Title: Happy dedication (John 12:1-8)
Contents
John 12:1-8
happy dedication
The Eskimos have a unique tradition of wolf hunting. Eskimos prepare black-edged swords to hunt wolves. The blade is soaked in animal blood and frozen. Then, with the blade out where the wolf can walk, he burrows into the ground. The wolf, who smelled the blood, came rushing in and started licking the blade. The hungry wolf licks the bloody blade more and more vigorously. The cold in Alaska is so harsh that the wolf never notices that it is licking with a sharp blade because its tongue is frozen and numb. The wolf doesn't even know that what he's licking isn't the blood of another animal, but the blood that is dripping from his tongue, cut by a sharp blade. And finally, the wolf dies from exhaustion while eating his own blood. He devours his own life after coveting a little blood on the blade.
It is not the object that makes humans unhappy, but human greed. Gold is good, but bathing in water is a problem. Food is good, but binge eating is a problem. Wine is good, but binge drinking is a problem. Everything in this world is a problem, not because of itself, but because of selfish greed. Modern people fail to ascend to a better and more beautiful object, but descend to pursue a less good and uglier object, sucking the blood of greed like the Alaskan wolf and slowly dying.
Humans feel happy when they have what they want. But the happiness that possession brings is only temporary. In order to be truly happy, you have to hold onto the eternal, not the impermanent. You must hold onto an unchanging target. Only God is eternal. Only Jesus Christ is unchanging. Therefore, those who have the eternal God are truly happy people. Those who are caught by the unchanging Jesus Christ are truly happy people. So, people of faith devoted themselves to Christ and enjoyed happiness.
The Gospels record the stories of those who heard praise from Jesus. First, he came to Jesus and asked to heal the servant, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to come to my house. Only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8) The centurion was praised for saying, “I have not found such great faith in anyone in Israel.”
Second, “Son of David, have mercy on me. The Canaanite woman who endured the harsh refusal, saying, “It is not worthy to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” for her daughter said, “Woman, your faith. How great is this, and it will be done as you wish.”
Third, the poor widow offered two leps and said from Jesus, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all who put into the treasury. I have put in all my living expenses” (Mark 12:43,44).
Fourth, Mary, who broke the alabaster jar of perfume, poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped her feet with her hair, was praised for saying, "Wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her" (Mark 14:9). I did.
This text is a record of what happened at the feast held at Lazarus' house. A feast was held for Jesus at the house of Lazarus. It must have been a feast of thanksgiving for resurrecting Lazarus, which was recorded in the chapter just before the text. Martha and Mary held a feast to thank Jesus for raising their brother Lazarus. Modern people forget gratitude and live. We must restore lost gratitude. These three brothers and sisters did not forget the grace that Jesus had given them, and they gave thanks and held a feast for Jesus.
These siblings were not only grateful, but also lived a life of devotion to Jesus. Their home was always ready for Jesus. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, he slept in the house of these brothers and sisters in Bethany, about 5 li from Jerusalem. We would like to share the grace of these three siblings, especially through the happy devotion of Mary.
1. Mary always sat ‘under the feet’ of Jesus.
Let's read verse 3 together. “Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume, pure nard, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the smell of perfume.” Amen.
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus Among these three children, Martha always appears as a woman who diligently prepares food. And Mary always appears as the ‘woman under Jesus’ feet. The text says that Mary sat at Jesus' feet, took a pound of very expensive perfume, poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped His feet with her hair.
When Jesus came to her house, Mary sat down at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:39) and listened. My sister Martha came to Jesus and said, "Lord, do you think it's okay to let my sister work alone? Please tell my sister to go and help out.” She shamelessly sat at Jesus' feet, knowing that she was busy preparing the food. Not because I didn't like the kitchen or because I didn't want to work, but because I was happy to sit at Jesus' feet.
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, he hesitated for two days. Meanwhile, Lazarus died. Belatedly, Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to wake him up.” He went to Lazarus' house. When Martha heard the news that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him and complained about Jesus who came late. But John 11:22 says, “When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she immediately went out to meet her, but Mary sat down at the house.” Mary, who was at home, came to her sister Martha and told her, “The Teacher is coming and is calling you”, so she hurriedly ran and fell at the feet of Jesus to pray for her brother (John 11:32).
Mary was at Jesus' feet when He was crucified (John 19:25). The soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, took Jesus' garment, divided it into four feathers, each got one feather, and cast lots to win the underwear. Jesus' mother, Mary, and his aunt, and Mary the wife of Clopas, were crossed at the same place. He was standing at the feet of Jesus on the
When Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, wrapped the body of Jesus in linen cloth, put it in the tomb prepared for him, and rolled a large stone to block the door of the tomb, Mary was also sitting facing the tomb where Jesus was buried. (Matthew 27:61).
Mary, who went to the tomb of Jesus at the dawn of Easter, was still under the feet of Jesus at the scene where Jesus was lying (Matthew 27:61), and then she heard the news that Jesus had risen from the angel.
Thus Mary always sat at the feet of Jesus. That's why people called Mary the "woman under her feet." Actually, ‘under your feet’ is not a very good place. People want to be 'over their heads' rather than 'under their feet'.
In Deuteronomy 28, God spoke of the blessings of obedience and said, “The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; only above and not below.”
That's why Christians pray, "Let me be the head and not the tail, only above and not below." That's right. Who wants to be a tail? Who would you like to sit under? Have any of you ever wanted your children to grow up and live at the feet of others? People prefer higher seats than lower seats. They want to rule over their heads rather than under their feet.
But Mary liked the place “under the feet” of Jesus. “Woman under your feet,” what a beautiful title is this? Jesus, who came to serve, said that we must die to live, and He said that we must be humbled to be exalted. And yet, we are only trying to rise. I just want to be served. May all of you become saints who, like Mary, sit at the feet of Jesus.
2. Mary dedicated her life to Jesus.
Verse 3, which we read together, says that Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume, pure nard, poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.
As mentioned before, Martha appears as a woman who diligently prepares food for the Lord whenever the Lord comes. Today, Martha volunteered the hard work of making food for the Lord without saying a word. Actually, the church needs workers like Martha. Our Chuncheon Northern Church also needs a lot of workers like Martha. Our church is about to start the first part worship service soon. It takes a lot of workers to do the first part worship. We need teachers and we need choir members. We also need guides and consecrators. where would that be? You really need a lot of marda.
On the other hand, verse 2 of the text records that Lazarus was “who was among those who sat with Jesus.” But verse 9 says, “A great crowd of Jews came to know that Jesus was here, not only to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.” Verse 11 says, “Because of Lazarus, many Jews Go here and believe in Jesus.” The fact that Lazarus was alive and sitting alone led many to believe in Jesus. There are saints who glorify God even if they keep their seats like this. You don't have to roll up your arms to work. There are some saints who can just keep their seats.
However, the highlight of the text is Mary's dedication. Mary smashed the expensive alabaster alabaster and poured it on Jesus' feet. He poured pure nad on the feet of the Lord and washed His feet with his hair. The head is the most precious part of a person. In particular, the Israelites considered the hair of a woman to be a woman's crown. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:15, “If a woman has long hair, it is an honor to her, for the long hair was given in place of the covering.” With her hair of glory, Mary washed her feet, the most insignificant part of a human being. The Jews thought that the feet were slaves or a lowly part to be touched and washed. So, when Jesus was about to wash his feet, Peter said, “You will never wash my feet” (John 13:8).
But Mary uses her hair as a towel or a rag to wash Jesus' feet. The most glorious thing for me is the attitude of what I should do before, even though it has to be the lowest thing to the Lord. This attitude is the attitude of a devoted person.
How expensive was the perfume that Mary poured on Jesus' feet? Read verse 5 of the text. “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” Amen. How much is it worth? Yes, three hundred denarii. One denarius was the daily wage of a worker at the time. So three hundred denarii is equivalent to one person's annual salary. Perhaps Maria's mother had prepared for the coma of her beloved daughter.
Mary poured that expensive and precious thing on the feet of the Lord. Instead of adding color by dropping drop by drop, I broke the bottle and poured the whole thing. The perfume could be poured out and the bottle could be saved. But Mary wanted this dedication to be a last and an eternal opportunity. I wanted to give all of my things to him by breaking the alabaster jar and pouring all the perfume on it. I wanted to give the whole, not the parts.