Christ Rules A Fully
Devoted Disciple
Christ
Rules! Gospel of Mark Series (Part 28)
A Sermon
By Jim Hammond from Mark 14:1-11
Have you noticed that some people have the
ability to make the most of small windows of opportunity while others
miss these opportunities altogether?
During World War II, a general and his
aide, a lieutenant, were traveling from one base to another. They were
forced to travel with civilians aboard a passenger train. They found
their compartment where two other folks were already seated--an
attractive young lady and her grandmother. For most of the trip, they
conversed freely. The train entered a long and rather dark tunnel. Once
inside the tunnel, the passengers in this particular car heard two
distinct sounds--the first was the smack of a kiss; the second was the
loud sound of a slap.
Now, although these
four people were in the same compartment aboard the passenger train,
they came to four differing conclusions. The young lady thought how glad
she was that the young lieutenant got up the courage to kiss her, but
she was somewhat disappointed at her grandmother for slapping him for
doing it. The general
thought to himself how enterprising was his young lieutenant for finding
this opportunity to kiss the attractive young lady, but he was
flabbergasted that she slapped him instead of the lieutenant.
The grandmother was flabbergasted to think that the young
lieutenant would have the gall to kiss her granddaughter, but was proud
of her granddaughter for slapping him for doing it.
The young lieutenant was trying to hold back the laughter, for he
found the perfect opportunity to kiss an attractive young girl and slap
his superior officer all at the same time![i]
Yes, some people have the ability to make the most
of small windows of opportunity.
Focus:
A fully devoted disciple seizes small opportunities to express
love extravagantly.
Why is it important to
be fully devoted to Christ? If
we are not fully devoted, 1) we will shrink back from opportunities that
will prove to be blessings. 2)
We will shrink back from the places God wants to take us.
3) We will shrink back from the joys we might otherwise have
experienced. 4) But the
greatest tragedy is if we are not fully devoted, we will shrink back
from doing a beautiful thing that gladdens the heart of our Lord.
I.
You will find what you are looking for
Mark purposefully sandwiches the story of the woman
who anointed Jesus between verses 14:1-2 and 10-11. Let’s look at the bread of this sandwich before we look at
the meat. We will look at
the surrounding verses first then the main text for today.
Doing this will show the contrast Mark is showing us.
Mark 14:1-2 (NIV) 1Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only
two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were
looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2“But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people
may riot.”
Mark 14:10-11 (NIV) 10Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief
priests to betray Jesus to them. 11They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So
he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Notice
that while the leaders were “looking for” an opportunity to
arrest Jesus (14:1-2), Judas “watched for an opportunity to hand
him over” (14:10-11). “Looking
for”, and “watched for” are both translations of the same root
word. This is a stark
contrasting backdrop for what we are about to read.
Mark 14:3-9 3While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home
of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of
very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured
the perfume on his head.
4Some
of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this
waste of perfume? 5It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages
and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6“Leave
her alone,”
said Jesus. “Why
are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7The poor
you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want.
But you will not always have me. 8She did
what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for
my burial. 9I
tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the
world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
A. The Priests were
“looking for” an opportunity to kill him (14:1-2)
B. Judas was “looking
for” an opportunity to betray him (14:10-11)
C.
The Woman was “looking for” an opportunity to honor him
(14:3-9)
You will find what you are looking for.
This truth reminds me of the somewhat strange saying of Jesus.
Matthew 6:22-23
(NIV) 22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good,
your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Could Jesus have meant that we find what it is our eye is
looking for? If our eye is
bad, we look for darkness. When
we look for darkness we will find it, and if we are looking for light we
will find it. He also said,
“Seek and you will find”. (Matt
7:7) You will find what you
are looking for. This is
both a promise, and a danger. It
depends upon what it is you seek.
In this passage, everyone is looking for his or her
opportunity. The priests
are “looking for an opportunity to kill”.
Judas is “looking for an opportunity” to betray.
The woman seizes an opportunity to show love. One thing this passage teaches us is that we find what we are
looking for. Each found
what they were looking for. The
priests found the opportunity to kill him.
Judas found an opportunity to betray him, and the fully devoted
disciple found the opportunity to honor him.
The fact is each one not only found what they were looking for,
they found more than they bargained for.
Only the fully devoted disciple was fully satisfied with what
they found.
Look again at
verse 7 and verse 8: you will not always have
me. 8She did what she could.
The woman was looking for an opportunity.
It is a good thing she moved fast when she saw the window of
opportunity. Just days
later it would be too late. She
found what she was looking for and just in the nick of time.
She sensed that her opportunity was short and she did what she
could when she could. Before
we move on, is there someone you should be connecting with to let them
know of your love? You
never know, time is short, and life is fleeting.
Make the most of the small windows of opportunity you have.
The Choice as the Woman perceived it:
It’s Now or Never
The Choice as the others perceived it.
The Poor or Jesus
Jesus’ correction.
I’ll not always be here (affirmation of the woman’s point of
view—now or never. She
did a timely, and beautiful thing!)
The woman was not choosing between
ministering to the poor or not as the disciples supposed.
She was simply making the most of a limited opportunity.
This was a choice between one who would be there for only a short
time longer or those who would always be there.
For her, it was a matter of seizing an opportunity.
This woman was looking for an opportunity, and she did what she
could with the small window of opportunity that was left.
Every scene in this chapter, the plotting by
the leaders, the anointing, and the betrayal, foreshadows Jesus’
death. The opening of the
chapter gives us the setting of the Passover.
In the Passover the Israelites remembered the time God struck
down the first born of the Egyptians in order to save his people.
The people were saved by the substitution of a lamb.
Jesus’ death transforms the meaning of the Passover for
Christians. We now
associate the Passover with the fact the God’s beloved Son was struck
down as the lamb of God in order to provide the redemption as the
judgment of God passed over us, and onto the Lamb, God’s Son.
In this chapter a fully devoted disciple
stands in stark contrast with the extremely disloyal disciple--Judas.
In fact there were two expressions of love in the coming section.
The betrayal kiss is one. The
other is what we are about to focus on today, the extravagantly devoted
act of anointing Jesus. The
contrasts are brought out vividly even in the language.
Let me ask you a question. What is it that you are looking for? On a Monday morning when you wake up, what are you looking
for? What is it that
dominates your thinking? What
is it that you seek to make you happy?
What is it that dominates your motivation?
What is it that you are looking for?
What gains your heart’s devotion?
Some people are looking for more money.
Many have found what they were looking for.
But once they found it, they found it was not what they bargained
for. With more money they
found less satisfaction. More
money didn’t bring the full satisfaction they thought they would find.
Some people are looking for more pleasure.
Many found the pleasures they were seeking.
But deep inside they found something they did not expect.
The very pleasures they were seeking left them feeling hollow and
empty after the pleasures subsided.
They find that they want those pleasures more than ever, but they
are satisfied less than before. They
become more frustrated with each attempt.
Some people are looking for power, or
prestige. Many find more
power and more prestige. But
when they find it they realize they aren’t satisfied.
Some are lucky enough to become number 1.
But after they have become number 1, they are lost.
What do they pursue now?
Many find what they are looking for.
And many are dissatisfied once they find it.
The object of our devotion determines the level of our
satisfaction. The fully
devoted disciple is happy when he is fully devoted to that for which he
has been designed. God
designed us as creatures. We
operate best when we devote ourselves to our creator.
Only one disciple in the scene we have just read was a fully
devoted disciple of Jesus. There
were other disciples that would soon learn to be.
But only one thus far had responded with all her heart.
The rest were still looking for all the wrong things.
Some were looking to become second in command of the great
kingdom. Because they were
looking for the wrong things, they didn’t really see the Lord for who
he was. They couldn’t
really see because their eyes were bad.
I think this one fully devoted disciple had good eyes.
She had good eyesight. She
had insight. Perhaps she alone at this time sensed who Jesus was, and
believed what he said. He
was going to die. She hurt
for him. She looked to see what she could do. The time was short. She
just had to do something to let him know how much she cared.
How much she loved.
II. Only The
fully devoted disciple will Be Fully Satisfied
To get at this I want to ask 2 questions.
What was she thinking? And
in contrast, what were the onlookers thinking?
What Was She Thinking?
Does she think she is anointing a Messiah? (setting him apart for
office)
Kings were often anointed in private for public
office. Sometimes the
anointing signaled a revolt. Is
she expressing her faith that he is the Messiah, and that she believes
God will now intervene in the affairs of Israel?
If this is what she believes, how ironic.
“A woman, not a priest or an authorized prophet, anoints Jesus
in the home of a leper.”[ii]
Or was it just that she wanted to let him
know how much he means to her. She
loves him and wants to express it.
Why do people do extravagant things when they love someone?
It expresses their love. That’s
why they do it.
Jesus was anointed more than once as a guest.
Ancient custom suggests it was a customary practice and as such
he must have been anointed multiple times.
We know from scripture that an honored guest was often anointed.
What makes this anointing special is this.
A customary practice was done with an uncustomary extravagance.
Isn’t that the mark of love?
When something customary is done with some extravagance or some
flair it makes it special. This
woman wasn’t satisfied with simply coming and devotedly listening to
Jesus. In her mind this wasn’t enough to truly let Jesus know of
her devotion. She wasn’t
content to simply serve Jesus in the ordinary way such service was
rendered. She wanted to
honor Jesus in an uncustomary extravagant way.
The extravagance of the gift somehow would reflect her love.
She wanted him to know how much he meant to her.
Now let’s put this in the context of a limited opportunity.
She didn’t want to follow only the customary opportunity.
She wanted to say more. She
wanted to do something special.
Where did she come up with the idea?
Anointing a guest of honor in Jesus’ day was a
customary practice. That’s why he said what he did in the Luke 7
anointing.
Luke
7:46 (NASB) 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My
feet with perfume.
We
also read the psalmist write, Psalm
133:1-2 (NASB) 1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to
dwell together in unity! 2
It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the
beard,
It is difficult
for us to imagine oil on our heads as a good thing.
Yuk! But not for the
people of the ancient world. They
thought it was wonderful. Remember,
they didn’t shampoo their hair like we do.
Sweet smelling oil was quite a treat.
What makes this anointing special is this.
A customary practice was done with an uncustomary extravagance.
Jesus would have been anointed on more than one occasion.
I don’t think we should necessarily think all the descriptions
of the anointings of Jesus are describing the same event. I believe this anointing is different than the anointing
where the woman uses her hair and tears to anoint his feet (Luke 7).
There are several reasons I believe this, although there are
similarities. In both
episodes the host is named Simon. In
both episodes the woman has an alabaster jar and anoints Jesus.
However, the differences are as follows.
In one episode the reaction is not about waste but about the
sinful woman. In the second
episode the timing coincides with the description found in John’s
gospel of the Anointing by Mary in Bethany. Mary was a respected woman of means, quite unlike the sinful
woman of Luke 7. That is
why the reaction of the disciples is completely different.
They are not focused on her sinfulness but upon the waste of the
expensive perfume. Almost
as if to say, NOT AGAIN. What
a waste. I believe
Jesus was anointed several times. It
seems to me that this anointing is the same one described by John late
in the ministry of Jesus. If
so, then this unnamed woman in Mark is Mary the sister of Martha and
Lazarus. This makes me
wonder if Mary had heard about the former time Jesus was anointed by the
woman who was noted to be a sinner. Perhaps Mary heard about how that honored Jesus, and how he
defended her. Maybe this
gave Mary the courage to anoint Jesus as well.
This gave her the courage to offer a customary practice with
uncustomary extravagance.
Let me ask you a question?
How much is too much devotion?
Do you look at people critically when they demonstrate an
exuberant, or lavish form of worship or devotion?
We must be careful not to be caught evaluating others as the
disciples and host had looked down on this “waste”.
Jesus didn’t think it wasteful.
Are we like the ones who think, a little oil is fine, even
expensive perfume is fine, but to break open the whole jar seems too
extravagant? It seems too wasteful? Do
you think that expressing this kind of love was just, well, too weird?
Jesus didn’t. Be careful not to judge the extravagant expressions of
someone else’s worship. One
woman dismantled her glory, her hair, and with tears flowing, with
broken heart let Jesus know of her devotion.
This made everyone uncomfortable except Jesus.
He was moved. Any
time we humble our hearts, any time we let go of our pride, any time we
dismantle our glory, because we are moved by his glory and become small
in our own eyes as we are fully devoted to him, we bless and touch the
heart of Jesus, we bless and honor God.
How much is too much?
We are reminded of the woman who gave all she had (Mark 12:44).
This is precisely what now a wealthy woman did.
“What she had, she did.”
Mark 14:8: She
did what she could.
The woman pours
out everything she has.
Both of these woman, the poor widow, and now this wealthy lady,
stand in contrast with men who do not give what they have, but hold
back. These women serve as
models of devotion.
Does she know he is about to die?
Does she know what kind of death, realizing she
won’t have an opportunity later to anoint him before burial? If this is Mary, she was Jesus’ best listener.
Some believe that this woman, (and John tells us it was Mary, the
same Mary who sat devotedly at the feet of Jesus, while Martha worked
feverishly) is the only one who was listening and sensitive enough to
believe Jesus really was about to be killed.
She is the only one who understands the implications of Jesus’
teaching. Believing that he
is destined to die, and die a violent death, she seizes the opportunity
to express her love.
Or is it just that Jesus knows and interprets her
act as a beautiful thing--a thing so beautiful even she didn’t realize
what it meant to Him.
Have you noticed that opportunities will only take you as far as you
are willing to go?
A fellow comes up to
a cab driver in New York and says, "Take me to London." The
cab driver tells him there is no possible way for him to drive the cab
across the Atlantic. The customer insists there is. "You'll drive
me down to the pier and we'll put the taxi on a freighter and when we
get off at Liverpool, you'll drive me to London and I'll pay you
whatever is on the meter and make it worth your time." The driver
agrees and when they arrive in London, good to his word, the passenger
pays the total on the meter and gives him a thousand dollar tip. Now the
driver is roaming around London and doesn't know what to do. A Britisher
hails him and says, "I want you to drive me to New York." The
cab driver can't believe his good luck. How often can you pick up a fare
in London who wants to go to New York? The passenger says, "First,
we take a boat--" The driver says, "That I know. But where to
in New York?" The passenger says, "Riverside Drive and 104th
Street." And the driver responds, "Sorry, I don't go to the
west side." [iii]
How about you? Do you refuse to take God where
he wants to go and thereby miss a great opportunity?
God is willing to take us all the way, but often we just aren’t
willing to go where he wants to take us.
Opportunities will only take you as far as you are willing to go.
We want to cross the Atlantic to come home, but we won’t do it because
we are afraid of some of the places God wants to go, and some of the
changes God wants to make.
What were They Thinking?
Though we aren’t told what the woman was
thinking, we are told what the others were thinking, and we are told the
thoughts of one more person on the scene.
We are told what Jesus was thinking.
Jesus was extremely pleased. Jesus
saw this as a beautiful thing. Though
the other disciples saw this as a terrible wasteful thing. Jesus didn’t see anything distasteful or wasteful.
He was moved. He was touched. He
felt loved and cared for, honored, and blessed.
Lavish sacrificial love, when it touches the heart isn’t viewed
as wasteful, but wonderful. It
becomes a treasured thing.
II.
I’m not satisfied until Christ Rules My Heart
Why were the disciples so dissatisfied by
the events? Why was
Judas’ discontent brought to a head at this event?
He wasn’t looking for the same things the woman was looking
for. His heart was not
devoted to the cause of Christ. In
fact he disagreed with Jesus’ description of the mission of the
messiah. The woman on the other hand was fully satisfied because what
made Christ happy made her happy.
A. When Christ Rules My Heart . . .
1. I see what I can
do
2. I do what I can
see
Yesterday is a canceled check, and tomorrow is
a promissory note. But today is cash, ready for us to spend in living.[iv]
3.
It is a beautiful thing in His Eyes
Is a sacrifice of love ever wasted?
Jesus commendation of this woman lets us know that one can
sacrifice and not know the full significance of one’s sacrifice. You
may love sacrificially and lavishly and not know the effect of what
others perceive to be waste. But
there will come a time when we will be told by the one we love, when we
see him face to face, “What you did was beautiful.
It was not wasteful or insignificant.”
Who knows how God will use our extravagant offerings of devotion?
The thing is we may not know its significance at all until we
learn of it when we see him face to face and hear his evaluation.
It was his evaluation that memorialized her devoted act.
His words also let us know something else.
Jesus knew what was happening!
He was in charge.
Christ Rules: Jesus saw
Good News beyond the (burial) anointing
The anointing reveals that Jesus has prophetic knowledge of his
death and his ultimate triumph. He
tells that this event will be part of a memorialized proclamation of
GOOD news. People will
finally recognize more meaningfully the beauty of the poured out
perfume, once they realize the power and beauty of the poured out blood.
The question might be asked of either?
Why this waste? Why
waste the costly perfume? Why
waste the precious blood? Why
waste Jesus on the cross? The
answer for both is the lavishness of the sacrifice of love!
The world needs saving. Neither
the pouring out of the costly perfume, nor the pouring out of the
precious blood was a waste. Jesus
knew the whole story and called it good news before the chapter was
written! Christ Rules!
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Would you pray with me?
Dear Lord Jesus,
I have witnessed today in my mind’s eye a tender scene.
In this scene I see myself.
I really want to be more like this woman with a fully devoted
heart rather than just an onlooker.
But I must confess to you that sometimes I have been like the
onlookers, on the sidelines evaluating.
I have at times been judging other worshippers wondering at their
waste. Lord, I confess I am often cautious to the point of perhaps
being more aloof than you desire, sometimes my own pride holds me back.
I love you, but I rarely love you with this kind of extravagance
that I have witnessed in your word today.
Lord, I am encouraged by your words to this woman, and to the
others in her defense. You
told the others that she did a beautiful thing, and I’m sure her heart
was glad to hear that you appreciated it. Lord, I want to gladden your heart also.
I admit, so often I worship with what’s in it for me.
But I want to worship in order to please you, to gladden your
heart. I want to do a
beautiful thing as you call it. I want to honor you.
Like this woman, You have given me things in a box.
You have given me little resources.
My box is not alabaster. But
what I have, came from you. I
bring you myself, Lord. I
bring you myself, broken and poured out.
I know that without your grace it is not sweet perfume that is
found within my heart. But through your grace, Lord, when I humble myself, and break
my heart before you, I know your word states that “a broken and
contrite heart you will not despise”.
I’m broken Lord. Show
me where I have not been broken. Show
me what I have not poured out. I
want the work of your grace to make the anointing perfume from my
confession, and my extravagantly devoted heart.
I want to be Broken and spilled out as an expression of love to
you. Thank you for giving
me a new heart. Thank you
for making what was a putrid stench within the box of my heart, a sweet
perfume because of the precious blood you poured out for me.
I receive your holiness, Lord.
Thank you. I give
you myself. Help me to do what I can, as the woman did what she could.
She saw the opportunity and did what she could.
Help me to see the opportunities you present so I can do what I
can. I want to give you all
this as a love offering. As
a gift. A thank you gift.
Since you poured out your blood, I’ll pour out my oil, my love,
my all. Thank you.
[i] James S. Hewett,
Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc,
1988), p. 393.
[ii] David E. Garland, The
NIV Application Commentary on Mark, p. 516
[iii] James S. Hewett,
Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc,
1988), p. 389
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