The Anointing of Jesus at Bethany

John 12:1-11

 

INTRO: After the raising of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus and His disciples departed from Bethany and went to Ephraim (11:54).  Jesus now returns to Bethany by way of Jericho, the city of palms, where Zaccheaus was saved.  On the way to Bethany and ultimately Jerusalem, Jesus tells His disciples what is about to take place.  Jesus knew that suffering and shame awaited Him in the city of David as is recorded in Luke 18:31-33.  Jesus knew what was ahead, yet He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem and the cross to die for man the creatures sin.  This is what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 50:6-7.  “The design of our Father is to give us such confidence in Him and in the assurance of His help, that we may be free from every tendency to despair under the weight of trouble.  If we are walking in the path of obedience we can ever be assured of His present help and of deliverance and victory in His own way and time” (W. E. Vine 153).

 

I.        VSS 1-3, THE ANOINTING OF JESUS BY MARY

A.       Vs 1, Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before the Passover.  Jesus has a week to live, and He knows it.  Note well how He spent this time.  He spent it with those nearest and dearest to Him, His close friends.  He knows that soon He’ll see His Father in heaven.  Calmly, He faces death.  If you knew you had a week to live, how would you spend it?  Could you spend it in calm assurance of salvation with family and friends.

B.       Vs 2, John says, “They made Him a supper.”  The Greek word for supper is deipnon meaning “an evening meal.”  The supper was given because they loved Jesus.

1. “Martha served.”  Martha was a worker.  Every church needs workers.  She is not cumbered about here, but she is working.  She is not complaining as in Luke 10:38-42; she is working.  It is great to be content with the ministry God has given us.  Martha seems to have learned this lesson.  Martha showed her love by working with her hands for the Saviour.  Many folks are great only because someone else has taken care of the creature comforts.  “It is just as possible to serve Jesus in the kitchen as on the public platform or in a career lived in the public gaze” (Barclay Vol 2, 127).

2. “Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him.”  Jesus’ friends do not turn Him in, they fix a supper for Him (11:57).

a. Lazarus is at this supper.

b. Lazarus is mentioned because he represents those who were dead but are raised from among the dead. He represents the sinner dead in trespasses and sins raised to newness of life and true liberty.  “Loose him and let him go” (Jn 5:24).

C.      Vs 3, The event recorded in this verse tells us of the deep love, gratitude, and worship of Mary for Jesus.

1. “Spikenard”– Greek nardos was a liquid perfume that was extremely expensive (vs 5).

2. Martha was worker; Mary was a worshiper.  She’s the one who sat at Jesus’ feet; we need both in our churches.  And we need to be both.

a. Matthew and Mark tell that she anointed His head, and John his feet.  She did both (Mk 14:3).

1- She first anointed His head, and then sank down to her knees at His feet and anointed them in worship: humility and love.

2- She was not concerned about what others thought for true worship is directed to God not man.

3- She did not count the cost of her worship for true worship never counts the cost.  It took a great portion of a year’s wages to do this, but she had no thought about that.  Her thoughts were on Jesus.

a.) Mary didn’t use a little of the ointment; she broke the box and used it all.  This says Christ was her all.

b.) She wiped His feet with her hair. The glory of a woman is her hair; she put all her glory at His feet to glorify Him.

b. “The house was filled with the odor of ointment.”

1- It was a fragrance that could not be mistaken or avoided.

2- True worship makes an impact that can’t be mistaken or avoided.

II.       VSS 4-6 MARY’S WORSHIP CRITICIZED

A.       Vs 4, There are always those, like Judas, who criticize true worship.  What did she do to cause her to come forward?  That kind of attitude puts off a stinky smell, not a sweet fragrance.

B.       Vs 5, Judas sees Mary’s gift of love as extravagance and waste.

1. This attitude is around today.  “Why give that much to the church?  We could use that money for other things.”  Some folks don’t understand giving because they don’t understand worship.

2. Judas, as many today, thought the money could be better spent on welfare instead of on worship.

3. It is not waste to support the worship of the church or to support Gospel preaching missionaries.

C.      Vs 6, The word for thief here is very interesting.  It is the Greek kleptes from which we get our work kleptomaniac.

1. Judas was a thief.  He had been stealing from the church.

2. He didn’t care about the poor; he cared about lining his own pocket.  A lot of the political talk about helping the poor is hog wash.

 

III.      VSS 7-8, JESUS VINDICATES MARY

A.       Vs 7, Jesus rebukes Judas by saying: “Let her alone; against the day of my burying hath she kept this.”

1. Mary had learned much at Jesus’ feet.  She had come to faith in the Gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection.

a. She knew Jesus was going to die and had “kept this” spikenard for Him.

b. Because Mary believed Psalm 16:10 the body of Jesus would need no spices; because she believed in the resurrection, she anointed His body a week before burial as an act of worship.

2. Search the scriptures; you’ll not find Mary of Bethany at the cross.  Mary the mother of Jesus is there.  You’ll not find her at the tomb; you’ll find Mary Magdelene there.  She believed in the glorious resurrection.  She was looking for a resurrected Christ.