Mary's devotion to Jesus, exemplified by her anointing of his feet, demonstrates the qualities of worship, fellowship, and sacrifice in a believer's life. The sermon highlights Mary's actions as a response to Jesus' love and foreknowledge of his death, contrasting her costly gift with Judas's criticism and emphasizing that true worship involves giving one's all. This act of sacrifice, though seemingly extravagant, is presented as a fruitful and timely expression of faith that honors Christ and serves as a perpetual memorial. The message concludes by urging listeners to emulate Mary's sacrificial love and present their lives as a living sacrifice to God.
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And we'll read in the eleventh chapter from verse one. John eleven verse one. Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. His brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sisters and Lazar. And then in chapter twelve, verse one. 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 at supper. And Martha stood her, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spitenard very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with a hair.
and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then say of one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for three hundred 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 bear what was put there in. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my bearing has she kept it. For the poor always he have with Jesus.
But me have not always. There are three things that describe the life of the believer. Worship. Fellowship. and thirst. In the opening verses of Hebrews chapter eleven you read that by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than came. God testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet beateth.
In Abel, we see the worship of faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Enoch was translated, we read, that he should not see death. And before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. And twice over in Genesis chapter five, we read these words, Enoch walked with God. And in him we see the fellowship of Satan.
He didn't simply walk, but he walked with God. We read that by faith Noah, being warned of God, of saints not seen as yet, prepared an ark for the saving of his family by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. An enemy should be served. The work of faith. And God told him he was going to destroy this world and told him to build the ark. He got busy. In this chapter we read concerning these three Lazarus and Mary and Martha, we read they made him suffer.
Martha church. Lazarus was one of them, not the only one. Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table. with him. And then we see fellowship. He sat at the table with him. He was a resurrected man. He was a man whom the Lord Jesus had raised from the dead. And every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead by him. We were once dead in trespasses and sins, but we've been made alive together with Christ, quickened with him by life divine, raised with him from the dead.
And we have been raised up together, the Scriptures and made to fit. Together. Lazarus sat with him and made to sit together in the heavenly in Christ. Mary was a worshiper. Then took Mary a pound of loins that was like God very popular. First we see the service of faith. Then we see the sitting of faith.
And then we see the sacrifice of faith. Very reason shall I bring to the Lord of that which cost me nothing. And we see in this story that she remembered his death against the day of my burying as she kept it. She remembered his death. At this time of year, we remember particularly his birth, but nowhere in Scripture we told to remember his birth. But we are told by himself. In the very night he usually prays. He said, this is in remembrance of me.
And she is remembered because she remembered his death. Three gospel writers mention Mary's gift of alabaster, box of ointment, quite non-very precious, but only John mentions who it was. Matthew mentions the incident. Mark mentions the incident. But John is the only one that mentions who did it. He mentions her by name twice in connection with it. It was that Mary, it was that Mary, which anointed the feet of Jesus. And here in our chapter, he tells us, then took Mary, a pound of hoitman, so it's quite an odd, very thoughtful.
Three times Mary is mentioned as being at the feet of Christ, a good place to be. It says, first of all, she sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. Secondly, it says, she fell down at his feet to say, Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died. She sat at his feet to get life. She fell at his feet to get life. And here she's anointed at his feet in appreciation of his great love. The love will be loved. I want to think a little bit about Mary's death. First of all, It was a suited gift.
It was right. It was proper. That God manifested and blessed. The Lord of glory should be honored. Judas said, why was it waste of the ointment made? It might have been sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor. But he didn't recognize that the one who was rich For our faith became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. Rich in glory now is saved. Vance is all thy people's hope.
Now it's poor, that we might be rich in glory, Lord with thee. Jesus said it in the way. But the Lord Jesus said, she has done what she took. He said, she has brought a good work unto you. He said, wheresoever this gospel is preached, this also, that this woman is done, will be told from the moral of her. And every one in this room has heard this story over and over and over again. Wheresoever this gospel has been preached, this that this woman has done, has been told for a memorial of her.
It was a time period. After all, she had sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word, and it says, she came beforehand to anoint his body for the burial. Just six days before the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, she came beforehand. She had sat at Jesus' feet and she heard his word and she knew that he was going to die. He told the disciples on at least six occasions that he was going to be rejected by the elders and he was going to be killed.
And he was going to rise again. Every time he mentions his death, he mentions his resurrection, he was going to rise again from the dead. He said, no man takes my life from him. I have power, authority to lay down my life. And I have authority to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my father. And yet, in the twentieth chapter of John's Gospel, we read that when Peter and John went to that tomb, they said that they didn't know yet the Scripture.
He told them at least six different times. But sometimes we only hear what we want to hear. And yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again. Didn't they? She had not only sat at Jesus' feet, but she heard his word. You know, you can sit and not get anything. And the Lord Jesus said, he that has ears to hear, let him hear. It's not enough to have ears. You have to pay attention. Mary Magdalene and the other women came. They had a good intention. They came early.
They were going to annoy his body. But they came too late. Mary sees the opportunity just six days before the Passover. six days before the Lord Jesus was going to meet with his disciples. He said, with great desire, desire to eat this supper, that Passover supper with me before I suffer. But she came beforehand. It was a timely gift. Mary's gift was a costly gift. I understand that this white nard was brought from the Amalya Mountains all the way across Afghanistan through some of the roughest terrain in the world.
And when it finally got to Israel, it was little worth its weight in gold. We're not told that Mary was a wealthy one, but she had fought. this expensive perfume. And one pound, John says, one pound of ointment. And I understand that that ointment was so potent that one drop of it, a human flesh, and you could smell it for a little better than some of the perfume that we see and smell. She had only one purpose for it.
Judas, he made a testament of the price, what it was worth. He said it should have been sold for three hundred cents and gifted to the poor. Not that he cared for the poor. He kept the treasure in everything that went in while he took a little bit and put in his back pocket. He's a thief. He had the idea that some people still have that anything spent on me is worthwhile, but that which is given to Christ is a waste. Why was this waste? of the island there. Beautiful. He said it could have been sold for more than three hundred cents. That's why it puts this mark.
Could have been sold for more than three hundred cents. Well, you can think of the fact that in that day, the growing wage was one tangles, not a copper coin, but one silver coin of an anointing. That was a going wave of anointing. And Mary's gift represented one year of work. Three hundred tenths. Yet only one verse for the Lord. The Lord Jesus said, Against the day of my burial, she's kept this.
She didn't put one drop on herself. She didn't put one drop on her sister Martha. Ladies love perfume. I mean, she loved Martha, but she didn't give her a drop on it. And she didn't take any of it and anoint her body, the body of her beloved brother Lazarus when he died against the day of my burial. The Lord Jesus said, kept it. He didn't take one drop and put it on herself. This cost was it. She had purchased it as a tremendous sacrifice, I doubt it.
She sat at Jesus' feet in his way. She felt beholding to him because he had raised her beloved brother. It was not only a costly gift, it was a fruitful gift. You know, the scripture says, the Lord Jesus has said, given, it shall be given to you. He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. By giving the whole thing, all that she had to the Lord, everybody present was blessed. There is that which scatters and yet increases. The scripture says the whole house was filled with the odor of the onion.
Every one of those apostles got a blessing of the sacrifice of marriage to the Lord his wife. How his heart must have been threatened by this woman. It's heavy and dirty for her. one of whom he had said in rebuke to Martha. Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many. But Mary has chosen that good for us, which shall not be taken away from us. Martha and Lazarus was blessed.
They were there. They got a whiff of that. The whole world for all time has been blessed. Wheresoever this gospel is preached, this also, that this woman has been told, as Jonathan will be a memorial of her. And Mary herself was blessed. You know, it says in Corinthians that a woman's hair is as well. Women are very careful about their hair. I remember before the days when we had this. air conditioning in our cars, your wife would say, hey, crank up that window, it's blowing my hair.
You ever heard anything like that? Women are very conscious that their hair has to be just so. And they say you can tell when a woman is really sick. I mean, really, really sick. She doesn't pay any attention to her hair, but if you go and visit her in the hospital, she wants her hair to be just right. The scripture says it's a woman's voice. And she took that hair, her glory, and she laid at the feet of Christ. And she wiped his feet with a hair. And wherever Mary went, that stamp was surely wrong.
They took notice of him that she had been with Jesus. Mary's gift was a sweet, smelling gift. A fitting memorial of his death is an interesting version of Ephesians five, and verse two, it says, Christ loved us, has given himself for us, and often, and a sacrifice to God for a sweet, smelling favor. Love that no conscience eats.
Love that no thoughts eat. No love like this. Love that undeathed God daily, sweetest, oldest bread. We're sent of all kings of the good. Superdale. Redemption. Glory. Death. Mary's memorial. A memorial to him. And it's put in the word of God. as an example, as a challenge. And it heard me go up. It was, as I said, as suited yet. Worship of Christ is not a word.
When the Lord Jesus, before he went on to heaven, he wanted us to remember exactly what Mary remembered. Against the day of my bearing, he was kept there. The Lord took a local bread and just had it. He said, this is my body. It's given to you. Take, read it. This do in remembrance of me. And he took also a cup, and he said, this cup is a new kept one in my blood, which is shanty. All of you drank of it. And the scripture says, as all as we eat this bread, and drink this cup, we do show forth the Lord's death will come.
Mary was a worshiper, and the Father seek his worshiper not only for himself, but for his son, but all men, the honorable son, even the honorable father. Many of our hymns Express praise and worship to the Lord Jesus, but oftentimes people do not address them in praise directly. We sing hymns like this, thy name, we love Lord Jesus, that name, old names above them. We sing all these hymns, but oftentimes we only address the Father. Have a prayer. He's now with the Lord, Russell Shell.
Some of you may know, I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for many years up at the Pittsburgh home. When he had one daughter, two sons, and when the man that came to his son-in-law came to him and said, Brother Shell, you know, I'm interested in getting married, and I just wanted to come to you and get your approval. And he said, well, you have my approval to marry my daughter. He said, but there's one thing that I want you to promise me that you'll do, that after you get married, you'll never tell her that you love her. If you feel like you're going to bust, if you don't tell her you love her, just tell me that you love her, and I'll tell her that you love her.
Oh, he said, brother, brother, brother. He said, I could never do that. Well, he said, I've noticed over the years, I've never heard you once express your love for the Lord Jesus. You're always telling the Father to tell the Son how much you love him. By name we love the Lord Jesus. It's a wonderful thing to tell the son. The fathers teach his worshipers, and they that worship him must worship him in the spirit and truth. But the Lord Jesus said in John chapter five in verse twenty three that all men should honor the son even as they honor the father.
God so loved the world that he gave his son. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. There's only one proper thing to do in the light of that gift, is to say thanks to the Father and praise to the Son. It was a kindly gift that came beforehand to unite the body to the burial. It was a costly gift. No other purpose intended for it. She didn't pour it out. She just broke that alabaster box of ointment. She had no other use for it. whatsoever.
It was a fruitful gift, as I said, by giving all that she had, the whole house was filled with the odor of the ornament. The Lord was blessed and honored. Martha and her brother Lazarus, they were blessed. And Mary was blessed. She carried the odor of the ornament with her. And the whole world to all time and eternity has been blessed because it's written in the word of God. And wheresoever this gospel is preached, told from a boy of earth. What does Christ's gift mean to me?
Well, Paul says in thanksgiving the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. I could say, was it for me, for me alone? His Savior left his glorious throne, the dazzling splendor of the sky. Was it for me he came to die? It was for me. Yes, all for me. Oh, love of God, so great, so free. Oh, wondrous love, I'll shout and sing. He died for me, my Lord and King.
One of our great hymn writers was a woman named Francis Lilly Halliburton. She died at the age of forty-three. She could speak fluently in five different languages. She could read the Hebrew, the original of the scripture, and the Greek that equally is an extremely intelligent book. She wrote many hymns of praise for the Lord. At one time she was in Germany, and she saw a painting depicting Christ on the cross. And as she looked at that painting, the tears began to roll down her cheeks. And there was a sign that said something to this effect.
All this I did for you. What have you done for me? It was a German, but she could read that one. She reached into her purse and had a little piece of paper. She started writing some lines of poetry on it. And after she examined it, she didn't take too much of it and she took it and balled it up and threw it in the direction of the fire point. And a sort of breeze from the hearth blew it away and it was just charred on the edges. And she put it back in her purse and she carried it home and she showed it to her dad who was a preacher and asked him what he thought of. And he said he thought of it, thought to be kept. And she had written, as she looked at that scene depicting Christ on the cross, I gave my life to be my precious blood I shed that now might ransom me.
and took us from the dead. I gave my life. I gave my life. This is my body given to you. I gave my life for thee. What ask thou given for me? Alas, and did my Savior bleed? Did my sovereign die? Did he devote that sacred head to such a worm as I? Was it for crime that I have done? He groaned upon the tree, Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. Well, might the sun and darkness hide and shut its glories in when the incarnate maker died for man?
He preached his sin by drops of grief in every page. the debt of love I owe. Dear Lord, I give myself away with all that I can do. May each of us, like Mary, who sat at Jesus and heard his word, come with what we have of our life yet left. Is that it our day? a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable in the dark, if our reasonable service shall we pray.
Our Father, we're thankful indeed for thy holy words. We're thankful for this beautiful story of the devotion of Mary of Bethany through all time and eternity That which he has done, we told her memorial to her. Because she remembered the death of the Savior, we will never be able to forget her. And we pray that we too, in like fashion, will present what we have of our time, our talents, and our treasures at the feet of the Lord Jesus.
and say as we come to sing, Jesus, thou lo, not worthy, ceaseless, praise is to receive, for thy love and grace and goodness rise for all our thoughts and deeds. For the adoring heart we render honor to thy precious name, overflowing with thy mercy, far and wide, thy word before. Bless thy word to us, we pray, and through us this day. This last day of another year, may the savor of this sacrificial gift. And Mary so speak to our hearts that our lives will be changed for thy glory in the year that lies ahead.
So we ask this with thanksgiving. And I want precious and worthy name, Lord Jesus.