A Lasting Memorial
Mark 14:3-9
Much of what one does in life is quickly forgotten; very little if anything being remembered by subsequent generations. In Mark’s gospel we have the action of a woman, identified in Matthew and John as Mary, which has lasted for scores of generations; a deed which Christ accepted and commended. What was it about Mary’s deed that caused Christ to declare, “Wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her”? How can we apply the principles of her actions to our lives that Christ will accept and that we can leave as a legacy for those who come behind us?
I. She gave out of a deep love for Christ
A. God judges the motivations behind why people do the things that they do.
B. 1 Chronicles 28:9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”
C. This woman was seeking to serve Christ from the depths of her heart. She was seeking to altogether glorify Jesus Christ. She poured the ointment on His head, to honor Him personally — every drop of it was for Him, out of reverence for Him.
D. Spurgeon says she had an adoring reverence for Christ’s thrice blessed Person as she brought that box of precious spikenard and offered it to Him as her Teacher, her Friend, her Lord, her All.
E. Her heart was filled with gratitude and love and therefore had to do something.
F. Someone has said, “Service for the Lord is nothing more than the overflow of a heart filled with gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.”
G. When we put God first, giving Him the first of our love, we serve Him, not out of duty, but out of love.
H. Why do you serve Christ or do the things you do as part of the Body Of Christ? Do you serve to be seen of men? Do you do the things you do for personal gain? Do you serve out of a sense of guilt or obligation? There’s only one good reason to serve the Lord - because you love Him!
I. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
J. This woman’s deed endured and it became a lasting memorial to her because she served with the right motive – a heart filled with love.
K. Think about one thing you can do this week in service to Christ which would be done out of love for Him.
L. Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul”
II. She gave sacrificially
A. The Scriptures tell us that she broke a box of costly and precious ointment and poured it on the head of Jesus. It was so expensive that many people saved for years to be able to provide this for their own funeral preparations. This box of ointment was valued at 300 pence or denarii. The daily wage of the average worker was one denarius, making the spikenard the equivalent to about one year’s wages.
B. It is significant that the Bible says she broke it. She was determined to serve Christ with 100%. She kept back nothing for herself. In breaking it, she had to pour it all out.
C. Mark 14:8 “She has done what she could…”
D. God never asks us to do more than we can; but He asks and expects us to us to do all that we can.
E. Isaiah 5:4 “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?”
F. Christ did all He could for us.
G. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply acknowledging a great debt we owe to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny? It is emphatically no sacrifice. Rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger, foregoing the common conveniences of this life—these may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing compared with the glory which shall later be revealed in and through us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us. – David Livingstone
H. Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing. - John Henry Jowett
I. Could we love Christ, pray and praise more; could we live lives that are more holy? Cold we seek to share Christ more. Are we doing all we can do or are we complaining because we are asked to do more than we want to do?
J. Do what you can, being what you are:
Shine as a glow-worm if you cannot be a star.
Work like a pulley if you cannot be a crane;
Be a wheel-greaser if you cannot drive a train.
Be the pliant oar if you cannot be the sailor:
Be the little needle if you cannot be the tailor.
Be the cleaning besom if you cannot be the sweeper:
Be the sharpened sickle if you cannot be the reaper.
Do what you can, being what you are. - copied
K. Ask yourself, “Am I doing my all for Jesus? Is there anything more that I can do that I am not doing to greater demonstrate my love for and to serve my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?”
III. She gave without regard to the critics of her actions.
A. There were two offenses this woman did in anointing Christ which were certain to bring scornful criticism from others.
B. When this woman broke her alabaster box, she committed a social sin. The women in that day, particularly in that part of the country, were to stay in the background. They were never to be the center of attention. In breaking the box she was front and center at Christ’s feet. But what mattered to her wasn’t what the people thought but what Jesus thought. He was her all in all.
C. Acts 4:18-20 “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’”
D. The second criticism of her action is seen in Mark 14:4-5, “And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, ‘Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor.’ And they murmured against (criticized, scolded, censured) her.”
E. For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. - Harrison’s Postulate
F. They said this was a frivolous waste. But look at Christ’s response in verse 6, “But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me…”
G. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I do the very best I can, I mean to keep going. If the end brings me out all right, then what is said against me won’t matter. If I’m wrong, ten angels swearing I was right won’t make a difference.”
H. Isaiah 51:7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My do not fear disgrace by men, and do not be shattered by their taunts.”
I. English evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) learned that it was more important to please God than to please men. Knowing that he was doing what was honoring to the Lord kept him from discouragement when he was falsely accused by his enemies. At one point in his ministry, Whitefield received a vicious letter accusing him of wrongdoing. His reply was brief and courteous: “I thank you heartily for your letter. As for what you and my other enemies are saying against me, I know worse things about myself than you will ever say about me. With love in Christ, George Whitefield.” He didn’t try to defend himself. He was much more concerned about pleasing the Lord. - Our Daily Bread, August 18, 1992
J. Galatians 1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men.”
K. Are you seeking to please man or God?
IV. She gave selflessly with no thought of recognition, reward or return.
A. Mark 14:3 “…she broke the flask and poured it on His head.”
B. When you break a jar with liquid in it, it’s virtually impossible to control the flow, you cannot save what is poured out. It is spent you cannot get it back.
C. She gave all she could give with no thought of getting anything in return.
D. She broke the alabaster box, to give all of it, not keeping any for herself.
E. Christians are exhorted to give their all to Christ "not for reward", but because it is the right thing to do. God will reward us for doing right. But that should never be the motive. We are to serve our God, not for reward, but because he is our God, and we love him.
F. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
G. Hear ye the Master’s call, “Give Me thy best!” For, be it great or small, that is His test. Do then the best you can, not for reward, not for the praise of men, but for the Lord. Every work for Jesus will be blest, But He asks from everyone his best.
Our talents may be few, these may be small, But unto Him is due our best, our all. – S.C. Kirk (Public Domain)
H. Mary’s selfless act of love for Christ resulted in Christ’s honoring her by declaring, “Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Mark 14:9)
I. Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the righteous is blessed ...”
J. How will you be remembered?
