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Mark 14:12-16: The word of integrity.

^“12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ ¹³ So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ Say to the owner of the house he enters, “The Teacher asks: where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ¹⁵ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ ¹⁶ The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.” NIV UK

Jesus came into the world, not primarily to celebrate the Passover, but to be the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). Nevertheless, before He went to the cross to fulfil all the Passover had stood for through the centuries, He made arrangements to eat it with His disciples. Celebrating Passover was something all good Jews would do.

It seems clear that Jesus had made preparations for this final meal with His followers in advance (14, 15). By the way, it would be most unusual in that culture to see ‘’a man carrying a jar of water’’ (13). It was definitely regarded as a woman’s work. So this was a clear, and unusual sign. As we follow Christ, we regularly find that He has prepared in advance, and made arrangements we knew nothing about. (I think I once heard that ‘providence’ means to ‘see before’, or to ‘see to it before’). Of course, as we move forward into the future He is preparing for us, we can ask Him for guidance (12b) and expect to receive it. This is a little picture of what it means to work together with God. He has the big picture. He works before we know about it; even before we get there. But He graciously gives us parts to play in the great unfolding drama of salvation.

Like the first disciples, we will always find Jesus to be as good as His word (16). He speaks words of integrity. They are totally reliable because He is.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, in a shaky world where so much seems uncertain and unstable, thank you that I can count on your word because I can count on you

Mark 14: 10-11: Covert activity.

^“10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. ” NIV UK

As we come to the end of our brief sojourn in this passage, two quotes from Warren Wiersbe seem pertinent:

‘The importance of what you do isn’t measured by media interviews or press releases. As far as we know, only fifteen people in Bethany saw Mary’s act of worship when she anointed the feet of Jesus – and twelve of them criticised her for it! – but Jesus said that the message of what Mary did would travel around the world!’                                           ‘How do you ‘’conveniently’’ betray the Son of God? Is it not a costly endeavour in every way?’

I remember a pastor pointing out that Judas helped Jesus fulfil His mission more than any other earthly follower. He wasn’t advocating treachery. No one in their right mind would want to go through that. But he was emphasising that in the worst of times for a leader, God will be mightily at work. Even if we have to go through a crucifixion type of experience, it is the pathway to Easter Day.

Mark 14:6-9: ‘She did what she could.’

^“6 ‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you,^[a] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’ ” NIV UK

The Lord doesn’t look at what we can’t do but what we can.  I heard this morning about a church in Los Angeles, where they recently held a baptismal service. I think around 9 people were scheduled to be baptised. But after the gospel was preached, more than a hundred were spontaneously baptised, because they indicated they wanted to place their faith in Jesus that very day. I confess that alongside the sense of gladness for such kingdom advance, I was also tempted to feel inferior. I have pastored a village church for 27 years, and we don’t get that number to a single service!

But the question I need to face is, ‘Am I doing what I can?’ That’s the issue. I may not have the gifts, or the context that would make such results more likely. God is in charge, after all, of who gets what in terms of spiritual gifts. But am I using to the full whatever has been entrusted to me?

Mary ‘’did what she could.’’ She may not have fully understood the significance of what she was doing (8), but Jesus did. What He prophesied about her has come true (9). This is why she is in our thoughts today.

PRAYER: Lord, when I hear about other Christians having big success in your work, I don’t always feel about it as I should. Please forgive me for wrong attitudes. Help me please to faithfully go about the business you have given me, doing what I can.

Mark 14:5 – 9: Blessing the poor

⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly. ⁶ ‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’

It is right that the church should get on with the ministry of serving the poor. Our Lord, who was rich beyond compare, deliberately impoverished Himself in order to enrich us (2 Corinthians 8:9). Probably the disciples in the room that day did care about the poor. But Judas didn’t. He just pretended to. For him, it was a rod with which to beat Mary (see John 12:6). Jesus wasn’t having any of that, and He told all of them that they would always have opportunities to help the poor. Sadly, poverty will be an issue until the end of time. Jesus didn’t decry the importance of such giving. But whereas we should love our neighbour as ourselves, the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with everything we’ve got. Mary showed such a heart, and Jesus esteemed her worship as ‘’beautiful’’.

Mark 14:4-9: Fire extinguishers!

^“4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly. ⁶ ‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’ ” NIV UK

You know the definition of a fanatic? Someone who loves Jesus more than I do!

I remember a girl joining a church. She was quite young; just a student at the time. But her love for the Lord was so evident, and her expression of praise so extravagant, that at times you almost couldn’t take your eyes off her. In worship services she was a kind of contemporary equivalent of Mary anointing Jesus, weeping, and wiping His feet with her hair. She was different to most people in church. I think, sadly, she attracted some criticism.

Some people are fire lighters while others are fire extinguishers. Mary had her critics. But Jesus saw her heart. He had a different viewpoint (6) to those who were spraying foam all over her worship (4,5). They criticised; He commended. He gladly received what she sincerely offered.

‘When we pour out our gifts, skills, and possessions for Jesus, people will also say that we are wasting our lives. What we do for Jesus the world considers wasted. But, in fact, nothing is ever wasted on Jesus. Let us also learn from this story never to criticise the expressions and works of love done by others.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.272.

Mark 14:3: Reclining at the table.

^“3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of 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.” NIV UK

This is a wonderful picture, Jesus ‘’reclining at the table’’. It speaks of a number of things. Here are three:

• Intimacy: In the East, in those times, the meal table was a place of close friendship. It expressed, and strengthened, bonds between people. Those at the meal would lie on couches around the table, and would be in fairly close contact with one another. Jesus wants to be known;
• Availability: Jesus put Himself in a position where He was contactable by ordinary people. He was not protected by bodyguards; not shielded in the ways celebrities are. Mary could get to Him to express her love in the way she did. Jesus is accessible;
• Vulnerability: Although Jesus ‘’did not come to be served, but to serve’’ (10:45), He was nevertheless willing to receive the service of others. He did not deny those who wanted to give to Him, the privilege of doing so. ‘’It is more blessed to give than to receive’’ (Acts 20:35). Jesus Himself said this. But it often feels like it takes more grace to receive than it does to give. However, let us learn from the Lord. Jesus is willing to be served.

Mark 14:3: Brokenness.

^“3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of 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.”

As long as the perfume was kept in the jar, it was of benefit to no-one else. But once it was broken and poured out ‘’…the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume’’ (John 12:3).  We are like ‘’jars of clay’’ (2 Corinthians 4:7). In fact, that is what we are. It is only when we are broken and poured out that the world can benefit from the contents God has put within us. It is His intention that people should be able to ‘smell’ Jesus on us (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). The fragrance gets released when the life is poured out.

God has given each Christian spiritual gifts and natural talents. He has given us possessions. He has given us a life. ‘If we keep these for ourselves, they do not benefit anyone. In the end, they do not even benefit us, because we cannot take them with us when we die. Only when we pour out all our gifts, skills, and possessions at Jesus’ feet can He take them and use them for God’s glory and for the benefit of others.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.272.  This is true. Who would seriously question it in principle? But the difficulty is in the doing. It hurts to be broken and it costs to be poured out.

PRAYER: Lord, I pray that everything you have put into me will be poured out for the blessing of others and the glory of your Name.

Mark 14:1-3: Perfume.

“Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ² ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’ ³ While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of 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.” NIV

If this is the same anointing described in John 12:1-8, it was Mary who did this. The perfume was ‘’very expensive’’. It may have been kept in the family from generation to generation, the way people keep gold. It probably represented financial security for them. It may have represented all their savings According to (5) it was worth ‘’more than a year’s wages’’. But Mary ‘’broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.’’ According to John 12:3. She also poured it on His feet and wiped His feet with her hair.

It is true that ‘Christianity which costs nothing accomplishes nothing.’ There is sacrifice lying at the heart of discipleship; an abandonment; an extravagance of worship. We pour out all that we have and are on Jesus. He may well still let us hold it on His behalf, but it is His, and is to be used for His glory. It takes faith to live like this. We give what we may feel we cannot afford, only to discover that god is no man’s debtor.

Mark 14: 1,2;10, 11: The great divide.

14 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief  to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.NIV

‘Mary’s act of worship brought joy to the heart of Jesus and malice to the heart of Judas…’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.684.

What a contrast we find here between those who hated Jesus and wanted Him out of the way (1,2; 10,11), and one who loved Him dearly. We are going to spend a few days savouring the aroma of Mary’s ‘worship’. We will linger in this perfumed room. But note that this dividing line runs through the human race. On one side are those who are for Jesus, and on the other side those who are against. On which side of the line are you?

During Passover/Unleavened Bread, Jerusalem’s normal population of 50,000 could swell to 250,000, with pilgrims arriving from all over. The religious authorities knew there would be quite a few of Jesus’ supporters in that number, and they didn’t want a riot. Then the Romans would move in a heavy handed way and everyone (themselves included!!) would suffer the consequences. So they thought it best to bide their time.

On the day following Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread began (Exodus 12:15-20; Deuteronomy 16:1-8). Tom Hale says that sometimes Passover was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread (12), although it was, in fact, a separate day. At Passover, the Jews celebrated the deliverance of the people from slavery in Egypt, through shed blood. Through the hostility of Jesus’ enemies, all that the Passover stood for was about to come to complete fulfilment. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.