We turn in God's Word tonight to John's Gospel account, chapter 12. John 12. We're going to read the first 19 verses of this chapter and our text is found in verses 1 through 8. Not going to read that again. Our text is found in John 12, verses one through eight, so take note of that. Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. The people, therefore, that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead bear record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees, therefore, said among themselves, perceive ye how he prevailed nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him. This far we read God's word tonight. As I mentioned, our text is found in that account of Mary anointing Jesus' feet in verses 1 through 8 of this chapter. The last week of Jesus' life, or the Passion Week as it is known, would end in Christ's death on the cross. Jesus would be taken captive on Thursday night of the Passion Week, after he and his disciples had eaten of the Passover supper. The next day, Jesus would be taken and crucified. John informs us in verse 1 of our text tonight, that it was six days prior to that Passover feast when Jesus arrived in the little village of Bethany. This means that Jesus and his disciples had come to Bethany on Friday of the week before Christ's death. Bethany was a village to the east of Jerusalem on the major highway that led to the city of Jericho. This village lay only about a mile and a half to two miles away from Jerusalem itself. Every time Jesus, therefore, had come to celebrate one of the feast days in the city of Jerusalem, he had taken shelter in Bethany, and that in the home of a man named Lazarus, who had two sisters, Mary and Martha. This is what Jesus had chosen to do this time too, in this week, just prior to his death. This Lazarus was the man, John informs us, whom Jesus had raised from the dead just the number of weeks before this. Jesus had spoken powerful words to Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, concerning the truth that he was the life and therefore also the resurrection. And that, of course, will have something to say about the passage that we consider this evening. It was not strange that Jesus now, for a few days before entering into the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, would reside in this home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. What was perplexing, however, is that Jesus did this in light of the fact that his life was being sought by the elders or the Sanhedrin of the Jews. This was not only known to Jesus, but it was known to those who followed Jesus as well. We read in John 11, the last three verses, and the Jews Passover was nigh at hand and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. Then sought they for Jesus and spake among themselves as they stood in the temple, what think ye that he will not come to the feast? They were all curious whether he was going to show up at the feast, and this is why. Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment that if any man knew where he were, he should show it, that they might take him. The Jewish leaders hated Jesus, and at this point, they were seeking actively to take the life of Jesus. And that had become pretty well known among the people in and around Jerusalem. But we find that Jesus now had steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he did that because he knew that it was at this time in his earthly sojourn that he was going to die. We consider an account that takes place just days prior to now, that last week of Jesus' life. It is an event that endears to the heart of every believer this devout and godly woman named Mary. She perceived what the disciples themselves remained ignorant of in this late hour of Jesus' life. She knew that Jesus now had come to Jerusalem to die. and perhaps she even knew that he was going to rise again from the dead, since he had spoken of his death and resurrection repeatedly to his disciples while in the home of Lazarus. Whatever she knew, the act of anointing Jesus' feet was that of deepest devotion and commitment to her Lord and Master. She remains for us a humble, and a beautiful example of what must be true of you and me as we consider the suffering and the death of our Lord. Over against her example of devotion, we find that John places the evil heart and intentions of a disciple of Jesus named Judas Iscariot. His black heart and thoughts form a dark background against the purity and brightness of Mary's act of devotion and faith. In that light, we consider the account before us also tonight. The act of Mary can be summarized well in the few words of our theme tonight, Mary anoints Jesus' feet. The first place we're going to consider the act that she anointed His feet. Secondly, the motivation of her heart that is revealed in this passage. And then finally, Christ's reproof. The act, the motivation, and the reproof. We read in verse 2 that while in Bethany, they made a supper for Jesus. There they made him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Now, it may appear as if this supper that was thrown on behalf of Jesus was done in the home of or house of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, but that was not the case. From the other gospel accounts, we find that this was held in the house of a man named Simon the leper. We learn very little of that man other than his name, but quite obviously that name says somewhat about Simon himself. Simon was no longer a leper, even though he was called Simon the leper. And he was no longer a leper because if Simon at this point in his life were a leper and he decided to throw a supper in his house, no one would come. No one had anything to do with a leper. They were outcasts of society and were considered unclean. And no one would have come to that home of Simon the leper. So we know that at this point in his life he was not a leper. But we also know that Simon was a believer. They were threatening the lives of those who harbored Jesus. And yet, only two miles away from the city of Jerusalem, Simon threw a supper on behalf of Jesus and his disciples. This leads us, of course, to the conclusion that probably Jesus at one time had healed Simon of his leprosy. And for that reason, Simon was an avid follower of Jesus himself. At this supper in Simon's house, Jesus was not the only guest of honor. So was Lazarus. Evidently, he had become somewhat of a local celebrity, because here was a man that had been dead for four days. and he had now been raised from the dead and was living right there in Bethany among them. So we find that Lazarus sat at Jesus' side here at this table and was one of those guests of honor in Simon's house. Martha, however, Lazarus' sister, in keeping with the character of Martha, served at this supper. We say this was in keeping with her character because such was the nature of this busy hostess. We read of Martha and Mary in an earlier passage of the gospel accounts in Luke 10, verses 38 through 42. There we are given a little bit more in depth the character of Martha and of Mary. Now it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. This is also now the reason that we do not find the sister of Martha, that is Mary, as a hostess serving at this supper together with Martha. Mary had something different in mind at this supper. Now, that then is the setting in which Mary's action took place. It was either on that Friday night when they entered into Bethany or the evening of the Sabbath day, the very next day that a special supper, an evening meal was held in honor of Jesus. And at this meal, there sat Jesus, there sat Lazarus, there sat Simon, and there sat Jesus' disciples as well, and a number of other believers who had assembled in order to meet Jesus and Lazarus. Women were not a part of that supper, except that they were there to serve. These men, as was the Jewish custom, did not sit on chairs that surrounded that table, but these men reclined on short couches on their left arm while reaching over to the table to eat off the table with their right arm and their feet extended beyond the ends of those couches. And upon that scene, now Mary entered into the room. We read of what she did in verse three now of our text tonight. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment, spikenard. was a sweet-smelling perfume. The word for ointment in our text implies that spikenard was perhaps some kind of an oil, and maybe that was true, but the word used in the Greek simply refers to a sweet-smelling perfume. It was extracted from the root of a nard plant. a plant which had spiked tips, wheat-like tips, spiked nard. And it was a plant that was found in and around the regions of India, thus the expense of spikenard. The particular spikenard used by Mary to anoint Jesus was, John tells us, very costly. And it is striking that all of the gospel accounts call attention to that fact that this perfume that Mary used to anoint Jesus was expensive. Furthermore, Mary had a large bottle of it. We are told, of course, in our versions that it was a pound, but that's approximately 12 ounces. They were cheaper. watered down forms of spikenard available, but Mary's bottle cost the sum of 300 pence. That's not only why Judas accused her of spending 300 pence on this bottle of spikenard, but that was in all reality true. In other words, this bottle of cologne that she poured upon the feet of Jesus was not some cheap bottle of Old Spice, but it was an expensive bottle of Giorgio Armani. It probably cost about $135 in today's money, so it wasn't cheap. How Mary was able to afford that bottle of perfume is not explained to us. and is rather hard to explain as well since Mary was not a wealthy woman. But it is evident that she must have saved and then boughten this bottle earlier and kept it in store for the express purpose of honoring her Lord. John tells us that she emptied the bottle on Jesus' feet. The other gospel accounts speak of her pouring it on the head of Jesus. Now, these gospel accounts do not contradict one another, of course. She did both. She poured part of the content of the bottle on Jesus' head and then emptied the rest of the bottle on Jesus' feet. The word used for anointing here, we ought to also bear in mind, was not that word that is used for the official anointing of one into office. but it simply means that she took a bottle in order to honor her Lord and poured that bottle of spikenard out upon his head and as well as upon his feet. And when that was poured out, the fragrance, the word odor now in our modern English does not seem to fit anymore because it implies a stink, but the fragrance of that spikenard filled the entire room where this supper was taking place. Then John tells, or adds this to the account. Mary dried the feet of Jesus with her hair. Ew. Now that wasn't some act of poor hygiene. When people came into a house in those days, they took their sandals off at the door and there was always a large basin of water at the door. And those who came and sat at a meal, first of all, washed their feet thoroughly before entering into the house and sitting down. Christ's feet were not dirty and sweaty. They were clean. They had been washed. And yet we may not ignore the fact that Mary, in deepest humility, used her hair to dry the feet of Jesus. A woman's hair, as we well know, is her adornment. We learn in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 15 that the hair of a woman is her glory. And Mary must have loosed her hair since Jewish custom meant that a woman had to keep her hair tied up in public, especially in the presence of men. She must have loosed her hair, allowed that hair to fall, and then used it as a towel to dry the feet of Jesus. Certainly we cannot fail to see this humble act of worship. Mary was worshiping Jesus at this point. Mary had sat at Jesus' feet many times as Jesus had given detailed instruction to his disciples. Martha, she was always busy, of course, in the kitchen preparing food, as she was again busy on this particular evening in the house of Simon the leper. Mary, however, spent time with the disciples of Jesus while he was in her home teaching those disciples. And there she learned of Jesus Christ and the reason that Christ had come into this world. And she had come to believe on Jesus as the Messiah, the promised Christ. And in this knowledge, she perceived, more than Jesus' own disciples, her need for Jesus to save her from her sin. She recognized the fact that she was a poor sinner and she recognized Jesus as the sinless one who was sent by God into this world to fulfill His promises to His chosen people that the Messiah would come in order to save His people from their sins. And that humbled her. That humbled her to the point that not only did she anoint the feet of Jesus now with His precious ointment, but it humbled her to the point that she took her very own hair and she dried the feet of her Lord with it. That was the highest act of honor that she could show her master. Now we bring that up, of course, at this point, because that's what lay behind, what motivated Mary to do what she did. It was Judas Iscariot, people of God, that called attention, the attention of everyone sitting there to the motivation of Mary in doing what she did. Notice in verses four and five. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? In other words, he laid an accusation before Mary and spoke of a horrible motivation of misspending this money on spikenard rather than giving it out of a pure motive to the poor. Why such an extravagant act? Why spend her money so foolishly, simply to anoint Jesus? Worshiping God, after all, does not require big money, as if by spending big money we can impress God by means of that. Seeking the Kingdom of God is not done by way of showy, extravagant spending. Christ was a poor man himself, a poor man from Galilee and certainly if anyone understood that and taught that, Jesus himself did. He of all people would not require somebody spending all that money on him. In fact, he would condemn it probably as poor stewardship. This money would have gone a long, long way to feed not one, but several poor people who were much more in need of that money than what Jesus was of an anointing. Wow, that reasoning of Judas sounds pretty solid and pious too. He had the needs of the poor in mind. And that's why we read now in the other gospel accounts that some of the other disciples Lent their voice in complaint against Mary They were convinced by his reasoning So we find that Judas calls Mary's motivation to the attention of everyone sitting there and John, however, in his gospel account is quick to point out what motivated Judas in his accusation against Mary. A motive that stands in stark contrast to the motive of Mary herself. We read of that in verse 6 now of our text. This he said, this Judas said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein. Judas didn't have any love for the poor. He was greedy. That's what motivated Judas, greed. You see, Judas had been made by Jesus the treasurer of sorts, of this little band of disciples that had surrounded Jesus. While Jesus and his disciples would travel their circuits around Galilee, then there were those who willingly contributed money to their they're being fed, their needs. Well, when that money was collected by them, it was taken, but that meant that there had to be somebody of the band that would take care of the money. And that money was given to Judas Iscariot. And that's why John said he has the bag. He contained the bag or he carried the bag of money into which he would reach and take money out, sometimes to pay for meals, maybe even sometimes for board here and there, and when the necessity was there also to give that money to the poor. He kept the money and he used it accordingly, or so everyone thought. Now, this Judas was named Iscariot, the son of Simon. John calls our attention to that. And he does so not because he wants to just simply point out that this name makes Judas a bad man. The fact of the matter is, he points out that this is Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, because, well, Jesus had two disciples named Judas. And he had to distinguish which Judas it was that had the bag. It was Judas Iscariot. But then he adds, doesn't he, rather quickly, that it was this same Judas Iscariot that was going to be the one who betrayed Jesus. And that also speaks to you and to me of the character of Judas and the motivation of Judas. He betrayed Jesus. For what? For what did Judas Iscariot betray Jesus? What amount? 30 pieces of silver. Why? He was greedy. He saw that Jesus' kingdom was going to fail, and he wanted as much money out of that man that he could get. And that was the point, you see. Why would Judas Iscariot even want to be a part of Christ's band of disciples? Because he had dollar signs in his eyes. He believed that this Jesus was going to be a king too. And as the mistaken notion of almost every Jew was, he thought that Jesus, that Messiah, was going to come and establish an earthly kingdom. And that Christ would reign on an earthly throne. Can you imagine the wealth and the prosperity in that earthly kingdom of Jesus? And to be the treasurer? of that earthly kingdom, it would make him wealthy beyond compare. And then when he saw that that kingdom failed and that Jesus was going to go to his death, and he betrayed Jesus to get 30 pieces of silver he had out of him at the last minute, he was greedy. That's what motivated Judas Iscariot, his unbelief. He was a thief, John says. Which means that no doubt every time money was given, He would skim some money off of the top of that and he would keep it for himself. Imagine $135 now given to him for the poor rather than spending it on a bottle of Spikenard. He could really line his pockets with some money by that amount. This greed of Judas is what motivated him to make his accusation now against Mary. And John includes that in this account, people of God, and he does that for a reason. Because he wants you and me to see the difference between faith and unbelief. Faith clings to Jesus Christ. Unbelief clings to self and to the things of this present world. Faith is devotion to Jesus Christ and to His cause. In faith, God's saints give their all to their Savior and His cause. Unbelief doesn't do that. Unbelief always is looking out for number one, that is, for one's own self. And it's always looking out for the cause of this present world in which we live. But more, unbelief does not understand faith, and it never will. Unbelievers look at God's people as fools. They look at the way that God's people live in this world and they think it's weird, it's strange, it's so foolish. Why walk in those ways? And as a result of that, they speak evil of us. We know that well, don't we, from adult Bible study, where we've studied that several different times out of Peter's first epistle. We read in verses 3 and 4 of chapter 4, for example, Wherein they, or starting in verse three, for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. And now this, wherein they, that is now the wicked world, think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. They don't understand faith. They don't understand why believers live the way that they do. We learned of that in 1 Peter 3, verses 15 and 16 too. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation, your good life in Christ." Judas was speaking here of Mary as an evildoer. He judged the pure motives of her heart by the evil motives of his own heart. He thought and this is so often the case, you know, he thought she was doing something for the same evil reasons that he did something. He couldn't believe that Mary had in her a different mind than what he had, faith, that clung to Jesus Christ. that knew him as her Savior. Couldn't imagine that. So now he accuses her falsely. But then, we have to ask the question, don't we? What was the motivation of Mary in all of this? She did spend a lot of money, you know. And why did she spend all of this money to honor her Lord? Jesus reveals her motivation when he answered Judas Iscariot with these words in verse seven of our text. Then said Jesus, let her alone, against the day of my burying hath she kept this. Mary had anointed Jesus against the day of his burying, or as Matthew maybe explains it a little bit more clearly for us, for in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Mary anointed Jesus at this time because she believed that Jesus was soon to die. Now, she was not reasoning to herself, of course, I'm going to go into that room and anoint Jesus' body right now because I know that he's going to die soon and I won't be there at his burial to be able to anoint him then. That's not what she was reasoning in her own heart. But Jesus had repeatedly told his disciples, the closer that he walked now in the shadow of his death, the more he had told his disciples, I'm going to Jerusalem to die and I'll rise again on the third day. He told them that repeatedly. He had probably told them that repeatedly in the very home of Lazarus. And Mary sitting there at the feet of Jesus with his disciples, listening very carefully to him, took that to heart and she perceived something now that even his very disciples could not seem to understand. When Jesus told them that, they denied that in their own reasoning. They knew that there were threats against Jesus' life now in Jerusalem, but in their minds Jesus could not die. They still had the same mistaken notion too. He was going to establish an earthly kingdom. If he were to die, his cause would be lost. Jesus couldn't die. And they had seen it happen, didn't they? How many different times now that he had gone into the temple, they had attempted to kill Jesus, and he disappeared. They couldn't lay a hand on him. probably do the same thing now at the feast of the Passover. He had avoided death so many times at the hands of those who hated him that they weren't all that worried about his dying in Jerusalem. Mary had heard the instruction of Jesus' disciples. She sat by his feet. In the heart and mind of Mary, there was a very simple faith. that Jesus had to die. Why? She didn't probably fully understand, but that he had to die in order to gain his kingdom. And she believed that. Christ must, needs, die and be buried. In faith now, she honored her Lord by anointing him. Specifically to be buried? Not with that in mind, but the fact that she knew that he would soon die and be buried. So she honored her Lord. You see, when a person died, then, they would lay the body out, wash it, wrap it in a layer of linen cloth, and then anoint that body with precious ointments, sweet-smelling perfume. wrap a few more layers of linen around that body, spread out a little bit more spices and ointments, wrap it up until finally they were finished with that. If we were to read the gospel accounts, we would find that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus did that too rather hurriedly. And this was also the reason that these women in order to honor their Lord, were coming to the sepulcher earlier in the morning on the first day of the week. They came to anoint that body of Jesus with some more precious ointment. So Jesus now informs his disciples that Mary anointed him for his burial. And here was a reminder to them, I am soon going to die and be buried. They may have chosen to ignore it, but Mary in faith recognized it and even now humbly acknowledged her need for that Savior. But there's more in this anointing. The anointing of the body was not merely a Jewish custom that held no meaning. It is not as if the Jews did this in order to sweeten the smell of a decomposing body. It was not simply to overcome a time for a short time, the smell of death in a person. That's not why they anointed him with sweet perfume. The Jews anointed the body of a dead person in the hope of the resurrection from the dead. That was a Jewish custom that was rooted in the hope of the resurrection of the dead. It reminds me a little bit of what Christians used to do and sometimes in some cases still do when they are buried. They're buried with their head facing the west so that their face can look out to the east. And they are buried that way in the hope of the final resurrection. Because after all, Jesus had said in Matthew 24, verse 27, for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. So Christians buried, they're dead, their head to the west and their face facing east so that when Christ came, they could see him in his coming. Just a custom, but it had some meaning behind it. Well, this custom of the Jews in anointing a body with precious ointments was the same thing. It was a custom that looked to the final resurrection of the dead. And what makes that even the more striking that Mary is the one now who anoints Jesus for his burial is what she learned firsthand from Jesus himself. When she met Jesus along the way and then Jesus went and raised her brother Lazarus from the dead, he had said to her, Mary, Your brother will be raised. I know, Lord, he'll be raised in the last day. No, Mary, I am the resurrection and the life. And he who believes in me, yet though he be dead, he shall live. She had heard that from the mouth of her Savior, don't forget. And Mary, therefore, was deeply aware of the fact that Christ would die. But she also knew that He had the power in Him to raise Himself from the dead. And with that hope, she now anoints her Savior. Not simply with a view to His burial, but with a view, ultimately, to His resurrection from the dead. And in that, we find the faith of this godly woman revealed. She did not fully understand the details, but certainly she saw the need for Jesus to die, to be buried, and to be raised again from the dead. And she learned that when she listened to Jesus, as opposed to when those disciples of Jesus listened to him. Jesus adds a reproof to what he says Mary's motivation is. He does that in verse 8. For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always. Not only does that particular reproof teach us that the Church of Jesus Christ will always have poor, and those with whom the church must meet the needs of and take care of, the poor we have with us always, even today we do. And we need to remember that particular truth too. Once in a while you'll hear me say that, huh? And when we give to the benevolent fund, Jesus teaches us the poor we have with us always. This is where he teaches us that. But more, Jesus is reproving all of his disciples here at this point. I'm not going to be here always. The poor you're always going to have with you. But I'm not always going to be here. I'm going to die just as Mary believes. Mary is correct. You are wrong. And such a reminder comes to the church of all ages, to the church of Jesus Christ today as well. Christ is not an earthly king. who has come to dwell here on this earth among His people. He did not come then to dwell among His people as an earthly king. He does not come in the future to dwell with His people as an earthly king. Christ does not come to this world to give you and me earthly prosperity or to feel good about our lives here in this sin-cursed world. Christ came to die, and He came to die for sin. He needed to die or else you and I would be lost in our sin. He needed to be buried. He needed to rise again from the dead. He needed to do that. And that's the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ. This we, too, must be sure to focus our attention on when considering the events of Christ's life. We don't cling to an earthly Savior, people of God. Our Savior reigns in the heavens, and he does that because he died, was buried, and he rose again from the dead. The disciples had to learn that, and they would learn that, too, very, very soon. Mary knew it already. So Jesus gives one more reproof, doesn't he? Can't overlook that. Let her alone. Or as Matthew once again states, why troubled ye the woman? Let her alone, Judas. Your evil heart and your unbelief only now makes her faith shine forth all the more. Let her alone. She has wrought a good work on me." And so also the faith of God's people shines forth today in the midst of an evil world that doesn't understand the need for the cross of Jesus Christ, as we have been given to understand that. May we shine forth, people of God, as witnesses of that faith. And may we, with Mary, live in the final hope of the resurrection from the dead. Amen. Gracious and eternal Father, we are thankful unto thee for thy word tonight. Thankful that we could gather in thy house in order to learn of the faith of this beloved saint and to imitate that faith ourselves, that we might walk in a love for thee, a love for thy kingdom, and a love for the death and burial and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ from the dead. We are thankful that we belong to thee and that he has suffered and died on our behalf. Will Thou continue with us now and this week to come? Use Thy word mightily in our hearts to guide us. For Jesus' sake, Amen.