THE WARNING What day and hour – We don’t know: be ready! What to look for – Don’t waste your time: be ready! What should we do – Keep working: be ready! Watch for Him – He has promised: be ready!
MARK 14 Plotting and worshipping, v.1-11 Some events recorded in the Gospels do not follow the same chronological order. Some are written in a time frame as to when they happened, and some are in a subject frame to make a point or compare. According to John's account, Mary anointing the Lord with precious spikenard occurred six days before the Passover. Putting the different views of the same subject matter together gives us a fuller picture of the event and why it is important. One account tells us that the ointment was poured on the head of our Lord Jesus Christ, and another says His feet were anointed with the spikenard. We can discern from these accounts that from His head to His feet, the Lord Jesus is worthy of all honor that woman could give Him. That should move us to give honor, worship, adoration, praise, and glory to our Savior.
In Mark’s Gospel, the placing of the narrative in Bethany next to the evil plans and plot of the chief priests and scribes to kill Jesus two days before the Passover gives a number of contrasts between the people involved and their attitudes toward the Lord. I have to ask myself, how do I respond to that woman's outpouring of love and devotion, appreciation and gratitude? Would I have ever done such a thing as to pour out a whole year’s worth of labor on my Lord just because of devotion to Him? Would I, without hesitation, sit down and give $60,000.00 to show Him what He means to me without saying a word to anyone?
Judas looked at what she did with a calculating eye as to its value in money, and some others said, “Why this waste?” They even rebuked the woman for doing what she had done right before the Lord Jesus. Self-interest and the value we put on the things we do and/or give are very different than what God sees. People still deceive themselves into thinking that if they give money to meet the needs of others, God is obligated to consider it a reason to grant us some form of acceptance or benefit for us. For us to withhold what we know are needs of others is a reason for condemnation. The real value in anything is not how it enriches us or benefits other people but the attitude with which it is given.
Contrast what Mary did with what the leaders of the Jews were planning. They had outright rejected the Lord Jesus and wanted Him put to death but without a riot caused by people who had been blessed by Him or who knew that He was the Messiah. His popularity among the fickle crowds of people who came to Jerusalem for the Passover was great, and when many people come together, they can be easily moved to do either right or wrong. The natural human response is to go along with the majority because of peer pressure and not to be singled out as different from all those going in one direction.
The Passover was held once a year to remind the Jews of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The review of the miracles God did for them as His covenant people has kept them identifiable around the world as unique people for over three thousand years since the Exodus. Eating the roast lamb and unleavened bread and reciting passages of scripture that relate to that event keeps them looking ahead to the coming Messiah. Sadly, they rejected Him when He was here because He didn’t suit their idea of what the Messiah was supposed to be like and what they wanted Him to do. They would not accept the truth of John the Baptist’s message when He said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which bears away the sin of the world!”
The innocent sacrificial lamb was only a type of the real Lamb of God whom they rejected. The last true Passover was the one the Lord ate with His disciples before He suffered and died as our Lamb. Christ is our Passover now, so we keep the feast in remembrance of Him instead of remembering an event. How much more superior is the reality than a mere foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ? We are privileged to know Him who carried away the sin of the world by the sacrifice of Himself, and even more, to have Him as our own Savior and our Life.
This account of the anointing of Jesus, the last Passover, the first Lord’s Supper, the arrest of Jesus, the trial by the priests, and Peter’s denial of the Lord awakens in our souls the contrast of faith in Him and rejection of Him. The contrasts are stark and extreme. The priests were plotting in their palace to kill Jesus. Mary was pouring out a year’s worth of labor on the head and feet of her Savior. The hatred of the priests seemed to know no bounds. The love and devotion of the worshipping woman was a beautiful and extravagant demonstration of her appreciation of who He was. Her awareness of His coming death, burial, and resurrection moved her to act ahead of time rather than wait. He gave her a wonderful tribute by saying, “She has done what she could.” There was nothing more or of greater value that she could do than to anoint Him for His burial.
Malignant hatred and enthusiastic love could not have been demonstrated in any greater way than is written in the first verses of this chapter. Attitudes and actions reveal what is in our hearts. The splendor and beauty of that woman’s act of devotion affected all who were there. The same is true when our worship of the Lord is real and observed. The Lord truly is the Divider of those who believe and those who believe not. There is no way to mix allegiance with the world and the kingdom of God. Hatred against our Lord is because of His holiness and perfection in life, as well as character and attitude toward God and people. Light exposes what darkness hides. Wickedness and deceit have no way to avoid being compared with love and grace. The very presence of good is an offense to that which is bad.
When light comes in, sin is exposed for what it really is. Simon was obviously a cleansed leper who appreciated the Lord’s healing and forgiveness. The preciousness of spikenard was well known because it was used almost exclusively to anoint kings and persons of high positions. Mary knew Jesus as her Sovereign Lord, who is above all other kings and lords. Those who were indignant at what they thought was a waste of money are not identified in this account. Still, we know from John’s Gospel that Judas Iscariot was one who vocalized what he thought about her demonstration of appreciation.
Even today, the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ repels some people and attracts others. Those of us who know Him rejoice greatly when we see evidence of gratitude, worship, and appreciation for Him in the words and lives of other people. To see Him honored and to honor Him ourselves is to experience a foretaste of His glory right here and now. Kind and loving hearts keep the feast and rejoice in the mingling of words, thoughts, and hymns of praise as our Lord is exalted among His people. Others put a cheaper value on what was intended to be a spontaneous outpouring of worship and praise by paying those who are professionally skilled and trained to make music appealing to people to do for us what we should be giving to the Lord ourselves. The sacrifice of praise is to be “the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
All who attended that meal in Simon the leper's house would have been affected in one way or another by what that woman did there. The fragrance of the spikenard would have been on everyone there. Wherever they went in the days following, they would have been marked people because of the beauty of one woman’s worship of her Lord. The alabaster box was broken, never to be used again, but the fragrance it contained is still impacting the world today wherever the Gospel is being preached. The white stone with streaks of dark in it reminds us of ourselves, who, though we have been cleansed, still have evidence of our past nature that no longer controls our lives. “A broken and contrite heart, thou will not despise, O God.”
The fragrance of that woman’s worship would leave a scent in the upper room where the Passover was celebrated, and the Lord’s Supper was instituted. It would give an identifiable scent of who He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, which was of far more impact than the deceitful kiss of Judas. In the palace of the high priest, in Pilate’s judgment hall, in Herod’s palace, there would still be the scent of that woman’s worship. On the cross, above all the sounds of dying and death, there was the scent of holy worship when the Lord told the believing thief he would be in paradise, the kingdom of the Lord. The thief got a scent of the kingdom before he got there.
One wonders if that scent will haunt the nostrils of the betrayer forever in the place of the damned. His greed for money and position, as well as the covetous nature of Judas, who longed for money, will never be satisfied. That burning dissatisfaction will be an added torment to one who sought to “conveniently betray” the King of kings. In contrast to him, she is a woman who never wanted to forget the mercy of the Lord when raising her brother from the dead. Real gratitude always seeks some way to express itself.
She heard and believed what Jesus said was coming, so she went and prepared to give. From her heart, she gave the best – the spikenard for His anointing. For some, it was a waste, but not the Lord; he knew the motive behind it. She broke the box; it could be used no more or for any other purpose. The Lord knew the cost and her motive for giving such a gift. He knew her heart was right with Him. Her love for the Lord was real, sincere, and deep, and she wanted to give her best, which contrasts very sharply with Judas. His motive was “selfish” – the absolute worst. “The betrayer” is what he is known to us as. One loved the Lord and the other loved money. How different can two people be? May I ever be ready to give to Him freely what little I can out of love because I can never recompense in any measure what He gave me?
The tribute the Lord made concerning that act of worship which “this woman has done” will still resound around the world. It is not based on the cost of the ointment but on the sacrificial love that passed all normal means of expression. It was an act of lavish, enthusiastic love expressed without words. Mankind is divided today by our Lord Jesus Christ. Some hate Him, and others love Him. Some reject Him still and others gladly receive and worship Him. Some want to see Him dead and keep Him there, and others want others to receive Him, live for Him, and they are willing to die for Him. There is no middle ground. How thankful I am that I am one of those who can honestly say, “I love Thee, Lord Jesus!” He loved me first, and by His grace, I am saved forever! Love for the Lord Jesus Christ seems natural!
Passover, an event; Lord’s Supper, a Person, v.12-31 The contrast between Mary and Judas is certainly stark. He was a person of deceptive character who didn’t hesitate to find fault with Mary’s heartfelt devotion. His selfish motive and false philanthropy were an open and obvious contrast to Mary’s love and gratitude to the Lord. Her sacrificial giving was a beautiful and memorable demonstration of sincere and holy love for the Savior. The word of encouragement from the Lord is a challenge to us all. “She has done what she could” stirs us to ask ourselves, have we ever done what we could? Her empathy, consecration, devotion, faith, and love are a testimony to the reality of her faith and a challenge to us.
Mary gives us a view of how high love can climb. We think of her and the broken alabaster box and are lifted in spirit to the place where we all see a true worshipper of her Lord and Savior. From that high place, we glimpse what heaven will be like when we see Jesus. By contrast, we think of Judas as the betrayer who sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver, and we get a view of hell where there may be silver but no water to quench thirst. Both people were connected to the Lord Jesus but had a very different understanding of who He was. One had an outward profession of following Him but had no inward spiritual life. He had been favored but failed. He had words but no work of faith. The woman’s heart was that of one whose devotion is real. Her outward expressions of gratitude and faith were silent, but her actions were obviously from an overflow of love and gratitude for the Lord Jesus Christ.