True Worshippers

One of the most amazing things Jesus said, and He said a lot of amazing things, is his words to the Samaritan Woman at the well.

John 4:24 KJV 1900

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

What did this mean? What does this look like?

What does a true worshipper look like compared to a false worshipper?

Well we dont need to look too hard to find BOTH examples in a single event.

In the well known Miracle when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, we meet two woman: Mary and Martha.

Well as the passover was approaching Jesus went to stay at Lazarus:

John 12:1–2 KJV 1900

1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

At this meal was Mary, Martha, Lazuras, Jesus and the 12 disciples.

What is amazing is that at this single meal we have wonderful examples of a true worshipper and a false worshipper.

Mary is an outstanding example of how we ought to worship.

John 12:3 KJV 1900

3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

In this single verse this woman displayed at attitude towards Jesus that is just so beautiful.

And at the same time we see Mary worshipping Jesus, we see the traitor Judas at work as well.

I want to save Mary for now and look at Judas first.

Right here we have the first recorded words of Judas, not just in John but in the whole NT.

John 12:3 tells us all we need to know about Mary, and in the very next verse, verse 4 we see the first recorded words of a man who claimed to be a close follower of Jesus.

John 12:4–5 KJV 1900

4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

Now we might defend Judas a little bit here by saying “maybe he has a point”, he obviously cares for the poor and felt that Mary’s sacrifice could have been put to better use.

However, the next verse makes everything clear:

John 12:6 KJV 1900

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

Judas did not care for the poor, and Judas did not love Jesus.

Judas was a thief, who attached himself to Jesus so that he can prey off of other peoples love and devotion.

Judas is one of the first “Social Justice Warriors”.

He claimed to be against the poverty of others, making himself look righteous, yet his “concern” for the needy was not true concern at all.

It was his own greed that he cared about.

This makes Judas an Archetype of what a false worshipper looks like, acts like and thinks like.

False Worship

Jesus summed up false worship by quoting the prophet Isaiah:

Mark 7:6–7 KJV 1900

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

That word “Vain” is in greek “Maten” and it literally means “To manipulate”.

So what is Jesus saying in this verse?

“False worshippers are people who use worship as a means of manipulation, either trying to manipulate God or to manipulate the needy and desperate - so that they can get what they(men) want.”

The apostle Paul puts it like this:

2 Timothy 3:5 KJV 1900

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

IE: It looks like true, genuine worship, but its not.

Church, Judas managed to be with Jesus and the other disciples for 3 years and other than Jesus Himself, not a single other disciple even had the slightest idea of how evil he was.

Even at the end at the last supper, when Jesus told them all that one of them was a devil, not a single apostle suspected Judas.

John 13:21–22 KJV 1900

21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

Judas was no different to the crowds who left Jesus when he refused to feed them again, they only followed Jesus because of what they could get out of following him, Judas is the exact same.

John 6:66 KJV 1900

66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Why did they leave Jesus?

Again Jesus speaks power:

John 6:26 KJV 1900

26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

“You are following me not for me, but because of what you want to get out of me”.

That is the unfaithful crowd, that is Judas, that is a false worshipper.

True Worship

But now let us look at Mary.

What an example! No parent would name their son Judas. His name has become synonyms with greed, betrayal and evil.

But many parents to this day will gladly call their daughters Mary.

Lets look again at Mary’s act of worship:

John 12:3 KJV 1900

3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

I want to draw your attention to the characteristics of Mary’s true act of worship:

1: Mary immediately came and sat at the feet of Jesus.

This was a place of humble submission and dependance.

When Ruth came to Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, and wanted to tell him that she needed him what did she do?

Ruth 3:4 KJV 1900

4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

In the same way Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, not at the table, not standing around, not on a chair, but at His feet. A public announcement of her dependency on Him.

2: She undid her hair.

Now this may not seem like anything significant to us today, but it was not right for a Jewish woman to undo her hair in public.

Why did she do this?

Because the bible says clearly:

1 Corinthians 11:15 KJV 1900

15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

So what is happeniong? By undoing her hair (which is her glory) she is laying her glory down at his feet.

This act is the silent version of what Paul says:

Galatians 6:14 KJV 1900

14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Mary is saying “I will glory in nothing except Jesus”.

3: Her worship was not concerned with what she could get but rather with what she could give.

The total opposite of a false worshipper like Judas and the crowd.

Mary worshipped FROM a position of gratefulness. Judas and other like him worship FOR what they can get.

Conclusion:

What is the end of these 2 people?

Judas has gone down in global history as a man of utter ruin.

And Mary?

On that day her sacrifice of worship filled the whole house with a sweet aroma, and even today, 200 years later, right now across the continent of Africa her sacrifice still fills the church whenever her story is read.