An anointing and a betrayal
Mark 14:1-11
- Reminder, final msg in Mark, Wed Oct 22, will be “open forum” style
- Jesus is demonstrated in this book as a “servant”
-- Jesus’ teachings, while difficult for some to deal with, are always timely
- We are looking at Jesus’ final teachings to His disciples
-- His teaching is clear, concise, and means exactly what it says
-- Consider this: It means exactly what the Holy Spirit confirms to us it means
- The past two messages gave us LOTS of information with a huge emphasis:
-- PREPARATION! We need to be prepared and to pay attention!
-- There is a coming day where Jesus will return, this is a promise
-- For us, we have not only this promise but job to KNOW what He taught
- Today we continue the final week of Jesus’ life and ministry
- It is very important to note that nothing that happens catches Jesus off-guard
-- There is a preparation for these events, and Jesus knows what is to happen
-- Some suggest that perhaps to avoid the agony God spared Him knowledge
-- But if the Son of God needed sparing, how could He suffer for us? (Isaiah 53)
- These events unfold for us in clear, almost dramatic, form as we read them
- Read Mark 14:1-11
∆ Point 1 – Anointing Jesus (1-9)
- The Passover feast is approaching and this is a special time for Jews (v1)
-- It is a remembrance of what God has brought them through to this point
-- It is a celebration, an act of worship, to remember this time for them
-- Jesus, being Jewish, would celebrate this time with His disciples
- But, there is a wrinkle unfolding: the chief priests want Him dead/gone
-- At the very least, they are smart enough not to do this during Passover (v2)
-- They knew the crowds would be VERY large and very dangerous
-- Due to all the celebrations happening, they knew they couldn’t take Him now
- The priests decided to wait, but God clearly had other plans for this
-- As we see later in v11, God had already ordained that Judas betray Him
-- With his help, the betrayal of Jesus is set in motion
- IMP: But, something unique happens beforehand which is CRITICAL to us
- The gospels of Mark and Matthew do not reveal who this woman is (v3)
-- However, in John we see who this woman is: John 11:1-2, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)”
- Mary was at the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany
-- What happens is a sacrificial sign of love and devotion for who Jesus is to her
-- This woman, understands that He is everything to her and she shows that
- Breaking open the jar, she anoints his head with oil
-- She is a woman who worships Jesus, and each time in Gospels seen at his feet
-- She has incredible devotion to her Savior, something we need more of today
- When she does this, the outrage from others is critical for us to see here
-- In v4 it says, “those present were saying indignantly to one another” …
- Why? Why were they so indignant? They did not understand her worship!
-- You see, to them they were focused on money and getting all they could
-- This woman however, worshiped her Lord in a way that is powerful
-- She anoints His head, with a year’s worth of wages (v5) and they rebuke her
- Challenge: How are we are observing how others worship the Lord?
-- If its true worship, it will be honored which is what Jesus replies with, sternly
- Jesus receives what Mary has done with love, with honor, with devotion
-- Her love for Him results in an overflowing act of worship with this perfume
-- The cost is of no matter to her, she is anointing the One who’s give her all
- Jesus’ rebuke is “the poor you’ll always have … but I won’t be here”
-- Again Jesus prophecies that He is departing … and they totally miss it
- In v8, “She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”
-- APP: How much clearer did He have to make it that He is about to die?
- Mary’s motivation for this was out of worship, out of devotion to Her Lord
-- Jesus interpreted it as a sacrifice, fitting of His burial which was to come
- IMP: Both are correct views, as Jesus used it to teach them and us something
- LESSON: He is deserving of this honor, so how are we honoring Him today?
- TRANS: In the middle of this display, we see treachery developing …
∆ Point 2 – Betrayal in the Works (10-11)
- Judas was a man who was on the inside; a follower of Christ (v10)
-- He would have heard all the teachings to this point, and yet was unsaved
-- His heart demonstrates that his motivation is about “his agenda” and not God’s
- IMP: Why would he betray Jesus, the man he called Lord?
-- It was his belief that in doing this, it would move Jesus to act; to rise up
-- He wanted Jesus to lead an army against Rome and so he uses manipulation
-- His idea of manipulation would be to force Jesus to strike against these men
-- God however, used Judas to bring about His own sacrifice and rising up
- Judas is a man who is unsaved, and he believes he knows more than Jesus
-- Jesus used grace and love to reach people; Judas wants to push Him into acting
-- It’s the “hurry up and do something God … or else I will” mentality …
-- APP: We need to see this for what it is: sinful and rebellious to God
- So now, the chief priests see Judas as a man on the inside that they needed
-- He is within the inner circle and certainly could bring Jesus to arrest
-- In v11 we see that they promised to give him money and this is incredible
- Matthew 26:15 tells us this exact amount: “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.”
- But, do you know what this means? It’s a fulfillment of prophecy:
-- Zechariah 11:12-13, “I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter” - the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.”
- But, why this amount? God has already said what this amount means
-- Turn to Exodus 21
- Setup: This is what has already been told of in God’s word long before this
- Read verses 28-31 … “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.”
-HUGE: The price of a slave paid to the master is … 30 pieces of silver
-- Jesus, the Son of God, was just bought & sold for 30 pieces of silver
-- 30 pieces of silver is the cost of a slave, and Jesus is God’s ultimate servant
-- He is the measuring stick that we are all to be judged against
- Judas, not knowing what he was doing, was used by God to fulfil this prophecy
∆ Big Ideas
- In an act of worship, one woman anoints His head with oil in adoration
- In another, a disciple trades Jesus in for the place of a slave
- Challenge: How much is Jesus Christ worth to you today?
-- What would you pay to turn Him over and make Him move to your will?
- Pray
