Tuesday - An Extreme Act of Love

All right, we are in Mark chapter 14 tonight, Mark 14. We are still on the Tuesday of our Lord's week of his death. Someone said something to me on the way in this evening about was was Tuesday the longest day in our Lord's life. It sure seems like it doesn't is. As far as the amount of time it's taken us to cover those events. You know, I read somewhere one time. I don't remember where who said this that there are only six days in our Lord's ministry recorded in the gospels where we basically have the entire day. We know what went on throughout the day and I did not I don't think that person identified which days they were of which passages they were. I know one of them is in Mark 1, but I have a feeling this is another one of those six days because we know what happened in the very first thing in the morning as he was going into Jerusalem with the cursing of the fig tree or the recognition that the fig tree had withered I guess on this Tuesday. And then the teaching of the temple very early and the questioning of all of the religious leaders and the back and forth debate in the temple that's been going on for some time and then we saw last week that the last event actually in the temple was Jesus observing those who were giving their gifts at the at the temple offering boxes. I told you last week that I would at least show you a picture of that this week although we finished that story. So the gift of a poor widow let's go ahead and throw up the picture of their berry and I don't know if you can see it real well it's a little bit like there we go that helps. Here are those trumpet shaped receptacles there were thirteen of them throughout the temple six on each side or seven on one six on the other. I do know a little bit of math and so you would put your money in this and it would roll down into a container that would be then inside the temple building and that obviously provided some security for those gifts and so forth but that's that's what it would have looked like and Jesus is watching from somewhat of a distance those who are putting in their gifts and remember the story of the widow who gave just a very minimal amount but it was all that she had and Jesus commended to his disciples commended her for giving all that she had and the love and sacrifice that was expressed there. Jesus moves from that event out of the temple and as he is going outside of Jerusalem or actually as he's leaving the temple the the disciples comment on the buildings and how beautiful they are how grand the temple is and Jesus says to them there will come a day when not two of these stones will be left on top of each other and they're shocked at that and so they ask him when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and Jesus jumps into the Olivet discourse which is found most extensively in Matthew's gospel in Matthew 24 and 25 also in Mark 13 Luke 21 we're skipping over that because that would that would take a whole series and I did cover Matthew 24 and 25 in the series on prophecy a few months ago so we're skipping that and moving to the next event as Jesus moves from the temple mount and the city of Jerusalem to Bethany where he will spend the evening and we find that he is in Mark 14 going to be at a dinner in in a home there in Bethany it's not Mary and Martha's home Lazarus home but they are there if you will look at Mark chapter 14 verse 1 the gift of a dear friend we've entitled this section chapter 14 verse 1 says now the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread were only two days away in the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him but not during the festival they said or the people may riot so again their anger has been heightened because of the interaction that day in the temple they would love to arrest him and put him to death but they don't feel like they can do it during the the feast because of the crowds of people and his popularity with the crowds so they're looking for a way to do it scheming for a way to do it secretly and obviously I think we kind of ended last week with this before this evening is out Judas will give them the opportunity to do that and so we move from that interaction to a home in Bethany verse 3 while he was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the leper now obviously this is a leper that's been healed by Jesus or else he would not be in a public setting but he's back at home now and he's entertaining guests and among those guests is Jesus also John's gospel in fact you might want to keep your finger in John chapter 12 because John also talks about this this same event John tells us that Mary and Martha and Lazarus were also there now there's a little bit of difference in the timing or at least it sounds like it in John's gospel but John begins John 12 with Jesus coming to the area a few days earlier and then skips all of the events that we've looked at in recent weeks and picks right up with this dinner in verse 2 so it looks like Jesus is at two dinners but it's not it's the same same event each have a little bit of difference in the details that are shared by the two gospels so Jesus is at this dinner Mary Martha and Lazarus are there it's at the home of someone that no doubt Jesus has healed you can imagine what a relief this is for him to be around friends around those who love him he's not being challenged and debated anymore like he's been all day long in the temple he's gathered now with friends at a meal must have been wonderful conversation a wonderful time of fellowship and then something happened that nobody there that evening would ever forget it was it was a case of extreme love and what we're gonna see in verse 3 is the expression of extreme love and I use that I use that word extreme not unguardedly I think it does the text does call for that word this was an extreme expression of love this went way beyond what would be normally expected to be demonstrated by way of a love gift to the Savior it shocked everybody who saw it and even aroused some criticism as we'll see in a little bit it just shocked everybody it definitely pushed way beyond the limits of what would normally be done so let's take a look at this gift of a dear friend and how it expressed extreme love verse 3 says while he was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the leper a woman came with an alabaster jar a very expensive perfume made of pure and hard she broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head now if you're looking back at John's gospel you see that in verse 3 chapter 12 verse 3 the woman is identified as Mary Martha is serving verse 2 Lazarus is among those reclining at the table it is Mary who is the woman referred to in Mark's gospel now this was an extreme gift in two ways first of all it was extreme in what she gave notice again in verse 3 she had an alabaster jar a very expensive perfume made of pure and hard that's enough detail that if you know the the culture and and setting and so forth of the day you can pretty well identify what this was because of the jar that is mentioned the way that was used in that day and because of the nard that that kind of perfume we know what it was it was a beautifully sealed vile a jar or a vase you might call it and the nard would be imported perfume from India this was expensive stuff this was not the kind of thing you would find in every household this is something that would be treasured the contents of this kind of vile that that we know the size and so forth of it the contents of that of this rare Indian perfume would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 thousand dollars okay this was a family heirloom this was this was often the kind of thing that would be kept by a family to provide for them in their old age I mean this is like their retirement okay this is their pension plan okay to put it in a little bit of perspective that's what we're talking about here we're talking about a family treasure that would be used to provide for them in their later years so this gift is extreme in what she gave but it's also extreme in how she gave verse three again says she broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head so she she snaps off the seal of this long neck of this alabaster jar she snaps off the seal of it and pours out a generous helping of that perfume on his head now oil or perfume in that day would be poured on someone's head to anoint them for a special task or an introduction into something significant in their lives that's with the anointing of a king or something like that so she does that but John's gospel adds another detail if you're flicking back over to John John 12 verse 3 says she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume those of you who have allergies would have had to leave the table that evening because this was the smell just invaded and saturated the whole home now you say wait a second is there a contradiction here did she put it on his head or did she put it on his feet which is right as we have talked about before with the gospels you're looking at different perspectives from four different authors each of whom will include sometimes different details so to get the full picture what do you have to do look at both or in some cases put all four of them together and when you put them all together then you get the full picture it's not like there's a contradiction here it's just that not every gospel has all the details they all have different details of the same event they're written at different times they're written for different perspectives and different purposes and so to get the real picture you got to put them both together so here's the picture she begins by pouring a generous amount of that expensive perfume on his head and then finishes off in all likelihood the vile on his feet now please don't get the wrong picture here I probably should have included a picture of of the ancient near east or the middle east way of dining you know the text says they were reclining at the table and you're probably aware of this they did not sit at seats like we would at a table they did not eat sitting they would recline the tables were low they would usually lie on their side on their left elbow to prop their head up and eat with their right hand the table would be just there in front of them and it would provide for a conversation and so forth but that's the way they ate in that day there would be maybe propped up on some pillows that would be lying flat on the ground but in that scenario Jesus feet would be stretched out from him and so she would have easy access to his feet it's not like she'd be crawling under the table you know you may have read this story as a child and thought well how did she ever get to his feet how did that happen she crawling around on the table or what but she's she's actually his feet are the most accessible part of him because it's the furthest away from the table and so she she starts by anointing him on his head and then pours the rest of it on his feet and wipes his feet with her hair so this is a very extreme expression of love not only in what she gave but how she gave this I mean she emptied basically her life savings in a few minutes I mean think about that this is extreme she has emptied her life savings and her retirement plan in one passionate expression of devotion and love to Jesus Christ and some of you are thinking that's too extreme will be careful who you're going to side with in this story okay this is this is an extreme yes a very extreme act an expression of love but we'll see what Jesus says about it any comments or questions before we move on to the next verse you wonder what practical Martha thought about it yeah Martha's the one who's serving and making sure everything's just right and you know maybe this was her and Lazarus retirement plan too and she she may have had something to say about that yeah okay let's move on then to the next step in this story the next thing that happens in verse four and verses four and five the criticism of extreme love the criticism of extreme love let's read and then we'll unpack it a little bit some of those present were saying indignantly to one another why this waste of perfume it could have been sold for more than a years wages and the money given to the poor and they rebuked her harshly okay respond to this statement how would you respond to this statement all criticism is bad what are your thoughts on that true false what do you think all criticism is bad we have one no pardon me John okay her constructive criticism is there such a thing as constructive criticism yeah I think we would agree so consensus anybody want to disagree all criticism is bad we would say that statement is false right and I would agree I would think that's a false statement not all criticism is bad some criticism is good criticism is a part of life we have to expect it but we have to evaluate it it's important that we evaluate whatever criticism we get if criticism is is loving and honest then we need to listen to it carefully doesn't mean the critic is right necessarily but we need to listen to it if it's done lovingly and honestly then we need to listen to it and if the critic is right then he can help us right or she can help us if the critic is wrong maybe we can help them so either way even if the critic is wrong there can be something constructive come out of it you see so not all criticisms bad but it has to be evaluated now what we're going to do with this criticism is we're going to evaluate it there are two ways to evaluate criticism and this criticism fails on both counts it is it is unjust criticism on both counts by the way I read a story one time of one of Esop's fables talking about a a grandfather and his grandson who were riding into a town and they had a donkey and they were going to a market and as they began to head toward the town the the boy was up on the donkey riding and the grandfather was walking and somebody came by and said how cruel of young boy to be riding while his olderly grandfather is walking and so they traded places and the grandfather started riding and the boy started walking and somebody else came by and said how cruel for you to make that young boy he's too young to be walking like they are be letting him ride and and so they both got on the donkey and someone else came by and said how cruel of you to treat that animal that way that both of you would ride on that donkey and so they ended up walking into the town both of them carrying the donkey you know if you listen to all criticism then you'll end up like that you'll end up you know hurting yourself in some way not all criticism is good not all criticism is bad but there are two ways to check it two ways to check criticism and let's let's do that with this criticism first of all you want to check the method of the criticism the method of the criticism how is it delivered now how is this criticism delivered look at verses four and five tell me something about the method that is used in giving this criticism what does it say there how did they give it spoke to her harshly it rebuked her harshly right what else does it say they were saying indignantly what does that mean they were mad they were angry yes they were mad and they let it be known they were mad and angry so they were indignant or mad they spoke or they rebuked her harshly is there anything else in there that indicates the method how they criticized pardon me they did it publicly in front of a lot of people okay all right they did but there's something that happened even before that that is another part of the criticism that I think needs to be evaluated they were offended with the weight the waist the waist okay yes they were and we'll get more carefully to that in just a moment they were busy bodies yeah yeah there's a lot to be said for that I mean that it's her perfume it's her save is why is everybody else stepping in being critical yes well yes pardon me Dan jealous okay okay we're going to get to that in just a moment but those are those are wise words both of you they are the one thing that I'm looking at that hasn't been picked out yet is is and it may be because you have maybe a different translation but verse four says some of those present we're saying indignantly to one another okay if they have a problem with what she's done who should they say that to to her okay they they did end up doing it publicly which is also wrong but they started out talking among themselves evidently was murmuring as it was going on maybe just talking among themselves that is inappropriate that is not what the Bible teaches you know what the Bible teaches on she Matthew 18 if you have a problem with your brother who do you go to one another someone else no no you go to that brother first go to that person not to other people so the method of the criticism is wrong on all counts we found at least four things wrong with the way they did this first of all they were expressing anger they weren't doing it in the proper spirit they were murmuring to each other before they then let her have it publicly they they rebuked her harshly and then they did it very publicly where everybody could hear it rather than to to marry so on at least four counts the method of the criticism was was inappropriate so it fails that test right but there's something else you need to evaluate criticism by not only the method but the motive the motive of criticism and we were touching on that a little bit so let's get back to that the motive of criticism notice what they said why this waste of perfume it could have been sold from more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor now that's what they said it's actually John's gospel that gives us the motive that very clearly identifies the motive for why this was said John's gospel verse four chapter 12 says but one of his disciples Judas is chariot who was later to betray him objected why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor it was worth a year's wages now verse six identifies his motive he did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief as keeper of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it he was the treasurer among the disciples he kept the bag of money that was used remember there were some who supported Jesus ministry some women others who who gave funds for them to be able to travel and do what they did and and be able to support themselves find something to eat and so forth Judas is the treasurer he's the one that kept the money and and the bible says he would help himself to some he was he was embezzling funds okay so clearly his motive John tells us was not out of concern for the poor that was not his motive he asked the question because he he did some quick calculation in his mind he realizes this is 25 30 thousand dollars worth of of this is at least a year's wages that could have been in the bag that could have been in the bag I carry and so he wants to look good in the way he says it you know so he says this could have been given to help the poor but that was not his concern that was not at all what he wanted to do with it he wanted it in the bag where he could get his fingers on it that was his motive so his motive was unjust and impure it was self-centered and so it fails this criticism fails on that test as well so we're basically talking about how criticism is given and why it is given the method and the motive we all need to evaluate criticism sometimes we are criticized lovingly and honestly and it needs to be taken and and we're being shown something by someone that that we need to take the heart we all need to evaluate that but the way you evaluate criticism is okay first of all how was it given was this just someone who was angry and just venting their anger was it someone who was talking to other people rather than coming to me or to whomever is it someone who was then when they found the opportunity rebuking harshly in public how how was it done or was it really done according to Matthew 18 in the proper spirit going to the person I deal with problems every day I had a meeting at 7 30 this morning school related that's where a lot of the problems come to my desk and it's not that the school's bad it's just that that's my role in the school I get all the problems and so I had a meeting this morning at 7 30 about three problems and what I had decided to do when I heard them was I was going to go straight to the person that could address them and they all three got cleared up you know if we would do what we're supposed to do by going to the person rather than talking to everybody else about it typically most problems can be solved that way because that's the biblical process of problem resolution so we have to evaluate criticism by the method in which it's given but also by the motive that's not always easy to tell but I kind of like something that Warren Wiersby said Warren Wiersby in writing on this passage obviously speaking of Judas and his impure motive said this a malicious critic is usually hiding his motive leave him alone and he will hang himself there's some good advice there obviously specifically related to Judas but there's some good advice there sometimes when you're being criticized rather than trying to defend yourself or head it off sometimes the best thing to do if you know that the person is just being malicious just trying to hurt you for whatever reason just let it go let it go someone told me something many years ago I wish I could remember some of the things some of the people that told me these things I should have written them down but I have read this or heard it from someone time and truth walk together time and truth walk together just give it some time sometimes we barge in to make everything straight and we end up making more of a mess of it don't we I've done my share of that for sure but time and truth walk together and sometimes it's best just to let the criticism go and let the Lord take care of it let the Lord reveal what the right is and the wrong is or maybe any eternity will be the time when it will be shown what was right and what was wrong and you may not ever get vindicated this side of eternity but just sometimes it's best just let it go and and and the unjust critic will will hang himself or herself sometimes that that happens okay any any further question about the criticism comment about that great that's a great question Greg why did Jesus choose Judas in the first place and that's a quandary we don't know all of the reasons uh we know that that Jesus did choose him we know that Jesus prayed over the ones he should choose uh Luke chapter 6 he prayed all night before he chose the twelve apostles wasn't a mistake I don't think so I think Jesus had a reason for choosing him um you know there are passages that talk about the betrayal and say that Judas betrayed Jesus so that it might be fulfilled what was written in the prophets that plays into it for sure this was a part of God's purpose in plan there there was a betrayer god knew all along who it would be Jesus chose the person that god knew all along it would be so that's a part of the answer I guess um there are lots of nuances to this lots of shades of of this as to why Jesus would have chosen him but that's one part of it probably okay all right let's let's move on the the defense of extreme love in verses 6 through 8 you know I think that maybe uh John tells us it was Judas that was really asking the question but Mark's gospel says there was more than Judas some of those present were saying indignantly to one another so Judas may have been the one being most vocal but there were others feeling the same way maybe even among the apostles it doesn't specify for sure there were other people around the table but I would guess that maybe some of the other apostles were shocked at this extreme act of love too and may have had some questions about it or criticisms of it as well and may have felt like you know we know Jesus' mind he loves the poor and certainly he would agree with us that that's not very wise to to in a few moments waste all of that expensive perfume could have had better use well um they were badly mistaken if they thought they knew Jesus' mind on this badly mistaken because Jesus is going to come to her defense and he's going to come to her defense in a very penetrating way a very forceful way and what Jesus is going to do basically in his defense of her is he's going to take the measure of our hearts he really is he's going to take the measure of our hearts to find out what would we be saying around the table that night would we have been among those who said that's a waste that could have been put to better use think of all the poor that could have been helped here and all of a sudden in just a few moments it's poured out on his head and his feet it's wasted it's gone it can never be used for anything constructive or good would we be the one saying that this is impractical would we be saying that well let's listen to Jesus' rebuke of the disciples and his defense of Mary he's going to basically say four things in her defense first of all in verse six he's going to say this was beautiful it was beautiful what she did verse six lever alone said Jesus why are you bothering her she has done a beautiful thing to me now I do want to finish this story in our times running so let me just quickly give you some reasons why I believe this was beautiful I'd love to just throw it out and let's discuss it but for sake of time let me suggest three reasons why Jesus said it was beautiful first of all was motivated by love it was motivated by love no question about that this was this was an overflow of her heart it was genuine so it was beautiful in that way secondly it was beautiful because it was a spontaneous response to the spirits prompting it is though she had a prompting from the Holy Spirit to do this and she did it it was not it was not it was not the kind of things you may have planned it was impulsive but you know sometimes the Holy Spirit moves on us to do something in a moment and it may not seem practical at the time it may seem impulsive it's something out of the ordinary but all of us have those moments when we sense that the Holy Spirit is prompting us to speak to somebody or to to bring up the subject of Christ with somebody or somebody needs to be written a note or a letter or this person may need a phone call or I just sense that I need to give to this need or whatever all of us have those times when we just sense the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do something and and she did it she did it she just followed the the prompting of the Holy Spirit here it was beautiful because of that and whenever we back away from that say no we rob we rob the opportunity for a beautiful thing to be done in God's name third day I think it was beautiful because it was not dominated by practicality now I want to be careful with this this is not the kind of thing you do as a routine all right practicality thinking through something carefully being wise and practical with your choices should be the routine way that we live you don't just throw 25 30 thousand dollars around every day okay this is not the routine but there are occasions there are times when God moves our hearts to do something that is impractical to do something that is extreme to do something that does not make sense that doesn't add up on paper there it's sometimes it has to do with our possessions sometimes it has to do with our lives sometimes it has to do with our time what we give ourselves to sometimes God moves us to do something more extreme that's not every day it's not every month may not be every year may only be once in a lifetime but when God moves on us to do that are we going to say Jesus you are worth everything or are we going to back away because it's impractical think about that Jesus said it was beautiful and that's what he's talking about it's beautiful sometimes I think we rob the spirit of God from one of you to do beautiful things through us yes secondly Jesus says in verse 7 it was timely it was timely the poor you will always have with you and you can help them anytime you want but you will not always have me now this one I would really like to throw out for discussion but again we really don't have the time Jesus unconcerned about the poor it's Jesus call us about the poor you know the answer to that no obviously no that's not the issue here there are many commands in the Bible about being sensitive to the needs of the poor many commands particularly in the Old Testament but even in the New Testament as well you know first John says if we see somebody that is in need and we have the means to help them we don't do it how can we say that we have the love of God in us okay so there's some New Testament principles there as well about helping those in need so Jesus is not saying that what he is saying is this and it's pretty obvious really you will always have opportunity to do that and he says you should do that and you can't help them anytime you want in other words that is a legitimate godly responsibility you should do that there will always be opportunities for that right now though you're not going to have me much longer in fact only only a couple more days before he dies and so what he's saying is the timing of this makes it more important to do the extravagant extreme act of worship than even to use that money to feed the poor now I think there's a tremendous lesson there for us and that is it's a lesson to me in balance you know it's very easy for us to find something that is dear to our hearts that is a great need and that becomes everything that becomes everything whether it's giving to the poor or helping in whatever area it may be and that's everything easy for all of us to do this okay it's easy for me because god called me 40 some years ago to preach and that's my passion it always has been always will be till I die you know I I'm like Chuck Swindall who who said when he was preaching at Jonathan fallwell's church in Lynchburg I hope I die in the pulpit my chin hits it on the way down you know I kind of feel that way too I mean I that's my passion and I might have a tendency to say that's everything that's everything but it's not someone else who has another passion may think that's everything everything ought to be given all the energy ought to be given to this and what Jesus is saying no no no there's a legitimate need to help the poor but that need is not right now the more legitimate thing to do right now is the extreme act of worship and love and so sometimes sometimes worship trumps service do you know that that's very easy for us to think especially those who have a real passion in a heart to get out and do something and serve that that's all there is and that's all we should be doing and no there has to be a balance sometimes an extreme gift of worship is more than that same gift toward a need of the poor or some other crying need there is a place to learn there is a place to do and neither one of them should occupy all of our focus it's easy to get off balance either way it's easy to get off balance on the learning side you know the study side I want to study my Bible all the time and I'll learn as much as I can learn that's a wonderful thing but if you never translate that into service you're unbalanced but if all you do is serve you get busy and get involved and do things but you never get deep in the word and worship at his feet you're also unbalanced so what Jesus really is teaching us here is there's a balance and the balance is dictated by what is right in this moment sometimes the greatest need in my life is to spend time alone with God or to study his word sometimes the greatest need in my life is to go help someone but if it's all of one and none of the other then I become unbalanced that's what Jesus is teaching us the timing okay quickly the other two he said it's beautiful because it's sacrificial you know what we don't have time to finish this we just don't have time I don't want to I don't want to do it in justice we're gonna wait okay because there's just too much good stuff left here in the story so we'll we'll pray and go get our little ones and we'll go home thank you father for your amazing word thank you for our amazing lord lord I have so much to learn from him I pray father when you move upon our hearts to do something extravagant out of the ordinary that is going to cost us dearly help us to do that if you're moving on our hearts to do that helps to do it help us lord to have the kind of extreme love for you that would give anything all of ourselves especially to you help us also to learn that balance that although there are crying needs around us there are times when we have to do something else like worshipping you and spending time in your word taking extreme measures to love you sometimes that's the most important thing but help us not to think that's all there is either so help us to keep that balance that's so easy for us to lose or there's so much we can learn from our Savior help us to learn these lessons of his life well in Jesus name we pray amen