Well if you would turn with me back to the gospel according to John chapter 11 it's been a it's been a minute since we have been in since I've been back to this series I think I spoke the last time. I think it was over Thanksgiving or something. No, it must have been since then. But anyway, so we're back to our series in John. And if you remember, the last time we spoke here in the gospel, we seen one of the most amazing miracles that our Lord ever did was found here in John 11 with the raising of Lazarus. This was probably the pinnacle, if we might say, of his miraculous power demonstrated here in his ministry. I mean he demonstrated his power in a very public way that time. And if you remember we were looking at some of the details of this miracle and they're actually quite striking. You have various of these details that stood out to me at least, and one of them was that Jesus intentionally waited. He waited two days. Another thing that stood out was his love for the family, how that he had a relationship with Mary and Martha and Lazarus. And then also, you had the people's involvement that kind of stood out to me. Kind of a, maybe an analogy of how God even works today, that he uses certain means. A lot of times he uses human means. The rolling away of the stone, for instance, or the loosening of the grave clothes. I mean, the Lord said, someone roll the stone away. And then he also said, hey, you know, loose him and let him go. You also have the detail of Lazarus being in the tomb for four days. That's a pretty amazing detail. You also have Jesus raising Lazarus by command. I think that is a very noteworthy detail. He didn't lay hands on him. He did the same thing in that account of Lazarus that he did 4,000 years earlier. When he said, let there be light. And there was light. He said, Lazarus, come forth. And it was so. So all these details, they speak of an indisputable fact. of Lazarus rising from the dead by the power of Jesus Christ. It was a public setting. There would have been no way for this to be hidden. With that many people and that amazing of a sign to have this somehow squelched, let's not talk about it. The mainstream media is not going to pick this up. They couldn't be hidden. And as a matter of fact, it couldn't be denied. It was of such a nature that it was just a very, very profound event. And we'll get into some of that as we pick up here in John 11, in verse 45. And as we read through the end of John 11, I want to continue reading through 12, 11. From verses 11, 45 through John 12, 11. That will be the text for us today. And we'll see some of these points. But I want to title this message today, it's a little bit of a lengthening title, but it's simply the consequences of Lazarus' resurrection. And as we read through here, I think you may pick up on why I titled it in such a fashion. The Consequences of Lazarus' Resurrection. Let's read in John 11, 45. Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered at council and said, What shall we do? For this man works many signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. Isn't that amazing? He wasn't very woke, was he? You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish. Now this he did not say on his own authority, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. Then from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with his disciples. And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. Then they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple. What do you think, that He will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him. Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? This he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box, and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, Let her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. For the poor you have with you always, but me you do not have always. Now a great many of the Jews knew that he was there, and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on him." What an amazing hard-heartedness that is seen here. You know, Lazarus was a spectacle. I'd say we'd have probably traveled, with the ease that we can travel today, we'd probably have driven 500 miles to talk to him, wouldn't you? I mean here was a man who was brought back from the grave. So in verses 45 and 46 we immediately we see the classic two groups. Right here at the beginning of this passage, we see these classic two groups of people, those who believe and those who oppose. And as one commentator points out, he said, every great work of God produces both of these. That wherever there's a great work of God, there's some who discredit it and discount it and even oppose it. And then there are those who believe and are drawn to Christ. And to me, as we spent this time going through the gospel of John until now, It seems to me like this is a truth that stands out brilliantly to me from the Gospel of John. That there are two groups of people. Just over and over and over you come, you see it at the pool of Bethesda, you see it in the healing of the blind man. It's over and over and over there's these two groups of people. Those who are fascinated and even drawn to Christ and believe in Him because of the signs and those who are, you know, enemies of Christ it doesn't matter what he does for what good work do you you know you punish me for he says so we see that again and again and again through the gospel of John here And that has really stood out to me in studying through this and looking at it. And we see it even within the first 12 verses of chapter 1. And I'll just remind you of what that says. It's verse 11 and 12 of John 1. He says this way, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. There's the one side. But as many as did receive Him, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. Verse 13, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. You have this picture, the Bible brings it clear to us again and again. that there are these who oppose and those who believe. And you have it in 2 Corinthians 2 again. I want to read 2 Corinthians 2, chapter 2, verses 14 through 17, where Paul says this way, Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God," now get this, to God, for we are to God, the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. Verse 16, to the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things, Paul asks, for we are not as so many Peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as from God we speak in the sight of God in Christ and And here today we have this picture in the gospel of John where to some the message of Christ was an aroma of life Leading to life and on the other side. It was an aroma of death leading to death Now the first point we want to just consider here is this council here in the first section. We had this amazing miracle happen. Lazarus was resurrected out of the grave. There were many witnesses. Some, it says, who seen the things Jesus did believed in him, but some of them Some of them, it says, went away to the Pharisees who knew that the Pharisees were his bitterest enemies, went to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. And so this council, it says here in verse 45, then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, so this council is the council of the Sanhedrin, it's a body of 70 men. And they're primarily made up of Sadducees. Most of them were Sadducees, but they are made up of Pharisees and chief priests, and it's the highest judicial court or body in Israel. And they were responsible for various things, but the Romans let them make judgments as long as they didn't kill anybody. They could not administer capital punishment, but they could sit in judgment over the affairs of Israel, especially in areas of religion. And so that's what we see here today in relation to Judaism. This was the highest court in Israel. Now, when they received this word from these guys who had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus, they received word from them and said, hey, this guy was raised from the dead. And it was a big enough deal to the council that they said, well, we better call a meeting. And that's exactly what they did. The Pharisees, the chief priests gathered a council together, and that's what they did. And it reminded me so much of Psalm 2. Where it says, Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces, and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. There are so many correlations here to what Psalm 2 is saying, and we see that God was not defeated by this council. His name is undefeated still. These chief priests and Pharisees, they gathered together a council and says, well, what shall we do? What are we going to do about this? They were actually the Lord's bitterest enemies while He was here. They were anti-Christ in just about every aspect as far as it came to the teaching and the person of the Lord Jesus. Well, let me just ask this question. What were they afraid of? What were these chief priests and this council, these Pharisees, what were they afraid of? How did this miracle cause anyone any harm? I mean, on the contrast, you had this wonderful miracle where this family was restored. You had Lazarus brought back from the grave. It was a good thing. It was not anti-Roman in any means. I mean, even the Lord Jesus was teaching to give tribute to Rome. He said, well, whose inscription is on this coin? What give to Caesar? Whatever Caesar demands. Or what is Caesar's? He said. It's not like Jesus was teaching an insurrection here. So, what were they scared of? Well, I want to point something out here. When they said, what shall we do? For this man works many signs. These people, this is I think an important point, these people were in opposition to Jesus Christ knowing. They were knowingly against this man even though they knew he was a man working many signs. They couldn't deny his miracle working power, his very enemies. They couldn't deny that he did these things. You know, they were simply... They had to admit that he does many signs, and this seems a bit different from chapter nine, where they investigated the case of the blind man's healing. Remember how many times did they ask the blind man's parents, or even the blind man, said, well, how did you get to see? And the blind man finally became frustrated and said, well, do you also want to become his disciples? You know, it was kind of, humorous there that he would he would uh... say that to them but they so they were investigating there but here there is no plausible deniability in john eleven there's no way that you can that even his very enemies can deny that this man does many amazing miraculous signs and we are still opposed to him we it doesn't matter if he does these miracles or signs we are still opposed to him You know, Lazarus, he died, he was buried, buried for four days. Yet he is here among us with many witnesses to these events. These people, this council could not deny this. Their opposition was not from ignorance. It was not from ignorance, but rather from willful unbelief. These signs spoke of the identity of the Lord Jesus. But they refused to listen. And we see in verse 48 why it is so. Why it is that these people were so obstinate and unwilling to submit themselves to the lordship of Christ. But first, I want to notice the arrogance. I want to notice the arrogance that comes from just unregenerate authority. Notice what they say here. What shall we do? if we let him alone like this now john mentioned brother john mentioned this morning about if you want to hear god laugh ask him tell him what your plans are well i think it seems to me like that's exactly what psalm 2 says doesn't it the lord will laugh from heaven i think god was laughing here in john 11 in verses 47 and 48 when they said What shall we do? I mean, if we leave him alone, I mean, everybody's going to follow him. Like, what are you going to do with somebody who can raise somebody from the dead? You see, it's totally illogical that you think you have power over someone who can raise the dead. Isn't that amazing? They were so arrogant. They were so preoccupied with their position in the council of Israel. That we can limit the Son of God in some fashion? You think so? Interesting that they had this sort of arrogance. If we let Him alone like this... And I think God was just kind of chuckling. I think He was kind of laughing. Because notice, and I'm getting ahead of myself, but here I want to make this point. God said, You are in opposition. You are sitting in council against my Christ, against my anointed, the one whom I have set up in my holy hill as king. That is what you are setting yourselves up to. I am going to show all my people, all my people from here on out, the glories of my sovereign plan, and I will even prophesy through you. Isn't that amazing? He took Caiaphas and prophesied. He took opposition. The opposition was speaking truth in opposition. I just, I think that's an amazing thing that our God can take our opposition, the opposition of his Holy King that he has set up and prophesied to us. Glory. But let's ask this question. What were they afraid of? They were afraid that if they would let him alone, that he would gain a following. And as he had this following, that the Romans would come and take away our place and nation. They wanted to deny Jesus a following Why? Because it undermined their place and prominence. They didn't want to have anybody infringing on their authority. That's, in a nutshell, what we see here. That's the whole point of Psalm 2. Let us rise up. Let us be in charge. We were going to cast his bans from us. And God says, really? And so, if we let him alone like this, he's going to gain a following, and then the Romans are going to come in here, and they're going to quell this insurrection, and they're going to, in the process, they're going to take away our place and nation. And you know what? It was about 37 years later that their fears were realized. In the destruction of Jerusalem, 37 years later, the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem and took their place and nation. But do you know why that happened? It happened because they did not receive Christ. It wasn't because they stood against Christ. It happened in spite of their fears that this would happen, you see. They feared the Romans more than they feared God. And I want to just show you back here in Luke 19. If you would flip back, I want to read this little excerpt from Luke 19, 41 through 44. Now, as he drew near, and this is speaking of the Lord Jesus, as he drew near, he saw the city and he wept over it. saying, If you had known Jerusalem, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment, around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another." Why? Because you did not know the time of your visitation. You didn't recognize the time when God's grace was upon you, when He welcomed you, when He invited you to come in and hear Him. You did not hear. You know, it's just like it says in Hebrews, that today is the day of salvation. Today is the opportune time for you to come to Christ. But because you won't, and because you have this fear that your place and prominence will be disturbed, that you are going to have to sacrifice yourself, you're going to have to give up yourself, because you fear that, you resist Christ, and because you resist Christ, you have sealed your doom. That's exactly what happened to the Jews. They refuse and if you go to Matthew. I think it's the Matthew account similar to the Luke one I just read. Where he says you who kill the ones who are sent to you. You killed the prophets. You do all these things. I can't quote it. But you do all these things. But there will come a time. when your destruction is assured. Because they did not know the day of their visitation, their destruction was assured because of their response to Christ. Their response to Christ was because of their love to self. Their place, their prominence, their position, their influence, those things were threatened. They went into self-preservation mode and sealed their doom. It's what you see here in this council. Brothers and sisters, this attitude is alive and well today. How many times have we seen this happen because of a great work of God spiritually? These very same things, it follows the same path. You have a spiritual work that God, only God can do. Someone gets born again out of dead religion. And if you can't deny the miracle, you seek to deny the following. All of it is because of a fear of losing place and station. And it's not just for dead religion that this happens. Maybe someone here today even is sitting here and they think, oh, but yes, I can't deny that he is who he says he is. I can't deny his miracle working power. I can see that truth. But I'm just afraid I'm going to lose my place and station. I will no longer be autonomous. I can no longer be in charge, so I will not submit to Him. It's the same problem, you see. I will not submit myself to His Lordship, the one whom Almighty God has set as a king in His holy hill. I'm not going to submit to Him because I might have to surrender. I might have to surrender my will. I might have to give up my way. I'm going to have to give up my position. Yeah, I can't deny that these things are true, that he is a miracle working God, but I'm not ready to submit. I'm not ready to lay my, listen, you're not autonomous anyway. No human is autonomous. We're meant to serve. We were created to serve and we will serve. We're either serving God or we're serving the enemy. And so we're not self-governing. So it's an illusion. It's an illusion anyway that we are in charge and God is chuckling. I think if you are raising your puny little fists and saying, I am going to do my own thing. Well, listen, you're sealing your doom. You are sealing your doom 33 years from now or 37 years from now. Your city is going to be destructed. But as I mentioned earlier, God shows us his immense power and sovereignty in spite of the opposition. And as I mentioned that he used the opposition to prophesy about Christ's notice. What shall we do if this man works many signs? If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. By the way, did you see what they just said? everyone will believe in Him. That's what the enemies of Christ hate. If someone would come to Christ and believe in Him, that's what they don't want. They don't want Him to have a following. But notice what he says in verse 49. This is the point I was wanting to make in regards to Sovereign God using the opposition to prophesy about Christ. And one of them, Caiaphas being high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish. I mean, that sounds, that's sacrificial substitutionary language. One man dies for the nation, and not that all of us should perish. I mean, that's a prophecy. And it's interesting that God made sure that it was Caiaphas who said it. You know why? Because he was the high priest. And the high priest's position was to reveal the will of God to the people. I mean, he was the one who had the Urim and the Thummim on his breastplate. The way I understand it, this has already been lost. But it was his position. That was used to discover the will of God. And it's interestingly, God, our sovereign God, took this position, this office, and prophesied to us that it would be better for Jesus Christ to die for the nation than that the nation should die. Isn't that amazing? He used sacrificial, substitutionary language for the death of Christ. Now he goes on to say that he did it unwittingly. I mean, I think that's, it's a picture of the sovereign power of God to speak to us from the mouth of a donkey. You know, it's pretty much what happened here. This should be a great encouragement for the people of God that the Lord can take those who oppose the gospel and use them to strengthen the faith of those who believe. So what the Lord did is he took from this group over here that opposed him in every fashion and every facet that they could and blessed the people over here who believed in him. Now this he did not say on his own authority. No, he said it on the authority of Christ or on the authority of God. God caused him to say these things. But being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And then in verse 52, and I think here, this is now the Apostle John writing. I don't believe that Caiaphas said verse 52. And not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. Now, you see what the opposition was trying to do is to keep that from happening. The work of Christ was to gather the children of God into one. The Pharisees were and the chief priests were working to keep that following from ever coalescing around Christ. That was their goal was to avoid this following, to keep them from coming together, and here this was the very work that Christ was here for. And it is thought that this verse 52, it may mean that You know, there's a few different possibilities here. I have my thought on it, but here, I mean, it was one commentary thought it might mean the children of Israel that were scattered abroad through the dispersion. Verse 52, and not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. I think it means that all of God's elect, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, were meant to be gathered together and are going to be gathered together in Christ, and that it would not only be for the Jewish nation, but it would gather together all of the elect into one children of God, all of those who were scattered abroad. So in verse 53, we see that from that day on, as a result of the meeting of this council, those had gathered together to set themselves up against the Lord. From that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. This is proof positive that the trial that's just six or seven days later was a sham. I mean, we're this close to the crucifixion and we have this sort of a meeting that they're getting their heads together and they're realizing that this whole council is in agreement. That this Christ has got to be put away. He's got to be gotten rid of. As a result of this meeting, they plotted to put him to death. They were literally endeavoring to find out and figure out how can we destroy this man? Literally they walked in the counsel of the ungodly. They even strengthened one another in their sin and unbelief. And to me, this is a clear illustration that their trial that they had was a sham. They had already decided to kill him. And we know that how many different false, how many different false witnesses did they try to get? And it was this Caiaphas that said, why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard him say that he's the son of God. It was this man. Why do we need any more witnesses? I think that's recorded like three times in the other Gospels that Caiaphas made this comment. All that that trial was for was to give them some sort of an ointment to put on their guilty conscience that we have actually, yes, we had a trial. But it was a farce. Well, so that is on this one side. We have this opposition over here. And it is such a strong opposition that Christ no longer walked publicly. He went and withdrew from them. He went into a wilderness area. It's a little uncertain where this city of Ephraim was, but there he remained with his disciples in a wilderness area. And then with the Passover drawing near, there were Jews who were already going up to Jerusalem. They were going early so that they could purify themselves according to the ritual. of isn't that interesting purifying themselves for you know it just kind of blows your mind doesn't it opposition over here but I'm sure these Sanhedrin were very zealous to make sure that they were ceremonially clean so they could partake of the Passover and they had just condemned the Passover lamb to slaughter And the Passover of the Jews was near, in verse 55, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. Then they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple. What do you think that he will not come to the feast? And the reason this question is asked is because the Sanhedrin had put the word out. You know where this Jesus of Nazareth is. You report it to us so that we can come and get him. And that was why this question was asked in 55. Do you think he's going to come? Do you think he's going to be here? Now both the chief priest and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him. And that's the opposition that our Lord faced within about seven or eight days before his passion. So let's look at the other side. Let's look at this other, in contrast to the chief priests and the Pharisees, we have this other group. And this is that other side of the coin. This is a beautiful picture of why the gospel needs to go out. We have this other group gathered at Simon the leper's house. And here we see it in John 12, but I think it'd be worth our time to go back to Mark 14. If you go back to Mark 14, you have a similar account. Actually, it's the account in a different gospel. Mark 14, excuse me. Let's read here in verse 3. And notice that there are certain things that are clarified here. Mark 14 verse 3, and being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, I skipped verses 1 and 2 which is leading up to the Passover and how the chief priests sought to take him by trickery and put him to death. But they said, not during the feast lest there be an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, As he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on his head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves and said, why was this fragrant oil wasted? I mean, just think about that phrase. It was poured out on the son of God who was fixing to die for our sins. Why was this wasted? You see what a tragic thought that is? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor, and they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish, you may do them good. But me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." Isn't that a beautiful picture? That the Lord said her sacrifice will never, ever be forgotten. Her sacrifice of devotion and worship will always be recounted wherever this gospel is preached. And by the grace of God, I get to do my part in memorializing this woman. So, what we see here is that what John doesn't say is that it was at Simon the leper's house. But in the Mark account, it is clear that they were at the house of Simon the leper. I think I might've told you wrong a couple of weeks ago when I was preaching out of John 11, that Jesus was at Martha and Mary's house here in John 12. The Mark 14 passage makes it clear that it was at Simon the leper's house, but Lazarus was present according to John 12. You see that? So you have Simon the leper, who in the eyes of this council would have been a nobody. I mean, he was unclean, he wasn't fit to eat with. You would never eat with this guy. Now you have Lazarus who was just restored from the dead, and the two are side by side, and Christ in the middle, you might say. Can you imagine? It was a group of misfits. You know, it was a It was an amazing gathering. A gathering of misfits who had at least one thing in common. And that is that they had received grace from Jesus Christ. They had received grace from Jesus Christ and they were in fellowship with Him. You see that? They were sitting at the table with Him, eating. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. True to her nature, Martha served. And so this Simon the leper, we really don't know anything about him except as he is tied in with this occurrence, this incident. We don't know anything else about him, but it's assumed that Christ would have healed him. If he was a leper and he was now in the company of other people, it's assumed that Jesus would have healed him and Lazarus was raised from the dead. So here he was amongst those who he had ministered to. And here in the midst of this supper, in the midst of their fellowship with Martha serving table, Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard. Can you imagine what was going through Mary's heart here? Here she was in the presence of the Lord. He had just restored her brother to her. He had done profound things that no one else had ever done for her. She was profoundly inspired by her. by Him. She was in adoration of this man. I believe, you know, this is not the first time that Mary is associated with the feet of Jesus Christ. She sat at His feet and heard Him speak before. Now she comes with this oil of spikenard, this precious ointment that if you were to do likewise, you would have to work for a whole year to pay for this if you or I did the same it would be one year's labor all poured out at once in just 15 seconds on the head and the feet of the Lord Jesus and that's true here it says feet that she anointed his feet The mark account says she anointed his head. I assume by the two accounts that she did both. One apostle accounts on his head and John writes the account as her anointing his feet. And I believe this spikenard represented her adoration and her devotion. that nothing is too costly for me to give, nothing is too great for me to sacrifice, I'm willing to do whatever, I'm willing to give him my best. What did Jesus say? He said, she did what she could. Now who of us can say that? Who of us can say, what would the Lord say about us? She or he did what he could. That's what he said about her and Mark. She did what she could. She was not just sitting at his feet, but she was giving her best, anointing his feet. And I don't know what was going through Mary's mind. But to Jesus, it was an offering that said, I believe that you're going to die. I am preparing you for burial. I am anointing you before it's time. That's what Jesus said. She has done this unto my burial. And she was giving this in adoration and devotion. It was her worship. You know, she used her hair, it says. Now in other places in the scripture, it indicates that a woman's glory is her hair. Right? It does say so. A woman's glory is her hair. Her most glorious feature is her hair. She laid it at the feet of Christ and she wiped His feet with her glory. Imagine the aroma that went with her for many weeks. Have you ever thought of that? She had the scent of her worship about her for many, many, many weeks. If it filled the house, it stayed in her hair for many, many weeks. That's what happens to someone who worships the Lord. There's an aura. about them. There's an aroma of life unto life you see. To some it's an aroma of death unto death. Because they don't like what they see. They don't want to submit. They don't want to recognize what this worship means. This worship means that I'm no longer on the throne, but He is. And when someone sees you live your life that way, it means that I must get off my throne. And if they don't want to, it's a smell of death to them. But for those who see life coming out of that worship, it is an aroma of life unto life. And she took this scent with her. You know what week it was? It was crucifixion week. The hardest week of her life. Christ was preparing her for the week ahead. He gave her, this was a glorious opportunity for her. Truly, she carried with her the fragrance of Christ. Can you imagine how happy Mary was that she took this opportunity? She wouldn't have had it again. May we have this attitude. This attitude of devotion. You see this contrast? You see the contrast? The contrast of those who hated and the contrast of those who loved. That's what you see here in this account, in this text today. These are consequences of the miracle working power of Lazarus raising out of the grave. Now Judas, in contrast, again, that son of perdition, that nasty person. It's true, isn't it? He was a lowlife of all lowlifes. He was always listed as the last in the line of the apostles. There's no wonder about that. And he could go all over Galilee, up and down the shores of the Sea of Galilee, to Jerusalem, to Samaria, to Jericho, with Christ, see all the miracles, and still be this. You see, it's an amazing thing. Better, Jesus said, that you had never been born, better that you never saw light, never drew a breath of air ever, than to be this way, he says. We know Jesus had no care for the poor. And I'm just wondering, you know, if Christ... Okay, so the Mark account says there were many in the crowd who sharply rebuked this woman. But there were some who were indignant among themselves and said, why? We know who this guy is. And he is named in the John account. Mark account just says there were some there. But here, he criticized her sharply. Judas, Simon's son, who would portray him, said, why was this fragrant oil not sold and given to the poor? I can just imagine Jesus saying, well, you can give those 30 shekels that you're going to get from me. You can give them to the poor. Why don't you give them to the poor? But no, you know, his guilty conscience, it went to the poor, didn't it? He threw it down. And the people took it up and they said, we're going to make a cemetery, a burying place for those who don't have a better place. The 30 shekels went to the poor. This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and he said, wow, this would have been a good opportunity for me. And I wish he would have just sold it and donated it. That's what was in his heart. Because then he would have taken at least $275 of it and left $25 in it for, well, this is what's left after I bought all the groceries. That's how he was thinking. But I like what Jesus said. He said, let her alone. Leave her be, Judas. That's what he said. She has kept this for the day of my burial. For the poor you have with you always, but me you do not have always. You have plenty of opportunity. If you want to exercise your charity, go out and do it. Go for it. But there's not going to be that many more opportunities to worship me and share your devotion publicly for me. I want to point something out. I wonder if you've ever noticed this. After this stiff rebuke from Christ, leave her be, Judas. That it's in the Mark account that he goes, right after this account, he goes to the Pharisees with a proposition. What will you pay me? You see the animosity that came out of Judas? What would you give me if I betrayed him? It was right after this. Right after this account. Well, in closing, I want to bring something in how would you describe the gospel? I think we all, all of us here, should be able to say this is what the gospel is. I want to show us here where he says, where Jesus said in verse nine of Mark 14, he said, assuredly I say to you wherever this gospel is preached, I wonder what Jesus would have defined as the gospel. So when we think about the gospel, in Mark 1 he says, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said wherever this gospel is preached, I believe what he was saying is wherever my ministry, my person, wherever that is preached, wherever it is preached about me, He called it the gospel. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel, and I'm not 100% sure what Jesus had in mind, but I do believe that He is referring to the Events, or his life and ministry, even his relationship with Mary. Think about it. What she had experienced. She had experienced the gospel, wherever this gospel is preached. In the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her. I just want to elaborate on this point in regard to Mary's attitude. That that is the intent of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is to make Mary's. That's what it's for. It is for us to be broken and to lay our best at the feet of Christ and say, Thou art worthy, O Lord. and to sit at His feet, and we use our glory to anoint His feet. Whatever your glory is, lay it at the feet of Christ and wipe His feet. It is as John the Baptist said, I am unworthy to loosen His shoestring. You see? It is that sort of thing that the gospel is doing in the lives of our people. We're just, it's devotion. We're devoted to Him. I want to just ask you, what are the consequences of His mighty signs in your life? What are the consequences? Is it devotion? Indifference? Opposition? It could be one of those, surely it is one of those, because you're not ignorant. So it is one of those three. It is either devotion or indifference or opposition. And I am just excited by this passage. What a contrast the gospel does in the lives of those who follow him, who believe in Christ. This is what happens to you. Your goal is to be gathered together with others of like mind. And if you're in opposition, you don't want that to happen. And it's just a beautiful picture of what the gospel does in our lives. So I want to just invite you to consider these truths from this passage and may it cause us to truly devote our lives more wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this passage of scripture. Thank you for the life of the Lord Jesus and how he dealt with these people. Thank you for the wonderful lessons that we find in this passage, that you are sovereign and that you turn things on the, you turn opposition on his head. And it speaks life to those who believe. Father, we rejoice in these things. Father, I pray that the attitude of Mary would be found among us. That we would just devote our hearts, our lives, our everything. Because You have done such great things for us. You have redeemed us. You have brought us back from the dead. Father, we thank You. And so I pray that You would bless this Word to these people. And that You would, by Your Spirit, You would quicken our hearts. And out of our hearts would flow life and rivers of life would come forth. for your glory and purpose. And we pray through Christ. Amen.