Easter Midweek.

I want to personally thing Adam for putting this evening together when a crazy pastor has a crazy idea. I wanted something a little different that we could go through this week to really help us connect together around Easter this year. I know what you are thinking, “Singing songs together, hearing a sermon, in the sanctuary. We are really blazing new ground here tonight.” Yeah, I guess that’s true. But for me, I guess this year I just wanted to sing with you guys and praise Jesus together.

I want us to just praise together tonight as a family of believers and just remember and reflect on what Jesus has done for us. No big events, no special initiatives, no off the wall approaches, a good ol night of celebrating together that we’ve been set free.

Why? No big reason except for I’ve just been thinking in on the simplicity of the gospel message and how sometimes we can get swept away in Easter spectacle. Not saying that an Easter musical, or pageant, or play can’t be good. I myself have taught or put on interactive experiences for people to participate in and such things can be impactful and meaningful in our lives. They are bad or wrong in any way. However, I just wanted to keep it simple this year and focus on Jesus and us.

Our response to Easter can be as varied as we are individual. Many gather with family or friends. Some dress up, some have egg hunts and family pictures. Some engage in lent or lent-like activities that deprive to bring clarity or perspective. Some will watch passion movies, read the gospels cover to cover, or do resurrection eggs with their kiddos.

Jesus chose to spend his last night with his disciples, before all the pain, and eat a simple meal. It wasn’t a lavish feast with boat loads of people but a special intimate meal with his friends. He would use that night to instill in them his most important guidance, that they would be a people who loved and served each other with the same kind of love he had for them. I love this. Jesus is about to accomplish the single best and worst things in history, the salvation of mankind and sacrificing himself for their sins. And before it all takes place, his last night on Earth, he choose to eat a meal with friends. Simple, profound, intimate, with purpose.

So tonight, my hope was we could sing together. Secondly, I wanted to share a passage with you that I think encompasses this nicely. I’ll do that in a minute. Lastly, I want to bless you as we leave tonight as you consider your own personal reflection of the impact of the death, burial, and resurrection in your time leading up to and encompassing Easter Sunday. So that’s the plan, lets open together to Mark 14 verses 3-9.

Mark 14:3–9 (ESV)

3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?

5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.

8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.

9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Pray

In my opinion, this is one of those stories you should put in your monthly calendar to read over and reflect on because its just that good and we need to look at it more than we do.

This passage shows up in Mark’s gospel account as well as in John’s. Scholars argue about the timelines of this meal in conjunction with Holy week because it was either on the Wednesday of holy week or the Friday right before but either is possible.

When in Judea, the home of Mary, Lazarus, and Martha was usually Jesus’ place to stay but today he was staying with Simon the leper. Simon had become something of a local legend when Jesus cured his leprosy and we read about that event in Mark 1:40. Mark tells us, that while this party was taking place in Jesus honor, everyone was reclining at the table during the meal.

This might seem odd in our world of tall tables and chairs but in their world you would sit and recline around a table roughly the height of a coffee table. It was during this meal that a mystery woman came into the picture. This woman is nameless in Mark’s gospel but John does us the favor of telling us that it was in fact Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. (John 12:3). She interrupts the meal in an odd fashion. She comes in with a small stone flask with a long slender neck. The contents of which were a perfume/ointment made from rare plants native to only India. The cost of such a treasure was roughly a years wages. What do you make in a year? Imagine paying that for one jar of costly perfume. The girls recently took me to a sephora store and I gasped at how anyone could or would pay such money for such things. I can’t imagine what went into acquiring such a jar for Mary.

Yet, in the midst of this dinner, she enters the room, breaks the jar, and pours this priceless liquid over the head of Jesus in a display of love. You can imagine your eyes seeing her, your mouth filled with food, your ears hearing chatter then it dying down, and then the punch of this magnificent and powerful aroma over whelming you. What would you think that night? What would you have rolled over inside of your mind? What would you have said to the person next to you? John adds to his account that Mary took the added step of wiping Jesus feet with her own hair as an act of compassion and humility.

Those in attendance, no doubt stirred up by Judas because to rebuke her and such a waste. How could she do such a thing as this when it could have been sold and the proceeds given to the pour. Such a protest seemed to be right for those who had seen and heard Jesus’ methods of operation and his care for the poor. Judas probably had other ideas, as he’d often skim off of the proceeds given to the poor, but that withstanding, as Mary did this deed for Jesus, sitting at his feet in humility the room began to fill with grumbling and chastisement.

Jesus stops the arguing with a sharp rebuke, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She had done a beautiful thing to me.” You can almost feel the room hush as Mary sits at Jesus’ feet holding the flask, broken and empty, her whole gift covering Christ.

Some question verse 7’s message because it can seem as if Jesus is juxtaposing himself against the poor. As if to say it would be more proper to do this thing for him than to do that thing for the poor. Some have mistakenly drawn the conclusion that Jesus valued himself above the poor but that was not his meaning or his intention here. He was not saying I’m more important than the poor but the real contrast come from the words “always” and “not always.” Jesus wasn’t contrasting himself and the poor but the reality that the poor will always be around for you to help and you should do so. However, he, who is on his way to the cross very shortly, will not be here as long as they think he will. Apparently, only Mary seems to be taking what Jesus is saying seriously about his upcoming death and Mark declares as much when he gives us a glimpse into her intentions. She did this very costly thing to prepare Jesus for his death.

It was often the practice of a funeral at the time to prepare the body of the deceased with herbs, spices, oils, and perfumes to not only knock down the smell but also to act as a sort of preservative and adornment. She did this act for Jesus as a way of saying, “I see, I understand, I get what you are about to do, and I want to show you physically, financially, personally, and with humility, that I appreciate you and your mission.” She was preparing Jesus for his burial. In a room full of students, she was the only one who heard what the teacher said would happen.

Jesus then explains something that still brings me butterflies today. After his death, after his burial, after his resurrection there will be a day when the gospel will be taught and preached the world over. In that day, a day that we still live in mind you, this account of this dinner and the lesson Mary taught a group of male disciples will always be taught alongside the story of how our salvation was purchased. Mary’s faith, devotion, and her gift to Jesus will forever be a part of the story of Christ.

Tonight, My goal has been to have a simple night of worship and, looking at this story, I think we can learn some things as we remember Jesus and celebrate a risen savior this year.

Because of what Jesus has done, he is worthy of our everything.

The disciples were worried about the opportunity cost of what what lost. Couldn’t such a thing be handled differently? Many in our world approach even following Christ the same way. If I were to genuinely follow Jesus on his terms I might lose my friends. I might have to give up parts of my lifestyle that are important to me. I might have to change how I walk/talk/act. I might have to admit I’ve been wrong all these years or apologize to people that I’ve wronged. It can’t be worth losing such things and all the potential hardship it could cause me.

Jim Elliot, the famous missionary to the Hua-orani people of Ecuador wrote in his journal, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The people in that region were violent and dangerous to outsiders, yet Jim and 4 of his fellow missionaries decided that they would try and share Jesus with them and all of them were killed. Jim’s life backed up his beleif that because of what Jesus has done for us he is worthy of giving him our everything. I would ask you this week, Have you found him to be unworthy of what you’ve given up to follow him?

Peter summed it up for me perfectly when he said, “Where else can we go, only you have the words of life.” In all the ways we can live our lives pursuing all the things that could be offered in all the places, none can be more fulfilling than the life that is given in full surrender to Jesus’ will for us. This week, reflect on the cross and what Christ gave up for you. Spend time in prayer as you consider picking up your own cross, denying yourself and your ambitions, so that you can follow where he goes.

Devote yourself wholly to the Lord, no matter what others say.

Not for recognition or honor but because your devotion to him is true and real. Friends, coworkers, family, fellow Christians, or even your own kids may not get it or understand but live for the lord. Paul encourages young Timothy in his second letter to “preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” Friends, the same is true for us in 2024. We only have to be people devoted to Jesus two times in our lives. When its in season and when its out of season. When its popular and you’ll be honored or when its unpopular and you’ll be vilified. In the case of Mary she was made a villain by people who also declared themselves followers of Jesus. Friends, do it anyway. Your relationship with the God who saved you needs no umpire or approval from those who can’t understand it. Follow him anyway. Give yourself anyway. Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. Take some time this week to reflect on your life and your devotion to the Lord.

Have you broken the flask and poured yourself out for Christ?

99% devotion, 99% commitment, 99% surrender is 0%. In ancient times a custom arose at parties and celebrations. You’d invite esteemed guests and nobility and often, after the festivities, the glass that they drank out of would be shattered so that no one could ever drink out of it again. It symbolized that this glass has acheived the highest honor it ever could by being used by such a noble person, and in solidarity, it was shattered so that it could never be used again. Mary not only poured out the perfume upon Jesus to the last drop, she broke the flask so it could never be used again. I couldn’t be taken back, it couldn’t be refilled later, its job was done and no reservations would be given. Such is the way that Jesus poured out himself upon the cross for us. He gave it all and took evil abuse in our stead. Have you poured out your life for him? Have you given him your all? Have you shattered the flask to all reservations or hold outs? Are you sold out all in? Does he have your all?

This simple meal stands as a reminder to us that while the rest of the party can be fixated on so many other things, we should learn from Mary and be fixed with eyes only for Jesus. That we would look upon his death, his burial, and his resurection with humilty, with love, and with devotion.