Mark: Love and Devotion [Mark 14:1-11]

Mark: Love and Devotion []

Stand for the reading of the word of God []

Author and business leader Fred Smith wrote about one of his most treasured memories that came from a doughnut shop in Grand Saline, Texas. He wrote...

“There was a young farm couple sitting at the table next to mine. He was wearing overalls and she had on a gingham dress. After finishing their doughnuts, he got up to pay the bill, but I noticed she did not get up to follow him.

When he came back he stood in front of her. She put her arms around his neck, and he lifted her up, revealing that she was wearing a full-body brace and was unable to walk. He lifted her out of her chair and backed out the front door to the pick-up truck, with her hanging from his neck. As he gently put her into the truck, everyone in the shop watched. No one said anything until a waitress remarked, almost reverently, ‘He took his vows seriously.’

For better and for worse, this man was going to honor his commitment, no matter how burdensome or inconvenient. He did what he did because a core principle operated his life…the principle of love and devotion. There are many such stories of people making great sacrifices because of their loved ones.

This is what we see in is a display of extravagant love. Not only in the act of the woman from Bethany but also, as we get farther into the chapter, the love Jesus has for us. Jesus was about to enter the most agonizing time of his life. He would be betrayed into the hands of his enemies by one of his own disciples; be forsaken by all of his other disciples; agonize at the thought of being separated from the Father in bearing the sins of all mankind; be rejected and denied by one of his closest friends; and face the cruel injustice of his enemies. Why? Because of love! As hard as it is to comprehend, Jesus so loved the world that he committed to giving up his life for us. As we study , that is the motive, committed love and devotion.

Today we are going to do kind of a character contrast in this section. Mark puts these three incidents together just for that purpose. How Mark has them is not chronological, John tells us the anointing at Bethany happened 6 days before the Passover, while Mark starts the chapter with an incident 2 days before the Passover, then flashes back to the anointing at Bethany. Mark is not intending to be chronological but use the events for contrast. Contrast in difference between Mary [John tells us this was Mary of Bethany] and the religious leaders, the disciples, and Judas Iscariot. So that’s how we’ll approach this text today…as Mark intended.

Now the backdrop of the story is the Jewish feast of Passover and unleavened bread in Jerusalem. Passover was a time of thanksgiving for God’s miraculous deliverance of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage []. The Jewish “Independence Day” included the slaughter of the Passover lamb, whose blood on the doorposts 1,400 years earlier had cause the “death angel” to pass over each home where he saw it, sparing the life of the firstborn in that family. Important to keep that backdrop in mind because there will be another firstborn, Jesus, who would be slaughtered as well and whose blood would save all those who are covered by it.

The first characters we are introduced to here in chapter 14 is...

The religious leaders []

Notice three things about these leaders, we’ve seen them before several times in the gospel. They were jealous, deceptive, and willing to get their hand’s bloody.

Verse 1 says they sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. In the original language this is used of the imperfect tense referring to a repeated action over a period of time, not a formal single meeting did they decide this, but over time they developed this plan to destroy Jesus…why? Jealousy.

For years the religious leaders of Judaism had been the center of religious life…but now this carpenter from Nazareth had totally messed up the good thing they had. Jesus had all the crowds, He was getting all the publicity, people loved listening to Him while the religious leaders…not so much.

Their deceitfulness was obvious as well, “they sought to take him by trickery.” Notice verse 2 says they didn’t want to during the feast because they were afraid of an uprising. The people loved Him so they needed to take Him at a time when there wasn’t so many people around Him…this is why they were so happy when Judas came forward to betray Jesus.

These religious leaders were so jealous and so deceitful they were willing to get their hands bloody and kill Jesus. Now they didn’t kill Him themselves, but they handed Him over to Rome which was a death sentence.

The next character we see is...

The woman of Bethany []

The scene shifts rather dramatically from darkness and deceit to love and devotion. While Jesus is having supper at Simon’s home this unnamed woman comes in to anoint Jesus. John tells us that this unnamed woman is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus…it’s interesting this Mary is found three times in the gospel story and each time she as at the feet of Jesus [; ; ]. This anointing here is an act of extravagant love and devotion, notice a few things about this act.

She spared no expense in honoring Jesus. Mark draws attention to the nature of the ointment… “an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard” The flask was carved from the soft alabaster stone, the oil was spikenard, an oil made from the pressing of the roots of the nard plant in India. This was a very costly oil that was pure and genuine… this was not some fragrance you would pick up from your local department store, it was rare, it was imported, which made it very very costly.

The disciples reaction to how much it could have been sold for tells us how expensive it was…300 denarii…i.e. a whole years wage! I doubt there is any man here who has bought their wives a perfume that cost your whole years wage…if you have…I don’t even know what to say about it.

The fact that this woman had this was a good indication that this was not just something she picked up but that it was a family heirloom that would be used either at her wedding or her funeral. She spared no expense, she sacrificed her future…just think about it, if things got tight at least she had that to fall back on, she could live a whole year on that…but she poured it all out. She gave up her present…she was ridiculed for this act, the disciples called her wasteful and ignorant. But..

She recognized that giving to Jesus is the height of service and devotion. She wanted everyone to know the immeasurable value she placed on Jesus…she went public with this act of service and devotion. Ask yourself, “how much are you willing to give to Jesus?” Are you willing to serve Jesus and get no recognition, even ridicule for it? Are you willing to devote your present status and future security to Jesus? This woman was willing and she did.

How often do we have the mind, “I’ll serve the church of Christ, but only this much, because I got to have some left over for me.” Are we willing to sacrifice our comfortable lives to serve Jesus? That’s convicting right?

She had Jesus at her defense. The disciples ridiculed her for this act of service, but because of her selfless act of love Jesus came to her defense. How reassuring that is, that when we serve Christ and devote our lives to Him, He’s got our backs. It doesn’t matter how much we are ridiculed or how silly people think we are…Jesus is on our side when we are devoted to Him.

She did what she could when she could rather than waiting. This is an obvious but huge point. Jesus commended her on her act of love and devotion, in verse 8 Jesus said, “she has done what she could. she has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial.” She did what she could when she could rather than waiting for something else. This is very practical.

How often do we, when serving the church for example, wait until someone asks us to do something. “I’m willing to serve but no one asked me to do anything.” Here’s a tip…if you see a need fulfill it…don’t wait until someone asks you to do it. I’m going to apply this really simply…if you see a light bulb that is out in the church…change it…don’t wait for someone else to do it or someone to ask you to do it…do what you can when you can.

This may be over simplifying it but I don’t think so. It’s easy to get so caught up in ourselves and our lives that we forget to notice what is going on around us. If someone is hurting, see if you can help, if there is a need fill it before it’s to late. What if Mary said…no one asked me to do this so it must not need to be done…no she did what she could when she could. We do well to remember that.

She submitted to the fact of Christ’s coming death [i.e. the will of God]. Now whether she consciously knew Jesus was going to die or not is uncertain, you could argue for or against it. But the important thing to recognize is she submitted to the will of God, no matter what that looked like. She was willing to take ridicule and insult to submit to God’s will, she was willing to sacrifice security for the will of God. If God calls you to do something that you are not comfortable with would you submit to Him?

I have to be honest, submitting to the ministry was something I fought for years till finally I surrendered and said OK God, not my will but yours. What is God calling you to submit to? Maybe it’s to missions, maybe it’s to witness to a family member, maybe it’s to service of the church, maybe it’s to walk in obedience to Him, maybe it’s to surrender to His rule in your life…what is it? God’s calling you to something…submit to Him.

The act of this woman’s devotion serves as an example to us. I don’t know about you but I really want to be a Mary and lay it all at the feet of Jesus.

In contrast to Mary is...

The criticizing disciples []

These guys were indignant at her act, they only saw the fault in what she did, and criticized her sharply. Keep in mind, this is not the religious leaders whom we know were wicked…these are Jesus disciples, and they were mad at this woman for her act of love and devotion.

They were indignant at her act. This is strong language, they were mad at her. Woman were not supposed to approach men in that culture any way but this woman does multiple times and with extreme acts of devotion, laying down all she is at Jesus feet. And these guys a ticked off about it. While she worshipped Jesus, these guys expressed anger and disapproval.

They only saw the fault in what she did. Sadly, not just the world but the church is full of fault finders, those who constantly find fault in others as opposed to finding what’s good. Maybe that’s where you are, maybe your focus has been on the faults of others rather than the good they’ve done…maybe it’s time to refocus not on faults but focus on Christ.

These guys sharp criticism of her not only demeaned the woman but it demeaned Jesus himself. Their actions and words indicated that to honor Christ in this manner was a waste. They did not believe He was worthy of such a sacrifice of extravagant love. The reality is, to serve Christ in such a manner as Mary did will bring insult and ridicule…Jesus said it would.

While many of the other disciples were involved their criticism was lead by...

Judas Iscariot []

The notorious betrayer. He sought how he might betray Jesus, Judas was a greedy person, who didn’t want the master only what he could get from the master. so

He took what he could get for betraying Jesus. Judas takes the initiative in going to the religious leaders, they didn’t come to him, while the bible tells us the Satan moved Judas to betray the Lord…he still made a freewill choice to do so.

Verse 11 is simple and tragic all at once. The leaders were happy to hear Judas would betray Jesus and they promised to give Judas money. Matthew tells us Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Do you know what the value of 30 pieces of silver was? In tells us, 30 pieces of silver was the value of a slave that was accidently gored to death by an ox. Interesting right? Judas esteemed Jesus as nothing more than the price of a slave…Judas sold Jesus like He was a slave. What a contrast to Mary’s estimation of Jesus right.

As we prepare to come to the Lord’s table this morning let’s ask ourselves…which group am I in? Am I in the jealous of other’s group, am I in the critical of other’s group, am I in the take what you can get group, or am I in the spare no expense in honoring Jesus group?

I want to be a Mary…how about you?