John 12:1-11. Responses to Jesus
In John’s gospel, the first 3 years of Jesus’ ministry is covered in chapters 1 to 11. The rest of the book, chapters 12 to 20 describes the events of just one week. This surely demonstrates how central the death and resurrection of Jesus is.
This story about Mary pouring an expensive ointment onto Jesus marks the start of this last week. It also demonstrates how Jesus Christ divides everything. People either love him or detest him. Jesus divides humanity, families, friendships and our eternal destiny. He divides the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the light from the dark, the forgiven and the unforgiven. He has divided dates into Before Christ, BC or after Christ AD.
Does everyone here know why John wrote his gospel? Please turn on to the end of chapter 20:31 where John writes:
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31
John wrote to tell everyone that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh, fully God and fully man. He is the only Saviour, our only hope of eternal life, we must believe in him which in Bible terms means we must really love him.
Let us look at:
1. The Setting
2. The Guests
3. The Division
1. The Setting
Chapter 11 gives us a detailed description of how Jesus’ friend Lazarus died. Jesus is told that Lazarus is ill but he delays returning to Bethany saying:
“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4
Two days later Jesus, the Son of God decides to travel back to Jerusalem where there were many who hated him:
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” John 11:8
The disciples did recognise that to return to Jerusalem would be a death sentence, certainly for Jesus:
“Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” John 11:16
Jesus was determined to be in Jerusalem for the Passover feast and the reason is clear, he knew that he himself was going to be the Passover lamb that was to be sacrificed.
So Jesus returned to to Bethany, a small village just two miles east of Jerusalem, on the road that goes past the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. When they arrive at the home of his friends Mary and Martha they learn that Lazarus had been in the tomb for 4 days already. It was the organised Martha who told Jesus this news.
“Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:23-27
It was soon after this that Jesus goes to raise Lazarus from the dead. The effect on a large crowd there was dramatic. Many came to believe in Jesus. However the news that Jesus had returned and was doing miracles got back to the Pharisees who immediately called the Sanhedrin together. Caiaphas then made that profound statement:
“You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” John 11:50
The Sanhedrin made the decision:
“So from that day on they plotted to take his life.” John 11:53
After Lazarus had been raised it seems that Jesus then left the area. It was too early for his death. Jesus was to be the final Passover lamb who would die at Passover time. Just as the first Passover lamb was slain so the Jews could be freed from Egyptian slavery so Jesus was to be slain so that many from all nations could be saved and put right with God. Jesus had to wait till the passover feast approached.
“Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.” John 11:54
John carefully describes the atmosphere in Jerusalem:
“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.” John 11:55-57
No wonder no-one expected Jesus to be there, to attend the passover would be fatal for him. This background is important as it explains what Mary did at that supper.
2. The Guests
It was now the Saturday, six days before the Passover. The following Friday Jesus would be crucified. All four of the gospel writers describe this meal and the guests - they all recognised that it was important. Matthew and Mark say that it took place in the house of Simon the Leper who also lived in Bethany. He couldn’t still be a leper as all lepers had to be strictly isolated. He must have been Simon the ex-leper. The only way that could have happened in those days is if Jesus had healed him. It must have been quite a meal, can you imagine the conversation that went on with those three special guests, Lazarus, the ex-dead man, Simon an ex-leper and Jesus who was about to be killed because he had helped save these two men.
At the end of chapter 11 the authorities had demanded that if anyone knew the whereabouts of Jesus they had to report him. Yet Simon, Lazarus, Mary and Martha meet together to celebrate Jesus. Can you imagine the scene, all relaxing, lying around a low U-shaped table. Martha, of course was the one who served the meal.
Martha
Martha does get a bad press because of what Jesus said to Martha earlier when she had complained that her sister Mary preferred to listen to Jesus than help with the dishes:
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42
But surely her attitude of service is essentially admirable. Martha is the sort of person who works hard and keeps everything going. The Bible always honours those who serve. Jesus asked:
“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:27
Jesus also looked ahead to his second coming when astonishingly he himself, the master, will serve us, his servants:
“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” Luke 12:27
Paul could say to the Ephesian elders:
“I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.” Acts 20:19
Yes, we Christians are all called to serve the Lord Jesus in his church:
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13
Martha’s mistake was not being servant hearted but to worry so much about the details that she was missing what was really important, loving Jesus deeply.
So serving others is a noble role, but it must be based on first listening to and serving God. Meals are significant for a short time, listening to the Lord has eternal value.
Mary
She is the heroine of this story. Jesus is deeply valued. Mary shows us what a proportional response to the Lord Jesus really is. At first what she does seems a bit unhinged and over the top. To behave in situations in a rational balanced way is what we want to see in our children and grand-children. At supper you often hear words such as ‘I hate this’, when they should really be saying ‘I am a little disappointed by this choice of menu.’ Their response is not proportionate.
What is the proper response to the Lord Jesus, how much is he worth? A Christian who had recently become a Christian was told by his parents,
“It is lovely that you go to church and have some good friends but we wonder if Jesus is taking over your life a bit too much.”
A politician said,
“We recognise that Christianity offers an important social function, so long as people don’t get too worked up about it.”
So was Mary’s response a bit unbalanced when she took a pint of pure nard? Matthew tells us that this was contained in an alabaster container. This was a white jar that had been carved out of stone. Nard is a very rare herb, grown in high pasture lands in China, Tibet and India. Judas tells us that it was worth 300 denarii, roughly a years wages so today would be worth about £35,000.
There are several ideas about why such perfumed ointment was kept. It could be used to coat the body when someone dies, but Lazarus had died a little earlier and it hadn’t been used for that. Had she kept it for Jesus? It could also be kept as a valuable item so it could be used as a dowry or it could simply be used to make ladies smell nice.
Matthew 26:7 and Mark 14:3 both tell us that Mary broke the alabaster jar and poured the perfume on Jesus head. In the Old Testament kings were anointed with oil, just as the sovereigns of England still are. When the head of Jesus was anointed it is surely out of recognition that he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Yet John emphasises that Mary anointed his feet and then let her hair down to wipe his feet. The difference is because Matthew and Mark are emphasising Jesus is King and was anointed just as Saul, David and other kings in the Old Testament were. John is emphasising the mission of Jesus and we need to understand the meaning of feet in the Bible, how it talks of ‘the feet of one who brings good news’, how our feet are ‘shod with the readiness that comes form the gospel of peace’, but there isn’t enough time to explain this in detail now. If interested go to my website (www.bvpalmer.com) and write in the search box ‘feet’ and you’ll find an article there.
John adds that the whole house was filled with the aroma of this perfume - now we Christians are the aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:15).
This was the second time that Jesus had been anointed. The first was up in Galilee at a supper in the house of a Pharisee. We can read about this in Luke 7:37. On that occasion the woman was someone who had been a prostitute, whose tears fell on Jesus’ feet which she then kissed, wiped with her hair and then poured on some perfume. The reason that woman had done this may have been that Jesus was reclining at a meal so it may be that only his feet were accessible. The reason she did this was because she understood that God had forgiven her many sins in contrast to the Pharisee who didn’t realise how much he needed to be forgiven.
On this occasion in John’s gospel the lesson is very different. Why did Mary pour out this very valuable commodity on Jesus?. It was lavish, to the point of being ridiculous. It was generous to the extreme. It showed humility to the point of humiliation. John however wants us to understand that Mary got this right.
The evidence is that this was not just a spontaneous whim of the moment but a carefully considered action. She would have had to bring the jar of perfume with her as that meal was not in her house. Remember the sequence, in the previous chapter her brother Lazarus had died and then Jesus had raised him to life. Mary, as well as Jesus’ disciples, knew that the authorities were determined to kill Jesus because the raising of Lazarus had resulted inso many people were turning to believe in Jesus. Everyone knew that there was an order out for his arrest and what that would mean.
Lazarus is obviously key, he is mentioned in verses 1, 2, and 9. In the previous chapter we read three times that Jesus loved Lazarus. It was because of the public reaction to the raising of Lazarus that led to the High Priest being determined to kill Jesus. Jesus had been warned that if he goes down to Jerusalem he would be killed and it was the raising of Lazarus that had kindled this hatred.
At this dinner party it seems clear that Mary knew that Jesus was facing an imminent death. What would you do for the person you knew to be God’s Messiah and who has shown God’s power and glory by giving life back to your dead brother? This Jesus had been willing to come and help them in their time of need and he had done this at the almost certain cost of his own life. Here before her was the man who was so full of love and yet he would probably soon be dead. This was one last chance to show her love for her king and her God.
Surely nothing is too much to give for the Lord Jesus. Remember the response of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus after Jesus had been executed. They openly asked Pilate for his body and that took great courage, it was a risky thing to do in that environment. A proportionate response to who Jesus is and what he has done for you and me, is to give all to him.
After his resurrection Jesus asked Peter, who had denied him three times,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me, do you really love me?”
“You know I do”.
Peter then went on to give his life in the service of Jesus to the point of being killed. That was some price too! His subsequent actions showed he really did love Jesus.
If anyone listening to this is feeling a failure, hard done by or worn down by problems this can be a hard message but actually it is the road to freedom. Like Peter the door is always open to start again. Giving our whole lives in the service of Jesus sets us free.
Judas
Judas undervalues Jesus, he does not repent, and consequently he is always the bad guy in the New Testament and has been ever since. A traitor is always called ‘a Judas’. John can’t mention him without adding ‘who was later to betray him’ (John 12:4). However, look at verse 5, doesn’t Judas have a point, the poor surely do matter to God? In Matthews gospel we read that what Judas thought was actually shared by the other disciples:
“When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Matthew 26:8-9
They had all misunderstood Mary’s motives. How easy it is to misunderstand people.
John Calvin in his commentary wrote,
“There are times when Judas’ argument would be true.”
Deuteronomy 15 demands that God’s people have an open hand and generous heart for the poor. Surely it was a scandal for medieval bishops to spend vast sums of money on their palaces, expenses and luxuries but Mary’s point is different. She is saying that someone matters even more.
Judas motives were wrong. He was a thief who kept dipping his hand into the groups expenses purse. Jesus recognises people’s motives and he knew Mary’s motive:
““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:7-8
Mary loved Jesus and she understood, much better than the others, that Jesus was soon to die. She believed what he had repeatedly said to his followers.
From this time on the countdown to his death has started, Jesus really would become the Passover lamb, so that people could be saved for eternity. Do you remember how the passover lambs had to be close to the family for a week before it was killed? Here is Jesus close to his friends just a week before he dies. Mary seems to have understood all this, the men were much slower!
Judas is called a robber but was this just his pilfering? The real reason was that he could look at Jesus, his life, his glory and his death full in the face and not care less. He was self-centred, not like Mary. He only cared for himself, he only thought in this world’s terms. He was so foolish to treat Jesus in the way he did and only came to understand what he had done too late. He is saying, in contrast to Mary, ‘I do not love him’ even though he was in the privileged position of being a member of Jesus’ inner group. Sadly there are people today in our churches whose hearts do not really love Jesus.
Mary certainly did love Jesus and this was shown by what she did. Judas’ hypocritical relationship with Jesus was also shown by the way he thought and acted. The way people think and act shows what we really think about Jesus.
3. The Division
Wherever Jesus goes he divides people such as Mary and Judas. He divides people over the use of money, do we value our belongings more than we value Jesus. To we give generously to support his rule?
There are two other groups in this story.
The crowd
“Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.” John 12:9
They seem to have been as interested in Lazarus as much as Jesus. They were probably fascinated byJesus because of the miracles and they wanted to see this man who Jesus had raised for the dead. Look on to verse 12:
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’ John 12:12-13
Jesus knew how fickle people are. Later they cried, ‘Crucify him’. Today it is not hard to fill a church if you give them the spectacular but sham Christians don’t really love Jesus in the way Mary did.
The religious leaders
What a tragedy this is when religious leaders, church leaders, put pleasing the world above pleasing the Lord Jesus. They are happy to keep a belief in God and to keep religious observances but they hate what Jesus stands for because he undermines what they are doing and their reputation:
“So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.” John 12:10-11
Religious leaders not only hate Jesus and what he taught but also all those who promote Jesus.
Look at what happened to men such as Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley and Tyndale. They were hated by political church leaders at the time and were killed for their faith. They all had an eternal dimension to their thinking in contrast to the worldly religious leaders in power. Latimer’s last words to Ridley, as they were burned at the stake in Oxford on October 16, 1555 because they proclaimed the faith Jesus taught, the same faith that we teach here:
“Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
Latimer’s words encouraged Ridley to stand firm, believing their sacrifice would ignite a lasting movement for the Gospel. Their love for Jesus, shown by the way they stood up for him when others didn’t like what Jesus and his apostles taught has indeed been a light for us to follow ever since.
Jim Elliot was a young man with a deep passion for spreading the Gospel. He was preparing to become a missionary when he wrote in his diary:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
The quote reflects his willingness to give up his life for the sake of bringing eternal salvation to others. Some years later he left to evangelize the unreached Auca people in Ecuador, knowing the risks involved. He and his four friends were killed by Auca warriors. Despite their deaths, their work led to the eventual conversion of the tribe, including some of those who had killed them. His wife, Elisabeth Elliot, later continued their mission among the Aucas and they became a Christian tribe.
Ourselves
Will our love for Jesus be costly like that of Mary. Does the death of Jesus mean as much to us? Are we willing to publicly align ourselves with Jesus? Do all those we work with and our neighbours know that we love him?
Does serving Jesus cost us financially. Are we supporting both financially and with our time groups that promote the sharing of the message about Jesus and who tell people how they can be saved and put right with God? Serving Jesus on that day cost Mary a year’s wage. Does Jesus mean that much to each of us?
BVP
