Well, good evening, brothers and sisters. I invite you to turning your copies of God's word to Mark's gospel. Mark's gospel, chapter 14. I think that's on 1171. 1171, I mean your pew Bible for Mark chapter 14. In our last study in Mark, we concluded all of that discourse that took up all of chapter 13, and now we begin very much coming to the climax of the gospel of Mark, which we'll begin here in Mark 14 with this plot against Jesus with this anointing in Bethany. We'll read verses one through 11 this evening. Listen to God's word. After two days, it was the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by trickery and put him to death. But they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people. In 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? For it might have been sold for more than 300 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. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went to the chief priests to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray him. Amen, this is God's word. Let's pray and ask for his blessing and his help as we consider it this evening. Our Heavenly Father, please open our eyes to see the glory of Jesus Christ. Give us hearts like this woman who saw the glory of Christ and the worthiness of Christ and cause us to grow in our love and our devotion for Him. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I want you to imagine with me that you strike up a conversation with someone who you just met. Maybe you're in a coffee shop, the line is moving slow, and you start talking with a young man. And in this conversation, as it progresses, eventually you invite him to church. You say, well, why don't you come to church this Sunday? The conversation took a turn for spiritual things, and you seized your opportunity. Imagine if this young man responds, how much does it cost to come to church? How much does it cost? Of course, we'd all say, oh, it's free. No charge at the door, no charge at the door, please come. This person you're talking to, maybe he's a student at Purdue. He's taking a class on economics this semester, and he says, no, no, no, nothing is free. Everything has an opportunity, cost, right? The cost of the best alternative. And he'll start to say, if I come to church, if I start to follow Christ, it's going to cost me my time. two worship services a week for the next 60 years of my life. This is going to cost me thousands of hours. Maybe he's familiar with Christianity and he says, if I start to follow Christ, it's gonna cost me my sovereignty. I'm going to need to reorganize my priorities with a new Lord. Maybe he says, if I come to Christ, if I follow Christ, it's going to cost me some of the behaviors that I'd really rather not give up. Imagine he says, I'm just not sure that Jesus is worth all the fuss. In a sense, I think that this is the question that our text puts before us this evening. Is Jesus worth following? Is Jesus worth following? How much is he worth following? But Mark is anxious that we would see. The Holy Spirit wants us to see that the son of man who came to give himself as a ransom for many, that the son of man who came to give himself as our Passover lamb, that he is worth following, and he is worth worshiping, worthy of our worship and our devotion. And this will be our main point this evening, that Jesus, the Passover Lamb, is worthy of your complete devotion. And we'll examine our text this evening by asking three questions, looking at three characters or groups of characters and seeing how they interacted with Jesus. First, in verses one and two, we'll ask, what did the schemers think of Jesus? In three to nine, we'll ask, what did the woman think of Jesus? And finally, in 10 and 11, we'll ask, what did the betrayer think of Jesus? First, look with me at one and two where we'll answer this question. What did the schemers think of Jesus? And first, I think that we should get the context a little bit. As I said before we read, we're in a new section of Mark's gospel. Chapters 14 and 15 will very much bring us to the climax of this whole gospel. Remember, Jesus has just finished his Olivet Discourse, a sobering and a vivid prophecy about the coming judgment on Jerusalem. But it was also a sermon in which he sovereignly promised a glorious return of Christ. And it was a sermon that promised a triumphant conquest of the Son of Man. There are great promises in that sermon, but as we've seen several times in Mark's gospel, the path towards victory, the path towards exaltation and resurrection is a hard path. It's a hard path. Jesus has told his disciples three times about the sufferings that we're gonna begin looking at in chapters 14 and 15. Most recently in Mark 10, 33 and 34, Jesus said, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes. And they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and scourge Him and spit on Him and kill Him. And the third day, He will rise again." And we need to keep both Jesus' sovereign knowledge of his suffering and Jesus' sovereign knowledge of his resurrection victory in mind. We need to have this victory in mind because Mark's narrative is about to get pretty grim. Mark's narrative is about to get pretty grim. By the end of chapter 14, the longest in the gospel, by the end of this chapter, Jesus will have been betrayed by Judas. He'll have been abandoned by his disciples. He'll have been denied by Peter, arrested by a mob, tried by the Sanhedrin, and sentenced to death by the high priest. Things will get grim, but Mark has reminded us over and over again that these are precursors to resurrection and to victory. God is sovereign over these events. And even as we'll see in a moment, God is even orchestrating the scheming of men towards his own purposes. It ends. So that's really the context of how we come to this passage. But as we look at this question, let's look next at the schemers. The schemers of our passage. Verse one. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by trickery and put him to death. And we can see that these were high-ranking officials, chief priests and scribes. Matthew even tells us that they're having this meeting in the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, the scribes, chief priests, and the high priests plotting together. And since chapter three, the Pharisees had, the Galilean Pharisees had been seeking to destroy Jesus. And after Jesus had publicly confronted the leaders in the temple, and publicly, you remember, denounced the temple, the chief priests and the scribes now share that desire. And you can see at the beginning that they had a predetermined outcome that they were looking for. There's no guesswork in what they wanted to do to Jesus. Before the arrest, before the accusations, before the trial, they know what they want, to take him by trickery or to take him by deceit and put him to death. The temple leaders, the schemers of our passage, as they look at Jesus, what is it that they see? They see a blasphemer. who forgave the paralytic man his sins. They see a Sabbath breaker who had healed the man with the withered hand on the seventh day. They see one who they thought was opposed to the traditions of the elders. Remember, his disciples didn't eat with washed hands. And they see, as we saw most recently in chapter 12 and 13, they see an opponent of God's house in Jerusalem who had condemned the worship and the leadership of the temple. And because of these things, they have a predetermined outcome that they want, arrest and execution. This is a practical outworking of Jesus' prediction in Mark 12, seven, of the parable of the vineyard owner, where the tenants say in 12, seven, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him. But while the schemers of our passage may be high-ranking men who had the influence and the power to carry out their predetermined outcome, their desired outcome, we should notice this also about these men, that these schemers are under the sovereign control of God. They are under the sovereign control of God. It's easy to miss this, but verse two tells us something important. It tells us that these men were not planning to put Jesus to death this week. But they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people. This is not the week that they were aiming for. During the Passover, the population of Jerusalem, it more than doubled. Remember, the Passover was a pilgrim festival, so Jews from all over the empire would travel to Jerusalem. And initially, the leaders didn't want to create a commotion and upset the Roman occupiers. We can say they were always worried. We don't want to tick off the Romans. And so they said, now's not the time. The scribes and the chief priests don't want Jesus to die during the Passover, but see this, see this, God wants his Passover lamb to be sacrificed at the proper time. Mark begins by telling us that it was the day before the Passover. That's what it means. After two days, it was the Passover. This is day one, tomorrow's day two. It's the day before the Passover. But this is more than just a marker of chronology. Mark wants us to see the theological significance of what is happening. That Jesus is being prepared as the Passover lamb. In Exodus chapter 12, we read that the people were to take a spotless lamb, you remember, and sacrifice it and spread its blood over the doorposts of their homes. And remember, that blood of the sacrifice would protect them from the wrath of God. And what comes after the Passover in Exodus? It's salvation. It's redemption from slavery in Egypt. Exodus 12 begins with the Passover, and by the end of that chapter, Pharaoh says, up, get out away from my presence. And with these things in mind, we can come back to our text and see that despite the desires of the Jerusalem leaders that Jesus be killed at a later time, God is orchestrating events so that the Passover lamb will be slain at the perfect time, at the Passover. At Christ's crucifixion, the people of God will be delivered from the wrath of God by the blood of the lamb and redeemed from slavery to sin by the perfect sacrifice. Jesus has told us, Mark 10.45, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. And here, the day before the Passover, Mark is showing us that the time for that sacrifice, the time for that ransom price is at hand. And so we've seen both what the schemers think of Jesus, that He's a man deserving of death, And yet we've also seen God's sovereign control over their schemes, that he is orchestrating events towards his redemptive ends. But we could ask next. That's what the schemers thought. We could ask next, but what did this woman think? What did the woman think of Jesus? Verse three, and being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, A woman came. Jesus has been staying in Bethany since he came to Jerusalem. Bethany was a small village about two miles from the city. It was where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. And actually, if we look at John chapter 12, which seems to be a parallel account to Mark 14, it's almost certain that the anonymous woman in our passage is Mary of Bethany. That's Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. And the first thing that we'll note is her devotion. We'll look at this woman's devotion. And as we look at her devotion to Jesus, we can see that her devotion was costly. Her devotion was costly. Verse three again. A woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Everything, every detail that we're given about her action highlights its costliness. The nard, the oil of spike nard, it was an import from India. The alabaster flask was precious. Later, remember when the disciples react, they exclaimed that it was worth 300 denarii. I don't think this is exaggeration. I think that's what it was worth. Remember, a denarius, a day's wage for a labor. 300 days of wages. And if you think of it, there's 365 days in a year. You take off 52 Sabbaths, you take off a few more weeks for your pilgrim festivals, we are looking at a year's wage. A year's wage in this act of devotion. It's imprecise, certainly it's imprecise, but the monetary value of this gift is measured in tens of thousands, 30 to $50,000. If you think of what a laborer makes given to Jesus in a moment, her devotion was costly. It's likely that this ointment was a family heirloom or perhaps it was a dowry that she would have had for a potential marriage or a nest egg for a rainy day. But she devoted it to Jesus. It was costly. It was also exclusive. It was exclusive devotion. Did you notice what she did? She didn't open the flask. She cracked the flask. She broke the flask and poured the oil on his head. The breaking of the flask, it has a finality to it. This act, it pictures a devotion that is totally and exclusively given to Christ. The flask is ruined and the oil is spent and there's nothing to be given to anyone else. Like the widow in the temple who gave all she had, this woman in Bethany gave all she had. She broke the flask and she poured it on Christ. You see, she didn't give Jesus a controlling share of her devotion. She didn't say to him, Jesus, you can have 51% of my love. You can have 51% of my worship. Now as she sees the Son of God on the way to the cross, there's an exclusivity to her devotion. She broke the flask and devoted it all to Christ. It was costly and it was exclusive. And finally, it was bold and it was loving. It was bold and it was loving devotion. anointing guests of honor. It wasn't altogether uncommon. Certainly you wouldn't usually see such expensive gifts. But there's a boldness in this woman's action. Normally it would have been the host who would have done this. This is not her house. But she says, she sort of takes away the prerogative of the host and says, I will give this gift to Jesus. This woman wasn't going to let some first century equivalent of Vogue's Book of Etiquette dictate her love and devotion for Christ. She was bold to enter the room of the men and the disciples. She was bold to break the flask and pour it on Jesus' head. If this is indeed Mary of Bethany, she was bold to loose her hair, and as the oil poured down, Jesus, to wipe his feet. This is an unusual scene. She is so overcome with love for Christ that she let these expectations go away and she showed this love and devotion. If this woman, you see, unlike the chief priests and the scribes, even unlike the 12 disciples, she seems to have perceived and understood and appreciated what Jesus was about to do. Remember, if she is Mary of Bethany, it shouldn't surprise us that she understands what Jesus is going to do. How does Luke describe Mary? She's a woman who sat at Jesus' feet and listened to his teaching. She's a woman who had chosen the good portion, and that gave her an insight into the work of Christ. And it grew her love for the work of Christ because she, unlike everyone else in the room, understood, this is my Passover lamb. This is my ransom price. So she was bold and loving and exclusive in her devotion. She gave costly devotion. This is her devotion. This is her devotion. What we see next, the disciples rebuke. The disciples rebuke. As we consider in this narrative how different individuals and groups respond to the person and work of Christ, we can learn something of the disciples' view of Christ from how they react to this woman's gift. The language of verses four and five is strong. It says that they were indignant. They criticized her sharply. And that word is literally to flare your nostrils in anger. The verb in verse five, it gives the sense of ongoing action. They were continually scolding her. They were berating her. They said, what are you doing? What are you doing? This theme of the disciples' judgment for how others are interacting with and serving Christ, we've seen it come up again and again in Mark's gospel. Remember in chapter nine, James and John, they see that unnamed man casting out demons, and they said, you stop doing that. You stop ministering in Jesus' name. That's for us to do. Remember in chapter 10, people are bringing their children to Jesus, and they rebuke the parents and say, no, no, no. Our master's time is too precious. He's got too much on his plate. He doesn't have time for you. And here in chapter 14, they berate this woman. Why are you using that oil on Jesus? You should have done something else. It's not a good look, is it? It's not a good look for disciples of Jesus to be more focused on criticizing others' service and others' interactions with Jesus than they are themselves focused on Jesus and on the work that he's come to do on behalf of his people. They were sharp. They were judgmental. But can you see this? By their criticism, they are making an implicit judgment on the worth of Jesus Christ. How much devotion should we show to Jesus? The implication is certainly not as much as this woman showed. Maybe some of you are familiar with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a not-for-profit that gives very sick children the opportunity to make a wish, right? To meet a celebrity, or an athlete, or to go to a concert, or a sporting event, or something like this. I read this week that on average it costs just under $10,000. I think it was $9,000 to fulfill one of these wishes, right? You gotta fly a celebrity around, you gotta buy hotels, things like this. It's expensive. How inappropriate. How unfeeling would it be when the celebrity walks into the hospital room or when someone presents tickets to the child, if a friend or a sibling of the child standing by said, you know, you could have done something better with that $9,000. You could have donated that money. You could have given it to hurricane relief in the south, or wildfire recovery in the west. Donated it to Lilly for cancer research, or Pfizer for infectious disease research. You could have done something worthwhile with that money, but you wasted it on this sick child. It's a ridiculous scene, and that's what the disciples are saying. They say in verse four, why'd you waste the oil? Why'd you waste that much devotion? Jesus isn't worth it. This is the disciple's rebuke. Jesus isn't worth all that. But then we see Jesus' commendation. Jesus' commendation. I think that Jesus' defense of this woman in verse six is beautiful. Can you imagine coming to your Savior and giving Him the most valuable thing you have and the whole room turns on you and says, you silly person, you silly person, you simple woman, why did you do that? And Jesus says, leave her alone. Leave her alone, why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. And this good work is interpreted by Jesus in verse eight. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. Again, she understands what Jesus is doing. She understands why he's come. She's listened to his words, and she wants to prepare him for his death. But this act of anointing, it's not just preparing him for his death. Remember, Jesus is killed near the end of the Sabbath day, or the day before the Sabbath, excuse me, so they bury him quickly and he doesn't get anointed, right? That's why all the women are coming to anoint him after the fact later. She's done this beforehand. But it's also an act of preparation for the priestly work that Jesus is about to accomplish. We sang earlier from Psalm 133. Psalm 133 speaks about how unity in the church is, quote, like the precious oil, same, in the Greek translation, same word as in our text. Like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. That precious oil in Psalm 133, it set Aaron apart for a priestly work on behalf of the people of God. And in a similar way, this woman's precious oil, it sets Jesus apart for His priestly sacrifice on our behalf. It is a prophetic act. It confirms Jesus in His mission. If we think of Psalm 23, which also mentions this oil, we might say that although Jesus will shortly walk through the valley of the shadow of death, although in our next passage Jesus will be at a table with his enemies, a table in the presence of his enemy Judas, this woman has fulfilled the promise of Psalm 23 for our Lord. You anoint my head with oil. You anoint my head with oil, and Jesus commended her. 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." Our sermon this evening is a fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus accepts and commends this woman's worship. Just as the unnamed widow in chapter 12 didn't give too little to be commended by Jesus, so this unnamed woman in chapter 14 didn't give too much. Jesus sees and commends and celebrates devotion that is given exclusively to Him. but perhaps we should say this here almost as an aside, Christ does not somehow recommend service to him in place of service to the poor. That would be a misreading of this text. This specific act is non-repeatable. We cannot do this again. Christ is in heaven, he will never die again. We cannot anoint Christ beforehand for his burial. But what we can do is verse seven. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish, you may do them good. The Passover was a time when traditionally people would gather gifts for the poor. This is one of the reasons why at every other one of our communion services, we gather a collection for the poor. It's a good time to celebrate God's mercy and his kindness to us. And this is the part of our passage that we can pretty much on a one-to-one level fulfill. Calvin says, We infer from Jesus' statement that the poor will always be with us. We infer that if many are in poverty, this does not arise from accident, but that by a fixed purpose, God presents to us those on whom our charity may be exercised. Far from being a passage that frees us from our obligation to show mercy and kindness to our poor neighbors, Jesus confirms it as an ongoing and essential aspect of the church's mission. Part of the way that we show costly, exclusive, loving devotion to Jesus now is by being his hands and his feet to those who are in need. That's why the mercy ministry of our church is so important. It's the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are in need. We've seen, we've seen this evening what the schemers thought of Jesus. And what this woman thought of Jesus. And we'll close our study by asking in the last place, what did the betrayer think of Jesus? What did the betrayer think of Jesus? Mark often organizes passages this way with sort of an introduction and a conclusion set in contrast to the middle. And certainly he's done it again here. The scheming of the chief priests and the betrayal of Judas set in contrast to the woman's beautiful devotion. Verse 10, then Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 went to the chief priests to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray him. Mark doesn't make explicit why Judas betrayed our Lord. Looking at the other gospels, we can gather clues. Luke tells us that he's under satanic influence, that in this moment, Satan entered him. John tells us that it was something much more recognizable. Much more mundane. It was greed and it was avarice. John 12, four and six, likely this very scene. But Judas Iscariot 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. It's speculation, but perhaps Jesus' prediction about the fall of Jerusalem and the fall of the temple in his Olivet Discourse had left Judas disillusioned about Jesus' mission. And so he went to betray him for money. Matthew records the amount. He says, what are you willing to give me? They counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. The woman didn't think 300 denarii too much to devote to Jesus. Judas evidently didn't think 30 pieces of silver too little to betray him. We'll look more at the betrayal of Judas in our next study. But suffice it to say for now that Mark is giving each of us a warning. Judas is almost always introduced as Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. One of the 12. One of the 12. Judas was one of the 12. Mark is warning us that proximity to Christ and a saving relationship with Christ are not the same thing. One commentator writes, spiritual privilege in itself is not enough. True discipleship requires a response of faith and love. But just as we saw God's sovereignty over the schemers in the first verses, we see it here too. Remember the chief priests and the scribes, they didn't want a scene. They said not during the Passover. They didn't want to have Jesus killed during the festival. It is the offer of Judas to betray Jesus that moves up their timeline so that God can have his sacrifice offered at the perfect time. When the chief priests and the scribes heard Judas's offer, they were glad. Verse 11, they were acting under the sovereign rule of God who wanted his lamb slain at the perfect time. We've asked several questions of our text this evening. What did the chief priests and the scribes think of Jesus? What did Judas think of Jesus? What did the disciples think of Jesus? What did the woman think of Jesus? But we need to see this in conclusion. Mark has intentionally drawn these threads together so that he could present us with the same question. Dear friends, what do you think of Jesus? You are not allowed to be a passive audience. This text hasn't given you the option. What do you think of Jesus? Like the schemers in our passage who thought Jesus a wicked man deserving of death, many voices in our world and in our culture will look at Christ and they will see a wicked man. His teachings of exclusivity, his claim to lordship over all are not popular. And Mark is asking, is that your analysis of Jesus? The same as the chief priests and the scribes, that he is a wicked man. Like Judas. Some in our world think serving Christ a means of financial gain. Remember, that's what Paul writes to Timothy. Some think that godliness is a means of gain. Judas was happy to be publicly seen with Christ. Happy to get some social benefits as one of his disciples. Happy to line his pockets while he had the money back. but only as far, he only followed Christ as far as it served his own greedy ends. Mark is asking, is that what you think of Jesus? Do you say, I'll be with Jesus as long as it serves my bottom line, either socially or financially? Or like the disciples, many think Jesus is worth serving, but only in moderation. Serve Christ all you like, they'll say, just don't go crazy. Don't waste anything on him. In the world, you can go crazy for whatever idols you want. Devote yourself to entertainment. Devote yourself to your work. Devote yourself to pleasure. And the world says, like Pastor Neistat this morning, you do you. I'm happy for you. But devote yourself to Christ. And you're called extreme. And Mark is asking, is that your view of Christ? He's worth serving, but not with quite so much fervor. Or dear friends, can you see in Christ what the woman saw? Can you see in Christ what the woman saw? Can you see a ransom price for sin? The Passover Lamb, by whose blood you are saved. Can you see a God and a King worthy of costly and exclusive and loving devotion? Dear friends, Jesus is the Passover Lamb. He came to give Himself a ransom for many, and He is worthy of your devotion. Amen. Oh Lord Jesus, we thank you. And we praise you for the work that you came to do on our behalf. God, we see so much of ourselves in the disciples. We see so much of ourselves in not understanding what you've come to do or in not appreciating what you've come to do. Lord, forgive us for these sins. Forgive us, God, for low thoughts of Jesus Christ. And by your word and by the work of your spirit, exalt Jesus in our hearts and in our estimation so that we would love him with our whole mind, soul, body, and strength. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.