JESUS ENTERS: Why Jesus?
John 12:1-11
#easter2026
INTRODUCTION… The Five-Ws
A long time ago in a land far far away, a man named Aristotle who lived from 384-322 BC said [abbreviated]: “It is not a pointless endeavor to divide circumstances by kind and number: (1) the Who, (2) the What, (3) around what place (Where) or (4) in which time something happens (When), and sometimes (5) with what, such as an instrument (With), (6) for the sake of what (Why), and (7) the (How), … and it seems that the most important circumstances are those just listed, is the Why.”
When we ask the five questions every good journalist asks… Who? What? When? Where? Why?... we are stepping into a pattern shaped long ago by Aristotle because it is a good framework for us to help us understand something that has our focus. Believe it or not, in the 1880s, these 5 standard questions were at the center of good Bible Study teaching as well (William Cleaver Wilkinson). You were probably taught these basic questions in English class in school because these are the logical normal questions we ask when trying to understand something.
Imagine you walk into your kitchen and find a completely empty package of Girl Scout cookies. You just set them on the counter not but moments before. Suddenly, you are a detective using the Five-Ws:
Who ate the cookies? All eyes probably turn to a teenager or spouse hiding behind a house plant.
What happened? They disappeared leaving only the package behind.
When did this occur? Sometime between when you brought in the first bag of groceries and the last bag of groceries.
Where did the evidence go? You have no idea, but there are crumbs on the counter.
Most importantly… Why? The teenager or spouse says… “I was hungry.”
Congratulations, you’ve just conducted a five-fold causal Aristotelian investigation. Every time we ask those five simple questions, we’re thinking in structured categories that go all the way back to Aristotle… even if it’s a heinous scarring crime scene about girl scout cookies.
Why bring this up?
We are going to begin looking at John 12 this morning as we head towards Easter. This morning, we are going to read the first eleven verses of the chapter and in coming weeks we will look at the rest of John 12. To help us grow closer to Christ and understand what this Scripture passage has for us, we are going to be covering those basic questions: Who, What, Where, When, and most importantly… Why!
Why is important because… God never says or does anything without reason.
Why is important because… this leads to life change.
TRANSITION
John is one of the four Gospels at the beginning of the second part of the Bible called the New Testament. It is the fourth Gospel actually… Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John. A Gospel is a unique form of literature that combines biography, history, religious teaching, stories, poetry, prophecy, and symbolic writing all into one. John wrote his account to show listeners and readers that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God. He wrote it with a lot of theology in mind because he wanted those who read the words to come to saving faith in Christ Jesus (John 21:24-25). There are a lot of one-on-one conversations in John. There are long sections of teaching and prayers. John even includes the significant “I am” statements of Jesus like “I am the Bread of Life” and “I am the Good Shepherd.”
Let’s read from John 12.
READ JOHN 12:1-11 (ESV)
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (he who was about to betray Him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.” 9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.”
WHEN?
The first five words of verse 1 and indeed all of verse 1 clues us in as to when these events happen. We know from verse 1 that these events happen towards the end of Jesus’ ministry after He has done things like talk with Nicodemus (John 3), witness to the Samaritan woman (John 4), healed paralytics (John 5), fed the 5,000 (John 6), walked on water (John 6), shown mercy to a woman caught in adultery (John 8), escaped a mob trying to stone Him (John 8), and healed a man born blind (John 9). We know that Lazarus has already died and has been raised to life again (John 11). All of that has already happened.
Verse 1 also shares with us that these events happen a week before Passover. If we skip ahead, the annual Passover that is referred to in verse 1 is not just any ‘ol Passover, but happens to be the Passover at which Jesus is arrested, tried and found innocent, but is killed anyway. This is the last week of Jesus’ life. The last week of Jesus’ life is significant. John 12 kicks off the last week of Jesus’ life. This is the last week of Jesus’ earthly existence.
ILLUSTRATION… Facebook Poll (p)
As I started my sermon this past week, I went on the social medias and I asked the question: “If you had only 1 week left to live, what are some things that you would make sure you would do?” Here are some of the responses:
* Spend 2–3 days with my parents and my brother because they matter the most.
* Talk to my dear friends who cared about me even in my tough times.
* Try paragliding or swimming with sharks and all those risky adventures.
* I would definitely apologize to the people whom I’ve wronged.
* I would eat cheesecake for days.
* Ask a lawyer to ensure my will and life insurance is still good to go.
* Visit with family.
* Make the final decision of bury or cremation; say goodbye to special friends and family; hopefully witness to an unbeliever; throw caution to the wind and eat filet mignon every day till I die.
* The only arrangements I would do is to make sure Mark plays only praise songs at my funeral, Troy to tell everyone attending they need to know Jesus if they want to see me again, and for everyone who I have made quilts for to bring them and lay over the pews.
* I’d write notes for my kids to open on special days in the future. I’d throw one last dinner party with family and friends.
* Repent Repent Repent. Do anything I could to not hear. "I never knew you."
* Make sure people in my life know what they mean to me. Have a celebration of life... which I attend.
* I'd use it to shower my loved ones with love, forgiveness, and gratitude, and to remind everyone to live life to the fullest!
* I would spend the whole week with my family. It would be someplace fun to where we could laugh a lot.
This is Jesus’ last week on earth and He knows it (John 12:23-24).
WHERE?
Verses 1-2 also share with us the answer to the next question of: “Where?” We find out that Jesus is in Bethany. Bethany, the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, was located approximately 2 miles from Jerusalem. Situated on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, this distance allowed for a relatively short journey of roughly 30 to 45 minutes between the village and the city.
More specifically, verse two shares with us that the happenings of the passage take place in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Jesus is reclining around a table to eat. In Jesus’ day, it was customary to recline at a meal table rather than sit in a chair. I tried to look up when it became customary to sit at chairs at a table and I could not nail it down, but regardless the events of John 12 took place in Lazarus’ home in the dinner area.
By the way. if you look at all the Gospels together, it seems like Jesus was anointed like in this passage two or three times. One event took place at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 7) and the other two times at the end of His ministry (Matthew 26, Mark 14) (John 12).
TRANSITION
We have the WHEN? and the WHERE?... let’s move on to the WHO?
WHO?
There are several key people mentioned in this passage.
The focus of the passage is Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is the focus on only of this passage in John, but the focus of all of John and even the four Gospels. It should be argued that the whole of the Bible has a focus on Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God Whose purpose for His life is fast approaching Him. Just a week later Jesus would explain to the Roman governor at His trial…
READ JOHN 18:36-37 (ESV)
“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But My kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.”
Lazarus is in this passage. If we read the whole of the Gospel of John, we would find just one chapter back... in chapter 11… that Lazarus died. You might think to yourself, how can Lazarus be at dinner in chapter 13 if he died in chapter 12? Did the chapter order get mixed up? Did Lazarus have a stunt double? No, having Jesus as your friend has its advantages… including resurrection. Lazarus of Bethany is a close friend whom Jesus raised from the dead after being four days in a tomb. Jesus did this to demonstrate His divine authority over life and death. I also think He did this to foreshadow His own death and resurrection.
Martha, the sister of Lazarus is there as well. Martha is doing what Martha does best. Martha is doing what she did in Luke 10 when we first meet here… she was being the consummate host. John 12 tells us, “Martha served.” That word used in this verse is a special word in the Bible. The word “serve” here means… “to serve.” Sometimes the Bible isn’t all that complicated.
Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus is there and does something significant. We will talk more about Mary in a moment when we discuss the WHAT? of the passage, but we find her as someone who paid a lot of attention to Jesus. Even when we meet her in Luke 10, she shirks off all hosting duties and all her chores and wants to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.
I think we should take note that Jesus, knowing it was His last week on earth, wanted to spend time with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. We do not know when Jesus met Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, but these were three people that were very significant to Jesus.
The last person who is named and is significant in this first part of John 12 is Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot is famous for betraying Jesus. Even calling someone “Judas” means you are calling them a backstabbing traitor. It is much like the name “Benedict Arnold” which also carries the same meaning. We know what Judas Iscariot would eventually do, but in John 12, he has not yet done it.
TRANSITION
We have many of the basics of this passage down. It is now time to concern ourselves with WHAT? happens. There is a significant action and some good dialogue present in John 12 for us to understand.
WHAT?
Verses 2-11 share with us what happens to Jesus.
* There is a dinner being hosted in Jesus’ honor.
* Lazarus is there eating.
* Martha is serving.
* Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha comes to the dinner, not to eat or help Martha serve (again!), but uses a pound of costly perfume to anoint Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair.
* Nard, also called spikenard or muskroot is a precious, heavy, sweet-woody, and spicy-scented oil derived from a Himalayan plant used in Jesus’s day as a costly perfume. To buy it, was about a year’s worth of wages.
* Judas Iscariot objected to the waste of the smelly oil arguing the perfume should have been sold to help the poor. John lets us in on a note that Judas, who managed the money bag, was not someone truly concerned for the poor, but wanted to skim some off the top.
* Jesus tells Judas and anyone else who has the same objection to leave Mary alone, stating she was doing it to prepare for His burial.
* In the background of this event, we see a large crowd gathering to see both Jesus and Lazarus.
* In the background of this event, we see the leading chief priests plotting death for Jesus and Lazarus.
TRANSITION
We have now come to the most important question. If we take our cue from Aristotle on these questions, the most important question of them is WHY?
"Why" is considered the most important question because it drives at root causes.
“Why” digs beneath the surface.
“Why” moves people beyond autopilot existence.
RE-READ JOHN 12:1-11 (ESV)
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (he who was about to betray Him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.” 9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.”
WHY?
Why is this passage in the Gospel of John?
I believe that this passage is here for us for two reasons.
First, I cannot help but notice the end result of the costly nard. The perfume that Mary uses on Jesus is worth 300 denarii which doesn’t mean anything to us. For us, the figure of $30,000 USD might be more beneficial. Mary used one pound of a perfume that cost $30,000 on one go on the feet of Jesus. Not even on a nice part of Him, but on His feet. As she pours the perfume, she wipes His feet with her hair. Then verse 3 says… “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” The word “fragrance” caught my eye. Fragrance. Smell. Stank. Aroma. The whole house was filled with the smell of the honor and worship Mary gave to Jesus. The whole house knew what happened… they could smell it. The end result of the costly nard is that Jesus was honored and everyone knew it.
My thoughts then went to some words by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians…
READ 2 CORINTHIANS 2:14-16 (ESV)
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”
The Apostle Paul says to us that “we are the aroma of Christ.” Paul says to us that we need to march through life stinking up wherever we are at to smell like Jesus. Well, are we doing that? In our passage in John 12, the end result of the costly nard is that Jesus was honored and everyone knew it. Is that true in our lives? Is the end result of our conversations or our parenting or our friendships or our way of living that Jesus is honored and everyone knows it? Paul shares with us that for some the aroma of Christ is attractive and for others it is like the stench of death. It is not our job to predict how someone will receive Christ, but it is our job to smell like Him in all ways, at all times, in as often as we can. The end result of our words, actions, attitudes, posts on social media, treatment of those we dislike, and everything about us is that Jesus is honored.
Second, we cannot ignore that Jesus explains to us WHY this happened right in the passage. Jesus Himself tells us the WHY. In verse 7, Jesus defends Mary for anointing His feet with nard (that is a fun word) because it was an act of devotion to symbolize His death. Jesus Himself interprets Mary's act as a symbolic act, a prophetic/predictive act, and one that prepares Him for His burial. He affirms her. He affirms, knowing that His death was coming in that same week, that her actions were appropriate. Mary points us to the death of Jesus.
The death of Jesus must not be anything we ever skip or take lightly.
READ ISAIAH 53:4-6 (ESV)
“Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget that by His wounds we are healed!
READ ROMANS 5:6-11 (ESV)
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget that Christ died for us all!
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget God shows His love to us through Christ.
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget we have been reconciled to God through Him.
READ 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-5 (ESV)
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget none of what happened to Jesus was accidental!
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget that Jesus died died died all the way!
Pour out that perfume Mary so we never forget that Jesus rose rose rose all the way!
SUMMARY / WHY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION
Why is the most important question because it drives at root causes, digs beneath the surface, and moves us beyond autopilot. Why accept Christ? Why hold Jesus as supremely important in our lives? Why aim to smell like Christ always? Why Jesus?
* In Jesus, there is complete forgiveness of sin (John 3:16; 1 John 1:9).
* Only a relationship with Jesus brings salvation through Him to everlasting life (John 10:28).
* Jesus gives us freedom from condemnation from the mess we make of ourselves (Romans 8:1).
* God the Father adopts us into His family while giving us a new identity (2 Cor 5:17, Romans 8:15-17)
* Jesus Christ gives life purpose and eternal meaning (Ephesians 2:10).
* We who believe in Christ haver assurance of salvation because of Christ Jesus (1 John 5:13).
* Grace replaces shame under King Jesus (Romans 8:33–34).
* Strength in trials and suffering comes by way of the Savior (Philippians 4:13).
* Sin binds us, but Jesus sets us free from sin’s slavery (John 8:36).
* Jesus gives hope beyond this terrible temporary world (1 Peter 1:3–4).
* Nothing can separate us from God’s unconditional love (Romans 8:38–39).
* The cross of Christ means justice and mercy (Romans 3:25–26).
Why is the most important question because it drives at root causes, digs beneath the surface, and moves us beyond autopilot. Why did you accept Christ?
Why is the most important question because it drives at root causes, digs beneath the surface, and moves us beyond autopilot. Why have you not?
PRAYER
INVITATION
