Anointed for Service

Today I want to paint two pictures for you. I want to show you the scenes that happened at two different meals roughly 5 days apart.

Anointing Jesus to Serve

In the first scene we find Jesus and his disciples in the town of Bethany about 2 miles outside of Jerusalem. They are there with Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. There may have been others from town participating in this festive occasion.

You see, this meal was given in honor of Jesus.

A few weeks or months earlier he had come to town and did the unthinkable - he had called Lazarus out of a tomb that had been his resting place for four days. He proved that he could raise the dead. Up to this point this was one of the most fantastic and unbelievable miracles that Jesus performed. But this was also the miracle that sealed his fate. After seeing Lazarus alive many of the Jewish leaders were determined to take Jesus life and to take Lazarus’s life again.

And so after bringing Lazarus back to life and ministering to the family for a short time, Jesus and his disciples travel about 25 miles away to the town of Ephraim. We don’t know exactly why they left or what they did there or how long they stayed - John simply tells us that they went to Ephraim and no longer travelled openly among the Jews.

Now that the Passover was coming, Jesus was determined to celebrate this Passover with his disciples and so he returned to Bethany. Mary and Martha were delighted to host Jesus and his disciples for this celebratory occasion. It's not every day that your brother who was dead he's alive again!

And so there you have Jesus likely reclining on his side at a table. These tables were not like our tables. They were low, so people typically sat on carpets on the floor, leaned over on one side, grabbing food with the other. We can see the disciples scattered around this table, eating, conversing, laughing.

There is noise from the kitchen as pots and pans shuffle around, as plates are loaded up with food and carried out to the table. And there's Martha making sure that everything is just right, using her gift of hospitality in the kitchen to be a blessing to this group.

And then there's Lazarus. This man who had been sick and had been dead is now sitting and laughing and crying and talking with the disciples and with the one who brought him back to life. Imagine what some of those conversations must've been like. Imagine Philip asking Lazarus what was it like to be dead? And then you might have Thomas wondering if he was really dead at all. There's Andrew wanting to bring so many other people to see this man who was dead and is now alive again. And then there's young John observing, watching, making mental notes, growing in his affection for his Lord because of what has happened.

And then as they are eating, this strange, but beautiful aroma begins to waft through the room. As the men look around, they find Mary, Martha and Lazarus's sister, approaching with a jar of perfume. Now they know what the aroma is - that sweet, but strong aroma. And Mary slowly, but gently walks behind Jesus as he is reclining at the table, and she does the unthinkable - she releases her hair. It was rare to see a Jewish woman with unbound hair in public and yet here was Mary removing her head covering, revealing her long flowing locks of hair.

As she does this, she begins to pour perfume over Jesus. Now, John only notes that she puts the oil on his feet, but, based on the volume of the perfume, she probably would have started with his head as Luke and Matthew note - pouring the perfume over Jesus head, allowing it to run down his shoulders beneath the fringe of his garment down his back. Much like the anointing ceremonies that the Jews would hold for the appointment of a priest.

And then she comes to his feet and legs. They may be freshly cleaned from his journey on the dusty roads - remember, they typically wore sandals so their feet would be especially dirty. She kneels behind Jesus and pours the perfume onto his lower legs.

Now this is not Dollar General perfume - her family had likely been saving this perfume for a special occasion. It likely took them quite a long time just to acquire it - after all, this jar was worth about a year’s wage for a commoner. Here she was, pouring it out over his feet.

What a mess that would make on the dirt floor and the carpet coverings!

What a sacrifice!

What a gift!

When was the last time that I gave a years my wages for anything?

Was it a waste?

Rather than allowing the perfume to puddle on the floor, she takes her long black hair and begins to wipe the perfume into Jesus feet and lower legs. Her scandalous act of extravagance caused many to question.

Judas, the disciple who carried the money around, explained that perfume could've been sold and the money given to the poor. John tells us that Judas didn't really care about the poor at all, but that he loved money and often helped himself to it while caring around the bag.

Jesus replies to their objections, telling them to leave her alone so that she might keep this perfume and do this act for his burial. There will always be poor people around, but Jesus time on earth was limited.

Did Mary know that Jesus would die soon?

Why did she do this?

What was her end game?

It seems like this act of devotion, this act of worship, this act of sacrifice - was an act of gratitude for what Jesus had done for her and her family.

Her extravagant act of worship became an act of anointing Jesus for the service to which he had been called. You see, in less than a week, Jesus would be in a tomb, not unlike the one from which he had called Lazarus.

Jesus even said - “Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mt. 20:28)

I don’t think Mary fully understood the significance of what she did. Her offering was an act of worship. In the grand scheme of things, her offering anointed Jesus for the service that only he could do - the service of offering his life, his costly life, as an exchange for our sin.

Anointing the Disciples to Serve

Over the next several days Jesus and his disciples continued to minister in and around Jerusalem. But I want to take you to another meal, another table, another anointing.

About five days later we find Jesus and his disciples gathered in another room. It's just them. It's their last meal together. Like the meal with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, this meal was likely full of conversation, it was full of discussion, it was mysterious. Jesus was acting a little bit different than he had usually. Something was up.

Luke in his gospel tells us that at one point in time over these couple of days some of the disciples began to ask who was the greatest, who was the best in their group. With all their striving to be number one, it's not surprising that no one thought to wash each other's feet.

In Hebrew culture, washing feet was one of those necessary evils. If you were to go to someone's house you would be shown a basin of water and a towel and given the opportunity to wash your own feet. Wealthy people who might have slaves or servants would force the servants to wash the feet of guests. And yet even a Hebrew servant, someone of Hebrew dissent, could refuse to wash the feet of someone else because it was beneath them culturally. Washing feet was for the least - not something anyone wanted to be.

But here the disciples and Jesus are in a room that is not their own. They're gathering in a borrowed room at a borrowed table in a borrowed house. There were likely no servants there to take the dust off the feet. And being good Hebrews, none of these men felt like it was their duty.

And so as if the scandal of Mary's gift a few days earlier was not enough, here at this meal we see another scandal beginning to happen. Jesus rises from his reclining position, removes his outer garment, put a towel around his waist, and begins to take the basin of water to each of his disciples.

John doesn't tell us exactly how he went about this, but I imagine that Jesus may have started with Judas. John had given us some insight that Judas already had plans in the works, plans that Jesus being the son of God may have had some insight into. Yet here he kneels down behind Judas, inviting Judas to turn around. He places the basin of water at Judas’ feet. While on his knees, he holds one of Judas’ feet over the basin with one hand and begins scoop up water with the other hand, dripping it over Judas’ foot. With the wet hand, he continues to rinse the dust off of Judas foot. He then dries it with the towel that is around his waist and moves on to the next foot.

What must have been going through Judas’ mind? This man that he was about to betray was doing something that no other person would want to do even for their best friend.

Who’s next? Maybe Simon the Zealot. This man began following Jesus because he was hoping for a new order in Jerusalem. It was a new order alright - an order that’s not kept with swords or rules, but an order that is lived by love.

He continues the same pattern, rinsing one foot at a time from on his knees - goes to Thaddeus, James the son of Alpheus.

Then he comes to Matthew the tax collector. Most Jews would not have welcomed Matthew and to their homes, and yet here was Jesus on his knees before this so called "traitor,” demonstrating that no one is to be excluded.

And then Jesus continues to Thomas and Bartholomew and Philip and John the brother of James. And then maybe he comes to James next that fiery son of Zebedee and then Andrew and finally he comes to Peter.

As he approaches, Peter asked Jesus Lord are you going to wash my feet as well?

To each Jesus replied you don't quite understand what I'm doing but yes I will wash your feet in a little while you'll understand more.

But Peter protested he said Lord you will never wash my feet.

Jesus again replied if I don't wash you then you don't have a part with me.

And so being the impetuous man that he is, Peter says well then not just my feet, but my head in my hands.

Jesus tempers the situation and basically says no your feet are all that's needed right now.

After washing everyone’s feet, Jesus returns to his place and says.

John 13:12–17 NLT

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Richard Foster commented on this scene - “No one wanted to be considered the least. Then Jesus took a towel and redefined greatness.” (p. 126)

Thoughts of Application

Mary anointed Jesus to serve. In many ways, she symbolically prepared his body for burial. It was an extravagant and costly gift.

Jesus anointed his disciples to serve. He demonstrated in front of them the pinnacle of service. Here is the second person of the trinity, the creator of the universe in a human body, the only one who is truly worthy to be worshiped, bowing his knees in service to his followers, giving them an example that we should follow.

It’s quite possible to follow Jesus’ example and totally miss the point. Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline,” suggests that we can easily serve for self righteous reasons - looking at what we can gain out of it. We see this all the time as we look at politicians or public servants.

“Self-righteous service requires external rewards.” - I must be able to get something out of this

“Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results.” -

“Self-righteous service picks and chooses home to serve”. - Jesus clearly debunked this by serving Judas, Matthew, Peter - even on the cross - all of sinful humanity.

“Self-righteous service is affected by moods and winds.” - Do you remember when Jesus fed the five thousand? He and his disciples were exhausted after an intense period of ministry. He wanted to get away with them for a time to rest - and yet when they reached the shore and saw all of the people that were there, Jesus had compassion on them - and continued to serve.

“Self-righteous service is temporary.” - serving only while it’s needed, and not having it be an attitude of the heart

“Self righteous service is insensitive.” - to the situation

“Self righteous service fractures community.” - because they make it more about the personal recognition and glory..

(p. 128-129)

But for Jesus’ people - the end game of service is .... service for the glory of God and the edification of others.

Some people don’t want to serve because we feel like we’ll be a doormat - that people will walk all over us and take advantage of us. It may happen. But when we willingly serve - we take the power out of their hands. Service gets to be our privilege. It gets to be our joy.

Washing feet was among the lowest of duties in Jesus day. He seemed to be saying that there is no act of service that should be beneath any of us.

Let me illustrate this with a modern day act of service.

Orissa is a province in the eastern side of India. Over the last few years, life for Christians in Orissa has become increasingly challenging. Prime Minister’s pro-Hindu policies had endorsed the persecution of Christians. Some Christians lost their church buildings, others lost their homes, some were incarcerated, and still others were killed.

And then - along came COVID. The shut-downs in response to the pandemic hit Orissa quite hard. Recently, the government decided that they would provide some rations for about 15 days per month. The problem is that no one was working - and there are 30 days. Several Christians felt led to serve and so they surveyed 13 different communities to find out what was needed, how they could best serve. They learned that meeting the remaining food needs would be huge blessing to the communities. So they figured out how much it would cost and reached out to some Christians here in the states with whom they had been partnering in other ministries. In just 4 days, the Christians here raised all of the money needed to purchase the resources to complete the month of rations for each of these communities.

The food arrived and Christians began serving their communities. They were giving food to the very people who were persecuting them. This act of selfless, service became an open door. In the first 3 days of food distribution, over 100 people came to faith.

They shared the gospel with deeds and words by serving their community. May God grant us eyes to see how we might serve each other and our communities in the same way.

Let’s pray.

Memory Verse:

John 13:14–15 ESV

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

References:

Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.

Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.

Foster, Richard J.Celebration of Discipline: The path to spiritual growth. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1998.