Today we are going to look at John 12:1-12:7
• But Today I want to start by looking at 2 words and those are serve and give
• Now what I Think is interesting Is the way that these words go together
Now when I think about the word serve”
• I think about service
• I think about doing things for others. (ELAB Get Involved)
Now when I hear the word “give” the first thing I think about is money
• Put into the offering plate.- Stroke a check
Now I don’t know about you but my first reaction is that I would rather
• Serve than give.
• For some reason it just sounds easier
• And it feels so much more rewarding.
But when we really stop to think about it,
• There really isn’t that much difference between the two. (ELAB)
• Let me serve you some food / give yo some food
Think about it for a moment…
• Think about times that are serving your parents, / church, / God, or anyone else for that matter.
• Aren’t you really just giving something in order to serve?
• It might be our time, / money, / talents, / wahtever resources we have to give
• And we do this in order to serve.
At the same time when we are giving,
• Whether it is putting money in the offering plate,
• Or collecting food for the food pantry in Jacksonville
• Or our giving time to help someone out,
• What we’re really doing is serving God and others at the same time.
Today we are going to focus on what it really means to serve,
• So lets dive right
• But Instead of using the word serve
• Lets use the word give because in all reality it is the same thing
• Only somehow when we hear the word give it takes on a negitive image
• And we really have to quit limiting ourselves
To help us we’re going to look at John 12:1-7 verse by verse.
Jn 12:1 Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead.
Jn 12:2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with him
Now, this dinner was more likely a celebration that Lazarus was alive.
• John specifically points out the fact that Lazarus was at the table
• A further reminder that at one point in the previous chapter he was dead
• But now thanks to Jesus he’s alive and at the table
Now even though this group wanted to celebrate the fact that It Lazarus was still with them
• It was a very risky move on their part because of the religious leaders.
• You see, they weren’t happy that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead
• Because now “everyone was believing in him,”
• Which when we think about it was one of the main reasons why Jesus did miracles;
• He did them so people would believe.
• But the religious leaders were so selfish and so caught up in their own ideas
• That a man being brought back to life didn’t even phase them.
• So, because they weren’t happy,
• They “had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately
• So they could arrest him.”
So Jesus was risking his life, on purpose
• By going to Bethany where the Passover celebration was going on
• Because of the amount of people that would be there.
• In addition to Jesus risking His life
• Simon, Lazarus, Mary and anyone else who were at the house, were risking their lives
• Because they were disobeying the orders of the religious leaders.
• But despite the risks they were boldly participating in this dinner,
So let’s look at verse three to see one of the boldest move in this entire story.
3 Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance.
What we see here is probaly the most amazing act of love that a person of this era could do
• Think about this for just a moment
• The room is filled with people
• And everyone is focused was already on Jesus.
• And the Mary walks right up in front of everyone
• And anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive nard,
• Which was oil that’s extracted from a plant found in the mountains of India.
• Because of the rarity of it, even the small amount that Mary used cost about a year’s wages.
Then She wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair.
• Even if there was someone who didn’t actually see this happen,
• Everyone would know it happened when they caught a whiff of the fragrance.
• This is an amazing act of service and giving by Mary
• And it’s one that we should follow closely.
1 Mary gave her time!
• Verse 2 tells us that Mary was serving at the dinner.
• She was spending her time getting the meal prepared / on the table
• So that everyone could celebrate.
• This would not have been as easy as it sounds
• It’s not like she just turned the stove on and threw in some Mac’ and Cheese and set the timer.
• This would have most likely been a long process of mixing, cutting, kneading, and cooking as she prepared.
• It would have been a huge sacrifice of her time.
2 Mary gave her resources!
• It’s amazing to think that Mary gave something so valuable to Jesus
• A years wages worth!!
• Not to mention if you added in the food and materials
• When we factor in the cost of the food that she had already used for the dinner,
• It would be much more.
Could you guys imagine giving everything you made in a year to God?
• Could you imagine just dumping this kind of money away onto some guy’s feet,
• But here that’s exactly what Mary is doing
• She realized that no amount of money / resource that she could have
• Was worth more than Jesus.
• And She also realized that it was solely because of God’s blessing in her life
• That she had it in the first place.
• So here she simply gave back to God what was His to begin with.
3 Mary gave her life!
• Mary’s act of washing Jesus feet with expensive perfume
• Was showing her love and commitment to Jesus as God’s Son.
• And we see in the next chapter that Jesus washes the feet of his disciples
• And He tells them that they should follow his example
• That they should serve one another.
The cleaning of feet was a nasty job,
• Think about it (ELAB)
This is a job that was done by the slaves or servants in the house.
• But Mary willingly gives her life to Christ,
• She cleans his feet and is symbolically saying, “I will serve you forever!”
All three of these areas, our time, resources, and life,
• Are all things we should be giving to God in humble service
• It sounds good when we say it but it so hard to actually do it
• More often than not instead of having a servant heart like Mary,
• We have an attitude like Judas that is shown in verses 4-6
Jn 12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples—the one who would betray him—said,
Jn 12:5 “That perfume was worth a small fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”
Jn 12:6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief who was in charge of the disciples’ funds, and he often took some for his own use.
Excuses we all have them when it comes to the area of giving and serving.
• In a lot of ways we’re just like Judas we’re just simply jbeing selfish
• We want our time, / resources, / our life for us.
• We have the attitude of, “It’s mine and I am going to do whatever I want!”
• Maybe our excuses don’t seem that selfish
• But if we really took the time to explore our excuse,
• We’d find that selfishness is there.
We might have to dig deep
• But if we did I’m sure we would all find it
• The main reason that Selfishness comes into play
• Is because we don’t trust God / to take care of us
• We need to take care of ourselves.
• We don’t give our time because we think we don’t have any time to give
• But in reality we choose where our priorities lie and how to spend our time.
We don’t give money or our resources because we “need” it to live
• And God can’t provide more and make it last longer.
• We don’t give our lives because we “need” to have fun
• And a life of following Jesus is anything but that.
What in want us to understand today is that our giving really reflects our love and trust in God,
• That’s what it comes down to.
• Paul may have said it best in 2 Corinthians 8:8
• As he talks about the Corinth church and the manner in which they give,
• 2Co 8:8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. (NIV)
It is really hard for us to have an attitude like Mary and not like Judas
• But it in the long run it ‘s more than worth it
• Even though initially it might seem like a waste
Maybe Most important in all of this is why we give.
• Why did Mary give her time to Jesus / His work?
• Why did she give her expensive resources?
• Why did she humbly give her life to Jesus as a life long servant?
That answer is found in Jesus’ rebuke of Judas found in verse 7.
Jn 12:7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did it in preparation for my burial..’”
• Mary knew that Jesus was going to die
• And she anointed him with oil to show her love and understanding.
She knew this for three reasons:
1) Jesus had given his time to her and many others
Teaching them the ways of God and revealing to them that he was the Messiah,
God’s Son who had came to save the world.
2) Jesus, being fully God, gave of his resources, because the entire world could have been his as he reigned in heaven,
But instead he entrusted the world and everything in it
To the people living there so they were taken care of.
3) Jesus gave his life on the cross
And Mary knew that it was in her place that Jesus was nailed to the cross.
Jesus gave everything for us
• So that we might have life and all the little things that come with it.
• Without Jesus giving, we would have nothing but death
• And with death comes a one way ticket to hell and eternal separation from God!
Because Jesus gave everything,
• We too have been given a choice to give as well.
• We can have an attitude like Mary and give everything we have to God and to others
• And look forward to the blessings to come in heaven.
• Or, we can have an attitude like Judas, choosing to keep everything for ourselves and staying far away from God
• And ending up with nothing in long run.
• The only question left is Which will you choose?
