sense

so what do

we do

we ask for

forgiveness

we encourage

one another

we feast

in a sense

on God's

word

but also

on testimonies

of each

other

and saints

from the

past

we really

we pray

for one

another

and trust

that people

are praying

for us

and that

Jesus himself

is making

intercession

for us

right now

to bolster

us up

and to

remember

too that

when we

fail

the story

is not

over

we

continue

we repent

we continue

on

so it's

not easy

to

worship

God

in spirit

and in

truth

according to

who he is

and what he

has done

but we

can be

confident

that

as we

do so

that he

will

honor

his word

that what

he values

and his

will

will always

come to

pass

it will

never be

thwarted

it will

never expire

it will

never rust

because God

is sovereign

overall

and this

brings us

to our

third

point

about

true

worship

that it

is rooted

in the

sovereign

will

of God

look with

me

verses 1

and 2

and then

10

and 11

of chapter

14

it was

now two

days before

the Passover

and the

feast of

unleavened

bread

and the

chief

priests

and the

scribes

were seeking

how to

arrest

Jesus

by stealth

and to

kill him

for they

said not

during the

feast

lest there

be an

uproar

from the

people

and verse

10

then Judas

Iscariot

who was

one of the

twelve

went to

the chief

priests

in order

to betray

him

to them

and when

they heard

it

they were

glad

and promised

to give

him money

and he

sought an

opportunity

to betray

him

remember

that the

religious

elites

are looking

for a

way

to

snuff

out

Jesus

in a

quiet

way

and rob

him

of his

messianic

credibility

and yet

their plan

it would

seem

that it

was for

post

Passover

Passover

would last

about a

week

post

Passover

it gets

turned on

his head

Judas

comes

indignant

one of

the

indignant

ones

indignant

at what

has been

happening

and who

knows

how long

he has

been

just

rattled

at

Jesus

he's

had

enough

clearly

and he

goes

to the

chief

priests

in order

to betray

Jesus

to them

and they

see an

opportunity

that they

cannot

give up

and

although

they wanted

to wait

until after

the Passover

to betray

the betrayal

of Judas

presents an

opportunity

for them

to nab

Jesus

early

and they're

not gonna

they're gonna

embrace this

this is an

opportunity

who knows

maybe it's

God's will

in their

minds

but in

doing so

Jesus

will go

to the

cross

not after

the Passover

but on

the Passover

as the

Passover

lamb

that he

has

that he

has

prophesied

about

that it

has been

written in

the scriptures

that he

fulfills the

scriptures

so he

goes to

the cross

not as

some common

criminal

but as

the Passover

lamb

as the

innocent

one

who

would

be

slain

so that

death

would

pass

over

all

people

we see

we'll get

this next

week

this would

be the

the last

supper

but in

verse 12

and on the

first day

of unleavened

bread

when the

sacrifice

when they

sacrifice

the Passover

lamb

it's very

interesting

little markers

like that

in scriptures

we know

that

something's

at work

Jesus

is in

fact

that Passover

lamb

that the

sovereign

plan

of God

can never

be

upended

it can't

be

thwarted

and this is a great hope for us

because it means that when our faith

is put in the one who will win

and has won

that means we win

even if the tide is coming against us

and everything is claiming that we are

misguided at best

the victory is already won

and because God's sovereign will can never be thwarted

it means that our hope in him

all of our spent

beautiful flask of nard

whatever that is in our lives

that we're willing to give up

it is not wasted

that it is for a purpose

and that

that God's plan will always come to fruition

it also means that when our faith falters

or we begin to doubt

that the devotion is worth it

we can be sure that God's promises will come to pass

we can be sure of that

we can encourage one another

like we mentioned previously

that God will

he will come through

on the things that he has promised us

he will give us strength in our time of need

that even in the difficulties

and the sufferings

that are so germane to

the life of faith

will be used for good

so that

so that we can be sure

any evil or suffering that we go through

will be for God's glory in the end

no act of faith will be wasted

it's interesting

that woman did not waste

not a drop of that nard

nor will any of our worship

be wasted on the Lord

so to wrap things up

the thing about this episode

is that the woman poured out her life

poured out her life

onto Jesus

figuratively speaking

but in only a couple days

Jesus will hang on the cross

in his literal life

his blood will pour out

and it will cover

over

his people

that have put their trust in him

and they will be made

completely

completely ready

but not for a burial

but for a banquet

that those that have been

covered in the blood of Christ

in the same way that

the angel of death

passed over the houses

with the blood

on the doorposts

so death will pass over us

but not just so that

we can live forever

that we can live in glory

with God forever

and this is our hope

so when we

are afraid

that we will miss out

in this life

let us think about

the life to come

that it will be

far greater than anything

anything

that we could give up

in this life

Christ has already provided

for our eternity

let us in response

to him

worship with selfless devotion

in the truth of who he is

and what he has done

and also trust in his sovereign will

let's pray

Heavenly Father

thank you for

this wonderful woman

and we thank you that

that you promised

that the testimony

of what she did for you

would be proclaimed

wherever the gospel

would be proclaimed

and this morning

that has been fulfilled

we thank you

and Lord we recognize

that true worship

is difficult

and we ask for your help

Lord give us the strength

we need

to worship you

when it hurts

Lord that we won't

be people that

that engage in

in moderation

in our love

and worship for you

but Lord also give us

the strength to do it

we are feeble

at best we need your strength

we need your power

so Lord by your Holy Spirit

do just that in our lives

we pray this in Christ's name

Amen

Amen