A Precious Gift - Mark 14:1-11

© October 15th, 2023 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Mark

At AWANA each year, we encourage children to purchase gifts for their family members at Christmas with the “AWANA bucks” they earn from attending meetings and participating in various aspects of the program. We see this as a way to teach children to see the people around them and to be generous. Everything we purchase for the kids to buy with their AWANA bucks is relatively inexpensive, but we try to find things that the kids might be excited to give to their parents and siblings. Through the years, my own children have purchased many gifts for me from the AWANA store. In one recent year, I remember being told that Glory was so excited when she went shopping, because she found what she knew was the perfect gift for me. They said her eyes lit up when she saw it. When Christmas came, I was interested to see what it was. She had found a knife sharpening stone in the AWANA store and was excited to get it because she knew I liked to keep my knives sharp, and she was beaming as she gave it to me.

I own much nicer sharpening stones than the one my daughter purchased for me from that AWANA store, but I cherish that gift because every time I see it, I see the love my daughter has for me. I see in it a desire to give her father something she knew would please him. And that means more to me than anything else she could have given me.

This morning, we are going to look at the account of a woman giving a precious gift to Jesus. Her gift was incredibly costly, but it wasn’t the monetary value of the gift that impressed Jesus—it was the heart behind it. This morning we’re going to try to learn how to have a similar heart for the Lord, so that we too can bring a smile to His face as we show our love and devotion to Him.

The Backdrop

Last week we looked at Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, where He told His disciples about what they could expect in the future. He warned them of the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem and told them to be ready for His second coming. Now Mark shifts gears and tells us about a few different events, two about the plot to kill Jesus and one about an extravagant gift He was given.

The first two verses of Mark 14 tell us about the religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus.

It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.” (Mark 14:1-2, NLT)

Mark tells us these events happened right before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Passover was held on the 14th of Nisan on the Jewish calendar (which is in the spring) and the Festival of Unleavened Bread was the week that followed. The two events really merged into one big celebration and were of great importance to the Jewish faith, as they were a commemoration of God’s provision for the nation of Israel as they were delivered from slavery in Egypt. All devout Jews would celebrate Passover, and it was one of the holidays where all Jewish men within 15 miles of Jerusalem were required to travel to Jerusalem to participate.

As you can expect, Jerusalem swelled in size at Passover. There were not only people from all the outlying towns, but many people would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate as well. Jesus’ parents had done this when He was a child. Jerusalem was so chaotic that Jesus’ parents hadn’t even realized they’d lost Him until the end of the day! Because of the massive number of people and already chaotic atmosphere, the religious leaders didn’t want to risk causing a riot by trying to have Jesus executed.

Additionally, because Passover reminded the Jewish people of how God had delivered them from the oppression of their Egyptian captors, it made them long for deliverance from Rome, which meant tensions were higher than usual. The religious leaders understood this and concluded that if they were going to railroad Jesus and have Him executed, it might be best to wait until after things calmed down a bit more.

They weren’t concerned about whether their actions were right; their primary concerns were practical. They were afraid that if they carried out their plans now, they wouldn’t be able to control the people’s response. And that was their real goal: control. Their actions were motivated by what they wanted, not by obedience to the Lord.

In Bethany

After giving us a glimpse into the minds of the religious leaders, Mark takes us back to Bethany, a nearby town where Jesus likely stayed during Passover week. He tells us of a meal Jesus had at the home of a man known as Simon the leper. Simon must have been healed of his leprosy, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to be in his home, let alone host guests. We don’t know that he was healed by Jesus, but it is plausible that he may have been hosting this meal in celebration of Jesus healing him.

At first glance, it appears that Mark was saying that this meal took place two days before Passover. John says it happened the day before the triumphal entry. This isn’t a contradiction, because Mark doesn’t actually specify the time the meal took place. Mark wasn’t telling this particular story in chronological order. He told these stories together to set up a contrast between the heart of the woman at the dinner and the hearts of the religious leaders and Judas.

Here's how Mark records the events of this dinner,

3 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head.

4 Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such expensive perfume?” they asked. 5 “It could have been sold for a year’s wages and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded her harshly.

6 But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? 7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” (Mark 14:3-9, NLT)

John tells us that in addition to Simon the leper, Jesus’ friends from Bethany, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, were also at the meal. As usual, Martha was in charge of the food. During the the dinner a woman entered, broke open an alabaster jar full of expensive perfume and poured it over Jesus. John tells us this woman was Mary. He said she poured the perfume over Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair.

Nard was an ointment or perfume that was made from distilling a rare plant from India. It had to be imported and was therefore very expensive. In this case, the perfume was stored in an alabaster jar. Most jars like this had a long, tapered neck that provided a way to get a small quantity of the contents out at a time. Mary broke the jar, presumably snapping the neck so she could pour out the entire contents on Jesus.

Some of the people (John specifically mentions Judas) were indignant at such an act. They felt like this was a waste of a perfectly good resource! This jar of nard was worth roughly a year’s wages! In the minds of the disciples sitting around the table, she had just poured tens of thousands of dollars down the drain!

They said that if she really wanted to give such an extravagant offering, she should have donated it, so they could sell it and give money to the poor! There’s a part of us that understands where they are coming from, but Jesus said her offering was a beautiful act of worship.

We often wrestle with this question in the Church. Is it appropriate for us to dedicate resources to things in our churches when they could be used for missions or for helping the poor? Should churches use their resources to build beautiful buildings when a large warehouse space may be cheaper? Is it appropriate to have an expensive pipe organ when an electric piano would do? I believe Jesus is reminding us that when we are seeking to honor the Lord with our gifts, even something that seems extravagant is good. Think of the great cathedrals, the Sistine Chapel, or some of the other beautiful, priceless works of art done in the name of the Lord. These things are unquestionably extravagant, but they were not a waste of resources. They were radical expressions of love and worship.

Jesus responded to the critics by saying they would always have the poor among them. He was not saying that since there will always be poor people, we shouldn’t bother trying to help them; He was saying that there are plenty of opportunities to help the poor, but there would not be many more opportunities for them to show love to Jesus. Mary was showing love to Jesus, and that is never a waste of resources.

Jesus wasn’t moved so much by the perfume (though I think He did appreciate it), and it wasn’t really about the monetary value of the gift either, it was really about the love Mary was showing by choosing to give up what was probably her most prized and valuable possession to honor Jesus. Mary was showing the same heart Jesus had commended in the widow at the temple. Jesus commends an offering that is truly motivated by love for Him, no matter what anyone else thinks of it.

Jesus said Mary’s offering was preparing His body for His burial. I wonder if the disciples even registered that Jesus said this. I doubt they understood what He meant. Jesus knew that in just a week’s time, He would be crucified and His body would be buried. Typically, a body would be anointed with ointments, spices, and perfumes before burial. Jesus’ body didn’t receive this because He was hastily buried before the sun set and the Sabbath began. Jesus said Mary had helped to prepare His body in advance.

I doubt Mary had any conception of this, though maybe she had understood something the disciples had yet to grasp. Regardless, this simple act would continue to stick with Jesus, as this scent would likely cling to His clothes for the rest of the week. Every so often, Jesus would have been able to get a whiff of the perfume once more and be reminded of Mary’s love for Him. Even as the soldiers gambled for His clothing, you could still probably detect a hint of this extravagant gift.

Judas

After speaking about Mary’s gift, Mark shifts the scene once more. This time, he focuses on Judas.

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted when they heard why he had come, and they promised to give him money. So he began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. (Mark 14:10-11, NLT)

Judas went to the religious leaders, seeking to make a deal with them. He would betray Jesus to them if they would give him money. Suddenly, the religious leaders, who were hesitant to do anything during the week leading up to Passover, felt as though they had been handed an opportunity too good to pass up. When one of Jesus’ followers, His inner circle, comes to them and offers to betray Jesus to them, they see an opportunity to arrest Jesus on their terms; to do it in a way that would avoid unrest, and enable them to carry out their plans before the crowds could gather and cause problems.

As such, they happily agreed to pay Judas for his services. The price they settled on, according to Matthew’s gospel, was thirty pieces of silver. This number was significant because in Exodus, this was the same amount of money that was to be paid to the master of a slave who was killed accidentally. In other words, Judas betrayed Jesus for roughly the value of the life of a slave.

Questions and theories abound as to why Judas would have betrayed Jesus. Some have thought that Judas wasn’t really trying to get Jesus killed so much as He was trying to force Jesus’ hand. According to this theory, Judas was getting tired of waiting for Jesus to bring His Kingdom, so he thought he’d put Jesus in a situation where He would have to act. While this is possible, I don’t think it’s the most likely scenario.

Based on the way the gospels describe Judas and his actions, it sounds like Judas was hoping for a position of wealth and power by following Jesus, but he was coming to understand that following Jesus wouldn’t lead him to riches or wealth. And so, disillusioned after not getting from Jesus what he hoped, he decided to cut his losses and take matters into his own hands. If Jesus wasn’t going to help him get rich, he'd leverage his position to at least get something out of it.

Whatever his motivation was, Mark wants us to see a contrast in this passage. He tells the story of Mary’s extravagant act of love, but sandwiches it between the story of the hard-hearted religious leaders and the greedy Judas. The contrast is striking.

Mary showed a selfless love to Jesus. She wasn’t concerned about what it cost, she wanted Him to know that she was absolutely committed to Him and wanted to honor Him.

The religious leaders and Judas, however, saw Jesus as a threat to them getting what they wanted. Unlike Mary, they were unwilling to give up anything for Jesus. They saw Jesus as a threat to the status quo and would do whatever it took to get rid of Him.

As much as we’d like to believe we’re like Mary, we should be careful to look at our own lives and see if there are ways in which we behave more like Judas and the religious leaders. How often do we refuse to do what God has called us to do because we are afraid of what it will cost? How often do we try to make excuses for our lack of devotion, even though we know full well what we should be doing? How often do we ignore the things in God’s Word that we don’t like, or that make us uncomfortable? All of these behaviors are more like the religious leaders and Judas than Mary.

Jesus calls us to love Him, not for what we think He can give us, but for who He is. Genuine love simply seeks to honor the other person. It isn’t concerned with what it costs. Its focus isn’t just doing enough to get by; true love focuses on doing whatever we can to show someone how important they are to us.

Conclusion

This passage paints a beautiful picture of the kind of heart God desires from His children. Mary’s actions were motivated by love for Jesus. We want to have the same kind of heart for Jesus that she did, so let’s draw some lessons we can take from this account.

First, giving that honors God is motivated by gratitude, not obligation. Mary wanted to honor Jesus because she loved Him and was grateful to Him. She surely was profoundly grateful for Jesus raising her brother Lazarus from the dead. She didn’t make this offering because she had to, she did it to show gratitude. Sometimes I think we struggle to give freely to God (of our money, resources, time, etc.) because we have forgotten how much we have been forgiven. We have come to presume upon God’s grace, so we are no longer grateful for it. Rehearse how much God has given you, and I think you’ll find a desire to honor Him with all you have.

Second, we shouldn’t let the opinions of others hold us back from honoring God. Everyone around the table would have told Mary this was foolish, but she knew it would honor Jesus. You may feel God leading you to do something that others would call foolish. Maybe it's making a large donation to the church, a ministry, or an individual. Maybe it’s befriending someone who others say isn’t worth the time. Maybe it’s sharing the gospel with someone who seems antagonistic to the faith. Or maybe it’s following the priorities God sets rather than the world’s priorities. In each of these cases, our concern must be more about what honors God than it is about what others think. If we use that as our guide, we will never go wrong.

Third, significant gifts don’t have to be extravagant. I believe Jesus would honor Mary’s gift in much the same way He honored the gift of the poor widow in chapter 12. What made these gifts significant was the heart that motivated them. We understand this in our own relationships, don’t we? Often, the grand gestures are not what make the biggest impact, it’s the consistent small things we do that show our love and devotion. The same is true with the Lord. Rather than getting discouraged that you could never give a gift like Mary’s, focus on what you can give to the Lord. Simple acts of obedience or generosity, when motivated by pure love and gratitude are just as significant.

Fourth, when you have the opportunity to give extravagantly, seize it! By definition, extravagant giving is out of the ordinary. We should be engaged in regularly giving to the Lord and regularly looking for ways we can meet the needs of others. Every so often, however, we may find that we have the means and opportunity to meet a specific need or to give a gift that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to give. In those moments, recognize God has given you an opportunity to bless others in a unique way, and don’t take that opportunity for granted. You may have the opportunity to be the way God answers someone’s prayer—a prayer you may not have even known they prayed. Don’t be afraid to give extravagantly. When the opportunity arises, take it!

Mary’s extravagant act of devotion should challenge each of us, but it should also encourage us. It challenges us because often there are things that hold us back from giving ourselves fully to God. Mary’s example teaches us that we must get rid of those things, so we can love the Lord with all our hearts. But it also encourages us, reminding us that the Lord is not impressed by the amount we give, but the heart with which we give. I hope you’ll strive to cultivate a grateful, loving heart. If you do, you too will be able to bless the Lord like Mary did.

© October 15th, 2023 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Mark