EASTER: Pursue Your Passion

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Easter Service - April 20th and is the Message of the Cross! INVITE!

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The Anointing at Bethany

The account of the Anointing at Bethany is recorded in three of the gospels:

Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12; and Luke 7. The occasion was a dinner gathering at one of Jesus’s followers, named Simon the leper. The location was the town of Bethany near the Mount of Olives where we would soon see the Lord betrayed and handed over to His executioners.

Matthew 26:6–16 CSB

6 While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. 11 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. 12 By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. 13 Truly I tell 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, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him. 16 And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

A very interesting scene of unlikely scenarios is happening here.

Simon, the host and owner of the house this dinner party is at, is sick with a serious skin disease. He’s identified by his sickness of leprosy. This disease was serious and highly contagious.

However, Jesus does not seem to be in a position of concern as they are relaxed and gathered together - Simon, Jesus, the disciples, and others.

The gospel of John indicates that Lazarus, and his sisters - Mary and Martha were guests there as well.

2. At some point during the gathering and in front of all those who were there, a woman came and began to annoint his head with an expensive perfume. John’s account says this is Mary, the sister of Lazarus

This jar, made of alabaster, held an expensive perfume oil. This bottle full of perfume was said to be at least 300 denarii - or a year’s worth of wages. As she poured it out on his head, the fragrance of His anointed filled the room.

3. The disciples were actually critical of the moment - where they thought it was a waste, and attempted to motivate Jesus into rebuking the woman. They were righteously indignant - and even scolded the woman. The gospels of Mark and John point to Judas Iscariot as the ring-leader of this moment. And it was in moment - a final offense that Judas Iscariot would take action on betraying Jesus.

Unpacking:

Spirit of Judas: Betrayer

You’ve got to watch out for the spirit of Judas. The spirit of Judas is a deceiver, and betrayer.

You will come across a Judas at some point in your life. You may be experiencing one right now -where an individual would come an tell you that what you’re doing for the Lord is too much. That what you’re doing for the Lord isn’t worth it. That what you’re doing for the Lord is above and beyond what you should be doing.

The spirit of Judas is a religious spirit - but not one you would think lines up with your’s. This religious spirit wants to demotivate you from your serving Christ into following their version of serving Christ. This spirit of Judas isn’t aligned with Christ. It may talk a good talk like its with Jesus, and reminisce the good -old times with Jesus. But behind the scenes it’s doubting your worth and the value of what you do for the Lord. And ultimately it wants to sell your talents for a cheaper bidder.

The spirit of Judas is an ambitious spirit.

It’s a protuberant spirit - it wants to stick out, be different; rub people the wrong way. But it can’t do what it wants to do without having support in others.

The spirit of Judas is a greedy spirit.

It’s going to seek out self-gain. It wants that prominence within the group to feel more important than others.

The spirit of Judas is a betraying spirit.

It wants your feelings. It wants to demotivate you from a place of productivity for God, and replace it with a more diluted version of what you can do.

Here you have this woman whose dedicated a year’s worth of wages. That’s a year of hard labor. That’s year of scrimping and saving. That’s a year of sacrifice.

That’s a long time of grinding and saving and putting away for this moment .

This wonderful, beautiful moment of worship and release and lavishly pouring out of herself on to Jesus!

Jesus Rebukes the Spirit of Judas

This moment of worship was her passion! She was giving out of an incredible amount of love on to her Master, her Messiah.

She gave what others literally could not, because she gained from Christ what others could not.

Jesus said LEAVE HER ALONE! “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me.”

A righteous act for Christ is recognition and partaking in His royalty.

When we do partake in His royalty, we fall up under His authority;

This means we fall under His protection

This means Hebrews 12:24 the blood of Jesus speaks a better word over you

Hebrews 12:24 CSB

24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.

Jesus will rebuke the spirit of Judas, but He will speak a blessing over you!

The act of what this woman did filled an entire room with the fragrance of the LORD receiving her blessing.

The beautiful act of worship was recognized by everyone in the room, and it brought a pleasing aroma.

People will be jealous of the aroma of worship that surrounds you.

In this act, Jesus said her worship was preparing Him for His death.

But Church, the act of worship you do now fills the room with the aroma of His resurrection and His imminent return in power.

We’re not preparing for His death; we’re anticipating His return!

You’ve got to hold on to your passion for God.

You’ve got to hold on to your worship for our soon returning King.

Don’t let Judas’s sarcastic remarks tell you you’re doing too much.

Hey! As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!

I will serve the Lord. My wife will serve the Lord. My daughter will serve the Lord. My son will serve the Lord.

It is my responsibility as the priest of my home, the lead worshiper of my household, to ensure me and mine receive a better word spoken over us.

Ain’t no Judas gonna take that from me!

God gives and enables passions for Him

God will always enable those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.

John 4:24 CSB

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Verse 23 says God actually desires this - He wants people to worship Him.

John 4:23–24 MSG

23 But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 24 God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

One who falls under the influence of Judas will say, “I’ve done my part”. “I don’t have to do all that to show my love for God.”

Watch out! Judas will betray you! Judas will demotivate you!

But JESUS will ENABLE you! Jesus will come along side you - defend you, honor you, partner with you.

Judas will betray you, but Jesus will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.

You’ve got to ignore a Judas, and embrace Jesus all the more!

You’ve got to decide to be a place where you exist for Jesus Christ’s fame and His renown.

When you do, He will rebuke any neigh-sayers and Judas’s in your life. And instead speak a blessing!

Deuteronomy 28:1–14 NKJV

1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: 3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. 4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 9 “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

God uses the Unlikely

Here’s a wonderful thing about this moment in history.

God uses the unlikely to carry out an eternal victory.

Simon the Leper - a sick, feeble, and partially disabled man was the host of a blessing

Facilitator of a timeless prophetic declaration

He should be disqualified simply because of who he is; but the Lord still granted His request, and the Lord received the blessing.

The woman who anointed Jesus with the oil - full of love yet was positioned at the feet of Jesus, and not the head

Worshiper, but of lowly position

She should be disqualified simply because of who she is; but the Lord received her blessing, and gave her a timeless blessing that whenever we get to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can also reflect on this woman’s sacrifice.

We’ll meet her one day; and she can tell us what it was like to receive that Word from the Messiah at that moment.

God will use the unlikely of candidates to receive His blessing, and speak His blessing His blessing.

Every single one of us could give an excuse of why we should hear Judas over Jesus.

But every single one of us have the ability to receive Jesus and His blood that speaks a better word over us.

A word better than your circumstance

A word better than your former identity

A word better than your failures

What you decide to do for the Lord will ring through eternity.

What you decide to do, in blessing the Lord obediently and sacrificially will ring out throughout all eternity.

What you do for Him is not wasted.

In how you bring Him glory is not wasted.

In how you project His fame is not wasted.

In how you project His renown - the wonder of who He is and what He’s done for you and me - that’s not wasted!

And He speaks blessing over us - in projecting His name, His glory, His work on the Cross, His redemptive power, and His love!

CLOSING

30 pieces of silver = ~120 denarii; the alabaster oil was worth >300 denarii

The value of what Judas can gain out of betrayal isn’t worth half the value of what you do for the Lord.

You may find a Judas having some success, but the end result of your sacrifice to the Lord is a FULL GOD-BLESSING on your life.

Let the aroma of your worship, and the anticipation of His soon return, fill the air around you.

Let the Son of God speak a blessing over your life because you obediently and sacrificially worship Him.