Sermon nuggets Tues July 22, 2008
Theme- Responding to Jesus
Verses John 12:1-3 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Love by Giving
Just has Martha expressed her love to Christ by serving him and others, Mary has a heart filled with love and what she had she wanted to give to Jesus. Her act of love was taking what was valuable to her and making it special by pursing this expensive perfume on Jesus feet.
The most precious thing Mary possessed was spent all on Jesus. As is the custom of that day the people would recline at table, meaning they would be on a couch and prop oneself up on elbow at a low table. It was easy to anoint the head and the feet as the passage indicates. It was the custom of special guests to not just wash feet after travel, but also to put a few drops of oil or perfume on the head of the honored guest.
Mary's love was just such that she came with an alabaster jar and broke it. Nard is the precious ointment from rare plant in far off eastern India. This was an action of love, and deep devotion. Her love was demonstrated with unselfishness, and humility. She unbound her hair and dried his feet with it. She took the position of a slave to serve her master, out of the heart, not out of duty.
Giving is a personal expression of love. Love is sacrificial. True love gives.
I think of David's comment in II Samuel 24:24 He desired to build an alter to sacrifice to God. Araunah was the property owner and was proud to let David use his land and even donate animals to David for such use, as well as wood to use for burning it. David’s response was. "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord, my God, burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid 50 shekels of silver for them.
Mary knows the lesson that many of us are just learning. All that we have belongs to the Lord. Even that ointment wasn't hers, but the Lords. God in his majestic way used it also as a prophetic statement of the burial of Jesus since such ointment was also saved for that occasion.
What we have belongs to God. Our car is God's car, our clothes are a gift from him to protect us and to honor him; Our TV sets belong to God. Does what we watch reflect that?
When the passage says that the whole room was filled with it's fragrance, indeed it was. One church father went on to say, "The whole church was filled with the sweet memory of Mary's lovely deed. A lovely deed became the possession of the whole world."
When Jesus was asked the important commandments, Jesus told his hearers that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul and strength."
Her heart showed.
Pastor Dale
