THE PLOT THICKENS

THE PLOT THICKENS Matthew 26:1-16 February 24, 2008 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction I would like to build a sandwich this morning. I want to ask you to picture verses 1-5 of our text as the first slice of bread, and verses 14-16, the second slice. between these two slices of narrative that emphasize the thickening of the plot against Jesus I’m trusting we will find a satisfying word of inspiration and challenge. Are you hungry? Pull up a chair & let’s share a meal for the next 20 minutes. The First Slice It was a matter of certainty, Jesus said as He began his final walk to Jerusalem. Three years into His earthly ministry, He was facing death by crucifixion before the week was up. When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” (Matthew 26:1-2) Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high pries, whose name was Caiaphas, and the plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” (Matthew 26:3-5) The great central theme of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus the King, has come to its final chapter, in a sense, with these verses. Though it has taken us the better part of 3.5 years, we have come through the gospel passage by passage, with a few interruptions. We’ve seen the King introduced to the world in which He was incarnated and studied His inaugural ministries. We’ve carefully considered the King’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. We’ve stood by the side of His disciples and watched Him work great miracles and heard the penetrating truths in His parables. We’ve felt the tension Matthew intended for us to understand as he told us of the rising infuriation of the religious leaders as they confronted the simple, prophetic message of Jesus, and found themselves continually stupefied by His wisdom, embarrassed before the people and so enraged that they willingly stepped into the predicted role of murderers of the Righteous One. And when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey that day, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, His fate was sealed in the hearts of His accusers. We come to the final section of Matthew’s gospel knowing what His first century disciples refused to receive. He would be dead within the week. In the church tradition, we call it Passion Week. The season of Lent is given over to the solemn reflection of the horror of the unrighteous mistreatment of Jesus, His excruciating suffering and the crucifixion that scares, saddens and saves us. For the next few weeks we’ll study the events of the passion of the King. My prayer is for me and for you that we will freshly encounter this most awesome of all human dramas and be driven to ever deeper wonder and worship before the King. But I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s the meat and cheese of the Word this morning. The Second Slice The last three verses of our text are the second slice of bread, giving completeness to the Passion Week plot. Not only have the Scribes & Pharisees, the Sadducees and the priest fallen prey to Satan’s horrible plot to kill the Son of God, but even one of His own beloved disciples is snared by the empty promises of quick fixes and instant riches. Theses are the familiar tools of Satan’s trade—persuasive incentives that lure even the devoted into places of denial and betrayal. Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. It took thirty pieces of silver turn Judas from friend to fink, $300 turned him from beloved to betrayer. To this day the amount “thirty pieces of silver” has come to represent blood money, something fiendish. Even among hardened pagans the idea of friendship and loyalty being trumped by a bag of cash just seems wrong. But it was enough for Judas. Captivated by his own designs, duped by the devil and a sucker for quick cash, Judas was the polar opposite of the woman we’ll consider next. The Meat of the Sandwich Matthew 26:6-13 – While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” The example of Judas convinces us how inappropriate our selfishness and greed are before Him. This woman shows us that Jesus is worthy of all we give Him, and much, much more. Judas went down in history as a dark and detestable character. But Jesus promises that in the very scriptures that will be written and preached about Him, this woman will be immortalized! And did you catch what He said? “…what she has done will be told, in memory of her…” Wow! Is there anyone else who receives such high honor from the very lips of Jesus? No! Neither apostle nor prophet, no prince or pope, not a missionary or a martyr. What exactly did she do to garner such praise from the Lord? What did she understand that we need to understand in order to please and honor our God? This woman comprehended something infinitely wise and perfect—a divine truth that was totally missed by even Jesus’ closest friends. She knew this: Jesus is worthy of extravagant worship We don’t know much about this woman. Luke describes her as a “sinful woman” and if John is writing about the same incident he indicates that she is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. But Matthew doesn’t bother to tell us who she is because her past isn’t important. And neither is yours. Whoever you are, and whatever you’ve been, when you come to worship Jesus, and you are willing to receive His grace and forgiveness, none of it matters. Because what this woman teaches us above all else is that nothing is as important as the Lord. 1. Jesus is Worthy of the Best You Have to Give When this worshiper came to the house of Simon the Leper, she was prepared to give Jesus the best that she had to give. You know, she might have been a rich woman—after all, this was some pretty expensive perfume she brought with her. Matthew tells us it was valuable. The alabaster jar she broke to release the perfume was expensive itself, probably worth a $1,000 in modern equivalence. The actual perfume was worth a year’s wages, according to John 12:5, so that’s another $50,000 or so. No wonder the disciples worried about the waste factor! That’s pretty expensive! But when she gave it away in an act of worship its value went into the stratosphere! I really should do better than I do giving nice things to my wife. But the last time I went shopping for nice perfume—I think it was 15 years ago, honestly—I was shocked at the prices. I looked at one well-known brand, and for the price of an ounce or two of that stuff I could have enjoyed two rounds of golf! But I bought it for her, and guess she is a very delicate dabber, because I don’t think she’s used it up yet! Not only was it expensive, but this woman poured it on Jesus. There was no dabbing about it. When you love, when you so deeply appreciate the one you adore, nothing is too expensive. Years ago I remember recruiting a teenage boy for some intensive discipling. He agreed to let me sponsor him, so I asked him if he could meet one night a week, and which night would he like. First he asked me if, every other week, we could meet two nights; then he told me he wanted to meet on Friday night and Saturday night alternating weeks. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a teenager, but I do recall Friday and Saturday nights being primo time slots for dates and other activities. This boy was pretty popular, and I’m sure could have stayed busy with other pursuits, but he told me he thought he’d like to give the Lord the best. We engaged a course of study for two years and today he is serving a growing congregation in southeastern Illinois as a loving pastor and a real good preacher. Jesus is worthy of the best you have to give. I’ve witnessed believers convicted by the Spirit to help meet a need, dig past their ones, fives and tens to get to their twenties, knowing it would mean the sacrifice of a meal or some entertainment they were counting on. When people who genuinely love and worship God give of their time and their money and their energies, they do not hold back. They know Jesus is worthy of the best you have to give. 2. Jesus is Worth Any Criticism You’ll Face I’m pretty sure that this lady knew as she carried this twenty pound jug of name brand nard across town to the leper’s house where a lot of people who were not very well off would watch her break it open and pour it on Jesus’ head and feet, they were going to give her grief. Many thought it, and a few said it—that Brent Gregory giving up a lucrative high level administrative post with the Water Company in order to go to the swampy Amazon and tell lost natives and poor city dwellers about Jesus was a waste. “A guy like that ought to stay home, make a lot of money and help support “real” missionaries!” But when the One you adore speaks so clearly to your heart, you move with those leadings, in spite of the tongue clucking and head shaking you know you’ll face. Jesus chided the naysayers among His followers, making it clear that the woman accomplished more than she thought she did. That, in fact, she symbolically anointed Him for burial. The cheapskates were chastised and the extravagant woman was honored. Giving Jesus your best is never a waste and it is always better than being afraid of someone’s criticism. 3. Jesus is Worthy of Your Full Attention NOW Jesus said something in this story that is often misunderstood, and, in fact, has often been abused. He said "The poor you will always have with you..." Some have objected the same way the disciples did—that extravagance is unnecessary and even wrong when there are so many people and needs around us. Others have used this verse to justify social inaction: "There will always be poor; why bother?" But I would suggest that both of these perspectives miss the point. Listen carefully to what He said. He said this woman was to be commended because she did something for Him RIGHT NOW. He said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Jesus was not opposed to helping the poor, nor did He oppose extravagant worship. In fact, He commanded that we help the poor; and He commended unrestrained worship that spends lavishly of what we have and what we are to express our adoration toward Him. In the chapter preceding this one, He said when you help the poor, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned—when you do anything good for someone who needs it—you have done it to me.” His point is this: the most important thing in our lives is our devotion to him—and the most important time for expressing this devotion is right now. The difference between this woman and the disciples is not that she had access to an expensive bottle of perfume and they didn't; the difference is that her heart was focused on ministering to Jesus and theirs wasn't. She was willing to do something right now, in the moment of opportunity, and they weren't. Too often, we Christ-followers prefer to talk about our good intentions, to pontificate on how others should spend their money, but honestly we aren’t really ready to do anything ourselves. Jesus was about to die a horrible death for them. In just a few days he would be beaten, mocked, ridiculed, spat upon, tortured and murdered. And right in the middle of that sacrifice they would abandon Him, no less than did Judas. He was, as we will soon see, facing anguish beyond our ability to comprehend. And what did they do about it? They argued about how a rich woman should spend her money, and they paid no attention to him. He is the object of our devotion and worship, not ourselves, not the poor, and not our awkward concerns about whether we can afford to worship Him, and worry over how much perfume we’ll have left. He promised that if we would seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, everything we need will be added to us—including more resources with which to glorify Him and with which to help the poor. The difference between the woman and the disciples is that she worshiped Jesus in the present tense, and they wouldn’t. Do you want to worship your Lord in a way that pleases him? Do something now. And be extravagant. It doesn't do any good to talk about the way things should be done, if you're not willing to do what you can do—here and now. He's worth your attention, your devotion and your worship, and He is worthy of your attention, devotion and worship, right now. CONCLUSION I want to suggest one additional thought in closing. Never forget that He is able to cause your best worship to glorify Him more than you can imagine. It doesn’t matter how much you have to give Him in pure, extravagant worship. Another woman in another gospel had little, but gave lavishly, while others who had much, give relatively little of what they had. Jesus commended both of these women, the rich and the poor, because of their selfless, extravagant worship. I think it is no accident that this meaty story is mashed right up against the other piece of bread—the account of Judas. The fact is, there are only two ways to respond to God’s grace and mercy, and you will have to choose one of them. You can be money-focused, self-directed, greedy and so careful that you actually forget it is God you are dealing with. Or, you can determine to love Him more than anything else, including yourself, you comfort ad your plans. Of Judas, Jesus said “[he] is a devil.” Of this crazy, extravagant worshiper, he said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”     [Back to Top]