Valuing Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Contrast can be a great tool to make something or someone stand out against the backdrop of its opposite.
Looking at contrasting characters in a novel, for example, can make the heroes stand out for their goodness against the contrast of the wickedness of the stories antagonist.
In the section of John’s Gospel we will look at this morning, we will see a woman performing one of the most beautiful acts of devotion we find in the NT.
Her act of devotion is made all the more beautiful when contrasted with others who take part in ugly acts of self-centeredness.
As we examine this passage, we will answer the following question:
How do we show that we truly value Jesus?
How do we show that we truly value Jesus?
Jesus has a way of exposing what people truly value in life, even for those who outright reject Him.
Those who reject Jesus do so because they value something or someone more than they value Him.
As believers, we value Jesus because, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
As Paul puts it in Philippians:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
And yet, there is a battle that rages within the heart of believers that tempts us to value the things of this world too highly, often threatening to share or even displace Jesus value in our lives.
Therefore, this morning our challenge is going to consider how much we value Jesus and examine our lives to see if there is anything or anyone in our lives we might be valuing as much or more than Jesus.
Body
Body
Verses 45-54
Some saw Lazarus raised from the dead and believed. Others immediately went to Jerusalem to tell the Pharisees what happened.
It’s amazing to me that some people could see a dead man come to life and still reject Jesus!
The religious leaders gather an informal meeting of the Sanhedrin, in essence the Jewish Supreme Court.
Their professed concern: If people start believing that Jesus is the Messiah then the Romans will get upset, which will lead to us losing both the temple and the land.
Why? The Pax Romana…the appearance of self-governance…however, once rebellion was suspected, the Romans put it down with vicious force...
Their real concern: Their position and authority was at stake.
The Romans had a habit of removing people who didn’t “play ball” and replacing them with others.
This was the religious leader’s real concern.
Caiaphas, the high priest speaks up.
He knows all too well the tenuous nature of his position, as three of the high priests before him were quickly replaced by Rome after his father-in-law Annas held that position.
His intended point: It would be better for us (and the whole nation) if we just had Jesus killed.
Fits the Jewish logic of the day...
Ignores Scripture:
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
Unintentionally prophesies Jesus substitutionary atonement for Jews in Judea, in the dispersion, and even the Gentiles who would believe.
When we truly value Jesus, we will not allow our wants and ambition drive our response to Him.
When we truly value Jesus, we will not allow our wants and ambition drive our response to Him.
I was asked a great question this week: Is ambition a sin?
The answer is of course, no, ambition itself is not a sin.
But, unchecked ambition that’s purpose is self-focused is a sin. Ambition that leads the believer to focus too much on the things of this world and not enough on being a follower of Christ will lead to all manners of sin.
And that’s the point here. We cannot allow our personal wants and our ambition to be the driving force behind our response to Him.
The religious leaders and Caiaphas had already made up their minds about Jesus and were completely unwilling to hear anything else.
And their issues were not as much theological, as we can see here, but they were directly linked to the fact that they were personally benefiting from the status quo.
This would drive them to taking part the most heinous act of evil ever committed: condemning Jesus to death.
Verses 55-57
Fast-forward a couple of weeks and now the faithful Jewish pilgrims are coming to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.
Jerusalem is all abuzz with the question: will Jesus show up?
More on that at a later date...
Verses 1-11
The Friday before the Passover, Jesus is with Lazarus, Martha and Mary, having a celebration for both Jesus and Lazarus.
We learn from Mark’s Gospel that they were actually in the home of Simon the Leper.
Martha is doing what Martha does: serving.
I find it fascinating that this wasn’t even her house, but she’s busily serving people.
Every church needs a couple of Martha’s! They get things done.
Lazarus is busy living, probably telling everyone his story, since his story is the best one in the room.
No one else could say, “Hey, I was dead, now I’m alive!”
But then Mary does something beautiful.
She anoints Jesus head and feet with an expensive ointment from India.
This bottle of spikenard was probably a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation.
It was an extremely fragrant perfume, valued at the modern equivalent of about $10,000.
Why does she do this?
When we truly value Jesus, we put honoring Jesus above worldly possessions.
When we truly value Jesus, we put honoring Jesus above worldly possessions.
This was Mary’s most valuable possession, no doubt. And yet, she pours it out on Jesus to honor Him.
Truth-be-told, Mary didn’t even understand the significance of what she was doing (because she didn’t know Jesus would die a week from then).
She does it because she is thankful to Him, because she loves Him, and because she wants to honor the most honored guest.
Unfortunately, in a world where we can have just about anything we want in an instant, it is very easy for us to treat worldly possessions like they are what life is lived for.
Most of us would like to think that we own our possessions, but in reality, often times our possessions own us.
Moving from preaching to meddling:
Take a minute this week to look at around your home, then ask yourself the question: What do I know, in my heart-of-hearts, I would have a real tough time giving up if God was calling me to give it up?
When we truly value Jesus, we are willing to endure the scorn of others in our devotion to Him.
When we truly value Jesus, we are willing to endure the scorn of others in our devotion to Him.
Mary does a couple of things here that were no-nos to some of those in the room:
She “wastes” expensive ointment...
She takes the role of a servant in washing Jesus feet...
She lets her hair down in public...
From her childhood, all of these things would have been unacceptable for her to do according to her culture. Why does she do it then?
Because her love and devotion to Jesus is greater than her concern for the way people perceive her.
Sometimes we are tempted to fit in, to not offend, to not “be canceled”, to hide our light under a basket.
But what does that attitude say to Jesus?
We don’t have to be obnoxious to show that we value Jesus…at the same time, it should never surprise anyone when they discover we love Jesus either...
When we truly value Jesus, our devotion to Him will have an impact on others.
When we truly value Jesus, our devotion to Him will have an impact on others.
Don’t miss a couple of things here:
The house was filled with the fragrance...
Mary’s hair was filled with the fragrance...
Looking at the full context of this story, the Jewish leaders not only want to kill Jesus, but they want to kill Lazarus as well, because people are coming to believe Jesus because Lazarus is alive.
And Lazarus never says one thing in Scripture!
This reminds us that, no matter what, when we live a life that values Jesus and is devoted to following Him, it will have an impact on people.
In some cases this will be a positive impact.
In some cases, people will react negatively.
Either way, when we genuinely follow Jesus it will have an impact on others because it will color our interactions and our behavior.
In short, we should want to smell like we’ve been hanging out with Jesus!
When we truly value Jesus, we will not attempt to hide our true motives behind false devotion.
When we truly value Jesus, we will not attempt to hide our true motives behind false devotion.
Judas uses a plausible argument to cover for his false motives.
He says, “We should have sold that bottle and given the money to the poor!” Sounds like a good point.
But, that wasn’t where his heart was at in the slightest.
John tells us that he was a thief who helped himself to the money whenever possible.
Jesus rebukes him in no unnecessary terms: Leave her alone!
At this point Jesus doesn’t reveal Judas’ deception because Judas still has a role to play.
But He defends Mary because she is truly honoring Him.
See, Judas wanted people to believe that he was honoring Jesus through his statement about helping the poor.
But Judas was truly only interested in helping himself.
The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse...
God told me this...
A lot of people have been thinking about this...
God would have us do this...
When something is truly of God we don’t need to convince godly people that it’s right.
We need to pray; we need to seek answers in God’s Word; we need to be patient; we need to wait on the Lord