A man was shopping for a valentines day gift for his wife and as he passed the cosmetics counter it occurred to him that perfume would be the perfect gift. So he asked the sales representative to show him some of the most popular brands of perfume. The first bottle she brought out was $150. “That’s a bit much, do you have anything a little less expensive?” So she brought out another brand $130. “That is still quite a bit, do you have anything cheaper?” So the sales representative brought out an armful of bottles, ranging in price from $80 down to $18. She placed them in front of the husband who picked up the $18 bottle and pushing it aside said, “What I mean is, I’d like to see something really cheap.”
The sales representative handed him a mirror.
So, have you ever given a gift to someone that turned out to be…well, not so well received? When we first got married I gave Katie an espresso machine. It was really a great little machine, very advanced for its time, in fact one of the newest and best models there were. Katie hated it, “This gift isn’t for me, you wanted this thing, and bought it for me so you could use it.” I hate to admit it, but to a large degree, she was right. I worked in a kitchen store at the time and these little machines were selling like hot cakes. I saw it every day and just couldn’t get it out of my mind – so Katie ended up with it. Twenty years later that little espresso machine still makes great coffee, and twenty years later, Katie still hates it.
Here in our Scripture today we have an unnamed woman (who the Apostle John tells us is Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus), and this woman gives a gift of tremendous value to Jesus – so tremendous it was scandalous, it causes people to go crazy. On the other hand, Jesus loved it. Her gift offended people. Her gift totally impressed God. Think that is way cool. It took great courage for her to give what she did, to give what she could. It took a lot to brave the criticism, to give up so much of who she was, but in the end, in the end, I think it transformed her life. How can we do that? How can we let go, so it pleases Jesus?
I think of Mary in these terms: A kidney donor. Giving a kidney is quite an extravagant gift is it not? I mean, you only have two, and giving one away can certainly put you at risk. It would be quite a decision to give a kidney away….and here in this passage Mary give a gift of such tremendous value, it is very difficult for us in this day and age to comprehend.
Before we jump into our Scripture, let me note that though in the past you may have heard sermons relating Mary’s gift to how we are to give money, let me assure you, that though this passage is very relevant to the issue of giving money, it has a much deeper significance for our discipleship than the small issue of money. Pay careful attention to this story, for it is about worship, it is about freedom, it is about receiving the blessings of God that you have been desiring for your life. This is a powerful message for you from the Word of God.
We pick back up in our study through the Gospel of Mark here at chapter 14 verse 1 and 2. Jesus has arrived in the vicinity of Jerusalem and has caused the chief priests and teachers of the law a lot of grief. He has been praised as the messiah; He has disrupted selling in the Temple; He has said that the leaders of the people are using their position to enrich themselves; He has brilliantly bested them even their most well thought out arguments and publicly mocked them for the inept way they interpret the Scriptures. These men want revenge, and believe me, they have the power to extract revenge, but they want to take revenge with the least amount of complications possible. See, Jesus was popular with the people, so they had to somehow set Jesus up in a way that was quiet as possible, and as far out of the public eye as possible.
The city of Jerusalem would swell with an additional 50,000 to 250,000 people during the week before the celebration of Passover. Demonstrations and even riots could always be expected with this increased amount of people because Passover celebrated the Lord God freeing the nation of Israel from the hand of Egypt and here they were under the hand of a foreign government again. This was a week where nationalistic passions would be fanned and the situation could get out of control. The Romans, who worked closely with the chief priests and teachers of the law, expected their help in keeping the population subdued. If things got too wild, Rome would notice, and if Rome noticed the response would not be a good thing for either the local Romans nor the chief priests and the teachers of the law. These Jewish leaders feel that the followers of Jesus might be easily excitable, so they decide not to take him until after the Passover season. People usually stayed about seven days, and then they would start to leave. If they wait until the end of the celebration there will be less of a chance of a difficult situation arising. With less people, and the nationalistic fever dying down some, they felt they could act.
Jumping to verse 10, we see Judas Iscariot going to the chief priests to hand over Jesus. What we see here in the Gospel of Mark is not exactly in chronological order. I think the Gospel of John does a better job of telling us the chronological order of things. Mark is not attempting to be completely chronological, He is contrasting Mary and her anointing with Judas and his betrayal. See, we see Mary, who takes life as it comes contrasted against Judas, who has a life plan that isn’t being fulfilled the way he desires.
The primary concern of the Sanhedrin is a riot. Judas offers an opportunity to arrest Jesus without public disturbance. Judas is responding to a call put out to get Jesus. The put out an official notice. So they employ an informer Judas, to set up the time and day to quickly spirit Jesus away. Some have speculated that Judas was always a plant, a secret agent that the Sanhedrin had inserted into Jesus inner circle. Judas was not a Galilean like other disciples, so perhaps his loyalties were always elsewhere – but, all of this is just speculation. More likely, Judas Iscariot, unlike Mary, was unable to fully commit himself to Jesus. Full commitment to Jesus means this: I serve Jesus come what may – Good times, bad times; Good health, poor health; When I am facing a long productive life and when I have no hope of recovery; When I am getting what I want, and when not a thing ever seems to go right. Full commitment to Jesus, means it is not about me and what I can get out of life – It is about Jesus, period.
Partial commitment to Jesus puts us at great risk, and the risk is this: We imagine that something is more important than our relationship with Jesus, and so we, in essence, hand Jesus over to get what we want in life. I have known people who have handed over Jesus to receive a decent grade in a class. I have known people who have handed over Jesus to have that certain man become their husband or that certain woman become their wife. I have known people who have handed over Jesus for a career move, or when they mail in their taxes, or simply to make the guilt go away, the anger go away, or even to be willingly blinded to the path they have taken in life.
Judas is not so different from you and I. We like to think Judas is this horrible evil thing with nothing good about him. But that is not true. No one suspected Judas besides Jesus. The disciples liked Judas. He was one of them. In fact he went out preaching the Gospel like the other disciples. He helped out, He followed Jesus – very personally. Judas was so trusted that they let him handle the money and whose to say, that at some level, Judas didn’t really love Jesus….he just couldn’t place Jesus first and as a result, something else became more important in his life.
Notice, and keep in mind, that it is not an unconscious act on the part of Judas. He knows what he is doing. Judas sees what he wants and sacrifices one thing, to get another. He is fully aware when he makes his choice. Judas follows Jesus, he is with Jesus day in and day out, he sits under the Jesus’ teaching, he participates in everything, but when push comes to shove, Jesus is not his first priority.
Perhaps Judas thought that he could make Jesus a priority later, you know, get back to Jesus when things cool down, when he gets the immediate thing he needs…..
As Mark contrasts these two, Judas and Mary, be aware that this is not primarily about money, but about commitment.
Looking at verse 3, Jesus is having dinner in Bethany, which is like a suburb of Jerusalem. And he is at a house of a man that is apparently well known to Mark’s readers as he just calls him by a nick name. Though this man is called Simon the Leper it is clear that he is not a Leper anymore, he had been healed, perhaps by Jesus himself. This meal was probably part of the Passover celebration leading up to the night of Passover.
This woman, who is not named here but is revealed as Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus in John 12:3, arrives with a alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. The ancients thought that alabaster would preserve the aroma, so this was the jar of choice. The jar was quite small and was permanently sealed. It had a long neck that had to be broken to get to the perfume, (we see this in the verse). This type of alabaster jar would be for one use, and one use only. The scent is extracted from a root, native to India (but perhaps grown locally), and most likely would have been in a base of pistachio oil. This was very exotic merchandise.
Mary pours the oil on Jesus head, which would have been the traditional way to anoint.
Everyone is offended. It is not because she has interrupted things, anointing was common at feasts – Psalm 23:5; 141:5; Luke 7:46; Those present are upset because of the great cost of the nard. Now, here at this feast, it is clear that Mary is using the anointing as a sign of pure devotion and thanksgiving, but people don’t seem to see that. The enormous value of the nard prevented everyone from seeing the act of devotion for what it was.
At this time during Passover it was a custom to remember the poor with gifts. It was also the practice to give as charity a second tithe during the Passover feast. So this is why those present see what she has done as a waste. Traditionally, she would have skipped using it, sold it, and gave the money away in honor of Jesus. This perfume was so valuable that it was worth a years wages – that doesn’t seem to connect with us.
Let’s look at it this way, how much do you make in a year? $30,000, $50,000, $100,000….how about $200,000? It is like this: This woman’s act of piety, is seen as extravagant. No….that is way too mild: This woman’s act is seen as obscene! She takes something that is worth the price of a house, and as they see it, flaunts it. What could have provided care for a large number of people, for a very long time, is thrown away, it is gone in an instant. Imagine $200,000 – poof. Say what you may, but I know, I certainly would have been taken back by this act.
Usually this type of anointing was an indication of great joy and festivity, but Jesus saw a deeper meaning in it. Jesus, He defends the woman placing her act in perspective, He looks beyond to see the future of the gospel. Jesus love what she has done for him, verse 6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” He is thrilled at the impracticality of it all.
This woman is like the poor widow we saw a couple of Sunday’s ago – gives it all. Jesus says, that she did what she could, and what she did was an act of full devotion. It is an act that is in stark contrast to the act that Judas is about to commit.
There was a retired man became interested in the construction of a shopping mall being built down the street from his home. Going down to the construction site on a regular bases he became especially impressed by a conscientious operator of a large piece of heavy equipment.
The day finally came when the retiree had a chance to tell the operator how much he had enjoyed watching his scrupulous work. Taken back at the retiree’s comments, the operator replied, “You mean….you’re not the supervisor?”
This doesn’t say that she was willing to give, but that she gave. Again, don’t think in terms of money, think in terms of devotion. Mary had somehow acquired this perfume herself, probably for her own use, of maybe it was a gift – some have speculated that it was an heirloom handed done for generations, but that is all conjecture. The fact is, Mary has this incredible thing, however she got it, and…here is the key – she doesn’t hold back.
Jesus may confuse us a bit as modern people when He says: 7 “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want.” This does not have to do with eliminating poverty, or not eliminating poverty – the point is, devotion to Jesus. We see Jesus talking about not always having him with them, this is in reference to his impending death – which no one seems clued in about. Did Mary understand or have insight that others did not concerning Jesus’ upcoming crucifixion? I doubt it. What we see is a follower of Jesus who is so tied into her devotion to Jesus that she follows the impulse of the Holy Spirit, defies her culture, and acts. Her act, whether she knows it or not, is used by God in a powerful way. For us, we need to be careful. Sometimes an act that defies all logic could be the Holy Spirit prompting us. But how do you know? Is it an act of devotion, selfless, generous….or is it an act that furthers your own wishes and desires – you know, like the express machine I gave to Katie.
Remember, this whole story is in contrast to Judas. Mary parallels the poor widow we saw earlier. Each give a crazy amount, the widow 1/4 of a cent, Mary over $200,000, and so we see money is not the issue, nor is the amount the issue. We see that Jesus was impressed with both woman and this is because of their full commitment. A full commitment in contrast to Judas who moves his commitment to Jesus aside in favor of another thing.
Mary, in parallel with the poor widow let go. I think we see what these woman did in terms of money because money is what many of us hang onto, and money for many of us is what gets in the way of a full commitment to Jesus.
As we end I would like us to consider this: Judas could not let go, but Mary could. Judas had circumstances surrounding him that were not working out as he had hoped they might, and so instead of placing his faith in Jesus, despite the circumstances, he stepped in to address the issue himself – we all know how that turned out. Mary, not knowing how her gift could possibly mean more than an outrageous act, follows the Holy Spirit, and becomes highly honored by God himself.
