A PARTY-POOPER AT A PARTY FOR JESUS
John 12:1-11
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ
August 08, 2021https:
//youtu.be/RI7FzZ51_Ng
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Have you ever been all excited about an upcoming party, and really looking forward to it?
2.) What if when you got to the party it wasn’t what you had looked forward to?
3.) Maybe there was somebody at the party that really destroyed the whole party atmosphere, and made you wish you hadn’t gone.
4.) In some ways that is the picture we will see today as we look at John chapter twelve.
5.) We are going to a party in honour of Jesus, and yet there at the party was what we might call a “Party- Pooper” who put a bad atmosphere on the party.
I) JESUS WAS HONOURED AT A DINNER
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1) It was six days before the Passover.
A) Preparations were being made for the Passover.
aa.) People were travelling to Jerusalem.
aaa.) Passover was one of the three big feasts of the year for Jews.
aab.) The importance of this feast can be seen in the fact God’s law required every Jewish man who was twenty years of age or older to be present for the feast.
.01) The Passover celebration was not only a great time of festivity, and excitement, it was also a time of spiritual uplifting, and encouragement.
.02) Because of the spiritual implications, God also required that you would be ceremonially clean for the event.
ab.) There had to be ceremonial cleansings (11:55)
aba.) The law did not dictate any particular rituals to prepare for this feast, other than just to be generally ceremonially clean.
abb.) The ceremonial cleansings were important because without being ceremonially clean a Jew would not be allowed to partake of the feast.
.01) Exodus 19: 10-11 speaks of washing their clothes and sanctifying themselves which likely included taking a bath.
.02) Numbers 9:10 says they could not be considered ceremonially clean if they had been in contact with a dead body.
.03) Some accounts speak of abstaining from sexual relationships for holy times.
.04) All and all the regulations for being ceremonially clean would sometimes require 1-6 days, and so many were coming early for the feast to prepare for it.
.05) It was amid all these preparations and celebrations that we come to the party of our text in honour of Jesus.
2) Jesus goes to the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany.
A) My first thought from John’s gospel was that this was at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
aa.) The other Gospel writers make it clear this banquet in Jesus’ honour was at the home of Simon the Leper who was also one of the Pharisees.
ab.) We could have an entire sermon on Simon the Leper, and of his treatment of Jesus, but that is not the object of my focus in this message.
B) Jesus had somehow avoided detection by the religious authorities and got here near to Jerusalem in the town of Bethany.
aa.) We are not told how he got there undetected, but he was able to do so.
ab.) Scripture tells us they had been looking for Jesus (11:56a.).
aba.) The religious leaders themselves were keeping an eye out for Jesus.
ac.) They had guards set up to watch for Jesus in the temple area. (11:56b.)
.01) If Jesus would be seen anywhere, the most likely place to see him would be in the temple.
.011) Even here they had set up guards to watch for Jesus so that he could be arrested.
ad.) The religious leaders had also given orders to the people to report it if anyone knew where Jesus was.
ada.) (John 11:57)
adb.) The religious leaders had given all the people orders to report Jesus if anyone saw him or knew where he was.
.01) I expect thee were many true followers of Jesus who may have ignored those commandments, but you can be sure there would have been many others who would have quickly run to the religious leaders to report any sighting of Jesus.
.02) In light of all these things it seems strange that Jesus was at the home of Simon the Leper, because as a Pharisee he would have been one of the groups after Jesus.
II) PART OF THE HONOUR GIVEN TO JUSUS WAS A DINNER PARTY.
1) It was a dinner in Jesus’ honour.
--John 12:2
A) Simon had this banquet in Jesus’ honour, though he did not do much to honour Jesus with his attitude or behaviour.
aa.) In one sense it seemed a peculiar occasion as Jesus would usually not do much to draw attention to himself.
ab.)But at this stage in the Gospel Jesus was ready to be publicly proclaimed for who He is as the Son of God.
ac.) In fact it would only be a few days before Jesus would lead the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the throngs of people would bow to acknowledge him as the Son of David and to cry out “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
B) Martha was serving the food.
ba.) This is not the first time we see of this.
bb.) There was another incident in Luke 10:40 where there was a dinner party at Martha’s own home with Mary not helping to serve.
bba.) As we look around the room, we see that:
C) Lazarus was reclining at the table with Jesus and some of the other guests.
da.) Even though Jesus is the one being honoured, it may have even been a time to also bring honour to Lazarus because of being brought back again from death to life.
db.) And so Lazarus, and Jesus, and some of the other dinner guests were reclined and relaxing at the dinner table.
III) ANOTHER PART OF THE HONOUR GIVEN HIM WAS CONSIDERED TO BE TOO EXTRAVIGANT.
1) Mary gave another special treatment of honour to Jesus.
A.) In the midst of this dinner party Mary wants to do something big to bring honour to Jesus.
aa.) We know Jesus was close to this family, but why would she be filled with such great love for Jesus as to be so extravagant?
aaa.) I believe the answer to that question is twofold:
.01) In the immediate context there was a great deal rejoicing, and love for Jesus because of his act of raising Lazarus from the dead.
.02) Even more than Lazarus, Mary had a heart of gratitude toward Jesus for the transformation he had brought to her life.
.03)Luke’s Gospel tells us she had lived a sinful life.
.031) Luke 7:37
.032) I am not sure what that means that she was a sinful woman.
.033) We have all heard through the years that she had been a woman who had been loose sexually and had been known for her sinfulness in that area.
.034) The Scriptures state she was a sinful woman, and had lived a sinful life, but the Word of God does not state it was sexual sin.
.035) It is entirely possible that was the intent of what was being said in Scriptures, but we need to be careful not to go beyond the teachings of Scripture, in this or any matter, and merely assume something to be the case that the Bible does not state.
aab.) What the Word of God does tells us in Luke’s account of this event comes out after her great act of honour to Jesus when Jesus told Simon that “whoever has been forgiven much will love much.”
aac.) Whatever the nature of this woman’s former sinfulness, she had been forgiven much, and so now her love shows the greatest of extravagance toward Jesus.
aad.) Well let’s look at how she honoured Jesus.
B.) She took about a pint of pure nard
ba.) John 12:3
aa.) What it was—an expensive perfume.
aaa.) This was a highly valued and prized perfume among the ancients.
aab.) It was also a very expensive perfume because it was made from a plant that grew in the Himalayan Mountains.
.01) The cost of transporting it from India to Jerusalem made this an extremely expensive perfume.
C)Mary had some of this very expensive perfume, and she wanted to be extravagant in bringing honour and love to Jesus.
ca.) John’s Gospel tells us she poured this perfume on Jesus’ feet.
cb.) The accounts of Scripture in Matthew, Mark, and Luke make it clear that she poured this perfume on his head as well as the feet.
cc.) She had no towel but let down her hair (which in itself was not considered an honourable thing for a woman to do in public), and with her own hair wiped his feet.
D.) Notice the statement in the last part of this 3rd. verse: “And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
da.) We have come to a time when very few people still wear perfumes just because of so many having allergies, and sensitivities to smells.
db.) But when the scents were more popular there were times you would meet someone and immediately take note of the scent that person was wearing whether it was good or bad.
dba.) And then there were those times you would meet someone that would overpower you and you would wonder if they had applied their perfume with the garden hose.
dbb.) In our account of Scripture Mary poured an entire pint bottle (or for you younger folk a 500 ml.) bottle of perfume over Jesus.
.01) Jesus may have smelt better than a skunk, but you can be sure you could have smelt him every bit as far away as you can smell a skunk in your back field.
.001) Truly what Mary had done was an act of extravagance, but more than this it was an act of gratitude for her salvation, and love for her Saviour.
2) I titled this message “A Party-Pooper” at a party for Jesus.
A) Well, we now come to see the party-pooper at the party.
aa.) Actually, there were two party-poopers:
aaa.) The host of the party would have been one of them, and Judas would have been the other.
B) We will look at Judas today as the party-pooper.
ba.) John 12:4-6
bb.) Judas comes across at first in our text as a very Godly man, with great virtues.
bba.) One year’s wages is a lot of money. Judas sounded like a man with a great heart, suggesting that amount of money could have been given to the poor.
bbb.) Sadly, the truth of what motivated the heart of Judas was also brought out by John.
.01) He was not concerned about the poor or ministering to them, but rather wanted to put the money into the treasury so he could steal from it for his own use.
.02) Even in that day, not everyone who called themselves children of God were true followers of Christ.
3) Jesus knew the heart of Mary, and commended her action, her love, and her extravagance.
A.) John 12:7-8
CONCLUSION:
1) As our text ends, we see many different reactions to Jesus.
A.) We see Mary who gave sacrificially to love and honour Jesus.
aa.) She would have done anything she could have to give honour to Her Lord.
B.) We also see Judas, who was disgusted by the honour given to Jesus, and resentful, though he himself did nothing to give honour to Jesus.
C.) We see the Jewish leaders who wanted to put Jesus to death rather than pay honour to him.
D.) We also see the curious crowds.
da.) Some may have been coming from faith, others for a sideshow including to see Lazarus raised from the dead.
2) As we look at the people of that day, we must also look at ourselves.
A.) Are we like Mary who would do anything for Jesus, and have no limit to the love we will give to Jesus?
B.) Are we like Judas who came to the party as a party-pooper, giving no love or anything else to Jesus, and resenting those who do?
C.) Are we like the religious leaders who have a superficial faith, but not a deep relationship with our Lord?
D.) Or perhaps we are like the curious crowds, wanting a show, but not willing to commit to Christ.
E.) What we do with and for Jesus today, may show how Jesus will deal with us on the day of Judgment.
[Upon further reflection on this message, I feel that I may have brought together two accounts of "Mary" as the same person, who are actually two different people.]
