“Assuredly, I say to you,
wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done
will also be told as a memorial to her” – Mark 14:9
In the opening part of this
series we defined passion as a driving force, a deep emotion in the heart, a
fire in the belly, a heart aflame. People have a passion for
many things, but how many have a passion for Jesus? We also said that passion
for Jesus based on popularity, politics, provision, self-promotion, or pride will
not stand the test of time; it will only be a Palm Sunday passion.
In the second part of the series we saw that a passion
for Jesus begins with falling at His feet in recognition of our depth and debt
of sin and that through faith in Jesus we can be forgiven. In our next part we
will see that a passion for Jesus involves a passion for the hope we have in
Jesus. The point of this part is that a
passion for Jesus falls at His feet aware of His living hope (power over
death.) Our passion for
Jesus is based in part on the living hope we have in Him. To make this point we
will be looking expositionally at John 12:1-11. Let’s dig in.
Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus
came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the
dead.
This event took place at the house of Lazarus who Jesus had raised from the
dead (cf. John 11). Mary saw that with Jesus there is always hope. Peter came
to refer to it as “living hope” (1 Peter1:3-4). Lazarus sitting at the table
with Jesus was living proof of His living hope.
It was six days before the passion of Jesus on the cross.
2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of
those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of
very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet
with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Again we see the passion of Jesus exemplified by a humble act of a woman
toward Jesus. Mary knew the Lord and had a saving relationship with Him. She
too brought valuable perfume and anointed Jesus feet. Our faithful devotion
should not stop once we are saved and forgiven of our sins.
Mary followed suit with the previous notoriously sinful woman in Luke 7. She
wiped Jesus feet with her hair and the costly spikenard. Her act of worship
filled the house with a beautiful fragrance. In the old testament fragrant
aroma is connected with sacrifice, worship (Exodus 29:18, 25, 41; Lev. 1:9, 13,
17) and prayer (Exodus 30; Rev. 8:3-4) to
God. God loves the aroma of a fellowship meal as well as the sweet smell of
worshipful incense or perfume All of this was no doubt fueled in connection
with Jesus’ raising Lazarus, Mary’s brother, from the dead. She had a passion
for Jesus that was connected with His power over death.
Keith Green, a Christian musician and minister who died too soon once
commented, “If your heart
takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies,
or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing
Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then
how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...? You'd be bored
to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now!”
Mary wanted more of Jesus. She wanted to do more, give more to Jesus.
That’s the sign of the beginnings of revival. Someone has said, “And,
here is something that you will find in the lives of all the great saints of
God in the Church throughout the ages, and particularly in men on whom God lays
his hand in this matter of revival and of intercession. The first thing that
happens to them is that they themselves feel this desire for a deeper knowledge
of God. Of course, they are good men, they are orthodox men. They believe in
God, they know they are saved, they have assurance of salvation – they may have
had it for years, - but now they begin to feel a hunger and a thirst for
something bigger and something deeper. They read their Bibles, and they feel
that here there is some deeper and some fuller knowledge of God, and God’s
love, and that is what they want. They are no longer content with what I may
call the ordinary condition of the Church. They want something extraordinary,
something unusual.” [1] Do you want more of Jesus? Would you
worship Jesus in such a way? What aroma does your worship of Jesus produce?
How’s your passion for Jesus?
4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would
betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three
hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he
cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he
used to take what was put in it.
There are enough differences between this incident and the one in Mark
14 to justify seeing them as two separate incidents. Judas was worried about
losing out on some of the funds he was pilfering. Those who are concerned about
enriching themselves always look down on deep extravagant worship. What is your
opinion about what Mary did to Jesus?
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this
for the day of My burial. 8 For the
poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
Remember what Jesus said, “Leave her alone.” The Lord will stick up for
you in such situations too. Just remember nothing done for Jesus is ever a
waste in any way. The Lord is looking for those whose hearts are loyal to Him
(2 Chron. 16:9b). He is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and
truth (John 4:23-24). Mary was in the Spirit. The Spirit was ministering to her
heart as she ministered in worship to Jesus. That is a pattern in the New
Testament (cf. Acts 13).
Notice too that Jesus connects this act of passion with His burial and
future cross work. Apparently Mary had received insight from the Spirit about
Jesus sacrifice; something the disciples had not yet understood. God often
speaks to us as we worship Him.
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not
for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised
from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to
death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away
and believed in Jesus.
It may be that the other gospels omitted the names of those
involved in this incident so as to not provide evidence to persecutors who
would harm Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
The point here is that with Jesus there is always hope.
Lazarus was dead and entombed four days. But Jesus was able to raise Him from
the dead. Remember that, nothing is ever hopeless with Jesus. Praise Him.
Worship Him. Be attentive to the Spirit and let that truth enflame your passion
for Him.
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