The Gospel of Mark: Extravagant Love

Our passage of Scripture for this tonight tells the story of an extravagant love. Although Mark does not mention the name of the woman in this story, we learn from John's gospel that it is Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Next to his Apostles, these are some of Jesus’ closet friends and supporters. John’s gospel tells us that Lazarus was also there at the banquet, seated with Jesus. “Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.” (John 12:9, NIV84). Wouldn’t you have loved to been privy to that conversation?

As the scene unfolds Mark tells us that it’s just two days before the Passover. It would be Jesus' last. Mark indicates that plans to have Jesus arrested and killed are seriously being discussed by the chief priests and the scribes. It’s gonna happen, but it can’t be done on the actual Day of Passover lest Jesus’ arrest cause a riot. It’s got to be done carefully, and stealthily. To quote the Wicked Witch of the West, “These things must be done delicately.” Oh, and be the way, they want to “wack” poor Lazarus, too. According to John’s gospel the “ ... chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing on him,” (John 12:10). But God the Father is in control, and not the chief priests. God had already decreed that this Passover was exactly the right time, and in His providential workings, He used Judas’ betrayal as the event that would set all things in motion.

But while plots are being hatched, Jesus is having dinner with friends in Bethany. Some time during the evening, Mary enters the room and, and in an act of utter devotion, anoints Jesus from head to foot with a costly perfume. In this passage I want you to see 1) Love’s Extravagance, 2) Logic’s Exasperation, and 3) our Lord’s Exhortation ... and then some application.

I. LOVE'S EXTRAVAGANCE

1. those who are in love with Jesus, and are overflowing with gratitude to Him sometimes do some strange things

a. at least outwardly they appear strange

ILLUS. Do you understand how strange it is to much of our culture that you are here this evening, worshiping God in spirit and in truth? The typical Ivy-league university professor would look at our little band this evening and just scratch his head in incredulity. Sunday morning worship may be fine, but Sunday evening, too? That’s just stretching this church stuff, isn’t it?

2. Mary loved the Lord

a. Jesus had been a real friend to her and her family

1) he had filled her life with hope

b. he was there during some of the most difficult times of her life

1) one of those times was when her brother Lazarus died

2) but Jesus had come, and her brother Lazarus was miraculously raised from the dead and given back to her

3. Mary had tasted of the wonderful love of Jesus

a. He was not like any rabbi she had ever known

b. how could she ever thank Him?

A. EXTRAVAGANT LOVE DISMISSES THE COST

1. we learn from our text tonight that the Passover is just two days away

a. Jesus has been staying in the village of Bethany during the week and making the 2½ mile walk into Jerusalem each day to teach in the Temple

b. on Wednesday evening, Jesus is in Bethany where he is having dinner with Simon the leper

2. Mary knows Jesus is there and so she seized the opportunity and took an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, broke it, and anointed Him with it

a. Mark and Matthew’s gospels tell us she poured it on his head, and John’s gospel tells us that she also anointed his feet

1) in just a few days sorrow and love [will] flowed mingled down from his head and his feet, and thorns will compose a crown for his head

2) the implication is that Mary anoints Jesus from his head to his feet, and the fragrance filled the house

3) Jesus alone understands what nobody else at the dinner understands

“When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.” (Matthew 26:12, NIV84)

a) and I’m pretty sure everyone around the dinner table scratched their head at that one

ILLUS. But somewhere, the Holy Spirit is jotting down notes, “Remind me to reveal this event to Matthew, Mark and John when they are writing their gospels! Because Jesus said, ‘wherever this gospel is preached ... what she has done will also be told ... ‘ “

b. we learn from the text that this perfume was worth over three hundred denarii

1) a denarii was considered a day's wage in that day

2) in other words, this was almost worth a common laborer’s yearly wage

ILLUS. The reason Nard was so expensive is because it was made from the root of the Spikenard flower the grows in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. It was imported from India, where it was traded along the Silk Road through Persia, around the edge of the Fertile Crescent, and finally into Syria and Israel. It was considered one of the most exquisite perfumes of the day. In the Song of Solomon it is a symbol of the bride’s intimate love for her groom.

3. Mary’s act is an act of extravagant love

a. why would she do such a thing?

1) vs. 12 gives us a hint

b. Mary expresses an extravagant love toward Jesus because, in just two days, Jesus will express an extravagant love her, but not for her alone

1) she poured out a costly perfume, but Jesus will pour out his precious blood

4. Mary’s devotion to Jesus knew no cost

a. Jesus was the most important person in the world to her

b. He commends her for her action

II. LOGIC'S EXASPERATION

1. love's extravagance will always produce logic's exasperation

a. what Mary did didn't make a lot of sense, especially to the cold and calculating among the dinner guests

2. immediately, the nit-pickers and complainers began to talk

“Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?” (Mark 14:4, NIV84)

a. from John's gospel we discover that Judas is the most vocal critic

“But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.” (John 12:4-6, NASB95)

1) Judas, you recall, was the treasurer of the group

2) all he saw was that a costly ointment worth over a year's wages wasted

3) immediately, his mind began to calculate just how much money that ointment could have been sold for

4) when his computer-like mind had figured up the exact total, he offered his logical conclusion

3. he complained that what Mary had done was a waste, and apparently there are some others to back him up

ILLUS. I did some digging this week, and discovered that the most expensive perfume in the world is called “Clive Christian No. 1" and sells for $2,150 an ounce. It’s a men’s cologne. In John’s gospel we’re told that Mary uses a pint — about sixteen fluid ounces — to anoint Jesus. If she would have used Clive Christian No. 1 the cost would have been over $34,000!

a. no wonder Judas is so bent out of shape at what Mary does — in his mind, why didn’t Jesus stop her, tell her to sell it, and then give the proceeds to Judas so that he might distributed the money to the poor?

b. it sounds like a very logical argument, and a very benevolent and worthwhile one

c. Jesus didn't buy that argument

A. EXTRAVAGANT LOVE DISMISSES EXASPERATED LOGIC

1. Mary had seized upon an opportunity to express her love to her Savior

a. all the logic in the world could not dismiss what she had done

2. Jesus reminded them that the poor would always be with us and that we would always have ample opportunity to help them if that is what we really wanted to do

a. but Mary had chosen to do the best thing she could — she had seized an opportunity to offer what she could to Jesus

b. it was her extravagant love and pure worship

III. THE LORD'S EXHORTATION

1. in the midst of the complainers, Jesus gives us an exhortation

a. he gives us the answer for the question: "What determines a true good work?"

b. he says in verse 6 that Mary, "has done a good deed to me."

2. Jesus reminds those gathered at this meal that motives are what really count

a. why did Mary do this good work?

1) she did it because she loved Him

b. she offered that costly perfume out of a heart motivated by love

1) her motives were right, and Jesus saw that

2) he looks not on merely the outward work, but He looks on the motives of the heart

A. IF OUR MOTIVES ARE RIGHT, THAT'S WHAT REALLY COUNTS

1. for Christian service to really count; for our worship to really count, it must be done unto the Lord

a. Christian service that is not done because of our love for Jesus is not truly Christian

b. but service offered, even imperfect service, because we love Jesus and want to truly do His will, will always be accepted

2. notice what else Jesus says

a. he says in verse 8, "She has done what she could"

3. it is not what you can't do, but what you can do that matters

a. there are multitudes of worthy causes and great needs and so few resources to go around

b. when we look at all the things that need be done, sometimes we feel overwhelmed

1) you might not be able to feed all of the world's hungry, but you can feed one person

2) you might not be able to comfort all the lonely people, but you can comfort one or two

c. you might not be able to do everything, but you are able to do something

1) and what you can do, you ought to do

2) but be careful not to be derailed from doing what you can do because of what you cannot do

4. in Mary's case, the good thing was selling the ointment and giving the money to the poor, but the best thing was to truly worship Jesus by anointing Him

a. she did what she could

b. she did the best thing

IV. LESSONS FROM MARK 14:1-9

1. Mary's devotion is a lesson to us

A. THE MARK OF A TRUE BELIEVER IS A SACRIFICIAL LOVE FOR THE SAVIOR

1. Mary's love moved her to action

a. nothing was to precious for her to give Jesus

1) she held nothing sacred

2) nothing as too precious to give to Him

b. what Mary gave cost her dearly — it was a mark of extravagant love, a truly sacrificial love

2. extravagant giving is a mark of Christian love

a. if our giving never costs us, then our giving never really means anything

ILLUS. King David, when he wanted to make a sacrifice to God, approached a man by the name of Araunah the Jebusite. David wanted to buy his threshing floor so he could build an altar and make a sacrifice to God. Araunah, however, wanted to give David everything he needed - the threshing floor, the wood for the altar and the oxen for the sacrifice. But David would not accept it. He told Araunah that he wanted to buy it for a price. He told Araunah, "For I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing."

3. David recognized, and we should too, that for worship to be meaningful, it must cost us something

a. even though it cost Mary a great deal, she rejoiced in the fact that she had been given the privilege to give it

b. it wasn't a burdensome gift because it was a gift of love

B. THE MARK OF A TRUE BELIEVER IS A EXTRAVAGANT WORSHIP OF THE SAVIOR

1. Judas didn't understand Mary’s extravagance

a. it was all about worship

2. one of my favorite hymns begins with a simple petition: "O Worship the King, all-glorious above"

a. God the Son is worthy of all of our worship and adoration and praise and exaltation

b. God the Son is worthy of all of our worship and adoration and praise and exaltation all of the time

3. he is worthy of all that because He is our King

a. when Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, Are you a king? Jesus responded in the affirmative: To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth

b. what’s the truth He came to bear witness of?

1) that our Lord, Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords

2) that makes Him worthy of our worship.

4. in its simplest definition, worship means to assign worth to someone or something

a. the term derives from an Old English word Worth-ship

b. the idea implied in that ancient word is that God is indeed worthy of our praise and adoration

ILLUS. Charles Wesley, perhaps the most prolific hymn writer of all time, thought praise so important that he wrote, “O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise!”

5. worship is the Christian’s priority above all other spiritual endeavors

C. THE MARK OF A TRUE BELIEVER IS A FAITHFULNESS IN GOOD WORKS

1. each of us need to ask ourselves, “What is God calling me to do?”

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10, NIV84)

2. when Mary expressed her love for, and worship toward Jesus in this extravagant way, John tells us that the entire house was filled with the fragrance of that perfume

a. what Mary did was a beautiful thing

b. what Mary did was true worship

c. what Mary did was a good work

3. it doesn’t make a lot of sense to the world

a. to those of us who love Jesus, it makes great sense

b. we know that when we truly give of ourselves in worship to him, our lives are filled with the fragrance of his glorious love

4. God is call all of us to such good works — works that give of ourselves to others which, in reality, is giving ourselves to God

a. the challenge for the Christian is not to be willing to die for Jesus, but to be willing to live for him

b. it is in living for Jesus that we accomplish Kingdom work

5. the question of living for Jesus revolves around the simple question of what we can do

a. God has gifted each one of us with different abilities — both natural and spiritual

ILLUS. In his book A Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren reminds us that God has given us both gifts and abilities. Each of us was born with natural abilities and talents. When we were born again, God gave each of us a least one spiritual gift — a supernatural ability that you would not have if you had not been born again. We need to use both out natural abilities and our God-given abilities for Kingdom work, by doing good works.

b. all of us can do something

Are you willing to offering your something to Jesus?

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