Our text this evening is John 11.45 up through verse 19 of chapter 12. Begin by reading the verses in chapter 11. This is the word of the Lord. Pay attention to it. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.' But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.' He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another, as they stood in the temple, what do you think, that he will not come to the feast at all? Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let us go once again to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in Heaven, we thank You for this Word which You have set before us this night, and we ask that You would add Your blessing to the reading of the Word. We ask that You would be with me as I preach Your Word, that You would give me the words to say and the manner in which to say them, that Your Word would be proclaimed in spirit, in boldness, and in truth, and that we would each have open hearts and open eyes ready to receive Your Word. to delight in you to worship your holy name through the ministry of your word. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. So this, of course, immediately follows after the death and resurrection of Lazarus. And in response to this, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Jewish Council together to discuss the growing problem of the Jewish nation, which of course was Jesus. And the Jewish Council here actually appears to be more of a secret society, trying to organize how the nation should go, trying to order the direction of a nation through arrests and murders. They're asking, how can we control the people so that they no longer look to Jesus, but that they look to us? So that our pockets remain full and our egos are satisfied. The desires were far from genuine care for the Jewish people. And what they feared was that Jesus would gain more and more attention, more followers, and there would be an uprising which the Romans would then have to quench. If that happened, the authorities would of course lose, the Jewish council would lose what authority it had. And so what we see is that they feared the Romans rather than fearing God. And what they did was they compromised so that they would have peace with the world, rather than being faithful to the things which God had entrusted to them. That is the proclamation of His Word. These are the religious leaders of this nation. And they said, I would rather have peace with the Romans, peace with the world, than be faithful in the duties and tasks God has given me. The temptation for peace with the world, potentially for a lifetime, was greater than the offer of peace with God for eternity. So they began plotting and scheming, paving the way to put Jesus to death. And Caiaphas, combining Caiaphas and priest, Caiaphas, the high priest, spoke during that meeting. And though he spoke truly, he did prophesy, it was not out of a sense of devotion to God. It was not because he understood the substitutionary atonement which Jesus was to fulfill. He said, it's better that one man should die for the nation rather than the whole nation perish. John's commentary adds that he also prophesied Jesus would die not just for the nation, but for all of God's people, that is, the children of God, to bring them into one. And what's interesting here, I would add this note briefly as we consider what this prophecy means, is that Jesus Christ was dying for His people. This has reference to the doctrine of limited atonement. Jesus did not die for the whole world. He didn't die for everyone. He died for his people, for his children, for all of God's elect. And his atonement, though it would have been sufficient for all, is limited only to God's elect. true Israel to the people of God. And so he says, it's better that one man should suffer and that the many should be made righteous. And it's at this point in the narrative that Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, which I find kind of humorous because beginning in verse 12, of chapter 12 is the triumphal entry where Jerusalem is emptied to go and greet Jesus. But it's saying that he no longer walked openly among the Pharisees and was not presenting himself to the Jewish leaders as he had been before. Well, notice the intentions of the people here. It's time for the Passover, and many Jews had gathered to perform the rites of purification prior to celebrating the Passover. They were looking for Jesus, likely some out of an earnest desire, having heard all that Jesus has done, wanting to see Him and hear what He has to say. But many, it seems, were on the payroll of the Pharisees, paying heed to what they were saying, so that they could report Jesus to the council as I sought to kill him." And we're going to read this next portion in chapter 12 up through verse 11, but what we have here is a stunning contrast between what Mary does with Jesus in contrast to what the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders had done. They gathered together to seek ways to kill Jesus, to plan how they might destroy him. And Mary acts out of extraordinary gratitude and humility. Let's read chapter 12, verse 11 verses. Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 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 the fragrance of the perfume. 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. Jesus said, Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priest made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. It's interesting that Mary should demonstrate such extravagance towards Jesus when it should have been Caiaphas, the high priest, who fell down at Jesus' feet with ten times what Mary showed. Well, they're gathered at Bethany in the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and we see Mary here performing this incredible humility. She takes out this perfume, which is worth three hundred denarii, and a denarius is about its one day's wage. So what she is pouring out on Jesus' feet is almost a full year's worth salary. It is extravagant. She is anointing her feet with what she's just spent a year earning. And if that's Confusing to you, Calvin says, according to the computation of Budeus, it amounts to 50 livers of French money. So if you're familiar with French money in the 1600s, it's 50 French livers. But the question is, can you imagine spending that much time, spending that much money, on any one thing? Maybe you'll spend it on a house, or if you're financially irresponsible, you'll spend it on a car. But when you love someone, the amount that you're willing to spend on them goes up dramatically, does it not? One of the biggest expenses I've made, of course, was Lebo's engagement ring. And I didn't have any problem doing it because I wanted a beautiful ring to give to her. So what Mary's doing is extravagant. A beautiful picture of love, extraordinary love and devotion to Jesus. Mary's on the floor wiping his feet with her hair. And the simple question that I would have us consider now is this. Is your heart in the same place as Mary? Do you hold Jesus in that lofty, extravagant place of love and devotion? Is He exalted in your life that you would at a moment's notice give everything just to show your love and affection for Him? Is He of greater value than all your accomplishments in life? Philippians 3 says this, But whatever gain I had, this is Paul speaking. He listed all his accomplishments, and he was a well-accomplished man. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. As rubbish. In order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Do you see the love that Paul had for Christ? What he's saying is knowing Jesus Christ is of greater value than anything else that I could possibly perceive of in this life. There is no greater gain than to have Christ. You may face persecution one day. The question is, will you compromise? with the world, so that you would have peace with the world, momentary peace with the world, but forfeit your soul. We're not persecuted here in this country. Really not. You know, the worst that most Christians here experience is someone shaming you, saying foul things of you. I've been called a fool for my beliefs. That's the worst of it. And that can be hard, certainly. But there are places around the world where the faith of the believer costs them everything. They live out Mary's demonstration of love every single time they meet together. Every time they come together on Sunday, They're saying that worshiping God, devoting myself to the Lord Jesus is of greater value than my life. It is of greater value than the life of my wife. It is of greater value than the life of my children. They know when they come together that it might be the last time that they see their children. and that these young men and women who are being raised know, this might be the last time that I see my mother or my father, if the authorities come in and take them out away from us. Faith in Jesus Christ may cost you everything. But if you delight in Jesus, Losing everything in this life for His sake is rubbish. It is nothing at all for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. That is what Mary was demonstrating here. extravagant love for the exalted One in her life. The One in whom she delighted. The One to whom she was devoted. And so may we too, by that same Spirit of God, cultivate in our own hearts and our own lives that very same love and devotion to the Lord Jesus. and we delight in Him always. Well, of course, you can't give a good gift without some greedy miser trying to cut in and get his share. So Judas Iscariot speaks out boldly here out of his passion for the poor. How dare you marry? spend a full year's wage on Jesus. It should have been spent on the poor. We should have sold it so that we could give to the poor. How many poor would be fed with all that money? Well, Judas, of course, had no care for the poor. His God was Mammon. His God was money and greed. For him, pouring out that ointment on Jesus was an extravagant waste. There was no value in that. His heart was set on the flesh, on these earthly things which pass away. He wanted peace with the world. He wanted his share with this world. rather than peace with God. And Jesus responded, let her be. What she's done is an honorable thing. And with the remaining oil, she will use it for my burial. And just note the more frequent references here to Jesus' death. John is preparing us for what is going to happen in a few chapters, which my internship is ending soon, so y'all may not hear. But he is preparing for us for the crucifixion of Jesus. And then in these last few verses of the passage, which we just read, we see that the Jews are no longer focusing on Jesus alone, but they also have their eyes on Lazarus because of the great miracle which Jesus performed with him and that many were believing on account of Lazarus. And even though even this in this next section, we're about to read. In the triumphal entry, we see that Lazarus' miracle had great ramifications there. And so the Jews sought to kill him. Let's read the last passage for our sermon tonight, verse 12 through 19. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it was written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first, But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. So we have here this picture of a multitude of people emptying out Jerusalem, who were gathered for the Passover. And I would just make a note here, it doesn't really matter how many people were there, but it's interesting, Josephus, who was a Jewish historian, estimated that the numbers in AD 64 and 65, so beyond the time of Jesus, but not much later, He said it was estimated at Passover there were around 2.7 million people. So it is not a small gathering of people. But upon hearing of the approach of Jesus, they go and take palm branches and go out to Him crying, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. The word Hosanna sounds like the word for save now, which we see in some Psalms, and they were looking to Jesus to fill this request, save now the one who comes in the name of the Lord. They rightly admitted that Jesus was the king of Israel, though they almost certainly assumed that he would be a great military leader to go against the Romans. And I think this moment when they shouted these words out was akin to what Caiaphas had done. They were speaking truly, but not out of devotion to God. They don't understand what they're saying. Because not long after this, Many of these very same people, when they didn't receive from Jesus what they were wanting, this great military ruler, were yelling, crucify him, crucify him. Because Jesus didn't fit into their agenda. That's if God is not what I make him to be, then I'll have nothing to do with him. But Jesus himself approached Jerusalem humbly on the back of a donkey, bringing peace with him. Peace with God. Peace from God. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Zechariah 9 says this, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King is coming to you. Righteous and having salvation is He. Humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem and the battle bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. He came to bring peace to the nations. to gather all his children from the corners of the world. Peace with God forever. But the Pharisees would not. They said, you gain nothing. The crowds are going after him. We are gaining nothing from Jesus. And so like Judas, their God was their belly. They gloried in their shame with minds set on earthly things. What can I fill myself with? What can I fill my belly with? What will satiate my ego? The world has gone after him. He has more fame than I do, more attention than the great leaders of Israel. So they said, let us be rid of him. Because they valued peace with the world more than peace with God. And their end is destruction. And so I will end with this. What do you value? Who do you value? Do you seek for peace and comfort with the world. You may get it for a time, but if you seek peace with the world, what comes after should bring great fear to you, because it is enmity with God. Who do you value? Do you prize Him who is more beautiful, more delightful, more extravagant than all the wealth this world has to offer. In the Gospel of Mark, he asks this question, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul? If you get peace, wealth, security with the world, you've lost everything. Let us delight in Him who makes all our wealth seem as rubbish compared to His glory. Let us devote ourselves to Jesus who has Himself devoted Himself to you. Let us love Him who has first loved you. who is the very definition of love Himself. Let us worship Him every day of our lives. Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, You have sent to us Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. The bridegroom who is more delightful more beautiful, more appealing than all things this world has to offer. And yet, because we see now by faith, our sight is so often dim. We get enticed by the things of the world. We are tempted with the pleasures and the lusts which the world has to offer. Please, O Lord, forgive us when our hearts go astray. By Your Spirit and by Your Word, please cultivate in us a true delight and devotion to Jesus Christ, our Lord. That our faith would grow and we would look to You always, moment by moment. And that the pleasures of this world would be seen for what they are, as dust compared to you. Let us have that same devotion as Paul, who counted all things as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. As we go now from this place, we ask that you would be with each of us in this coming week, that we would serve you faithfully in all that you have given us to do. Whether it be in work or rest, in times of joy or times of sorrow, let us look to Jesus Christ our Lord daily. And this we ask in His name. Amen.