An Anointing And A Betrayal Series

An anointing and a betrayal

Mark 14:1-11

- Reminder, final msg in Mark, Wed Oct 22, will be “open forum” style

- Jesus is demonstrated in this book as a “servant”

-- Jesus’ teachings, while difficult for some to deal with, are always timely

- We are looking at Jesus’ final teachings to His disciples

-- His teaching is clear, concise, and means exactly what it says

-- Consider this: It means exactly what the Holy Spirit confirms to us it means

- The past two messages gave us LOTS of information with a huge emphasis:

-- PREPARATION! We need to be prepared and to pay attention!

-- There is a coming day where Jesus will return, this is a promise

-- For us, we have not only this promise but job to KNOW what He taught

- Today we continue the final week of Jesus’ life and ministry

- It is very important to note that nothing that happens catches Jesus off-guard

-- There is a preparation for these events, and Jesus knows what is to happen

-- Some suggest that perhaps to avoid the agony God spared Him knowledge

-- But if the Son of God needed sparing, how could He suffer for us? (Isaiah 53)

- These events unfold for us in clear, almost dramatic, form as we read them

- Read Mark 14:1-11

∆ Point 1 – Anointing Jesus (1-9)

- The Passover feast is approaching and this is a special time for Jews (v1)

-- It is a remembrance of what God has brought them through to this point

-- It is a celebration, an act of worship, to remember this time for them

-- Jesus, being Jewish, would celebrate this time with His disciples

- But, there is a wrinkle unfolding: the chief priests want Him dead/gone

-- At the very least, they are smart enough not to do this during Passover (v2)

-- They knew the crowds would be VERY large and very dangerous

-- Due to all the celebrations happening, they knew they couldn’t take Him now

- The priests decided to wait, but God clearly had other plans for this

-- As we see later in v11, God had already ordained that Judas betray Him

-- With his help, the betrayal of Jesus is set in motion

- IMP: But, something unique happens beforehand which is CRITICAL to us

- The gospels of Mark and Matthew do not reveal who this woman is (v3)

-- However, in John we see who this woman is: John 11:1-2, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)”

- Mary was at the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany

-- What happens is a sacrificial sign of love and devotion for who Jesus is to her

-- This woman, understands that He is everything to her and she shows that

- Breaking open the jar, she anoints his head with oil

-- She is a woman who worships Jesus, and each time in Gospels seen at his feet

-- She has incredible devotion to her Savior, something we need more of today

- When she does this, the outrage from others is critical for us to see here

-- In v4 it says, “those present were saying indignantly to one another” …

- Why? Why were they so indignant? They did not understand her worship!

-- You see, to them they were focused on money and getting all they could

-- This woman however, worshiped her Lord in a way that is powerful

-- She anoints His head, with a year’s worth of wages (v5) and they rebuke her

- Challenge: How are we are observing how others worship the Lord?

-- If its true worship, it will be honored which is what Jesus replies with, sternly

- Jesus receives what Mary has done with love, with honor, with devotion

-- Her love for Him results in an overflowing act of worship with this perfume

-- The cost is of no matter to her, she is anointing the One who’s give her all

- Jesus’ rebuke is “the poor you’ll always have … but I won’t be here”

-- Again Jesus prophecies that He is departing … and they totally miss it

- In v8, “She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”

-- APP: How much clearer did He have to make it that He is about to die?

- Mary’s motivation for this was out of worship, out of devotion to Her Lord

-- Jesus interpreted it as a sacrifice, fitting of His burial which was to come