Uncomfortably Devoted | Dave Sloop

We are glad you're here. Let's dive in.

We're just getting into what theologians call the book of glory. It is the last week of Jesus' life, and it takes the rest of the book. Before we get into the text that we're gonna look at today, I had a thought that I wanted to share.

How many of you have an app on your phone—like "On This Day" or "Timehop"—that generates pictures from the past? Your kids, anybody? It's surprising. I'm like the only one that has this. But every day, just about, Melissa and I are getting these notifications from memories that happened when our kids were like two and three years old. And we watch these videos, and it just reminds us of how precious they were, and it just takes us back to that moment.

And recently, it got me thinking: wouldn't it be fun if we had a timehop for the gospel encounters that Jesus had with people? And I wonder if you could pick one encounter that Jesus had with another human being to witness, which one would you pick? There's so many good ones to choose from.

Maybe you would pick Zacchaeus, where Jesus, against all odds, picks the one person that no one would have expected him to pick and said, "Zacchaeus, come down. I must go home to your house today," and the massive transformation that follows in Zacchaeus' life.

Or maybe you would pick the conversation that Jesus has in John chapter four with the woman at the well, where he knows everything about her life. And instead of running away from him, she's drawn to him and says, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did."

Or maybe you would pick the bleeding woman who had suffered for twelve or thirteen years with this horrible life-altering condition, but at one touch from Jesus, her life has completely changed. That would have been a fun one to witness.

Or maybe John chapter five: the man who, after thirty-eight years of being paralyzed, he meets Jesus. He has an encounter with him, and at his word, he stands up. I wonder which one you would pick.

But what if we altered the question just a little bit and asked this: if Jesus could only pick one for you and me to know—if he could pick one that we could see and digest and understand, that we would see the looks on the people's faces, that we would hear the tone of Jesus' voice and understand what he was feeling and thinking in that moment—which one would he pick?

I wanna suggest to you that there's an answer to that question. I might be going out on a limb, but I think there is an answer to that second question: which one would Jesus want us to see? And I've based it on a scripture that I'm gonna share with you in just a moment.

But today, we're going to be looking at the anointing of Jesus by Mary in a little town called Bethany during a celebration dinner that is being thrown for him. And in a very public way, Mary is going to take an incredibly expensive bottle of ointment that we're gonna talk more about, and she pours it on Jesus. And this public act is going to invite scorn from the crowd, but high praise from the king. He loves what she does. He loves it so much that not only does he defend her action to the crowd, he says something that is so extreme, so over the top—in fact, he doesn't say anything anywhere close to this in all of the gospel accounts about something that someone does.

I want you to see in Matthew's account of the same encounter that we're gonna look at today from John's gospel. Look at what Matthew records Jesus saying in Matthew 26:

Truly, I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. — Matthew 26

I want you to let that sink in for just a moment, because it seems like what Jesus is suggesting here is that there's two things that will be proclaimed in the whole world. One of them is his gospel, and the second one is what she did. It almost sounds as if Jesus is making her action essential to a right understanding of the gospel. That's a big, bold claim that Jesus makes.

It also explains in John chapter 11, verse two, when John says, "Mary's the one who anointed Jesus." Before he even tells the story in John chapter 12, he says, "She's the one." You know why he said that? Because everybody had already heard it. Because Jesus said, "Wherever the gospel is proclaimed, you talk about what she did."

So it is important that we understand a few things about what is going on here. Number one, here are the three questions I want us to consider as we look at this encounter from John's gospel. Number one: what is it that she did?

What is it that was so significant and unique about this action that Jesus thought we need to record this in history, and it needs to be shared alongside of my gospel? Number two, what is its essential connection to the proclamation of the gospel? Why is Jesus seeming to say here, you take away Mary's response and what it points to and symbolizes, something will be missing. And third, how can we do what Mary does? What is it that we are to draw and learn from Mary's sacrifice? And as Matthew and Mark put it, when Jesus says, she has done a beautiful thing to me. What is so beautiful about it that we ought to figure out how we can emulate in our life? Those are the three questions.

The Six Days Before Passover

Let's take a look starting in verse one of John chapter 12:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus, therefore, came to Bethany where Lazarus was whom Jesus had raised from the dead. — John 12:1

John says six days before the Passover. Now if you remember when we started John's gospel, we saw a lot of similarities between Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, and John's account of the life of Jesus. Both of them start with "in the beginning." And then you see this sort of Jesus meeting people and it just keeps saying, in the next day, in the next day, in the next day. And I think it's meant to point back to the creation narrative that John is telling you, a new creation event is happening. And I don't know this for sure. This is somewhat speculative. But I wonder if the reason that John draws our attention here to another six day period is he's inviting us to consider that in six days, another new creation event is about to take place. Six days to create the world. In six days, I'm gonna recreate the world. If you remember in Genesis, on day six of creation, what happens? Man, Adam is created. In six days from this moment, what will happen? Jesus, or who Paul refers to in First Corinthians 15 as the last Adam, will die. And through his death, a new creation, a new people will be created. Old creation, new creation. Whether or not that's what John intends here, that is precisely what would happen.

Here's the second thing I want you to notice from that verse. It says, "six days before the Passover, Jesus, therefore, came to Bethany." I wonder why that "therefore" is there. There's a reason. Do you remember what was happening at the end of John chapter 11 after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead? The religious leaders put together a plot to kill Jesus. Jesus goes into hiding not because he's afraid to die, but because it's not time yet. He goes off into the wilderness to a land called Ephraim and there he waits for a few months.

It says that there were some Jews that came up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves, which is always a concerning phrase whenever we try to purify ourselves. But they say, I wonder if Jesus will show up. Will he be a faithful Jew and come to Jerusalem for the Passover? Why did they ask that question? Because they knew that if he came, he would be walking into the lion's den. They knew it and they knew that he knew it. And they wonder if he had the courage or if he would stay in a place of safety. John tells us six days before the Passover, therefore, Jesus came to Bethany. He wants us to know Jesus knew exactly where he was going, that he was marching towards the cross from the day he was born and he knew it.

In fact, later in this chapter, he's going to say—we're gonna look at this passage in a couple of weeks—he's gonna say:

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears fruit. — John 12:24-25

He'll go on to say, "My heart is troubled, but what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No. It is for this purpose that I have come." Jesus came to die. He is not a martyr. Did you know that? He said in John chapter 10:

Nobody takes my life. I lay it down. — John 10:18

He was not a victim. He was a volunteer. And on this day, he comes back to Bethany on his way to Jerusalem because he knew, I'm going to die in six days. But notice how his coming into Jerusalem for his death intersects with this party that's being had in his honor.

The Dinner in His Honor

It says in verse two:

So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served as she always did, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. — John 12:2

When you look at Matthew and Mark's account of this same encounter, you get a full picture that this dinner took place at a man's house named Simon the leper. He was likely a man whose life had been transformed by Jesus, a leper who had been healed by him. Who knows? Maybe he was the guy who came up and fell on his knees. In any case, this man had been healed by Jesus, likely, and he was there. The other person mentioned is Lazarus, who had died and now whose life had been restored. You have a leper there who had been restored to community.

If you were a leper, you were isolated off in a leper colony. You couldn't interact with normal society. Jesus gave him his life back metaphorically, but Jesus literally gave Lazarus his life back, and they were celebrating. You can imagine the celebration that was taking place on that day. Martha was there serving, but Jesus was there on his way to the cross. And you just wonder, did anybody have any clue what he was heading towards?

Verse three, 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 fragrance of the perfume. We could spend the rest of our time on this one verse, but let me just point out a few things from what we just read.

First of all, it said that she took about a pound—it's 12 ounces, like the size of a can of soda—of an expensive ointment made from something called pure nard. It was a rare scent. And back in those days, because people weren't taking lots of showers, these scents were important, but this one in particular was incredibly rare, incredibly expensive. In fact, we're gonna learn later in this passage that it was about 300 denarii, which was about an annual year's salary for someone. Fifty to $70,000 would have been the value of what she pours out on Jesus' feet.

When you look at both narratives, you realize she doesn't just dab his feet with the perfume because in Matthew's gospel, it says that she breaks this alabaster jar, meaning that she emptied it. And in Mark's account, it's poured on his head and here in John also on his feet. Mary takes her most treasured possession. The fact that it was in an alabaster jar lends credence to the possibility that this might have been a family heirloom that was passed down, an inheritance. It would have made up, if not the majority of, a significant portion of her family's net worth.

In fact, some people believe that women who were unmarried had something like this as a sense of security to secure her future in the event that she did not get married. Or in their case, let's say their brother dies and they have no means to gain an income. They have something with which to sustain themselves, to live on. This represented all that she had in material possessions, and she empties it on Jesus' feet. She gives him everything.

Second thing, she empties it on his feet. If you remember, at the beginning of John's gospel, we hear John the Baptist say this really interesting thing:

The feet of whom whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie.

I'm not worthy to go near this person's feet. John, in a sense, is saying, my hands are too holy for his feet. Mary's saying something similar here. She's saying, my very best, my most treasured possession is worthy of his lowest part. In that culture, slaves didn't even have to touch feet. Like, if you had a slave, you were not allowed to require them to wash your feet. That's how low in that culture that would have been. And Mary was saying, my very best is a perfect spot for this lowest part of who you are. She gives him all of her worship, all of her devotion, and she just empties it out on his feet.

The third thing I want you to notice, it says that she wipes his feet with her hair. If you remember in First Corinthians 11, verse 15, Paul describes the woman's long hair as her glory. She takes her glory and uses it as an instrument of service to her master. The very best part of me is available to you. She's essentially saying here, Jesus, there is no task too low for you to ask me to do.

Also, Tim Keller points out that in that culture, your hair—women just did not let their hair down in public. That was a disgraceful thing to do. You just didn't do it. You only did that at home with those you were most intimate with and safe with. This was an undignified act, which is part of the reason people were so incensed and offended by it.

That passage we looked at from Second Samuel where David worships in a linen ephod in front of the ark of the covenant, he would say to Michal after that when she despises him in her heart for it:

I will be more undignified than that in service and in love for my God.

You get the sense that Mary had the same spirit and heart about her. But even more, it's just like she wasn't even considering who else was there.

Let me summarize. Mary said, all that I have is yours. All that I am is yours. I am at your service. The very best parts of me are available to you, whatever you ask. You have access to my bank account, my calendar, all of my time and attention, but most importantly, perhaps, all of my affection. I'm yours, heart and soul.

Listen to how Judas responds to this act from Mary. It says:

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. We know he didn't care about the money because in just a few days, Judas would betray Jesus for about a thousand dollars of value. He was incensed by this excessive, wasteful display of worship. Being devoted to him is one thing, but this is just wasteful. This could have been used for something of value to feed the poor. Jesus will have none of that.

"Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial." — John 12:7

In Matthew and Mark's account of this, Jesus says she has done a beautiful thing to me. She has anointed me for the day of my burial. Mary had a sense somehow of what was going on that day in a way that maybe nobody else did.

"For the poor, you will always have with you, but you do not always have me." — John 12:8

That is what Mary did. But here's the second question: What is that action's essential connection to the gospel? Why would Jesus say, look, everywhere that my gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, you need to also tell this story. What is the essential connection? It's almost like he's saying, the gospel needs to be proclaimed, and a proper response to the gospel needs to be displayed. He's saying this is what it should look like. This is the normal response to what I have done. And anywhere the gospel is proclaimed, you'd better make sure that people understand that this is what it should look like.

The Normal Christian Life

I'm reading a book right now at the recommendation of my friend Nathan Kerr called Normal Christian Life written by a man named Watchman Nee. And in that book, he said, the question we're going to be considering in this book is what is the normal Christian life? And what he means by that is what is a biblical Christian life? What is the biblical normal response of a heart that understands who Christ is and what he's done? And he said, what you will find in this study is that the normal Christian life is not the average Christian experience. And the question is, why? And I would suggest to you that part of the reason that it's not is because when you separate the gospel from a proper response to the gospel, something gets lost.

When what is proclaimed from a pulpit or stage like this is, come receive the forgiveness of Jesus, but give him nothing in return—that is an incomplete gospel. Now before, I just want to make sure you don't hear me saying something I'm not intending to say. Jesus is not saying, in order to receive my grace, you'd better respond like Mary. But what he is saying, if you have received my grace, you will. I'm not saying you have to, but you have to. Because if you don't, then you haven't experienced it. You don't understand something. You're like the crowd there that day that was offended by what Mary did. You saw it as unreasonable.

Let me ask you a question. Do you think Mary's love in this narrative that we read was extravagant? And before you answer that, I want you to look at the definition of extravagant from Webster. Extravagant is exceeding the limits of reason or necessity. Is what Mary did extravagant, or was it normal? Was it the reasonable or rational response to someone who truly understands who he is, who I am, and what he's done for me? It is the normal Christian response.

Paul would put it this way in Romans chapter 12.

"Therefore, I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship." — Romans 12:1

What is a living sacrifice? It is you saying, I'm on the altar. All that I have is yours—my calendar, my bank account, my attention, my affection. It's all for you. The problem with a living sacrifice is it can keep getting up off of the altar. The New King James version, slightly different, but there's a word there that the NIV interprets as spiritual that the New King James maintains. The meaning of the word is actually reasonable. And it says there that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Paul is saying, this is what is reasonable when you really understand what it is that he has done for us.

There's an old hymn that says:

We're the whole realm of nature mine, that were a tribute far too small. If everything in the world belonged to me, it wouldn't be enough. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

I want to just give you a picture of this. I want you to imagine for a second that you're a young married couple, or you would probably just be one of the people in that couple. But you are a young person who is married and you've been saving up money, trying to get ahead in this difficult economy.

You finally muster up enough cash to put a down payment on a house. And right before you do, your spouse, who is the primary breadwinner, loses their job. You're devastated because you know that no bank is gonna lend to me. We're not credit worthy. And you're crushed. Your parents call you and they say, "Hey, we'd like to come out and see you." And they fly out to where you are.

Your parents are loving, wonderful people, but they've never had much. You lived in a modest home. You never had much beyond what the necessities of life were. You would have no thought in your mind that maybe they could help you in a situation like this. But they show up, they sit down with you, and you start to share what it is that's going on in your life, and they pull out a check and they hand it to you. You look at it, and it's not a down payment for a house. It is a check for the whole house. A $500,000 check in your hand.

And you look at it, and you say, "Thanks. How was your flight?" Can you imagine responding that way? That would be unreasonable. The normal response would be to fall on your face and weep at this over-the-top generosity that you did not expect. You just had no idea. That is what would be reasonable.

And the question that I'm gonna close asking is: How do we do what Mary did? Because the truth is, you could hear this message and think, "Okay. I need to be more generous. I need to write a bigger check. I need to be willing to be more bold to take a stand for Christ. I'm gonna go to work, I'm gonna put Bible verses on my cubicle and make sure that people know I'm weird for Jesus. I'm gonna do all of this because I wanna be like Mary. I wanna be undignified. I wanna be willing to do all of that because that's what she did."

But here's the catch. There are some things you can will yourself to do. But if you aren't conscious about doing it, if you aren't fully in love and devoted, if it's not spontaneous affection, then you won't be doing what Mary did. Now listen, I'm not overplaying emotion here, but what I'm suggesting to you is that if you want to do what Mary did, if you want a heart like Mary had, then you have to sit where Mary sat, and you have to see what Mary saw.

Sitting at Jesus' Feet

Do you know that every single time Mary shows up in the gospel narrative, do you know where she is? She's at his feet. This is the posture and the picture of true discipleship—that she sits there listening to everything that he has to say, doing everything that he says to do, and she believes it. She believes him.

He said, "I am the resurrection and the life." Let me ask you a question. Was Jesus shy about the fact that he had to come and die? He was not.

Destroy this temple. I'll raise it up. — John 2

In the same way that Moses held up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. — John 3

I'm the bread of life who gives his flesh for the life of the world. — John 6

I will not be with you much longer. I am going away. — John 7

I am the good shepherd, and I lay down my life for my sheep. No one takes it from me. I lay it down on my own accord. — John 10

Mary, more than anybody else on that day, is the picture of the disciple who sits at Jesus' feet and gets it. In John chapter 11, he raises Lazarus from the dead, a plot to kill Jesus is put into place. He comes back to town and she sees it. In fact, if you look again at that verse three, it says:

Therefore, Mary took a pound of pure nard. — John 12:3

Therefore. What was that "therefore"? She knew. She knew that he was coming to die. She might not have understood the full extent of it, but she knew that somehow, in order to give us life, he's on his way to his death. And as Mark describes it, Jesus says, "She did what she could. She gave what she had. She gave it all." Not because it was calculated, not in response to some command. She just couldn't help herself.

Why? Because she considered his death. She understood who he was, what he came to do, and that what he came to do was for her.

The Call to Devotion

Is your heart—let me ask you this question, not to cause shame to any of us—is your heart unaffected? I mean, really, you don't have to answer that out loud, but you should in your heart. Is your heart unaffected by what Christ has done?

If it is, just know that at least one of your pastors here at Church of the Holy Spirit, at times, struggles with the same thing, and Tim would be more than happy to meet with you and talk to you about that. We all get caught up in the world that we live in and our hearts get stale.

If your heart isn't moved by what Christ has done for you, then you need to go sit where Mary sat, and you need to stay there until you start to see what she saw that nobody else did. Because, you see, it's at that moment, at the precise moment that you start to understand: his death was for me.

Then you won't have to will yourself to pour it all out for him because you will realize it is just a natural response of understanding he did it first. My self-emptying love will necessarily be in response to me understanding and seeing his self-emptying death and love on a cross that he went to for you. Okay?

Did he die for the collective? Sure. Is he gonna call them by name? Yes. He died for you, specifically, particularly. When that sinks in, you can't help it. Are you there? Then go get where Mary got. Sit at his feet until it becomes your reality.

Prayer

Lord, we need you. I pray that you'd come and give us proper hearts, this natural response to your gospel. Lord, would you protect us from what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace, where we just come, get forgiveness, and give you nothing in return. Lord, that is not the gospel because we don't understand it if we give you nothing in return. Lord, would you give us biblical, normal, responsive Christian hearts, we pray. Christ's name. Amen.