John 12

Introduction

Today we are in John chapter 12 and this passage immediately

follows the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Now if you rememberhow that story ended, you had some who fell on their faces andworshiped in belief. Others determined to kill him in unbelief.

Chapter 12 is this masterful inclusion to show us just howPOLARIZED things are becoming in the minds and hearts of men.Chapter 12 doesn’t have a miraculous sign. The point of chapter 12is to show this incredible division over the PERCEIVED WORTH ofJesus Christ. What is this man worth? And the answers are wildlydifferent. Let me illustrate.

There’s a show that I watched when I was a kid that was called theantique roadshow. And on the show people come to these antiquedealers with old items that they either found at a garage sale or werehanded down. And they don’t know what they are worth. I rememberthis one show where there were these 17th century antiquerhinoceros horn cups. And I thought to myself. You couldn’t pay meto put that ugly thing in my house. It looked like a four year old madeit. Now everybody who watches the show likes to try and guess thevalue before it’s revealed. And I said, “I don’t know, maybe $500bucks!” And the antique specialist said, "This is one of the mostvaluable things we’ve ever had on the show. Conservatively this isworth probably 1.25M dollars.

And I thought. Wow. I’m way off. I would have literally thrown it inthe dumpster and in so doing I would have thrown away more thanmy net worth.

Now in a very similar way, one of the main points of chapter 12 isthat when it comes to evaluating the worth of Jesus Christ, everyoneis way off. EVERYONE is like, way, way off.

So this is going to be the question that drives the passage today:What is Jesus worth? And for different people there will be wildlydifferent answers. Let’s see Mary’s answer.

Let’s pick up in chapter 12:1. The text begins by telling us it’s sixdays before the passover which is Saturday. So it’s Shabbat. Wewill come back to the time marker in a moment - for now just log itaway.

Let’s first imagine the scene and I’m going to fill in some of thedetails surrounding the event from the synoptic gospels. This mealactually takes place at the house of someone named Simon theLeper. That doesn’t mean he was currently a leper, he was formerlya leper and likely healed. He simply retains the title as a memorial to

Jesus’ work for him. (Similar to Matthew the tax collector, Simon theZealot). So you have at least two living testimonies to Jesus’ miracleworking ability.

So here they are all, seated around the table. You have the honoredguests Jesus, Lazarus, and Simon the Leper. Now don’t picture themeal around tables with high backed chairs. Picture this.

In Jesus’ day, both Roman and Jewish people ate in a reclingposition around this table which is known as a triclinium. This isdepicting some Romans but you can get the idea. And the reason Ichose this illustration is because you can imagine how the anointingwould have happened.

Martha is busy serving as she always does. Imagine a thanksgivingmeal. Martha is hustling about in the kitchen busy with thecornbread and turkey and stuffing. But Mary, is absorbed withJesus. Some way into the meal she comes into the room and she’s

carrying with her an alabaster vase. These vases could be anynumber of shapes or sizes.

And contained in that vase is 11-12 oz of pure spikenard. Spikenardis imported from India and would have been incredibly costly. Intoday’s dollars we are talking something like $60k-$80k. I was tryingto think and I don’t think I’ve ever held a single object in my handthis valuable. Now normally what you would do is take the smallestlittle dab of that spikenard and touch the forehead or around thenose. Why? Well, let’s just get real. This is prior to plumbing andshowers and bathrooms. I mean, there would have been somepowerful B.O. all crammed together like that. So the spikenard wasthe way of making an otherwise unpleasant situation more pleasant.It was a very important part of the ceremony.

So in comes Mary carrying her flask and at first nothing seems outof place until she cracks the thing open. The text says she breaksthe vase which probably just means break the seal. They were

usually sealed with lead. So it was a brand new bottle. And insteadof dabbing she begins dumping. First on his head and then on to hisfeet. The text says that she anointed him. There’s two words foranoint in Greek. There’s a word that means ceremonial anointinglike anointing a king. And then there’s a word that meansmedicinal/hygenic anointing. That’s the word used here.

And then, pregnant pause, she wipes up the excess with her hair.

Now as soon as we get to that detail, the eyebrow raises starthappening.

What does that mean? Let’s just get real. We are all trying to be ascheritable as possible because, after all, this is the Bible but I meanthis passage is stinking weird. Do you not agree?

It’s troublesome. It’s awkward. Why? Because we all know, that hairmeans something. When you go to prison or enlist in boot camp, thefirst thing they do is cut your hair. That’s not a fashion statement. It’sabout control and submission. The symbolism of hair is baked deepinto the psychology of humans. Hair in nearly every culture is asymbol of something, and especially for women.

So hair is full of meaning.

I got carried away this week and read a ton of articles on hair in thefirst century and it’s crazy to me how little has changed. Hair in thefirst century was about status. The whole goal was to make it look asunnatural as possible. Here’s a statue from the 1st century thatshows one of the crazy hair styles that existed.

You may wonder how you get curls like that.

There was a device called a calamistrum which was the ancientcurling iron. You wrap this piece of hair around a round hollowcylinder and then you heated up the pin in the fire and then stuck it

into that cylinder. Suddenly makes your curling iron look like aBMW. Now if you could do that with your hair you were wealthy.This is why Peter says, "Don’t let your adornment be merelyexternal, the braiding of hair, etc.

Traditionally, in Jewish culture a woman’s hair is her glory — andthus should not be seen. We see evidences of this when Paul saysit’s disgraceful for a woman to prophesy with her head uncovered.

So Mary, under normal circumstances, probably would have kepther hair, her “glory,” up and covered.

Now here’s the deal. I don’t care what culture you are from, this stillfeels really strange. Men, how would you feel if a woman in today’sless modest culture came in and let down her hair and started wipingyour feet with it. I’m just saying, that is really, really uncomfortable.This was no more common then, than it is today. There’s questionsof propriety. Many have accused Mary of inappropriate sexualgestures.

So what is going on here? First thing to say, is obviously it’s notsinful since Jesus comments and says it was a beautiful thing. Inthe parallel accounts Jesus says, “Wherever the gospel is preached,her deed will be made known.” Here we are preaching about it. Solet’s first just say that. We can rule out inappropriateness.

Here’s some interpretive hints. First, there were some importantexceptions to the hair-always-up rule. There were times when it wasacceptable to wear your hair down in public. There are two reallyinteresting and relevant exceptions.

First there is non-Jewish evidence that when approaching a temple

a woman should not have her hair bound. Why? Because she mustbe in her natural state. Not disguised with makeup. In other words,this is who I really am. You can’t disguise yourself to the gods.

Think for a moment about clothing, jewels, adornment, hair. All thesethings exist to hide our imperfections, to hide our shame, and tomake ourselves more presentable, more likeable, more desirable inthe eyes of other people.

We all know this. But you can’t do that with God.

According to an inscription dating to 92/91 B.C.E. there is this rulegiven for women entering into worship. The female worshipers arenot to wear “gold, or rouge, or white make-up, or a hair band, orbraided hair or shoes made of anything but felt or leather fromsacrificial animals.” If you think, “Come as you are” is a newconcept, you are mistaken.

So in Roman culture, the first reason acceptable reason for awoman to wear her hair down was some forms of worship. Does thisnot fit the context?

Mary is coming to worship God. Mary is the only one in the narrativewho understands who Jesus really is. What is Jesus worth to Mary?Everything. Why? Because he’s God. She dumps the family fortuneout without hesitation. She’s coming to worship before God. Youdon’t come to God and try to clean yourself up first and try to trickhim that you are better than you actually are. You come broken,open, honest, not done up. pride down, hair down, guard down. Youcome with nothing to hide.

To wash feet was disgraceful. Remember John the Baptist. I’m not

even worthy to untie his sandal. That’s a job for a slave. I’m notworthy to do even that.

Mary takes her glory, her hair and she lays her honor at the feet ofJesus. She takes that honor and makes it a towel for the feet ofJesus. She becomes for all of us a teacher in that the proper placefor a disciples head is at the feet of Jesus. So Mary with hair downhas an audience of one. She’s just worshiping.

There was actually a second acceptable reason for letting the hairdown and that was for mourning. If there was deep grief, deepsorrow, deep mourning, then wearing the hair down was anappropriate expression. If there was a funeral, this would have beenappropriate in public.

Mary is rebuked for her deed and Jesus defends her by saying,“She has done this for the day of my burial. The question that isfrequently asked is this: "Does Mary understand the significance ofher actions or is Jesus adding significance to Mary’s actionsdifferently motivated.” In other words, was Jesus’ impending death inMary’s mind?

Most commentators don’t think so, but I do. What’s the only reasoncommentators assume that Mary doesn’t know Jesus is about todie? Because the disciples don’t get it. But is that fair to assumeMary doesn’t get it?

I think Mary is one of the few people who actually listened to Jesus’words and understood him to mean what he said. Listen Marywatched resurrection. The disciples saw it, but she lived it. She andher sister Martha were the only ones who really had to live thatexperience. She had to listen to the words, this is not a sickness that

leads to death, then she had to watch her brother die with thatpromise stabbing her heart over and over again, “This is not asickness that leads to death.” And then she heard Jesus say, “I amthe resurrection and the life.” And then she saw him prove it. Whatdid she learn? She learned that PHYSICAL DEATH can’t stop thepromises of God. I think she vowed to never doubt Jesus again.

So a couple weeks later Jesus on the way up to Jerusalem just aday or two before our passage, Jesus says these words:

Matthew 20

So, it’s of course conjecture. But don’t you think Mary could haveheard these words in a way that the other disciples couldn’t? I thinkshe believes Jesus that he must die and rise again, like her brother.

I think Mary had a faith that took Jesus at his word in a way that theother disciples struggled to do and I think she was communicating

her faith in this moment. Mary’s anointing and mourning was herway of acknowledging the road that lay ahead for Jesus.

There’s some conjecture there but I think it’s reasonable. For me,this is the best way to explain both Jesus’ reaction, and why Maryfelt this was so appropriate.

Speculation aside, if you want to just zoom out and get the bigpicture, Mary is doing exactly what the man in the parable of Mathew13 is doing.

Matthew 13

Mary is that woman. She searches through her cupboard and gladly,happily, willingly, joyfully pours out everything she has at the foot ofher Lord. She lays down her self-dignity. She lays down her security(that alabaster vile would have represented security in an economicdownturn). She lays down her image. And she essentially says,

“Anything that is of any value to me, I give to you because you areLord and are deserving of everything.”

So for Mary, Jesus is worth everything. What about for thedisciples?

Now, here’s what we mean by that. For the disciples, we know thatthere were self-serving reasons to follow Jesus. Everybody enjoys abit of fame through association. Everybody enjoys watching theyeyes of a person widen in admiration when you say, "I just got doneplaying golf with LaBrone James." The disciples enjoyed that kind ofrelationship with Jesus. There are several times in the gospelswhere that comes out. Now Judas in particular had a unique reasonwhy he liked following Jesus.

Now if we just had John, we’d spend the rest of the time harping onJudas. But comparing the other gospels here is particularlyinstructive.

Matthew 26

Mark 14

By comparing the gospel accounts, what does this tell us? Judas isthe one who said it but every disciple thought it. And thenemboldened by the articulation of Judas they too speak their mind.

Isn’t that interesting? They were all INDIGNANT. Remember a fewweeks ago, we said this word indignant, in the Greek is a reallycommon word that is usually associated with animals. It means snortand bellow with rage. This is a very strong emotional response. Howdare you! The non-verbal daggers that Mary would have absorbedin this act would have been ten times more painful than the wordsthemselves. You can imagine the eyes narrowed in disapproval, themurmuring, the judgmental gestures. The outrage indicated byflaring nostrils and sharp snorts.

Notice what the disciples say, “Why this waste?!” That sentence is anoose upon which they unknowingly hang themselves. What iswaste?

Wasted food is food prepared and nobody eats it. It somethingexpended without a purpose.Wasted time is time spent in a way that has not productive value.Wasted effort is effort expended but the goal was never realized.

So what would it mean to have expensive oil wasted? Well, if youtipped the bottle on the ground it would be wasted because it wouldland upon something that doesn’t deserve honor. If you used it towash your hands after going to the bathroom that would be a wastebecause it’s too common a purpose.

You would have none left to then bestow upon someone who cameinto your house who should receive that honor. So do you see whatthey disciples are inadvertently confessing? Jesus, you aren’t worththat kind of honor.

Imagine watching a show called lifestyles of the rich and famous.And you watch as the show opens up. And the guy opens a 70kbottle of colone and dumps it all over himself. what would you think?

no human is so special that they need $70k worth of colone for theevening. that is a waste of money. we might even be tempted to saywhat the disciples said, "can you imagine how many starvingfamilies in africa could be fed with that money." it’s always so easyto spend other people’s money for them, isn’t it. we would beenraged, “how can he justify himself?” and in a sense, thosefeelings are correct. that is a waste.

But how can you say that of Jesus? How can you say to Jesus,Jesus, sure you are worth a dab of oil, but not the whole bottle. Wehave to save this bottle for other noble uses. We might regretspending too much of this on you. There are other people we needto share this with because they have great value also.

Of all the evidences we’ve given for Christ claiming deity, this is upthere. What if I were to say this to you, “Don’t give your money tothe poor. That offering box in the back will be there forever.Someday, I’ll be dead and then you can drop money in that box andfocus on the poor, but right now, you need to spend all yourtreasures on me.”

You see Mary sees it for what it is. She says, "There could be nobetter purpose for this precious treasure of mine then to place itupon the head and feet of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." All otheruses are inferior uses. Any other use would be like wastefullyspilling it on the ground by comparison. Her use was the only non-wasteful use.

And the application to us is significant. An incorrect application ofthis would be to guilt you by saying, "Mary gave of her deepesttreasure." You too should give of your deep treasures. Here’s ourbuilding fund. Give sacrificial like Mary. What was Jesus worth to

Mary? Answer: everything.

The right application is to simply ask the question: Do you want touse your time, your money, your possessions, your abilities, yourmental and emotional energy for Jesus or do you see better uses?

Let’s think about money by itself: Yes, it’s good the give in acalculated manner (that’s biblical) but it’s also good to give lavishly.It’s also good to give with total abandon.

The issue is not, why haven’t you given to Jesus with total abandon.The issue is more, "Why don’t you want to?" Why isn’t that theimpulse of your heart? What do you think has more value and ismore worthy of your attention?

Recently one of my sons was expressing interest in missions and Iactually caught myself thinking:

Well we want you to serve the Lord but you know and we are gladyou are going to be a missionary, but you know, missionaries don’tmake a lot of money and you need to be wise and save forretirement so maybe you should consider an alternate career.

Gross, missionaries who have given their life to the Lord and havegiven up the chance to have big houses or great lifestyles, thesemen and women are like Mary. They have chosen the better thing.

I think most of here need to be rebuked along with the disciples.There is no such thing as a sacrifice too great. There’s no suchthing as too much time given to the Lord, a lifestyle too sold out.

Where does your love for Christ express itself in lavishness? Wheredoes the effusive, free-flowing, bottomless motion of your heart for

the Lord express itself? What was Jesus worth to the disciples? Ohhe was definitely worth something but let’s be balanced. Let’s be alittle more measured and not so radical.

For Mary, he was worth everything. For Disciples, he was worthsomething.

Now Judas begins cooperating with the chief priests to get thisworthless man on the cross. Think about Judas for a moment. Whywas Judas following Jesus to begin with? Because it benefited him.We are told he used to help himself to the money box. Scrape a littleof the side here. Nobody will know. Nobody knows about this giftgiven to Jesus. I’ll just pocket it myself.

Now at some pont, Judas goes from saying, "Jesus profits me byhanging around him to Jesus profits me by betraying him." Whathappened? Why the flip? Why the change of heart?

We have an answer to that and, in fact, there is a fascinating way inwhich the gospel writers communicate this to us. It is brilliant:

Let me point out something that can be confusing, if you do just acasual attempt to harmonize the gospel. Remember that time markerwe talked about earlier.

Notice how this compares to the parallel accounts.

And then you have the story of Mary… Look at the parallel accountin Mark.

Now what’s going on here? John gives us the correct timeline. Thisevent happened 6 days before Passover. Both Matthew and Mark

are using the literary device of a flashback. Notice the text says thatthe religious leaders were "seeking how to arrest him by stealth andkill him." But they needed a way to do it away from the crowdsotherwise there is going to be an uproar. How are they going to doit? What we need is a traitor. What we need is someone on theinside.

But who would dare betray Jesus? Matthew and Mark answer thatquestion by giving us this flash back. They rewind the film to thatscene where Judas was humilited and rebuked and publicly stungfor his greed. Judas pipes up, “Woman, how dare you be sowasteful. Have you no sense of propriety?”

And Jesus looks at Judas and drills him to the wall. Judas you needto be like Mary. You need to surrender you dignity. You need to putyour head by my feet. In fact you need to pour out all your money onmy feet and proclaim, “The best and highest use of my money is todump it at the feet of my Lord.”

And you can imagine that stinging rebuke eating away at him. Andyou can imagine it just festering like an open infected wound.

And Judas stung by that public rebuke says, “Over by dead body.”And Jesus says, “So be it. Thy will be done.”

You see, it was in that moment of public rebuke and humiliation thathe realized the “Jesus stock” he’d been holding, that stock that hadperformed so well for so long was beginning to plummet and it wastime to sell him off. He’s selling off Jesus. What is Jesus HIMSELFworth to Judas? Nothing.

Let’s stand back for a minute and ask ourselves, "What does it

mean to sell something off?" If you own some General Motors stock,you keep it as long as what? As long as it’s profitable.

But what happens if it starts losing you money? You sell it. You getrid of it. You don’t love General Motors. I’m so sure. Who loves GM?You only love what it can do for you.

What does Judas care for Jesus himself? Nothing. ZERO. He justcares for how Jesus profits him.

Many attend church because church does something for them. It’sprofitable.

It does good things for my marriage.It’s good to have community. Everybody needs community.I can network and find business connections.

Do you see the irony here? Do you see how Judas uses religion?As soon as it doesn’t profit him, he’s willing to sell off Jesus for a 1/3of the price of Mary’s perfume he so ferociously condemned. Youwant to talk about a waste? Here’s a waste, spending 30 shekels ofsilver to betray the son of man to have that blood money be spent onpurchasing a field to bury your dead body.

That’s what happened to Judas. That’s a waste. Who ends up withthe greater blessing? Mary or Judas? That’s the insanity of sin.That’s the insanity of misplaced affections. That’s the insanity ofidentifying the wrong god.

So let me close the message by asking you the question, “What isJesus worth to you?” None of us really get it. We are all discipleswho perceive that Jesus certain has some worth. Yes, he’s

intriguing. He’s interesting. But here’s the thing about Jesus. Hewon’t let you stay there. He demands that you choose.

In the end you are either Judas or you’re Mary. You either say toJesus Christ, “I will obey you unconditionally. I will make you thesupreme thing in my life,” or else you’re Judas. You sell him off.

What is the direction of your life? Are you willing to give more andmore or less and less? Are you more and more committed or lessand less committed? What are you becoming?