Personal or Practical

Introduction

It’s Holy Week! Every year, we come to this week and people make plans with family and friends, try to hit all of the functions being put on, and buy that new outfit for church on Sunday. it’s a whole big deal...

On my end, me and the rest of the ministers on staff here are planning and working tirelessly to put together an Easter service that we hope Glorifies God and brings lost people to church.

We’re thinking through weather condition, service times, plans for how to handle parking, as well as how to manage traffic flow in and out of the building. Managing teams of people that will sacrifice their time to come help us set up all of the equipment, the speakers, lights. All of the things, both big and small are carefully planned out.

You may not have realized it, but it takes a lot of people and planning to do what we do.

In our Passage tonight, we see two types of people. We see someone with a plan, and we see someone without a plan.

Turn with me to Matthew 26.

Let me catch you up.

The events of this passage are taking place around the same time that we are meeting now. It’s the middle of Holy Week, and it’s been a busy week.

Jesus made a big entrance into Jerusalem on Sunday. He went to the temple on Monday and found them doing some shady business, so he ran them all out.

This rubbed some people the wrong way. Especially the High Priest. So all of the Jewish religious leaders came together to plot a way to get rid of Jesus.

Let’s see see exactly what happened.

Matthew 26:1–16 ESV

1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” 6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” 14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

In verse 5 we see something important.

Matthew 26:5 ESV

5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

You’ve heard me talk about the different feasts and festivals that the Jews had, but none was bigger than this one.

The Passover was the Jewish festival when they remembered how God rescued them out of Slavery in Egypt. Yall Remember?

Pharoah had hardened his heart and refused to release Israel from his service.

So we see the final of God’s plagues, where the first born children of Egypt died. But God protected those who covered their door posts with Blood, but not just any blood.

Exodus 12:5–7 ESV

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Exodus 12:12–13 ESV

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Some scholars believe that during the week of passover, Jerusalem what inflate from thousands to close to 2 million people.

But why does this matter?

Because many of the people who were coming to town, were people from neighboring cities who either had heard, or had even seen the miracles that Jesus had been performing.

The Jewish leaders were crooked, but not stupid. They wanted Jesus gone, but they wanted it to be done quietly.

Well, while all of this is going on behind the scenes, we see Jesus at his friend Simon’s house in Bethany. Bethany was a town a few miles outside of Jerusalem, so he could have been working and teaching during the day, and staying in Bethany at night.

This get’s us to the part that i want us to focus on tonight.

Here is my main message for yall tonight. You ready?!

"Few of the important decisions you’ll ever make will be announced ahead of time”

What does that mean?

As much as we try and try and try to control our future, that just not how any of this works.

Have you ever slowed down to think about how we prepare for things. Some of us say that we don’t really plan or prepare, but we all prepare. And How we prepare is directly tied to how important we think something is.

but As much as we try and try and try to control our future, that just not how any of this works.

We don’t know what the future holds.

There are so many things in this world that there is no way that we can plan for, but even though there are things in this life that we can’t control, there are certain things that we can.

Let’s hop back into our text were we really see 2 types of believers.

Practical and Personal

Matthew 26:6–16 ESV

6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” 14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Is your relationship with Jesus Practical or Personal?

Personal Relationship

Today, This woman is what many of us would call, “over the top”.

She was that person that they talk about Jesus so much that they might even get annoying after a while.

She had “no chill”

She worshipped Jesus with no reservation. With no fear of who was there, what they would think, or even what they might do.

She was all in at all times.

Her Heart was His, Her attention was His, Her time was His, Her money was His, Her future was His, Her life was His!

Then we see Judas

Practical Relationship

Judas proves that the edge of his faith in Jesus was practicality.

You see, Judas was a super smart guy.

Honestly, he was probably the guy that most of us would like to be around.

He was a planner. He had vision. He was good with money. He was disciplined.

Unlike the woman, Judas seemingly had his life together.

The problem, was that Judas was too “Together”

You see Judas was thinking like many of us think today. I’ve got to save money in case this happens. I’ve got to be ready for an emergency.

But because he was to practical, He never could let go enough to truly be present and worship the King of Kings that was standing right in front of him.

Today, Judas would be the guy that never misses church, and The guy who is always looking for opportunities to serve. But never allows Jesus to bring him to his knees. Never let’s his guard down enough to be broken. Never raises his hands in worship, or is so bought in that nothing else matters.

John MacArthur said “Genuine worship is the supreme service a Christian can offer to Christ.” he said that “there is a time for ministering to the poor, the sick, the naked, and the imprisoned. There is a time for witnessing to the lost and seeking to lead them to the Savior. There is a time for discipling new believers and helping them grow in the faith. There is a time for careful study and teaching of God’s word. But above all else that the Lord requires of His people is their true worship, without which everything else they may do in His name is empty and powerless.”

You remember passover? How God saved the Israelite’s from death by the shedding of a spotless male lamb’s blood painted on the door posts?

Jesus is that for us today. We all deserve death because let’s just be real, our hearts, our minds, our thoughts, and our actions are all filthy. If the world really knew who we are on the inside, then no one would ever be willing to forgive us.

Jesus sees, Jesus knows, and He loves us enough to do what he did this coming friday, so many years ago. He loves us enough to offer his own blood so that the Lord’s judgement will pass us by, but we have to make the choice to paint our door posts, but asking for forgiveness, repenting, and following him.

1 Peter 1:17–19 ESV

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Jesus sees, Jesus knows, and He loves us enough to do what he did this coming Friday, so many years ago. He loves us enough to offer his own blood so that the Lord’s judgement will pass us by, but we have to make the choice to paint our door posts, but asking for forgiveness, repenting, and following him.

Guys, Let’s worship Jesus, and all the other stuff will come.

Is your relationship with Jesus Practical or Personal?