The Pure Gift

If you have your bibles this morning please open them up to John chapter 12. I have tilted the message this morning the “The Pure Gift” If you would pray with me..

Last week we saw Jesus Death has political and spiritual implications. That no one throughout history death was more important, and had more meaning than Jesus death, and that Jesus death was ultimately more significant, because he conquered death, and rose again on the third day, still alive, and reigning in heaven.

As we get into today’s text Jesus ministry on earth is starting to wrap up. He is about to face his death for his people, and in todays text what I want you to see this morning as our main point is this… Mary’s pure gift points to the saviors pure death.

follow along with me as a read verses 1-8 this morning.

John 12:1–8 ESV

1 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.”

For our note takers or those following along in the bulletin my first sub-point is this..

We bring our best to Christ because he brought his best to us.

As I briefly mentioned last week the passover was the time of year where they celebrated God passing over their homes and sparing their first born when they were slaves in Egypt. It was a time where they would have to travel to Jerusalem and the men would have to bring a lamb to sacrifice during this time, and we see the word today that it was 6 days before the passover, now there is debate whether or not the passover started on a certain day but its most likely that John is saying this meal was happening on the Sabbath. Meaning the passover started on Friday.

So Jesus makes his grand return to a place where his greatest miracle to date took place. And we see that Lazarus is alive and well. And as Jesus returns they are having a dinner for him. They are reclining at the table which is typical to do at this time, and the sisters that asked Jesus back in chapter 11 why were you not here to save my brother before he died are now serving Jesus during there meal.

We see this serving done in two different ways.. Martha service isn’t specific, but she was probably doing what ever needed to be done. Being a good host.

If you remember in Luke 10:38-42 we see another story with Martha and Mary and in that story Martha is working away when Jesus in present in their home.. As a reminder let me read it to you..

Luke 10:38–42 ESV

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

It seemed to be Martha was someone who did a lot of serving, so much so that she didn’t enjoy the presence of the Lord enough, its a reminder to us that we should not be so busy serving that we ourselves don’t sit and listen to what God is teaching us, because how else would we know how to serve him if we don’t listen to him, and know him for ourselves. While Martha’s serving is listed and should not be over looked, the focus is not on Martha’s service, but the gift of Mary.

And Mary’s gift was an extravagant gift. And the bible makes much of it. The text says it was a pound of expensive fragrance made from notice the word pure nard, and she anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

This wasn’t your walmart, american eagle, Victoria secret, or even Dillards type of stuff, it was a pure fragrance. Not like you are going to give to your dad today for Father’s day. It was a Roman Pound which would have been about 11 to 12 oz so quite a bit as far as fragrances go, and Judas says it was a years worth of salary.

So just to put that into perspective for you when doing my research for this sermon I looked up the cost for some of the most expensive fragrances in the world and found some over 1 million dollars now what I found was those were so high because of what they came in, some of those bottles were lined with diamonds, and gold, but per oz in a regular non over the top container the most expensive fragrance I found was Clive Christian No.1 Imperial Majesty ( the name of that just sounds expensive, which comes in at a whopping $12,722/Ounce. That would mean you would have to make 127,220 to 139, 942 dollars a year just to afford this and that is assuming you don’t have any other expenses of course and don’t pay taxes. Never the less this gift was truly extravagant.

Noticed what made the fragrance so expensive though it was because it was pure. Notice what one Scholar had to say about this Nard. He says, “Pure nard had a strong, distinctive aroma, similar to an essential oil, that clings to skin and hair and continues to give off its heady perfume. It was also thought to have medicinal properties. According to Eastman’s Bible Dictionary, spikenard “is the root of an Indian plant, growing on the Himalaya mountains. It is distinguished by its having many hairy spikes shooting out from one root.” The ointment prepared from the root was highly valued. Spikenard symbolized the very best in ancient cultures the way that “Tiffany diamond” or the “gold standard” does to us.

He goes on to add… When Mary of Bethany broke her alabaster jar of spikenard (John 12:3) and bathed the feet of Jesus with the oil, she, too, wanted only the best to define her love for Him. It has been speculated that this jar may have been Mary’s dowry or her inheritance. In other words, this jar of spikenard ointment may have been all she had of value, and she poured it out on Him. Her extravagant gift is a picture of the kind of offering expected of each of us. Only the best was worthy of her Lord, and she was willing to give everything as an act of worship.

We see that Mary gave her best to the Lord, because of what she thought of the Lord.

We see in Mary’s gift to the Lord, Love, generosity, and humility. She loved Jesus very much so she wanted to bring her best to him. But notice she did not offer the bare minimum to Christ she offered her best, the purest most valuable possession to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why did she do that? Because she knew he was worth it, we are often guilty of bringing the rest to Christ and not the Best, but Mary’s example show’s us that Jesus is worth our best! Not just the rest.

We also see her humility in this text, we see Mary anoint the feet of Jesus, which is the lowest of all servants jobs, and something he does for his disciples in the next chapter. But she saw herself as just a servant to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as the result of her gift the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, and that got me to thinking.

Our our works for God creating a pleasing aroma or a foul aroma. Now I want to preface this by saying those outside of the church and Christ will never like what we do, but the most important thing is does God approve of what we do. Because if God approves what we do that is what matters most. And if we do what he calls us to do, our good works done for him to be this pleasing aroma.

So Do your gifts that you bring to God radiate with a pleasing aroma for the glory of God? The scripture is filled with places that talks about that very thing. And God smelling that pleasing aroma often offer promises after it, or gives us amazing truths for us to understand. One example is found in the first book of the bible. In Genesis 8:21.

Genesis 8:21 ESV

21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

God after smelling that aroma of the sacrifice made, after the flood promised us that he would never destroy the world like he did during the flood, but as great of a promise that is.. There was a greater aroma than that sacrifice, and the perfume of Mary.

The greatest of all aroma’s is Christs..

Listen to Ephesians 5:1-2

Ephesians 5:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Mary’s gift was pleasing to God, because it was rooted in love, generously and humility, and purity.

Her gift was pure, her gift was given unknowing at the time in preparation of the death of the pure one. The fragrance was one of a kind no added preservatives, not water down, it was a pure fragrance for the death and burial of Jesus. Martha spared no expense for Christ because Christ spared no expense for her. His offering was the greatest of all fragrances.

though one man greatly questioned such a gift. The man Judas..

Second thing I want you to take note of is this..

People will question the gift’s of Jesus and his followers

Judas the one who was about to betray him says, Why was this ointment not sold for the three hundred denarii and given to the pour, and I love the added commentary of John here because he says not because he carried about the poor but because he was a thief and having charge of the moneybag, and he himself would help himself to what was put in it..

Judas questioned Mary’s act of love, and as a result really exposed his self righteousness. Often people will question the gifts of Jesus, and his followers because they want to make themselves seem to be righteous and in the case here this is clearly the Case. Judas says I have a better idea for how this money should be used, why don’t we sell it so we can give it all to the poor. Even though he wanted to just sell it so he could gain some extra income for himself.

If we are not careful we can be like Judas saying to others hey why dont you use this gift you are offering to God for something else, trying to make ourselves look righteous. I can’t tell you how many times others outside of Christ and the church tell me how I should offer up my gifts to God. Seeming for themselves to be self righteous. But when God call’s you to do something do it, even if people question it. Like Judas did here.

People will always question Jesus, and his followers, but that does not mean we need to not do what he calls us to do. Judas in this case was super discouraging as well if you think about. Mary out of her love for Christ offered up a sacrifice to the Lord knowing it was from her own heart, but Judas is like wait if you want to do good do it my way, and then you will be helping people. Heard that before, haven’t you?

In Verse 7 and 8 Jesus responds to Judas by saying…

John 12:7–8 ESV

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.”

See this gift was given for the burial that was coming of the Lord Jesus, it was not meant to serve the poor, he never say’s serving the poor is bad, or we should not do it, but he is like this gift is for me, leave her alone. The purpose for her gift.

There is alot of truth in verse 8 not just because it’s biblical though. Verse 8 shows us the reality that there will always be poor. Always be people in need. I really like what one commentator said about these verses, I knew a minister who labored for decades in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio. He worked among the poor, the oppressed, and those who were addicted to drugs and all kinds of violence. Oddly, he had one associate pastor after another; the average tenure of the ministers who came alongside to help him was two years. I asked him, “Why don’t they last?” He said the problem was that they quickly became disillusioned. They came out of seminary and came to the ghetto because they wanted to labor for Christ where people were hurting. But soon they became depressed and left. I asked him, “Why have you been able to stay all this time?” He said, “Because of the words of Jesus, ‘The poor you have with you always.’ ” I replied, “Every time I’ve ever heard anyone quote that, it was cited as an excuse to neglect the poor, not to minister to the poor.” He said: “Well, what I understand Jesus to say is that I will never be able to eliminate poverty. Therefore, when I came here, I had no expectation that I was going to solve all these problems. I never thought I would eliminate poverty or get rid of the drug traffic or end unemployment among my parishioners. I realize that for every person that is brought out of the ghetto, more are brought in. If we get one person off of drugs, five more get hooked here. My mission isn’t to get rid of the poor or to get rid of all these problems. My mission is to minister to people who are suffering from these things while they are here and while I’m here.”

What a tremendous testimony my friend had. That’s the way Mary was, too. Mary said: “I saved this for Jesus’ burial, but I’m going to give this gift now. I can minister to the poor tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and the day after that, but I will not have every day to manifest my affection for Christ.” After all, this was the man who had restored her brother to life. She was pouring this fragrance on the feet of Jesus while Lazarus sat the table, the same Lazarus who so recently had been rotting in the tomb.

I thought after I read this that we as a church need to be responsible to what God has called us to even though we can’t solve the world’s problem we can make an impact in the world, and do what God has asked us to do. I have told you before to think about those 6 out of 10 people in this area not in a church, not connected to Jesus, and far from him, and that we are called to minister to them. Think about those who you know personally who are not in church. Do what God has called you to do.

I have also said this before but part of your money you give goes to missionaries, seminaries, baptist village communities, homes for children, and so many other needs in our state to help the poor. So giving to your local church helps you serve others you don’t even know.

While there will always be poor in our world there will always be a call to give and serve where God has called us to despite the questions that may come our way.

One last thing to cover. Verse 9-12

John 12:9–12 ESV

9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

Third point this morning is this…

Christian’s lives should reflect that we have been given the pure gift of Christ.

So a large crowd had come to see Jesus, and to see Lazarus, and they wanted to see for themselves what they had been hearing that Lazarus who was dead is now alive and as a result many were believing in him.

Because they saw for themselves that Lazarus was alive, and the ones who wanted to kill Jesus wanted Lazarus as well because his resurrection was causing people to believe in Christ.

Truly incredible, but it got me to thinking our own lives should be such testimony because we have been given the same power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in us if we are in him. But Would people look at us and say we don’t want this man or women around, because if they are around they would be a testimony of Jesus Christ.

The lives we live should proclaim that we have been given the best gift of all salvation through Christ.

Throughout my life I have been given some incredible gifts and this year for my anniversary and Father’s day I was given a brand new Cobra driver by my wife, and like most people do I showed it off to the world through facebook, and texts showing what I got because it’s awesome and a great gift, and many of us do the same thing when we receive such a gift. I love it I hit a few 300 yard drives with it.

But I want to ask you does your life reflect that you have for yourself been given the pure gift of Christ. I use the driver my wife got me, but do you use the pure gift you have been given in Christ.

Would people look at you and know this guy or this girl belongs to Christ, and I want to tell you that I am convicted at a personal level that this is not the case for me enough. And I am sure when you think about yourself you are the same way..

I have been given something in Christ that far outweighs my new driver and that is Christ himself, but what have I done with this gift. Martha, served him faithfully, and Mary gave him a gift that I have never came close to given him, but better than the service Martha offered or the gift Mary gave, Jesus gave himself to his children. His pure self, and he had to give his pure self, because all have greatly sinned.

See God didn’t give us Adam, or Noah, or Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, or any of his sons, or David or any other king he gave his Son. His pure Son, his son who the scriptures proclaim had no sin in him, who the scriptures proclaim commited no sin, Who the scriptures proclaim is Holy, blameless, and pure, who the scriptures proclaim is God, the perfect savior of the world, who became sin in order to be a sacrifice for sin. He died and imputed to his children, and his children are those who repent and believe and his children get the gift of him, they receive is a pure gift this grace that covers sin, and as Mary prepared for Jesus burial, God, through his Son Christ prepared this plan from eternity past, and the best part about this pure gift is its free to those who believe. Jesus paid the price, so we could have the purest of all gifts himself.

Now can I ask you a question have you been given this pure and holy gift?

Jesus gift is not like the gift of my driver that is just for me, its a gift to all who believe. So if you have not today been partakers in the greatest gift ever, by repenting of your sins, and trusting in Christ alone for salvation, you will receive a gift that is more priceless than any fragrance in the world even the one that is over a million dollars, and that is Christ.

If you are a believer, I want you to remember what I have said to you several times now, only you can do what God has called you to do. With that being said are you giving your best to him, your love, your service, everything you have because of what he has given you. Value the gift he has given you.

If you are not the good news for you is that same gospel that saved you extends each and every day to you, so live your life for his glory showing others that the gift you have been given is the greatest gift ever, and show if off just like I showed others my brand new driver.

and remember that Mary’s pure gift points to the saviors pure death.

Let us pray.