Mark 14:1-11

Mark 14: 1-11

My mom and I were going to a pastor’s conference in Northern California last year. We always drive together from LA on up to Santa Cruz. It is a boring drive, but a good time to chat about church issues, to listen to others chat about their issues and to think through issues. It can also be a lot of fun. Mom and I try to make each other laugh by having a continual conversation about ridiculous things. She’ll say something ridiculous, and then I’ll try and respond as though she is being serious, with a ridiculous comment of my own. The key is to not be the first person to laugh and break the moment.

In any situation, we usually drive up with another pastor or two, and they have to listen to this banter for at least part of the drive up. Last year we went up with a person who just didn’t get it. She would listen to our conversation for a bit, and then try and correct us. For example, we’d be going off on a tangent about how many legs cows have and if they really need them all, and how in some countries the cows have lots more legs in order to climb mountains, or in some other countries the cows only have 2 legs so they can stand sideways on the slope of a hill. Like I said, they are silly conversations that are meant to just amuse us. But this woman didn’t get it. She broke into our conversation and said, that no, she was pretty sure cows only had 4 legs all over the world. So mom and I looked at each other and tried to not burst out laughing at her that she just didn’t get that we were just having fun making jokes and being ridiculous.

We have all been around people who just didn’t get it. The person who misunderstands a gesture meant in friendship as a threatening one. A child who thinks a punishment is for the parents benefit and satisfaction when really the punishment is meant to train the child in listening and to be careful. So many of the disciples around Jesus just didn’t get it. Then had been with Jesus a long time, but they were still trying to figure Jesus out. And when one couldn’t, Jesus would be given over to the Jewish authorities. But we also get to look at someone who did get Jesus, and her actions in Jerusalem. Please stand…

Now the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body before hand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Let’s pray.

We are into the last couple chapters of the story of Jesus ministry as told to us by Mark, and most likely, the apostle Peter as well. Jesus has made it through Israel, teaching and preaching, healing and doing miracles all the way to Jerusalem for Passover. He has arrived a few days before Passover, and has spent His time teaching and being confronted by the chief priests and Pharisees around the Temple. Jesus has gotten Himself into a little hot water by turning over the money changing tables that forced the pilgrims to the Temple to pay unfair prices to buy the right coins to pay their Temple tax. Recently we have been looking at Jesus preaching on last things, and last times. Now we see Jesus at rest, a few days before the Passover Feast, a few days before Jesus is betrayed into the hands of the religious authorities.

He is at rest, with the disciples. But the frustrating thing is, that even though the disciples have been with Him through all the hard times, they’ve watched Him walk on water, create bread and fish out of nothing, heal many people, they still don’t get it. They still think that maybe Jesus might lead the sort of revolution they have in mind, freeing the people from the Romans. They still aren’t sure that Jesus isn’t mistaken in what He is saying to them about the end of time, and more importantly, a out Him leaving, about Him dying. How could that be correct? He is the Messiah…so how could He be about to die? He can’t really mean all that stuff he been saying can he…?

The passage for today starts out with an overall context of what’s happening in the background. The chief priests and Pharisees are ready to kill Jesus, but in a way that will allow them to get away with it. Some of the disciples don’t get who Jesus is, and the religious authorities really don’t get who Jesus is, even though, of all people, they should.

The Passover Feast was when the Israelites celebrated their freedom, their release from slavery down in Egypt. You may remember from the story of Moses that it was he who God chose to free His people from Egyptian slavery. You likely remember the 10 plagues that God sent upon Egypt in order to convince Pharaoh to let the people go…frogs, gnats, the Nile turned to blood, boils on people bodies, locusts and so forth. The last plague was the most terrible. The first born male of every household was killed where lamb’s blood was not smeared over the sides and tops of the doorframes of the house. The angel of death then passed over those houses, and only went to those households that did not have the blood and killed the firstborn. It was this that finally made Pharaoh free the slaves. So the Passover Feast is foundational to the Israelites; it was also a feast that would stir up nationalistic feelings. The Romans were normally on higher alert for problems during the Passover Feast. This is also maybe why the chief priests were trying to trick Jesus into saying something against the Roman authorities…they would be more likely during the week before Passover to believe the worst about anyone and quickly remove a perceived threat to their rule.

The other thing I would like you to notice is that the people were on Jesus side. The stuff He was criticizing really resonated with them. They weren’t so stupid that they didn’t see the Temple authorities making themselves wealthy off of their sacrifices. They liked Jesus; what He said, how He stood up to the authorities, the way He valued them and the way He loved God with everything He had. The authorities didn’t want to cause a riot, which would have been a real problem had they just walked up to Jesus and arrested Him in broad daylight. But they want Jesus and His words out of their business, so the plot begins in earnest. In the meantime, Jesus is relaxing.

Jesus retires to a friend’s house and relaxes. In the midst of that rest a woman, who we know to be Mary from John’s gospel, anoints Jesus head. This anointing is noted in all the gospels except Luke. Why might that be? The anointing is important, but only to the Jewish folks. A Jewish king had to be anointed as part of the ceremony that would proclaim him to be the king. A Jewish king had to be proclaimed king, and had to be anointed. This is Mark telling His Jewish readers that Jesus was absolutely anointed; He is the king. Later on the centurion will say, “Surely this man was the Son of God” completing the coronation ceremony, but in a backward way. The chief priests didn’t anoint Jesus; a woman did. The Pharisees didn’t label Jesus the King, a Roman soldier did. This is a very backward way to become the King of the Jews, and the acknowledged Son of God as He hung on the cross and died because of His great love for all of us, including His love for you, to wash away your sins.

This anointing is nice, but to us it doesn’t make complete sense unless we know that Jesus is being anointed for both His coronation and His death. Which in the backwards world Jesus creates where God serves His people and dies for them, it makes a certain amount of sense that Jesus coronation ceremony is completed as He died on the cross. Jesus becomes our King on the cross, our Lord and our Savior. Even as Mary gets it, and anoints Him to prepare for His death, other disciples, primarily Judas, don’t get it and yell at her for wasting all that money. And certainly pouring all that perfume onto Jesus must have seemed like a complete waste, if someone didn’t get it. But Mary is honoring and proclaiming the King, and is not concerning about what others might think about her actions. That’s the faith I want. To honor my Lord, not concerned about what others might think. I want to spend my money extravagantly like Mary did, honoring God, in whatever way He would have me do that. Mary got it. Her actions proclaim the King, the king who would die to reign over us all. Jesus coronation was a death sentence, but that’s the love He had for you, to wash away your sins, to make perfectly clean before God. Jesus reigns because of His death; in His death we are saved, we are His. This is the backward King, this is part of the backward coronation, this is the part of the announcement and celebration of His death for us. Mary gets it. Do we? Do we get that Jesus had to die for our sins? Do we get how serious God takes sin? Jesus on the cross is how seriously God takes human sin, that was the necessary sacrifice. But Jesus, our King, went to that sacrifice for us. Do we get Jesus? That He wants us. Wants to know us, wants us to love Him with all that we are, wants us to live to proclaim His love to others? Do we get that? Or are we going to complain about people who really love God, about how foolishly they spend their time, energy and money? When are we going to get that Christ paid everything for us, so in return we offer up our everything? Mary doesn’t hold back, she readies His body, she proclaims Him King. Do you need to do that in your life?

Jesus knows what is happening. He knows what she is doing and he knows the love that she is demonstrating because of her act. This is a huge amount of money, and quite possibly could have been her dowry, the money she needed bring into a marriage relationship. But instead, she pours it out over Jesus body. She anoints the king, she prepares His body for its death. The petty concerns of the other disciples are squashed because they don’t get it, and she does. Maybe even Judas is shamed that he doesn’t get it, that Mary is doing what is right when she wastes the perfume. And this does look like wasted money. But Jesus has been talking about dying. Mary has been listening, Judas has not. Mary recognizes this is her king, Judas sees Jesus as something different, someone to be used to accomplish his goals, his ends.

Are you getting it? What would you have done, honestly, in this situation? Helped Mary pour the perfume, or maybe even added your own, or would you have complained as well? In every church there is more complaining than there should be. This isn’t done right, why did you do it that way, that isn’t the way we used to do it. But when you see an extravagant outpouring of love in Jesus direction, don’t criticize. Either get on board, or keep quiet. I don’t like seeing anyone’s enthusiasm dampened by complaining. Mary is busy loving the Lord, and for Judas to shoot his mouth off was inappropriate, to say the very least. She is worshipping Jesus, and preparing Him for His coronation. Do you get it? Do you understand that Jesus had to die for you? That it was His unconditional love for you that gave Him the strength to carry on through that torturous Good Friday? Do you get that we are supposed to love Him back with everything that we are? Not just on Sundays, not just when we are in need, but with our whole lives, all the time do you get that?

So we know, that the end is coming. Judas is getting ready to act, because he doesn’t listen, because he doesn’t get it. His closeness to Jesus is valuable, and he will sell Jesus out. I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves in Scripture, but we all know the end is coming, and it is coming soon. Just a day or two away.

Mary got it. She did what was important, what was loving to God. Judas was frustrated that God wouldn’t do what he thought Jesus should do, and ended up committing the most tragic betrayal of all time. The only evidence that Judas might have understood the enormity of his sin was his renunciation of the money, and his shame-filled suicide. Perhaps Judas did get it, in that he understood that Jesus was God, and Judas helped have Him killed. But what Judas never got was the forgiving love available to everyone, including him. He never understood the depths of God’s forgiveness to a woman caught in adultery, God’s love for the completely lost. Mary did. Mary got it; this was the Son of God, heading toward the cross in order to be the King of the Jews, in order to be the King of all who would have Him as their king. Judas just saw the man. Mary saw the man and the God.

DO you get it? Do you get that God loves you so much that words cannot express how much He wants you to come to Him for all that He can give you; eternal life, forgiveness, a new life with a new purpose, so much more than this life could ever offer. Do you get that He died a horrible death for you? Do you get that He was happy to do that, because of His love? Do you get that in response we are to give our lives over to Him, for His glory? Do you get that you are supposed to be telling other people about the life you have found in Him; the freedom from the entanglements of sin, the life lived with the Holy Spirit. Mary got it. She crowned Him the king of her life. Will you do the same? Or will you watch others love Jesus and not get too involved, because that might change your life? Get it. Don’t miss the point of life. Get it.

Let’s pray.