Contributed by Barry Drake
When
Others Disappoint You
Mark
14:1-31
Feb.
21, 2010
While thousands of Passover pilgrims were preparing for
the joys of the feast, Jesus was preparing for the ordeal of His trial and
crucifixion. Just as He had steadfastly
set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), so He steadfastly set
His heart to do the will of His Father.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Servant of all, was “obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8). He looked beyond the cross to the glory of
Heaven.
Follow His footsteps during the days and hours of the
last week, and you will be amazed to see the responses of various people to the
Lord Jesus. From chapter 14 of Mark, I
have chosen the first 31 verses for our lesson today, mainly because of Mary of
Bethany and her example of love for her Lord.
Adored
in Bethany (Mark 14:1-11)
This event takes place six days before Passover, which
would put it on the Friday before the Triumphal Entry (John 12:1). By placing this story between the accounts of
the plot to arrest Jesus, Mark contrasted the treachery of Judas and the leaders
with the love and loyalty of Mary. The
ugliness of their sins makes the beauty of her sacrifice even more
meaningful.
Neither Mark nor Matthew names the woman, but John tells
us that it was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (John
11:1-2). Mary is found three times in
the Gospel story; and each time, she is at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42;
John
11:31-32; 12:1-8). Now, what does that tell you? Do I need to
draw you a picture. Mary had a close,
awesome relationship with her Lord as she sat at His feet and listened to His
Words. What an example for us to
follow. What a pattern for us to go
by. Do you know anyone like that? Have you known someone like that? Someone, that when you looked for, you would
find at the feet of Jesus? I
have.
Do NOT get Mary of Bethany’s anointing of the Lord
confused with a similar event recorded in Luke
7:36-50. That unnamed
woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee was a converted harlot who expressed
her love to Christ because of His gracious forgiveness of her many sins. In the house of Simon the healed leper, Mary
expressed her love to Jesus because He was going to the cross to die for
her. She prepared His body for burial as
she anointed His head (vs. 3) and His feet (John 12:3). She showed her love for Jesus while He was
still alive. There is yet another lesson
for us from Mary. We must show our love
while those we love are alive. Don’t
live with regret after they are gone.
It was an expensive offering that she gave to her
Lord. Spikenard was imported from
India, and a whole jar would have
cost the equivalent of a common worker’s annual income. Mary gave lavishly and lovingly. She was not ashamed to show her love for
Christ openly.
What were the consequences of her act of worship? Yes, it was an act of worship. True worship often brings consequences. With Mary’s worship there were three. First, the
house was filled with the beautiful fragrance of the perfume (John 12:3; also
note 2 Cor.
2:15-16). “Then Mary
took a 12 oz. (327 grams) jar of expensive perfume made from the essence of
nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of
the perfume” (John 12:3). Did you know
there is always a “spiritual fragrance” in the home where Jesus is loved and
worshiped?
Second,
the disciples, led by Judas, criticized Mary for wasting her money! Can you believer it? Of all people to criticize
anyone, Judas? It sounds so pious
for Judas to talk about the poor, when in reality he wanted the money for
himself! (John 12:4-6) The dirty, low down rat!
Even in the Upper Room, six days later, the disciples still thought Judas
was concerned about helping the poor (John 13:21-30). It was interesting to me that the word
translated “waste” in Mark 14:4
is translated “perdition” (eternal damnation; hell) in John 17:12 and applied to Judas. Here Judas is criticizing Mary for wasting
money when he is wasting his entire life.
Third, Jesus commended Mary
and accepted her gracious gift. He knew
the heart of Judas and understood why the other disciples followed his bad
example. He also knew Mary’s heart and
quickly defended her (read Romans
8:33-39). Don’t worry about what others say about your worship and
service, the most important thing is that you please God. The fact that others misunderstand and
criticize you should not keep you from showing your love to Christ. Our concern should be His approval
alone.
There is something you may not realize about what Mary
did. Her act of love and loyalty started
a “wave of blessing” that has been going on ever since. She was a blessing to Jesus as she shared her
love, and she was a blessing to her home as the fragrance spread. Were it not for Mary, the village of Bethany would probably have been
forgotten. The account of her deed was a
blessing to the early church that heard about it and, because of the records in
three of the Gospels, Mary has been a blessing to the whole world – and still
is! The Lord’s prediction has certainly
been fulfilled. (v. 9)
Mary gave her best in faith and love; Judas gave his
worst in unbelief and hatred. He solved
the problem of how the Jewish leaders could arrest Jesus without causing a riot
during the feast. He sold his Master for
the price of a slave (Ex. 21:32), the most contemptible act of treachery in all
of history, Judas betrayal of Jesus.
Money will do that to some folks.
Betrayed
in the Upper Room (Mark 14:12-26)
The Passover lamb was selected on the 10th
day of the month of Nisan (our March-April), examined for blemishes, and then
slain on the 14th day of the month (Ex. 12:3-6). The lamb had to be slain on the temple
grounds and the supper eaten within the Jerusalem city limits. For the Jews, the Passover was the memorial
of a past victory, but Jesus would institute a new supper that would be the
memorial of His’ death.
Peter and John saw to it that the supper was prepared
(Luke 22:8). It would not be difficult
to locate the man carrying the jar of water because the women usually performed
that task.
The original Passover feast consisted of the roasted
lamb, the unleavened bread, and the dish of bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8-20). The lamb reminded the Jews of the blood that
was applied to the doorposts in Egypt to keep the death angel from
slaying their firstborn. The bread
reminded them of their haste in leaving Egypt (Ex. 12:39), and the bitter
herbs spoke of their suffering as Pharaoh’s slaves. At sometime in the centuries that followed,
the Jews had added to the ceremony the drinking of four cups of wine. Some say they diluted it with water.
A lot of details are omitted by Mark, such as the
washing of the disciple’s feet.
Something that got my attention was the thought that Jesus washed Judas’
feet also. I don’t have time to go into
it but let me just say; don’t try to defend Judas for what He did. It was part of God’s plan. Judas was a responsible human being who made
his own decisions but, in so doing, fulfilled the Word of God. Judas was lost for the same reason so many
are today. Judas did not repent of his
sins and believe in Jesus (John 6:64-71; 13:10-11). If you have never been born again, one day
you too will wish that you had not been born at all.
To “break bread” with someone was a big deal in the
Middle East.
It meant to enter into a pact, a covenant of friendship and mutual
trust. It was unimaginable that someone
would break bread with another and then go out and betray them. However, it was a fulfillment of the Word
(Ps. 41:9). Then Judas left and went to
complete the arrangement for Jesus arrest.
After Judas left, Jesus instituted what Christians
commonly call “the Lord’s Supper”. Jesus
first took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it, and He gave it to the
disciples saying: “This is My body”. Then He took the cup, the third of the four
cups, the cup of redemption, and He blessed it, and gave it to them saying,
“This is My blood” (see 1
Cor. 11:23-26).
Bread and wine were two common items that were used at
practically every meal, but Jesus gave them a wonderful new meaning. When Jesus said, “This is My body” and “this is My blood”, He did not transform either
the bread or the wine into anything different.
When the disciples ate the bread, it was still bread; when they drank the
wine, it was still wine. However, the
Lord gave a new meaning to the bread and the wine, so that, from that hour, they
would serve as memorials of His death.
Let’s think about that: two common items become two special items when
blessed by God.
Just as Jesus changed common to special, He also
fulfilled the Old Covenant and established a New Covenant (Heb. 9-19). No more blood of animals. Now it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us
of our sins.
Our Lord’s command was, “This do in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:24-25). The word translated “remembrance” means much
more than “in memory of”, for you can do something in memory of a dead person –
yet Jesus is alive! The word carries the
idea of a present participation in a past event. Because Jesus is alive, as we celebrate the
Lord’s Supper, by faith we have communion with Him (1 Cor. 10:16-17). This
is not some “magical” experience produced by the bread and the wine. It is a spiritual experience that comes
through our discerning of Christ and the meaning of the Supper (1 Cor. 11:27-34).
The last thing Jesus and His disciples did in the Upper
Room was to sing the traditional Passover hymn based on Psalms 115-118.
Imagine our Lord singing when the cross was only a few hours
away!