The gathering of friends and enemies John 12: 1-11
I went to one of those restaurants where they tell you to sit at the bar while you have to wait for them to get your table ready. I think it’s just a gimmick to try and get you to have a drink or a salad or something, but rather than spend any more money than I intended, I decided I’d have a free snack from the bowl of pretzels that were in a big ceramic bowl on the counter. And so as I took one, a voice came from inside this bowl that said, “You’re a very polite person.”
Needless to say, I was a little shocked but I figured it had to be some kind of trick so rather than appear stupid I just ignored it. A few minutes later, I decided to reach in and take another pretzel and I heard the voice a second time as it said, “You are a very kind individual.” And again, it really took me by surprise so I said to the guy working behind the counter, “What’s with this pretzel bowl?” And he said, “Oh, it’s complimentary.” (Some of you will have to think about that for a while.)
So, here we are in chapter twelve which as I said last week was kind of an ‘in between’ area of scripture where Jesus goes from ministering to the multitudes to focusing on His disciples. And His ministry to the multitudes is covered in the first eleven chapters of this book. And then in chapters twelve through twenty-one we have the time that spans the last week of His life and here we find Jesus preparing His disciples for His arrest, crucifixion, death and resurrection as well as for their own ministry to come.
I realize there are some disagreements over what happens where in terms of the chapter divisions but we have to understand that there was no such thing as chapters in the original scriptures. And sometimes the chapter divisions actually break up the logic of the flow. For instance, if you look at the last several verses of chapter eleven you can see that they might serve as an introduction to chapter twelve. But, we’ll just assume that the division is chapters one to eleven and then chapters twelve through twenty-one. I know that some of you don’t care how we divide it but it does help me understand it better when I can see it logically.
So, in the last chapter of the first section of this book (that’s chapter 11) we saw the resurrection of Lazarus which as I said was the greatest miracle of Jesus’ ministry next to His own and not only did we witness the reaction of the faithful to this miracle but also the reaction of the fearful and those of course are the chief priests, the Pharisees and all their followers. I call them the fearful because everything they do is done out of fear of losing their power and prestige.
And as I finished last day I focused on a group that are hardly mentioned in the New Testament and yet they seem to play such a large role and not only in the pages of the scriptures but also in the world today and these people are the group who are always in the middle. They’re the ever silent majority. And often if you asked them where they stood they’d probably call themselves secret believers. And there are the kind of people who would, “Of course I believe in Jesus. Who doesn’t?” And I’ve met people who are drunks, immoral, homosexuals or even extreme liberals who will say that.
There was a debate on television one time with Madeline Murray O’Hare, who was the famous and extremely obnoxious atheist and afterward they asked the audience, how many of you people believe in God? And almost everybody raised their hand to a great thunderous applause. And a Christian commentator said later on, “What they should have asked them was, how many of you believe that Jesus lived a perfect life, died for your sins, rose from the dead and now promises eternal life to all who accept Him and live according to His word.” Now, very few would raise their hands if that was the question. And let’s face it; the majority of people claim to be Christians because that just means they’re neither Jews or Moslems.
The fact is; most people have no problem with Jesus as long as Jesus has no problem with their sin. But as soon as they hear a message of repentance, they either turn from their ways (And there’s very few of them who do) or they get their back up and want nothing to do with Jesus if He demands a change in their behavior.
And this is what we find with this large group of followers who heard His messages, received His miracles, ate His food and will later stand waving palm branches as He enters Jerusalem on a donkey but not very long after that they’re the same crowd who are standing with the religious leaders yelling crucify Him. And the problem with this crowd is that they’ve never made a commitment either way, so neither we nor they ever really know where they stand.
Over in Luke 23:48 we read about these people where it says, “And all the people that came together to that sight, (And this is speaking about the crucifixion) beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.” This tells us they all came and watched the crucifixion like it was some kind of sports event and then went home beating themselves up because they thought it was so horrible. I guess the old statement applies that says, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” And this uncommitted crowd could praise Him one day, then participate in the crucifixion the next and then go home crying about what happened. And they are what we call, the silent majority.
And so, we find ourselves today going back to Martha, Mary and Lazarus who are obviously with other friends as well and they’ve gathered to honor Jesus and they’ve put on a special dinner for both Him and his disciples and we assume that the meal is to thank the Lord Jesus for what He did not only for their brother but also for the others who were gathered with them at this house.
I The supper
The day of this dinner is mentioned in verse one where it says it was six days before the Passover and this gives us a timeline because it tells us it was the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. And you notice that it says, “He came to Bethany where Lazarus was.” And what He came to was not Lazarus’ home but Matthew and Mark tell us that this meal was held at the home of Simon the Leper and all we know of Simon is that he was a leper. Some have suggested he was some relationship to Lazarus or his sister’s but we don’t really know. I think we’d have to assume that he had been healed of his leprosy though because if he hadn’t been then he wouldn’t be allowed to own a home in town and no one would have been allowed to visit him let alone eating food in his house.
They had been in the area a few weeks before this when Jesus had raised Lazarus and we know it was such a miraculous sign that all kinds of people were joining the disciples to the point that the religious leadership were actually gathering with the intention of doing something to stop Jesus from influencing the people.
And we notice here is that there are three people mentioned and they’re all doing different things. First, there’s Lazarus who we are told was reclining at the table with Jesus. In other words not only was he keeping Jesus company but we also have an indication from verses 9-11 that either his testimony or just his presence was having an effect on the people in the sense that they were being converted when they had heard what had happened to him. And so he himself was an attraction in that people came just to see him because they had heard he had been raised from the dead. And his being there eating proved not only that he was alive but his being there also gave a testimony as to who Jesus was and what He did.
And then there’s Martha and she’s obviously prepared and was busy serving a very special meal to honor Jesus for what He had done for her brother. And you will remember that a few weeks ago I told you how Martha had been complaining to Jesus that she was doing all the work while Mary was just sitting and worshipping Him. And in response to her comments Jesus let her know that everybody has something to do in life and at that moment Mary’s thing was to worship Him and she would not be denied the opportunity. Someone wrote a poem about Martha and it says: There’s a gladness in her gladness when she’s glad
And a sadness in her sadness when she’s sad
But the gladness in her gladness
And the sadness in her sadness
Are nothing compared to her madness when she’s mad.
And yet, here we see Martha is doing all the work and she seems to be having a good time doing it even though Mary is no where near the kitchen. And we might wonder what happened to her? What made the change in her attitude?
I think it was the resurrection of Lazarus. You see, Jesus raising him from the dead not only changed her attitude toward life but she also had a new sense of love and appreciation for her sister because she realized that no one is here for ever. And so, it certainly seems like she had a change of heart as she served. I think she’s a great example of how one can serve no matter what they’re doing as long as it’s done from the heart.
And then there was Mary who the scripture says anointed Jesus with some very expensive oil. It was called perfume of pure nard. And although we’re told it was a pound the term pound actually indicates a weight of about twelve ounces but that’s a lot of perfume. The term ‘nard’ indicates this perfume was from the root of a plant that’s grown in India. And it would come in a sealed alabaster container so it wouldn’t evaporate. And in order to use it you would break the neck of the bottle and then spill it out.
And we know that everyone kind of half sat and half leaned on pillows around a low table and so Mary would have come up and anointed Jesus from head to toe and then wiped His feet with her hair. I know it just says she anointed His feet here but Matthew and Mark tell us she anointed His head so we can assume she did both. And let’s face it; depending on where you were sitting at the table you might just see one or the other.
Now, in terms of value, we could assume that what Judas said was true and that this perfume was worth three hundred denarii which was the equivalent of a year’s wages for a laborer. So, we’d have to place the value in today’s dollars at being worth anywhere between 10-20 thousand dollars. Listen, she didn’t buy this at the dollar store. It was very expensive and that tells us she either had a lot of money or she had all of her life savings in one bottle. In any case, it was a tremendous offering.
It’s interesting to compare one piece of scripture to the other because just before Jesus fed the five thousand people He asked Philip how they could do it and Philip said, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough. So listen, if it cost two hundred denarii to feed five thousand people then we can imagine how much three hundred denarii is.
Obviously, she was so appreciative of Jesus love and all the things He had done for her and her family that she felt she wanted to show both Him and everyone else what she thought of Him. It was an act of love and let’s face it, love doesn’t calculate the cost. Love never thinks about how little it can give but it’s desire is to go beyond all limits. And it’s interesting to see that she used the whole container of perfume. I mean, this was not only an act of personal devotion and humility but also one of self-surrender because she gave everything without holding anything back for herself. And she gave without any thought of getting anything in return. A gift only really becomes a gift when there is a sacrifice behind it and when we give more than we can afford and this gift was unusual in the sense that there was nothing left but the aroma which would be gone in a day or two.
So much giving today is done with the idea of seeing the results of our gift for a long time to come. We give but we want to see some tangible benefits. And often we give but we want some little bit of recognition for our giving. And the problem is; when we’re recognized by man then we’ve got our reward. Mary’s gift was truly a gift to God.
A wise man once said, “There are some things we can do any time but there are a few that we can only do once and to miss that opportunity is to miss it forever.”
So, she spared no expense when she gave and when it says she let down her hair in public we have to understand that this was an unthinkable act in their culture but it openly declares both her love and devotion. You see, on a day a Jewish girl was married she bound up her hair and would never be seen in public with it hanging down. They considered it to be an act of immorality but here I think she was so in love with Jesus that she didn’t care what anybody else thought.
They tell us it was a usual custom to anoint guests of special honor with oil but obviously this went way beyond the usual because not only was this an expensive perfume but the amount that was used was so extravagant to the point where it really got everybody’s attention.
And so there are those who say that Martha served, Mary worshiped and Lazarus fellowshipped with the Lord but I think that all of them served, worshipped and fellowshipped but each of them did all three in their own way. And let’s face it; we all have our dominant gifts or abilities. And Martha was doing what she felt best doing, she was cooking and serving. I mean, it was how she best served the Lord but I believe any kind of service is legitimate worship if it’s done with the proper attitude.
I was serving food at the Word of Life Inn one day when Jack Wyrtzen came in as he often did just to thank each of us for serving the Lord in the kitchen. And as we were talking I said, “Just think Jack, if we weren’t back here working the people wouldn’t be out there listening to you because they’d all be hungry and then you would have to come back here and cook. Jack laughed and said, “I believe you’re right. We all have our part.” You see, we all have our gifts and when we’re all using them properly the work goes better and I believe everyone is much happier.
So, they were having this dinner and everyone I’m sure was having a good time and then Mary poured out this perfume and the smell must have shocked everyone’s senses to the point that Judas spoke up. And although he just witnessed an action that can only be described as pure love and devotion all he saw was an extravagant waste.
It just goes to show you that a person can only see what they’re looking for. I remember reading a missionary biography where it tells the story about how the missionary was trying to show the natives that he was there to give them the word of God. So, he shook hands with one of the natives and another said to his friend, “He’s feeling your hand to see if there’s any meat on it.” He kept smiling at everyone and another said, “He’s imagining us lying on a barbecue pit.” And as he offered them something to eat, another said, “He’s giving us spicy food so he can stuff us before he cooks us.” And thankfully he was able to communicate with them before they killed him in what they thought was self-defense. So, she gave this great gift of appreciation but then we see the reaction.
II The objection
Here in verse 4 it says that Judas was the one who started the complaining about the waste because he said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” and in Matthew we are told the disciples were indignant while Mark tells us they were all saying to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?” And I think that as we look at all three accounts together we get the picture that Judas made the objection and then the rest of them just jumped in and before long everyone was complaining. And that just goes to show that whoever speaks first and sounds like they’ve been offended can control the floor.
And I think we see from John’s comment about Judas stealing from the money bag that he was in charge of that most of the money would have gone to a poor family of which Judas was the head.
And do you realize that this is the first time in the New Testament that Judas actually said anything. I mean, up until this point he has been one of the disciples who are classified in the third grouping which simply means he’s hardly ever mentioned. He never asks a question and never makes a suggestion or a complaint. And I think we are seeing someone who was putting on a terrific act always looking like he was right with the program while at the same time he was seething with contempt for the way things were done.
The strange thing about Judas is that we assume that he was a phony from the beginning and he was but I also think he was someone who joined the disciples for all the wrong reasons and what really surprises me is that he stayed as long as he did.
Remember when we looked at the call to commitment Jesus gave in John 6 when He said, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood and it says, “Many of the disciples walked no more with Him” but Judas still did. You see, I think he was attracted to Jesus in the sense that he saw Jesus as someone who had the capacity for leadership and he wanted to be on the bandwagon. I don’t think he really cared one way or another about the Lord personally but he saw the potential of Jesus starting a political movement and he wanted to be in on the inner circle.
We don’t really know all that much about him except that his name is Judas Iscariot and that he betrayed Jesus to the religious authorities and because of what he did we assume that he was a horrifying misfit of a person.
Some have claimed that he was probably young, a devout, patriotic and enthusiastic Jew who didn’t want the Romans to rule and saw an opportunity to follow this man who he believed was the Messiah but he had his own misconceptions of what the Messiah was and he thought the Messiah was going to overthrow the Romans and set up His kingdom. And his dreams might have been totally materialistic but they were something that he could hold unto in the sense that they were real to him. And so, to him Jesus was just the captain of the gravy train.
Now, his name is interesting, the name Judas comes from Judah who was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and this was the root of the name Judas and the most popular man with this name was Judas Maceabeaus who as I mentioned a few weeks ago had led the Jews in their revolt against Antiocus Epiphanes and he was the evil leader of the Greeks.
So, Judas was not only a common name but it was similar to be named after a great leader. And that’s why it was so common in Jesus day. In the New Testament we also have Judas the son of James who went by Thaddeus to distinguish himself from Judas Iscariot and Jude who was the Lord’s brother.
We also notice that there’s nothing negative about Judas’ past. He hadn’t been a tax collector like Matthew and didn’t display any character flaws like Peter who was known for his impulsiveness or like James and John who were known for their temper.
I think Judas must have been somewhat of a pleasant and trustworthy person since they put him in charge of all of the money. The Bible never tells us he pushed himself forward like James and John and he never made any idle promises like Peter. As a matter of fact, I think if he was a member of a Baptist church and we needed a treasurer his name would be the first one to come up because he appeared to be a model believer. And the problem we have is that we tend to see Judas through the eyes of religious art and that gives us the impression that any idiot with eyesight can tell that you that you couldn’t trust him with anything. But, as I say, I think he appeared and acted up to this point just like everyone else. I mean, he obviously, served, witnessed to the unsaved and did whatever anyone else did.
What seems so strange is that Judas listened to all of Jesus’ messages, he heard Him pray, watched Him perform all those miracles and even went out and preached with the rest of the disciples. He was right there in the middle of everything and yet, he sold out the Lord and walked away.
And so we’d wonder what was it that motivated Judas. There have been many suggestions and a common one is jealousy. For instance; we are told that he was the only Judean disciple and this tells us that even though he was a Jew like the rest of them but he was from out of town. So, there may have been times when he felt like he was the odd man out. They tell us many of these teens who are shooting up their high schools have this kind of rejection. Their killing is their response to the fact that they feel like outsiders.
And then there’s the issue of greed. It says right there in verse 6 that he was stealing from the treasury that he was entrusted with and we assume that this money was probably used not only to care for the group’s expenses but also to take care of the poor. And it would be easy to justify himself. First, he probably felt like he was taking a little extra for doing a job that no one else wanted or was capable of doing. And then he probably thought that since he wasn’t one of the inner circle that he should be able to have some extra benefit of the cash on hand. But, let face it, we could assume all day long why he did what he did but until we get to heaven and learn the whole story, we’re only guessing.
There are also so many misconceptions of what he really thought. Some people have painted Judas as a hero who did what he did to allow Jesus the chance to be crucified and resurrected. And then others say it was a case of misplaced nobility where Judas was trying to force Jesus into setting up his kingdom and basically he was trying to get Jesus to give up on the suffering servant bit but then the whole thing went wrong, and in the end we simply misunderstood what he was trying to do.
And then many portray him as the epitome of disaster. His name is used to describe a traitor and is so vile it’s actually used as a common name for vicious guard dogs. I was talking to a couple of guys from Trinidad when I lived in Toronto and they told me about an annual night they have there and called Judas night. And they said, everyone in the neighborhood spends all day dressing up a dummy to look like Judas and then at a certain time at night all the kids are given sticks and they’re told to beat him to death.
In Dane’s passage through hell Judas is depicted as occupying the lowest level. He and Lucifer aren’t fit to go up to the levels where normal people are restricted for the rest of eternity. And then in our own day we think of people like Adolph Hitler, Jim Jones or Harvey Lee Oswald as those who portray evil but none of them compares to Judas.
And so, I’m sure the disciples thought that all of their problems were in Jerusalem with the religious crowd when they sat down to enjoy a good meal and a time of fellowship and little did they know it but their worst enemy was sitting around the same table.
III Jesus rebuke
In response to Judas’ words Jesus said in verse 7, “Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me ye have not always.”
Look at that little clause in the center of the sentence. It says, “The poor always ye have with you.” And so to help the poor was something they could do anytime but they were limited by time because Jesus was only going to be with them for one more week. And this also tells us not only was Jesus conscious of what was about to happen to Him but He was even aware of why she was doing what she was doing even though it wouldn’t make sense to the rest of them until He was crucified.
We also notice that when Judas was rebuked by Jesus, his spiritual condition became obvious in the sense that he could see how far he was from Jesus and rather than repenting and turning from his sin he decided to cut his losses and he headed for the authorities to see how much he could get for his faith.
It’s interesting that in Matthew’s account it almost indicates that Judas immediately went to the chief priests and said unto them, “What will you give me? And I will deliver Him to you?”
We might wonder if this rebuke from Jesus was enough to motivate him or if his unbelief had simply had enough. I think Judas probably looked at the way things were going and thought to himself, Jesus had ignored the crowds that came looking for miracles rather than use them for political purposes, He continually told the religious leadership they were lost and on their way to hell and then He turned away those who came to Him like the rich young ruler and now He was wasting all this money for nothing. And as far as Judas was concerned he had had enough.
There are many who think that Jesus’ rebuke should have been enough to force Judas to look at himself and it should have been but rather than see his faults all he could focus on was the money issue. Listen, I think the smell of the perfume that hung in the air was intoxicating. And to some it was the beautiful aroma of India which represented Mary’s love and repentance while to those who were concerned about its value in terms of money it was considered to be nothing more than a stinky waste.
And we see Jesus reaction to her act of sacrifice and He sees not just the act but the motive behind it. She did it quietly to honor Him. She wasn’t like the Pharisee in the temple who was bragging about how good he was. I mean, if it was this Pharisee, we could hear him now, “Can you smell the quality? I’m giving the best there is because that’s the kind of guy I am.” But she quietly poured it all out on Jesus feet and the house was filled with not only the smell of perfume but with a humble attitude of godliness.
III The explanation for this offering
Jesus told us that Mary’s offering was an act of personal devotion and worship. I think it was a symbol of her gratitude for her brother being raised from the dead and an act of total dedication and humility and yet I also wonder if there wasn’t something in her mind that made her want to express her love for Jesus because she had questioned His love for them when her brother was sick.
Well, in spite of her intention Jesus went on to explain that she was doing something that even she didn’t understand and that she was preparing His body for the day of burial. Back then, they didn’t prepare a body the way we do today with expensive fluids that are meant to disguise the odor of decomposition but they anointed it with perfume or spices and buried it immediately.
I think there is a time for witnessing to the lost, there is a time for ministering to the poor, there is a time to disciple new believers and there is a time to study the scriptures but above all we have to have time to worship God or the rest of it is useless.
Conclusion
These eight verses seem to describe a day where everything seems kind of jumbled up because there are several things that are happening. There’s the party where Martha made the food, Mary gave the offering and Lazarus was enjoying the Lord’s fellowship and come to think of it; Lazarus was the only one from the graveyard who showed up. And then Judas interrupted everything by criticizing Mary about something he could never understand and this was her undivided devotion to Jesus. And what we are seeing here are two diverse opinions not only about Jesus but about life itself because the both of them have a different kind of relationship to Jesus.
There are four pictures here that I want you to see before we leave. There’s the picture of Martha who portrays someone with a heart to serve the Lord. And as we look at her we need to ask ourselves, what do I do to serve Him? And then there’s the second picture of Mary who shows us someone who loves to worship the Lord. And here I want you to ask yourself, do I know what it means to worship the Lord or do I just show up on Sunday morning? And the third picture is of Lazarus and I believe he shows us what it means to witness because not only did he enjoy spending time with the Lord but we are told that many came to the Lord as a result of his miracle and no doubt his testimony as well. And then the fourth picture it’s that of Judas and he shows us the end of someone who looks everywhere else but to Jesus for salvation. And that reminds me of the quote, “The cross is as offence to the flesh.” And Judas ignored the one who was about to die on the cross and went to hell by way of religion.
It’s a strange thing but when we see Judas’ end it almost seems like he was sorry for what he did but rather than coming to Jesus and confessing his sin he went to the priests and told them he was sorry for what he had done. And isn’t that typical of those who want to feel saved rather than be saved. They ignore the only one who can save them and go looking for forgiveness either to a church or a clergyman. And that’s what Judas did. And his loss is found in his refusal to seek and accept the forgiveness that only Jesus can give.
The bottom line is; any life that’s lived like Judas’ life is pointless because our life on earth is temporary and someday we’ll all face eternity and realize how short our time in this world really was.
