I think it’s safe to say that by and large, men need a lot of help in finding that perfect holiday gift. It just isn’t a talent that many men have. Sometimes the hints have to be especially large. Well this morning, I’d like to help all of the men present to discover what will be the perfect gift for the wife this Christmas. We all know that women love perfume. They love to smell nice. Perhaps men, you’ve bought perfume in the past. But I’m not talking about just any perfume. I’m talking about Marilyn Miglin’s “Parfum”. We all know the first question any man will ask before making a considerable purchase. “How much will it cost?” Well men, you will be relieved to know that Marilyn Miglin’s perfume only costs $500 for a one ounce bottle! Just imagine how wonderful your wife will smell when she is wearing this perfume! For $500 an ounce, she’d better smell incredible. She will smell almost as good as the woman whose husband buys her Clive Christian’s Sandalwood and Indian Jasmine perfume. Clive Christian’s product sells for a mere $1,820 per bottle. Now you are getting 30 ml so at least this will last her about a month. But men, just imagine how wonderful it will be to hug your wife coming home from work and smell $1,820 perfume on her neck? But let me ask you a question. Why would you stop there? Why would you buy her the second most expensive perfume in the world? Because the most expensive perfume in the world is Arthur Burnham’s Gianni Vive Sulman. It only costs...once converted from British pounds to American dollars...$74,555. That’s all! You probably have that much under the cushions of your sofa. How many of you ladies would like a bottle of Gianni Vive Sulman? Take a look men, because you have no excuses this year. Now you know what your wife wants for Christmas. All you have to do is go and get it!
But believe it or not, if you want to find the most valuable perfume in all of time, you have to turn to the Word of God in the book of John, chapter twelve, verses one through eight.
This morning, we’ve talked about what our wives might want this Christmas. I’m sure we’ve all spent time talking about what the husbands and the children and loved ones want for Christmas. But what does Jesus want this Christmas? Besides, it is his birthday we’re celebrating. What would Jesus want? Notice I did not ask “What does Jesus want FOR Christmas", but what does Jesus want THIS Christmas?” Because what Jesus wants from you and me this Christmas is exactly what Jesus wants 365 days a year. It doesn’t change! I believe that in our text today we have the answer to this question. We see it through the gift Mary gave Jesus when he was in Bethany. We see an example of what Jesus does want and what Jesus does NOT want this Christmas.
1) What Jesus wants: A SACRIFICE of LOVE.
A sacrifice of love was exactly what Mary gave Jesus. Every detail we read is an expression of her love for Jesus. Verse three says she took a pound of “very costly” perfume. Just how costly was it? We read that Judas thought he could sell it for about 300 denarii. Remember, a denarius was one day’s wage in Jesus’ day. If a person works five days a week every week of the year, no holidays or vacations, it equals only 260 days a year. In other words, this perfume was worth more than an entire year’s salary for the average person! Let’s give a conservative estimate for how much it would cost today. If you took even a low salary at 300 day wages, it today would cost at least $30,000. In Mary’s day, this was the most expensive perfume you could buy. It would easily have been as costly as Marilyn Miglin’s or Clive Christian’s or Arthur Burnham’s which we mentioned earlier!
But can I tell you that Jesus was not impressed by the value of the perfume. This same Jesus saw the two mites given by the widow and said she gave more than all of the big contributors in the temple. Had Mary had only $30 to her name, instead of $30,000, and had she taken that money and bought $30 perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet, he would have been just as impressed. Why? Jesus saw her heart! The size of the gift didn’t matter. It was the fact that her gift was an expression of love from the heart.
In Luke chapter seven we read of another gift made by another woman, a prostitute. Jesus was eating dinner in the home of a Pharisee. In came this woman, and she poured ointment on Jesus’ feet and her tears rinsed them and she wiped them with her hair while she wept. Do you remember what Jesus said? "He who is forgiven little loves little. But he who is forgiven much LOVES MUCH!" I believe that this is where Mary got her idea. Mary said to herself, I want to show Jesus how much I love him! So she took what was the most valuable possession she had, and she literally placed it at the feet of Jesus! In another gospel it says that she broke the box, meaning she gave it all! Every drop she poured on those feet where the nails would soon be driven. Half would not do. She gave it all, because she wanted Jesus to know how much she loved him.
Likewise, Jesus is not interested in half of your life. He’s not interested in half of your ambition, or half your plans, or half your relationships, or half your material possessions, or half your bank account, or half your heart, or half your love.
What is your most favored possession? What is in your box? If you could pin point what it is, would you give it to Jesus? Your most valued possession may not be the same as Mary’s or as mine. But it is when we take what is most valuable to us in all of life and place it at the feet of Jesus that we truly give him a “sacrifice of love.” And when we do that, we learn first hand what the Psalmist said in Psalm 37:4, that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. THAT is what Jesus wants this Christmas and every day of the year!
We not only see her love in the value of the gift, but also in the manner in which she gave it. The Bible says that she anointed his feet with this perfume. The custom in Jesus’ day was for the perfume to be placed upon the head. Mary knew that. But she placed it upon his feet. It was as if she was saying, “Jesus, I’m not even worthy to place my hands upon your head! Even the very best gift that I can offer you can only be placed at your feet! She took her hair, considered the glory of a woman in Biblical times, and she wiped his feet from the excess perfume. The dirt that was on those dust covered feet, muddied by the perfume she sprinkled, she wore upon her head.
Mary didn’t come to Jesus to hear a sermon. She had heard many before, but that wasn’t why she came this time. Mary didn’t come to ask Jesus for something. She didn’t come to fellowship with other believers. The time for that would come. Mary also didn’t come to receive rest from Jesus. She didn’t come because she was weary and tired and needed him to restore her soul. Mary came to Jesus simply because she wanted to say, “Jesus, I love you!” Mary teaches us what real worship is all about! No other reason for worship will last. If we worship merely to hear a message, what about when the message doesn’t meet our expectations? If we worship merely for fellowship, what about when our brothers and sisters let us down? If we worship merely when we are weary, what about those times when life is going smoothly? When every other motive fails, we really worship simply to say to Jesus, "I LOVE YOU!"
Real love cannot remain hidden forever! Take a man who loves a woman and he will find a way to express that love to her. Find a woman who loves a man and she will find a way to express that love for him. The motive in Mary’s heart was love, and she had to express that love. Those who love Jesus Christ will want to worship him. True love for Jesus Christ MUST express itself in worship!
I like what John says next. “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” It wasn’t long before everyone knew what had taken place. Their noses told them! In every room of the home, that sweet aroma drifted. Because of one gift that one woman gave Jesus, everyone could tell! And so it is with the person who truly loves Christ. Everyone in their home will smell the spiritual aroma. And not only was the fragrance of that perfume upon the feet of Jesus’ and throughout the house, it also remained in Mary’s hair. Everyone she came in contact with could smell the sacrifice of love she gave to Jesus Christ. We will not have to persuade this world of the truth of the gospel if we love people with the love of the gospel.
Through Mary we see the gift that Jesus longs for from you and me this Christmas, a sacrifice of love. But if we read on, we see...
2) What Jesus does not want: EMPTY BENEVOLENCE
Not everyone was pleased with Mary’s gift. The disciples had indignation. Their leader in contempt was Judas Iscariot. In John’s gospel, we read the very first words spoken by Judas recorded in Scripture. He said in verse five, “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to poor people?” At first glance, doesn’t Judas’ question sound valid? What if that perfume was only worth $30,000 by today’s standards? How many meals for the hungry could you buy for $30,000? How many coats for the cold could you buy for $30,000? How many homeless could be sheltered for $30,000? His logic sounds alluring. If we are not careful, we too can have a Judas mentality.
Look at Jesus’ response in verse eight. “The poor you have always.” No matter what kinds of schools you have, no matter what kind of homes are raising the children, no matter what shelters or programs or welfare you have, you will always have the poor. Jesus said that. But the good news is that Jesus is preparing a place for you and me where there is no poverty. There is no hunger or homelessness. Jesus didn’t promise treasure upon earth. He promised us a home in heaven. Jesus never promised us a cadillac. He promised us a cross.
You see, the key word is EMPTY. Of course benevolence is important. Jesus said if you give a cool cup of water in my name it will not go unrewarded. He said that I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to me...when you did it unto to least of these you did it unto me. We have to be very careful not to misunderstand what Jesus is teaching here. What Jesus wants from you and me is not empty benevolence in replace of genuine love. Remember what Paul said? If I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I give my body to be burned and have not love, I AM NOTHING! What Jesus is saying is that you can spend your entire life helping the poor, giving to the poor and working for the poor and miss the point!
Do you know what Judas did not understand? Love comes before giving! When a person loves Jesus, they will give to help others. They won’t have to hear a sermon on giving. The will care about the needs of others. They will care for the poor. But their giving will take care of itself when love comes first. Judas could not understand that all of the charitable giving in the world, all of the benevolent deeds cannot replace a genuine love for God. In fact, a person can spend their whole life giving and serving and doing only to die and spend eternity in hell. Christian brothers and sisters, Jesus said the first and greatest command was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And THEN secondly we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. But love comes first. If you try to do the second without the first, if you try to love your neighbor without first loving Jesus, it is empty benevolence.
A true love for God is what matters. Some times in life, dollars and cents just don’t matter. When your child is kidnapped and ransom is requested, dollars and cents don’t matter. When your loved one is sick and needs expensive surgery, as long as you can afford it, dollars and cents just don’t matter. You’ll give everything you have to make them well. When Jesus saw the gift she gave, dollars and cents didn’t matter anymore. Jesus was too captured by her love to notice or care how much it cost!
Judas and the disciples saw her gift and said it was a waste. But as Arthur Pink once said, “Love is never a waste! Generosity is never a waste. Sacrifice is never a waste.” The point they missed is that here is a woman who did not consider it an unthinkable thing to take what probably cost her life savings and pour it out, just to express her love for the Savior.
Do you know why Judas could never understand that? Judas could not love Jesus because he could not stop loving money. Verse six says that Judas raised this objection, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and he wanted some of that money for himself. Jesus said in Matthew six, no man can serve two masters. For you will either love the one and hate the other, or else you will cling to the one and despise the other. But you cannot serve God and money. Money ruled in Judas’ heart. And as long as he chose love for money before love for Jesus, he never would understand the actions of someone like Mary.
I believe Mary understood something that none of the other disciples had grasped. Jesus said that she gave for the day of his burial. Others went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body after he was buried, but Mary anointed him before. Could it be that she was listening a little closer than the other disciples? Mary knew and believed what the others would not accept: That Jesus would, in fact, be arrested, crucified and buried. She understood that the cross was right on the horizon. And if Jesus could give such a gift to her, how small a gift it was, to take even the world’s most expensive perfume, and pour it on the feet of Jesus!
Matthew and Mark tell this same story and mention a small detail that John omits. Jesus said that wherever the gospel is preached, what Mary did would be mentioned as a memorial to her. The slightest act of love for God, the slightest sacrifice will be remembered and rewarded. Don’t think that anything you ever offer to God goes unnoticed. Others may not notice, but God always does. What you do for our Lord in private, He will reward openly!
What kind of gift will Jesus receive from you this Christmas? Will your life be a genuine sacrifice of love? Or will you offer him carols faintly sung? Offerings regretfully given? Service dutifully performed? Would you join me in saying today, “Jesus, I want to give you the sacrifice of love. The most treasured thing that I have, the most treasured part of who I am, I place at your feet." When you do, your life will be a sweeter fragrance to God and to this world than any of the most expensive perfumes in the world.
