The Cost of Devotion

Back in Matthew chapter 8, Jesus taught his disciples about the cost of following Him.

Matthew 8:18–20 ESV

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Again, in chapter 16 he made it even more clear, that the cost of following Him is high.

Matthew 16:24 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

This cost is always worth it, and this cost is offset by the incredibly high cost that Jesus paid for us, as in fact, this chapter starts out by Jesus reminding his disciples of that.

Matthew 26:1–2 ESV

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

There is always a cost involved in the things that we are devoted to. Being memorial day weekend, we are reminded of the ultimate cost that was paid by so many for our freedom. Since the revolutionary war, well over 1,000,000 american soldiers have died while serving our nation in the armed forces. Every person here has been in some way affected, negatively and positively, by those sacrifices.

In a smaller sense, It is gardening season, many of you this very weekend are excited, even a bit anxious, to get your plants in the ground now that “hopefully” the chance of frost is gone. Most of us don’t garden for survival, we garden for the enjoyment and the benefits of fresh vegetables and fruits. But gardening is not free! I have learned that over the last few years, there is a cost, a cost to everything we are devoted to.

Estimates say that people in the US spend around $200 a month on their hobbies. That’s a broad statistic, but again, there is always a cost for things we are devoted to.

The USDA estimates that it costs around $280,000 to raise a child to the age of 18. We never think of that while were in the middle of it, but again; there is a cost. What’s even worse, the average person in the US will spend between 20,000 and 50,000 to care for one dog over its lifetime. (some are saying, yep! and others are saying, you’re doing something wrong here!) But either way, there is a cost for things we are devoted to.

There is a cost for everything, a cost for following Jesus, but there is a cost for not following him also. We saw that in the warnings in the Olivet discourse, but here in our text today, we see a unique sense of those costs in the accounts we read of the Jewish leaders, of an devoted woman, and of Judas Iscariot.

In three scenes of passion, we see the cost of devotion both to Jesus and to opposing Him. The cost is always high, but only Jesus pays dividends.

1. The Devotion of the Opposition - Vs. 1-5

“An Inverted Sense of Authority”

The phrase “when Jesus had finished all these sayings” cues us in to the final scene change in Matthew. If you remember, we have seen this statement all the way through. This is now the 5th and final time that Jesus “finished all these sayings.” the teaching time, then, is over. Now it is time for the passion.

The disciples are thoroughly armed with teaching on the Kingdom, on the King, and on their citizenship within that Kingdom. Now it is time to watch the King finish the work he has come to do. It is the most unexpected work, the most dreaded work, the most shocking work, yet the most visible work of love, sacrifice, and redemption that has been given.

“after two days” the passover will come. The Passover began on the day of 15 Nisan, ever year. It was a major celebration, of course, with thousands of people travelling in to Jerusalem. Each family would sacrifice a lamb or he kid of a goat, and they would roast and eat the meat. All this was to commemorate the time in Egypt where the Lord struck the firstborn of Egypt, but passed over the houses of the Israelites who faithfully obeyed by placing the blood on the door.

Jesus predicted, not without coincidence, that his death would coincide with passover. That becomes even more a powerful connection when Jesus and His disciples eat the Passover meal together. We will look at that up close next week.

So Jesus predicted that he would be handed over to be crucified after two days.

But what about those who were plotting to have this done? Well, Matthew gives us these parallel scenes because there is something amazing about it.

Matthew 26:3–5 ESV

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

These “chief priests and elders” were at least part of the Sanhedrin. A ruling group of around 70 or so elders, made up of the priestly class, the scribes, and lay-elders of Israel. Aside from the Kings which Rome set up, this was as close to a “ruling class” as you got in this time in Israel’s history.

By this time, they were dead-set in their intention to have Jesus crucified. They gathered together in the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, who was a long-time ruler in Israel, to plot to kill Him.

There are a couple of interesting tensions in this passage, that show their devotion but also the costs they were weighing.

“Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

The “feast” in question here is the feast of unleavened bread, which took place in conjunction with the Passover. They were so intertwined that sometimes they are referred to synonymously. The Passover, though, was the one day, Nisan 15, while the feast stretched over the 7 days after passover to commemorate the removal of leaven prescribed in the Exodus.

So their vision, initially, of the timing of this arrest and death, would be at least 9-10 days away, if passover was not until after 2 days from now.

They weighed this cost carefully, because there were many things at play in their minds.

The People

They feared an uprising from the people. As leaders, they were always keeping a balance of tensions and passions that existed. We understand this as parents and people who lead in any capacity.

The Romans

In conjunction with the people, and reading between the lines, another tension they had to keep in mind was their relationship with Rome. Rome, of course, was actually ruling at this time.

There are historical accounts from around this time of incredible tensions between the Jews and the Romans. Especially during these feasts, where Rome would send in many extra soldiers to “keep the peace” because of hostilities that existed in both directions. One account recalls, at a feast in Jerusalem, a Roman Soldier who made a very obscene gesture toward a crowd of Jewish people, which began a riot which killed many hundreds of people in the crowd.

So the danger of an “uproar” was real, and these rulers kept all these things in mind.

But the horizontal tension of the people and Rome is not the only tension, what is the difference between Jesus’ words and their plan?

Matthew 26:2 ESV

“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

Matthew 26:5 ESV

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

Here is where this inverted sense of authority comes into play. These men, the chief priests and elders, were rulers no doubt. But they were interacting with the Son of Man.

It is so fitting that Jesus would use again that title, Son of Man, here. He had just finished telling us that the Son of Man would be the one who would come at the end of the age, sit on his glorious throne, and take his rightful place as judge over all peoples of the earth.

This is the Son of Man, who in Matthew 9, showed that he has authority to forgive sins and to heal.

This is the Son, who has been appointed Heir of all things, in Hebrews 1.

This is the Son, who is the head, and who is preeminent in all things.

And this is the Son, who will say before he ascends to heaven, “all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.”

So, this little band of earthly rulers, planning and plotting and scheming, trying to balance carefully the tensions of their dominion, will actually become obedient to the plan of God from before the foundation of the world that this death would take place, not after the feast, but right in the midst of the Passover celebration.

2. The Devotion of Sacrifice - Vs. 6-13

“A Sacrifice of Beauty”

Matthew then moves to another scene that is relevant. When we compare this story to the other places that it comes up in the Gospel records, we find that it is not Chronologically in its place here in Matthew. And he doesn’t tell us it is, he really gives us almost a “flashback,” and he does so because what happens here has just to do with what is coming up in the story.

Read Vs. 6-9

This “woman” is named as Mary in John’s gospel, and this house of Simon the Leper is believed by many to be the same house of Mary Martha and Lazarus. The fact that they were at this “Leper’s” house, tells us that either this was his house, perhaps he was the father of these three, or that he is still alive, and he has been healed of his leprosy. Something that we have seen happen even in Matthew’s Gospel!

So this woman is Mary, but Matthew leavers her anonymous, and I believe he does that for a reason. Not to hide her, not to put her down, not to shame the person who did this, but to emphasize the magnitude of what was done.

Everything about this action was ornate and extravagant. The perfume was very expensive. The jar that it was in was very expensive and meant to indicate luxury and cost. And the action itself was unheard of and lavish.

In Mark’s account of this story, we are told that the value of this perfume and the jar was 300 denarii. You might remember from other times we’ve seen that, a denarius was about a day’s wages.

300 days wages, and since there were 52 Sabbath’s in a year, that means that this was literally almost a year’s wages in value for the average worker. You know what you make in a year’s time. Would you spend that on a jar of perfume, let alone pour it all out?

So you can understand the disciples response, can’t you? Why this waste!? This could have been sold and given to the poor! Mary, if we’d known you had this the whole time, imagine all the good we could have done wit it?!

Now it seems they were saying this quietly, or perhaps pulled her aside and rebuked her, because Jesus wasn’t part of this conversation, but he knew - he was aware of it.

Matthew 26:10–13 ESV

But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 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.”

Notice Jesus’ words.

She has done a beautiful thing for me. Some translations say “good” there, but the word beautiful is more appropriate. It was a beautiful action. A beautiful offering. A beautiful sacrifice. A beautiful picture of devotion.

This woman had been listening to Jesus. She had been aware of his value, of the fact that he was going to be going away, and she was in tune with her own love for Him. Her offering was extravagant, but beautiful. It didn’t make monetary sense, but it was beautiful.

Beautiful devotion to Jesus sometimes doesn’t make monetary sense. Sometimes it doesn’t make fiscal sense. The disciples’ suggestion was honorable enough, but Jesus challenged their purely pragmatic approach.

We shouldn’t take this as a call to not care for the poor, no, Jesus has said time and time again to care for those in need. In fact, he has just told us in chapter 25 that when we care for our brothers in need, we are actually caring for him.

But this was different. This opportunity and occasion was different. Jesus acknowledges that the woman’s perspective was right. That he was worthy of this precious gift. That she wasn’t foolish for pouring out everything for Him.

There was a young man named William Borden, who was born in 1887, a wealthy heir to a millionaire family. He was led at a young age, though, to turn down the leadership of his family’s company, which would have been his, to become a missionary to Muslims in Sudan. He went to Princeton seminary, set out to Cairo Egypt to study Arabic to prepare for a life of missions. Tragically, though, he died at the age of 25 of an infection that led to Meningitis.

What portion of the fortune was his, he bequeathed at his death $800,000 to the China Inland Mission. He never made it to his goal. Was his life a waste? Was his giving away his fortune a waste?

Many stories can be told like this, of people who have made incredibly costly decisions to serve the Lord. Missions work is often not “efficient” in terms of cost. There are extended times of preparation, the challenges of learning language and culture, many health risks, and almost all of it paid for by donations and investments that promise no financial return whatsoever.

What in life have you sacrificed for the beauty of Christ? And that is the question, because this woman saw the worth and value and the beauty of Jesus as far beyond here expensive perfume.

She saw his sacrifice as an occcasion for her sacrifice. She couldn’t pay for what He was about to do, but she could honor it. It was the least she could do.

Matthew 26:12 ESV

In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

With her beautiful sacrifice, she had an eye to his. For just as her ointment was poured out on his head, soon he would be poured out himself.

Psalm 27:4 ESV

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Isaiah 33:17 ESV

Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.

Psalm 29:2 ESV

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

We may not be remembered in history, but living with an eye to the beauty and infinite value of Jesus is a life that is worth living. We find our ultimate value in seeing and knowing and savoring the value of Christ. Just as Jesus promised, we are still talking about the beauty of this sacrifice, because it reminds us to check our own consideration of what is valuable.

3. The Devotion of Judas - Vs. 14-25

“A Secret Plan of Duplicity”

The comparison between the costly sacrifice of the woman and the meager price that Judas was paid for his deception cannot go unnoticed, and I believe Matthew places these together on purpose.

30 pieces of silver. That infamous amount. Enough to buy a burial plot, but not that much.

If the woman’s gift was worth a year’s salary, Judas’ payment for his betrayal was worthy maybe a month’s.

Maybe a few thousand dollars in our day at the very most. That’s a good chunk of money, but is it enough for a life-altering decision? An eternity-altering decision?

Now we see an interesting inter-weaving of God’s sovereignty and the free actions of humans in this passage. Remember, these chief priests had vowed not to do this deed until after the feast. But jesus had predicted it would happen in conjunction with Passover, at the beginning of the feast.

The human “interaction” that brought these things together is Judas. Judas’s offer to deliver Jesus to them, which would allow the nighttime arrest in the garden, an arrest and then trial in the darkness, away from the crowds, this offer of Judas was enough to convince them.

Why would Judas do this?

Well, we know that he was a man given to the love of money. John tells us that he was a thief, he was in charge of the Disciples’ money, and that he was one of the chief objectors when Mary poured out the expensive perfume on Jesus. Not because he loved the poor, but because he loved the money.

But is 30 pieces of silver really enough to bring him to this grave decision?

Consider that Judas, if he was a man who loved money, may have had his eye to gain all along. There is reason to believe that Judas Iscariot was involved with the Zealots, a group of people who were interested in the political freeing of Israel from Rome. So if Judas was following Jesus because he thought there would be political overthrow, perhaps power and leadership and gain, but now he is seeing that Jesus is serious about this business of dying, then you can see why he might be disillusioned.

And, at play in this, is the fact that this was planned.

John 17:12 ESV

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

So Shouldn’t Judas get a free pass, if this was all planned? And If Jesus was to die anyway, what does it matter if Judas betrayed?

Yes, God is sovereign, and yes, this betrayal was part of Redemption’s plan, but Judas still did what Judas wanted to do. And Judas’ heart was not to give up everything to follow Jesus to the death and beyond, his heart was for his own desire.

We see this careful correlation in Jesus words as we go on.

Matthew 26:20–25 ESV

When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

There is comfort here in the sovereignty of God. Judas did what Judas wanted to do, yet God used this evil act to fulfill the redemption plan. There is no excuse for evil and wickedness, God hates it and will punish it, but at the same time, God often uses these things in His providence for disproportionate good.

Judas got 30 pieces of silver from his act of betrayal, but the death of Jesus purchased life for all who will believe.

Yes, the Son of Man goes just as planned, but woe to the one who betrays him. Are these things in tension? For us, yes, they are. And that is ok. We can live in that tension of not understanding perfectly. God’s ways are unsearchable. But while we live in some tension, we also must live in clarity.

Mark 8:35–37 ESV

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

What is the cost of devotion?

What are you willing to pay for your own satisfaction?

C.T. Studd Poem

Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep; Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn; Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”; And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.