Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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Extraversion
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This is Jesus’ final week before his crucifixion, just two days before Passover.
The time is approaching quickly and there are plots coming in thick and fast.
No longer are any questions being asked of Jesus by the leaders…no longer is there any dialogue…the time for talk was over…now was the time to take his life.
The Kingdom of Satan was pitted against the Kingdom of God.
It was a time of revealing hearts to the light of day.
The Passover is coming and the preparation is beginning.
The Chief Priests and Scribes knew that they could not take Jesus lawfully but only by trickery, deception, fraud, scam, and dishonestly.
All they were waiting for was the opportunity and an answer was coming in the heart of a disciple, a friend of Jesus.
Jesus and the disciples were in the little town of Bethany on the outskirts of Jerusalem in the home of Simon the leper.
We know that this is also the home town of Lazarus, Mary and Martha whose house they frequented when they were down from Galilee.
And into Simon’s home came Mary, the one of whom we read elsewhere sat at Jesus’ feet and whose brother Lazarus had been raised from the dead.
And she broke an alabaster flask which was filled with perfume and poured it over the head and feet of Jesus.
The whole house would have been filled with the scent of spikenard.
It would have caused the senses to be filled with the memory of those who had died for it was the kind of perfume they anointed someone who had just died.
But what was the response from the disciples?
The comments were not kind saying why waste it like this and she should she should have given it to the poor especially as it was worth about £29,000 in today’s money
There’s Judas thinking – yeah – I’m poor – you should have given it to me!
This whole complaint was not because they were humanitarians and wanted to share the wealth, it was about greed.
The unfortunate thing when there is greed is that it leads to all sorts of other sin:
Yet chasing money is one of the strangest of pursuits because when we die it is all left behind.
But for those caught up in it, the present is the only reality.
An article in The Christian Observer refers to an interesting painting that portrays man’s sinister lust for gold and its consequences.
Harry Montgomery says of that unforgettable portrait: “It depicts a narrow highway along which a gold coin is rolling.
The road is crowded with men and women who rush madly after the treasure.
Their eyes are aflame with greed and their faces drawn with intense desire.
“In their midst rides a man on a horse.
Clinging fearfully to him is his devoted wife.
In his eagerness to reach the coveted gold, he is roughly pushing her aside, for she is a hindrance to him in his race for wealth.
He tramples on all who block his way, leaving them crushed and bleeding.”
In a sad but true story:
From the time he became a naturalized Frenchman until he died in 1661, Cardinal Mazarin, the successor of Richelieu, was supreme in the councils of the French court.
When about to die, he dragged himself through the rooms of his gorgeous palace.
Pausing weakly at every step, he gazed first on one side and then on the other, letting his eyes wander over each of the magnificent objects which he had collected in a lifetime.
Someone hiding behind the tapestry overheard him saying—”All these must be left behind … and that, too, what trouble I have had to obtain all these things.
I shall never see them again.
Where am I going?”
The disciples covered their criticism with a veneer that looks holy, that is, their concern for the poor, but it is a ‘holier than thou’ attitude.
As if they would have sold such an item to give the money to the poor.
It’s an attitude we have to be careful about because it is all too easy to fall into this as Christians – thinking that we are better than others when in fact we are all in need of a Saviour.
Humility leads to gentleness, pride leads to harshness.
The criticism that was levelled at Mary was very hostile and she must have felt intimidated.
And it was Judas who started it off because he was a thief and wanted the money for himself and so he complained about what Mary did and it did not take long for there to be a virus in the midst of them all.
When one complains it starts off a fire that sets other people aflame in the wrong way…they all start to complain.
What was the sin that stopped the Israelites entering the Promised Land and dying there in the desert?
Murmuring, complaining and unbelief.
But what was the point of this criticising?
They could not put the perfume back into the broken jar, could they?
Their criticising was not going to end in anything good.
The criticisers only had their focus on money and things of this life.
Jesus wasn’t saying that you should not help the poor either but when you can.
However, it wasn’t their money, their perfume…she could have just used it for herself – and she was within her rights, they had no right to speak anything.
But she was moved because Jesus was there.
We react often without thinking and we can destroy the spirit of someone who wants to get on with the work of the Lord simply doing what they can.
She did what she could…
So Mary gave…in fact the whole bible is about giving…God gave man life, created the world for him and gave him dominion over every other creature.
He gave man a home in the garden of Eden and, when man fell, he gave him a promise of redemption.
He gave the Israelites a law.
He has given us the church and the promise of eternal life.
But, above all else, He has given us His Son.
The very essence of Christianity is the cross where God so loved the world that he gave.
The Bible is also the story of man giving back to God.
Cain and Abel brought gifts to God.
When Noah got off the ark, he gave an offering to God.
The Jews gave tithes to God; not just one, but three different tithes plus free-will offerings.
They gave as much as 15-30% of their income to God.
And the church is to give.
“Let every one of you lay by in store as God hath prospered him" (I Corinthians 16:2).
An accurate description of the New Testament church is that we should be a fellowship of givers.
Mary gave her precious perfume.
And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Mary did that.
Jesus had given her brother back to her from the dead.
But did I not say that the value of this perfume would have been around £29,000 in today’s money - and to tip it out on Jesus was an extravagant, all giving love.
Once she had done it there was no going back.
What an amazing thing Mary did.
She has done what she could.
And that’s exactly what Jesus wants out of each and every one of us.
She did everything she could.
Have we done what we could with what God has given us?
Mary wanted to show some expression of her devotion for Jesus.
For Mary, speech didn’t seem to come easy.
Hers was a silent nature, very much unlike her sister Martha.
So she took her most valued and expensive possession, the perfume that she had probably been saving for her own burial and the anointing of her body later on, and broke it and poured it over Jesus.
And at once Jesus recognised her good work for what it was.
And for that he made it clear that she would be held in remembrance all over the world because of it and today His Word came to pass for we are talking about her today.
Jesus honours those who honour Him.
She did what she could.
Not what she couldn’t.
But all she could do she did do.
Where you put your finances, your heart will be.
Not just with finances but with time, effort, and gifts.
Take what you have and give it to God.
We give because we love our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s not about taking.
It is about surrendering to Him.
He does not need anything from you – he spoke and the universe came into being – he needs nothing from you – but we give to Him because of His great love towards us.
What a testimony this woman left!
She has done what she could.
She laid up treasures in heaven rather than on earth.
It’s not about having great abilities, for those who do have greater responsibility to use what has been given to them, but it is about using what you have and doing what you can.
I don’t know about you but that relieves me – God is not expecting me to do what I cannot – but everything I have and am is to be used for him.
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