Day by Day with Jesus/Last Week Series
A Matter of the Heart
Mark 14:1-11
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” Our text tells the story of two treasures, two hearts, and two lives headed into two totally different directions.
Of course when Jesus says, “where your treasure is there will your heart be also”, he’s not talking about the organ in your chest that pumps the blood. He is speaking of the center of your life, the focus of our love, affections and priorities.
On the first day of school, the kindergarten teacher told the class to put their right hands over their hearts and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher watched the children as they started the pledge, "I pledge allegiance to the flag..." She stopped when she noticed Johnny’s right hand over the left side of his rear end. "Johnny, I will not continue until you put your hand over your heart." Johnny replied, "Ma’am, it is over my heart." After several attempts to get Johnny to put his hand over his heart, the teacher asked, "Why do you think that is your heart?" “Because whenever my Grandma visits, she picks me up, pats me here, and says, ’Bless your little heart, and my Grandma doesn’t lie!"
In an article in Today’s Christian Woman, Carol Leet tells of an incident that happened to her granddaughter. Four-year-old Amanda went to the doctor’s office with a fever. The doctor tried to ease the little girl’s obvious nervousness. When he looked in her ears, he said, "Who’s in there? Donald Duck?" She said, "No." He looked in her nose and said, "Who’s in there? Mickey Mouse?" Again she said, "No." He put his stethoscope on her heart and said, "Who’s in there? Barney?" Amanda replied, "No, Jesus is in my heart. Barney is on my underwear." (Today’s Christian Woman, Vol. 18, no. 4.)
Our possessions and our priorities (our treasure and our heart) form a spiritual intersection. The direction we take determines everything that follows. That’s the story of our text: two treasures, two hearts, two lives headed in two totally different directions.
We are working our way toward the cross. Three weeks ago we looked at the events of Palm Sunday. On Monday Jesus cleared the temple of moneychangers. On Tuesday, the religious officials challenged him with one trick question after another. Most Bible scholars think Wednesday was a quiet day for Jesus. He doesn’t go into Jerusalem. He stays in Bethany, the little village just east of the Mount of Olives. While Jesus rests, his enemies and one of his own begin the plot of unspeakable treachery.
Matthew and Mark both give Judas’ story an interesting twist. In the middle of explaining what Judas did, they tell the story of a dinner party in Bethany. The interesting part is—this didn’t happen on Wednesday. John tells us it happened the previous Saturday, the day before the triumphal entry. But Matthew and Mark connect it with Judas. They want us to see Judas’ despicable act in contrast with Mary’s act of devotion. When you set these two side by side, you quickly recognize a story of two treasures, two hearts, two lives headed in two totally different directions. If we listen carefully, we can hear our own story as well.
First, consider the similarities between the two central characters in our text. Both were followers of Jesus. The Mary mentioned here was the sister of Lazarus, the man Jesus raised from the dead. Jesus had stayed in their home many times. Mary and her sister Martha had fixed dinner for the disciples more times than you could count. On one occasion, Jesus commended Mary for her desire to listen to his teachings. This dinner takes place at the home of a neighbor, Simon the Leper. Mary and Martha are probably there to help with the meal.
Judas Iscariot had been one of Jesus’ disciples from the beginning. He had heard the same teachings the other disciples had. He like Mary had witnessed Jesus’ miraculous power. He preached Jesus message to others. Judas was more than just one of the twelve. He was the treasurer of the group. Judas was among the best and the brightest. Both Mary and Judas had walked and talked and served with Jesus. Both were at Simon’s dinner party on that Saturday before the cross. On the surface, Mary and Judas had much in common. But in the matters of the heart the two couldn’t have been any more different.
The events of the previous Saturday provide a striking contrast. Simon hosts the party to honor Jesus. He wanted his friends and neighbors to meet the man who had healed him. They didn’t use tables and chairs as we do. Jesus and his men recline around a large central serving area covered with bowls of food. Their heads and shoulders are toward the food; their feet extended toward the outer wall. Martha, Mary, and the women busily prepare and serve the food. Such meals were generally long, leisurely affairs of food, laughter, and conversation.
In the midst of the meal, the pungent smell of perfume overtakes the spicy aroma of roast lamb and vegetables. Mary had poured a vial of expensive lotion over Jesus’ feet and then wipes it away with her hair. John tells us the bottle of nard was worth a year’s wages. That could easily translate into $15-20,000 in today’s economy. Scholars speculate that this may have been Mary’s wedding dowry or an inheritance. In a society without a banking system, people often preserved wealth in such commodities.
Here’s where the details get interesting. The disciples begin to complain. “Look at that waste of money! If she didn’t want the stuff, we could have sold it and given the money to the poor.” Mark does not tell us (John does) that it was Judas who started the protest. The others quickly joined in. Listen to how John puts it. “He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:6). When the men give Mary a tongue lashing for waste, Jesus silences them. Note the differences between Mary and Judas.
Mary was a giver. Judas was a taker. Giving is not about the pocket book. It has nothing to do with whether a person is rich or poor. It is a matter of the heart. Some hearts are closed and tight. Others are open and generous. Money just happens to be the place where it shows.
Thievery and stinginess grow from the same root. Both start with pride. “I deserve what you have more than you do. I will take it if I want!” “This is my money. I earned it. I deserve it. I am not about to give it away.” Both doubt God’s ability to provide. “If I don’t take care of myself, no one else will.” Both know little of gratitude. “What’s anybody ever done for me?”
Notice how Jesus responds to the criticism of Mary. Mark says, “they rebuked her harshly.” One of the words was the term for the snorting of a horse. They were indignant. They snort in ridicule of her wasteful behavior. Jesus cuts them off. He tells them to leave her alone. He adds, “she did what she could.” That’s always the standard—in giving, serving, worshipping. What others do or should do, doesn’t matter. She did what she could! That same principle led Jesus to insist that the poor widow’s little gift was worth more than all the treasures of the rich put together.
This leads directly to another contrast. She gave extravagantly. This was no small gift. Judas, if he had given at all, would have done so begrudgingly. A stingy heart doesn’t understand extravagant, overflowing worship. Notice how he objects by citing how the treasure could have been used for the poor. We all know that was just a pious sounding excuse. If someone had actually suggested giving money to the poor, he would have had another objection.
Did you hear about the preacher who went shopping for an anniversary gift for his wife? No names are necessary. He went to the cosmetics counter of a nice department store. He asked the clerk to show him some perfume. She brought out a $50 bottle of their best fragrance. “That’s a bit much," he said. She returned with a smaller $30 bottle. "That’s still quite a bit," he complained. Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle. Getting annoyed in return, I said (he said!), “I’d like to see something really cheap." The clerk handed him a mirror!
I never cease to be amazed at the objections that people can raise to spending church money. Folk who were the first to put air conditioning in their own homes object to spending that kind of money on the church house. Men who demand the best and the latest for their businesses don’t like it when missionaries and Bible colleges update their equipment. I’ve seen parents who can spend hundreds of dollars sending their kids to sports camps get irate at the thought of $75 for a week at church camp. It’s not about money at all. It’s a matter of the heart!
The biggest contrast of all--Mary honored Jesus; Judas betrayed him. She anointed Jesus for his burial. Judas set in motion the plot that would lead to Jesus’ death. Bible scholars and historians have long wrestled with Judas’ motives. What could he have been thinking?
Some theorize that he was disappointed with Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness. Maybe he joined up with Jesus thinking he would lead a rebellion against the Romans like so many expected of the Messiah. Judas could have become frustrated when Jesus took a different path.
Others suggest he was jealous of the other disciples like Peter, James, and John who seemed closer to Jesus. His spurned ambition turned to anger and bitterness. Some think he was simply afraid. He saw Jesus in the temple. He heard the anger of the Jewish authorities. He maybe even heard the rumors of a plot to arrest and kill Jesus. Maybe he saw the tide turning. Better to be safe than sorry, he may have thought.
All the speculation aside, the Bible seems to suggest that money was the big factor. “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Folk have been known to sell their souls, their families, their honor, their integrity, and their futures for a few quick bucks. It happens all the time.
One final contrast provides a fitting conclusion to these events. These two stories have very different endings. Jesus says that Mary will be remembered wherever his story is told. We’ve proved that today. Everybody remembers Judas as well.
Judas’ story doesn’t end well. He betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a common slave. He concludes his act of treachery with a kiss, an act of pretended friendship. The Bible offers no explanation. It doesn’t dwell on it. It simply says that within days, Judas takes his own life. He dies a tragic, broken, embittered man. No disciple of Jesus wants to end up there.
Like Mary’s, William Borden’s life story offers an alternative. This is a true story. You probably don’t know of William Borden unless you have read his testimony elsewhere. You all know his family name. William was heir to the great Borden’s milk estate. When he graduated high school in 1904, he was already a millionaire. Everyone expected he would someday head the family company. He surprised his family by announcing that he planned to be a missionary. Some people said, “What a waste!” William Borden recorded the commitment and wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No Reserves."
As a freshman at Yale, Borden displayed a rare spiritual passion. He organized student Bible studies and prayer meetings. The movement spread across the campus. He started an outreach ministry to the poor in nearby communities. The work touched thousands. Borden never forgot his missions plans. After graduation, he turned down high paying job offers. He was going to China and work with Muslims, he told his family. “What a waste,” some of his professors said. William Borden wrote two more words in his Bible: “No retreats.”
William Borden went on to Princeton Seminary to complete his preparation for the mission field. When he finished his studies, he sailed for China just as he promised. He stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic, a necessary tool for working with Muslims. While in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, William Borden was dead. He was twenty-five years old.
His family, his classmates, and prayer partners around the world mourned his death. What a waste, nearly everyone said. Everyone except William Borden! Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No Reserves" and "No Retreats," he had written: "No Regrets."
Short or long, rich or poor, every life deserves to end with “no regrets.” When it does, it is never about the money.
It is always a matter of the heart.
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
