Sermon Tone Analysis

I have a confession to make.

Sometimes when I am walking in a mall a woman will pass by me and a catch a brief whiff of her perfume.

It is very brief but enjoyable.

How about you?

Have you smelled an excellent perfume?

I suspect that most of us have, and unless we are allergic to perfume, we enjoy the fragrance.

If you put a dash of perfume or cologne on the neck or wrist it gives a whiff of a nice fragrance.

But perfume isn't just used for that pleasant fragrance when someone walks by.

It can also be used to hide other fragrances - or odors.

Some early burial ceremonies included perfume being poured over the body to cover the smell of decay or disease.

It was typically used after a person died, but in today's story, Jesus was anointed with perfume prior to his death.

There are three anointings in the Scriptures regarding Jesus.

The first occurred in Bethany at the house of Simon the Pharisee.

Luke 7:36-38 (ESV)

36 One of the Pharisees asked him (Jesus) to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.

37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

On this occasion a woman (apparently one known to be a sinner) approached Jesus, broke open a bottle of perfume and began crying.

She anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair.

This seemed to occur when John the Baptist was still alive - early in Jesus' ministry.

The third anointing is found in both Matthew and Mark's gospels.

(Mat.

26:5-7, Mark 14:3).

Matthew 26:6-7 (ESV)

6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the lepe] 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

This occurred in the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany.

Two days before the Passover, an unnamed woman broke an alabaster jar of fragrant oil and poured it on Jesus' head.

In this message we will explore Jesus' 2nd anointing, which we find in John 12.

John 12:1-8 (ESV)

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there.

Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7 Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

This story in John is taking place after a darker turn in the narrative.

Jesus is approaching his death, and has been for the last few chapters, especially since the raising of Lazarus.

All the gospels slow down immensely when it comes to the last week of Jesus' life-about a third of each one is dedicated to the events of just a few days.

Think about that-they skip through a lot of Jesus' life.

We see him as a baby, then as a twelve-year-old in the temple, then as a full-grown man.

Then they skip around through his ministry career-a whole year might pass within a few verses.

And yet when it comes to his last few weeks, the narrative slows down significantly.

Jesus' dialogue and prayers are reported in detail, and conversations are jammed right up against each other.

Today's story is like that.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

So they gave a dinner for him there.

(John 12:1-2 ESV)

The name Bethany is translated by some to mean "house of figs," as there are many fig trees in the area; others translate it as "house of misery," speculating that Bethany was a designated place for the sick and those with contagious diseases.

It's a small town about two miles outside of Jerusalem, and some speculate that it was more of a subdivision than an entire town.

It reached to the Mount of Olives, and it is the place from which Jesus ascended.

Today it is still a small town with a population of about 1,000 and the traditional tomb of Lazarus is still marked.

So Jesus comes to dinner with his friends and Mary does something extraordinary.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard.

(John 12:3 ESV)

This Mary we've met before.

She is the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

Martha had earlier complained to Jesus that her sister wasn't helping with Martha's "many tasks."

He reminded her that Mary had chosen the better part-to sit at Jesus' feet and listen.

From early on, Mary seemed to "get it."

Jesus and Mary seem to have a special relationship, a special understanding.

For example, Jesus kept it together for the most part when he heard that his friend Lazarus had died.

He told everyone to wait and see, and he talked theology with Martha.

He only loses it when he sees Mary.

Then we read the shortest, and one of the most poignant verses in the Bible, John 11:35, "Jesus wept."

He maintains his emotional equilibrium until he sees her.

That's what I love about this moment here.

Here is Mary, who gets it.

Mary, whose sister thinks she's not doing what is most important but she's the one who knows what is important.

That's one of the telling studies as you look at the gospels.

The people that Jesus reveals himself to, or who first note who he is, are often those considered less than by others.

We have a demon-possessed man who lives among the tombs and cuts himself.

Or we have the Samaritan woman who has been through several marriages and is living with another man, who comes to the well in the middle of the day to avoid everyone else.

Then we have Mary, the one who doesn't help her sister, who comes in with an expensive bottle of perfume and...

... anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

(John 12:3 ESV)

It's almost like everything stopped and silence took over the room.

As I've said, the narrative is running along at a clip-Jesus has been healing, teaching, dodging the bad guys.

Miracles and near-misses left and right-the cultured elite and the politically powerful closing in on him; Jesus showing his own emotional side, weeping at the tomb, and then....STOP.

The story will go slowly from here on out.

Detail after detail, teaching after teaching, we will walk closely with Jesus in his last days.

John wants us to know that Mary poured perfume worth a year's wages on Jesus' feet.

One of the more expensive perfumes in the world is Sabi by Henri Dunay, which costs about $30,000 a bottle.

That's what we're talking about here.

No wonder Judas Iscariot wanted to get his hands on it.

You can imagine the fragrance from the perfume not only going through the room, but outside the house, drawing others in to see what's going on.

The disciples' reaction is painfully predictable:

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" (John 12:4-5 ESV)

Some of the footnotes say this was a year's wages for a common worker.

There were similar reactions to the other two anointings in the Scriptures.

Why this extravagance?

Why this waste?

Why this waste?

How many times have we said that?

We live in an interesting time now when people don't seem to have time for anything.

Books take too much time and energy, so we put them on audio so we can listen to them while we are doing something else.

Shopping takes too long, too much effort, so we do it from home online-with one click on "Skip the Dishes-so that it's taken care of, and we can get back to doing other stuff.

Yet even in this crazy time, we faithful believers still choose to stop everything and attend worship services in person.

That seems a little insane to the rest of the world-there's no product produced that they can see; there's no entertainment value.

They can't believe that we actually give money rather than take it.

And church is imperfect-if you want to hear music, turn on your iTunes, if you want to hear a sermon, look one up on YouTube.