"Jesus Approved Worship” Series

John says (John 12:1) Jesus arrived in Bethany 6 days before Passover, which means He arrived on Saturday. He and His disciples stayed in Bethany each evening during the first part of the last week of His life. They’d journey 2 miles into Jerusalem, He’d teach the people, stop for the evening at the Mount of Olives, and return (Luke 21:37-38).

On Sunday, Jesus stirred up the religious leaders with His triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. On Monday, He angered them by running the money-changers out of the temple and condemning them for turning God’s house from a house of prayer to being a den of thieves.

On Tuesday religious leaders challenged Jesus with questions (Mark 11:27-12:44), about His authority, paying taxes to Caesar, marriage in the resurrection, and the greatest commandment. Jesus also told a the parable of tenants, who refused to give the owner they managed the vineyard for, his due. He sent servant after servant, only to have the workers kill each one. Finally, the owner sent his son, and they killed him, too. Jesus said the owner would destroy these workers, which was a foretelling of the eventual judgment coming to Israel, when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Jesus later explained this to His disciples on the Mount of Olives that evening, which had also been foreshadowed by our Lord’s cursing of the fig tree on Monday evening, which the disciples noticed on Tuesday morning.

The angry religious leaders, Mark says, “looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.” (Mark 12:12). So they plotted to arrest and kill Jesus (Mark 14:1-2).

Having left the temple for good, Jesus spent Wednesday in Bethany with friends. He was honored at a dinner that evening, at the home of Simon the Leper. Simon apparently had been a leper Jesus had healed. John says Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead were there, and Matthew says the 12 were there, too.

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In an article, “Five of the Most Frequent Issues of Conflict Among Church Members,” Thom Rainer says that three of the five have to do with worship. Church members have conflict, he says, over:

1. The time of the worship service.

2. The length of the worship service.

3. The style of the worship service.

All these disagreements center about personal preferences, rather than what is pleasing to our Lord. Too often, we say we want to please the Lord with our worship, but we end up defending our preferences. Where can we learn about what Jesus approved worship looks like? From the worshiping woman mentioned here, we learn that . . .

1. Jesus approved worship is worship with the right motive.

John says this was Mary, who worshipped Jesus, the sister of Lazarus. This fact has led some to suggest that this dinner hosted by Simon was a “thank you” dinner put together by Mary and Martha to thank Jesus for raising their brother from the dead. John says Martha served, while Mary presented this special gift to Jesus. If so, then it portrays for us what motive should be behind our worship of Jesus - thankfulness.

Those who have been born again through faith in Jesus, should never forget how like Lazarus, we were spiritually dead in our sin. But Just as Jesus called Lazarus to life from the dead, He has done the same for us.

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” - John 5:24 (NLT)

“I am thankful that God would save me and give me new life. I know me well enough to know that I do not deserve to be saved and yet He saved me. I know that my salvation was born in His heart, not mine! I realize that the salvation I have is not performance based. It is a free gift of a good God. I know that I am saved because He is good not because I am good. I know that the Lord Jesus has taken care of all my sins already, the past ones, the present ones, and those yet to come. He paid all of my debt. I know that His love is stronger than my weakest moments and when I fail He just loves me more. I know that even when I have been unfaithful He has been faithful still. I know that He is the author and the finisher of my faith. I know that salvation starts with Jesus, goes forward with Jesus, and ends with Jesus. It is all Jesus. God’s grace is my song. He is my Lord and Savior and it is totally all undeserved by me. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Thank you for loving me!” - Austin Gardner, Vision Baptist Church, Alpharetta, GA