Sunday: Unforgettable
Daily Lesson for Sunday 8th of September 2024
Read Mark 14:1-11. What two stories are intertwined here, and how do they play off of one another?
Mark 14:1 indicates that the Passover was two days away. This meeting probably occurred on either Tuesday night or Wednesday of that week. The religious leaders have a plan and timing. They just need a means to accomplish their goal. It will come from a surprising quarter.
This passage is the fifth sandwich story in Mark (see lesson 3). The story of the plot against Jesus is linked with a story of a woman who anoints Jesus’ head with precious perfume. Two parallel characters do opposite actions, displaying an ironic contrast.
Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com
Who the woman is here is not revealed by Mark. Her amazing gift to Jesus stands in contrast to Judas’s perfidy in betraying his Lord. She is unnamed; he is named as one of the Twelve. The value of her gift is listed; his price is only a promise of money.
No specific reason is given for why she does this, but the guests at the dinner are appalled by what they consider a grand waste of close to a year’s wages in pouring out the perfume on Jesus. Jesus, however, interposes in her defense and says that what she has done will be included in gospel proclamation throughout the world as a memorial to her. It is unforgettable. Indeed, all four Gospels tell this story in one form or another, probably because of Jesus’ words memorializing her deed.
Judas’s betrayal also is unforgettable. Mark implies that his motive was greed. The Gospel of John makes it explicit (John 12:4-6).
Mark contains a play on the word “good” in order to illustrate that two different motives, or plots, are in play in these stories. Jesus calls the woman’s action “good/beautiful” in Mark 14:6. He says you can always do “good” for the poor (Mark 14:7). In Mark 14:9, He calls her deed part of the “good news/gospel.” In Mark 14:11, Judas looks for a “good opportunity” (ISV) to betray Jesus. What this play on words suggests is that the plot of men to destroy the Messiah will actually become part of the gospel story because it brings to fruition the will of God in giving His Son for the salvation of humanity.
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How does Romans 8:28 help explain what will happen here? |
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Can you imagine the furore if a woman splashed Roja Haute Delux ($4500 per 100ml) perfume over a man at a church potluck lunch in our modern world? There would be a big stink and no doubt the church board would meet, followed by a business meeting, followed by a sermon or two about financial responsibility and what constitutes good Seventh-day Adventist behaviour in public places.
Undoubtedly, the event described in this little tableaux was shocking even in Jesus' time. And if you read the other accounts and put all the pieces in place, the participants were all known to one another. Simon the leper was father to Judas Iscariot (John 12:4). The woman who anointed Jesus feet was Mary, sister to Lazarus. Mary's reputation was that she was a sinner (Luke 7).
The conversation that followed had some hard lessons for the participants in this event. Simon, clearly had an ulterior motive for the feast and was more interested in what he could get out of it than being a good host. Judas made a show of indignation about the waste of money but in reality, was thinking of what he had missed out on if the money had come into his keeping. And the onlookers were shocked at the inappropriateness of the woman's behaviour and Christ's tolerance and understanding of her.
While there are layers of understanding about the lead up to the crucifixion, it should not go unnoticed that Jesus took what many of us would regard as an inappropriate display of affection and turned it into a moment of salvation.
I am reminded of the story that Adrian Plass, the Christian Humorist tells of a church where he preached by invitation. He noticed a really ugly looking wooden cross that occupied a central place in the church. At the potluck after the service, he asked about it. He was told of how this old derelict man started turning up at their pot-luck meals and ultimately started attending the services. One day he turned up at church with this ugly wooden cross in a wheelbarrow and asked if he could speak to the church before the service. He told of how the church had just simply accepted him and made him feel welcome and part of the church faminly, even though he was old and decrepit and a bit antisocial. He had decided to give something to the church and presented them with this artwork which he had created himself - the ugly wooden cross. Not long after he had done that, he died. And as the story was recounted to Adrian Plass, the church board decided to keep the cross in a central place as a reminder of why the church exists.
The perfume of Mary's spikenard has wafted down through the centuries as a reminder of why the church is here. We are to give value to people in Jesus' name. That is the sweetest perfume ever and is priceless.
Interesting, I have never heard of Judas Iscariot connected with Simon the Leper before.
Judas' father was Simon, but that was a pretty common name. I don't know that I would be certain of that connection. Based on the woman being Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, I think it is more likely that Simon is a relative of them.
I agree. I have read where Ellen White stated that Simon was the one who led Mary into sin.
Yes you are right Tammy. When I was at Andrew's University taking Anatomy and Physiology My room mate Had a professor that required his students to give the source and page number of their quote.
"As did Nathan with David, Christ concealed His home thrust under the veil of a parable. He threw upon His host the burden of pronouncing sentence upon himself. Simon had led into sin the woman he now despised. She had been deeply wronged by him. By the two debtors of the parable, Simon and the woman were represented. Jesus did not design to teach that different degrees of obligation should be felt by the two persons, for each owed a debt of gratitude that never could be repaid." Desire of Ages page 566.5
Christ came into this world to save, not to condemn. John 3:17.
Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He uttered it always in love. He exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful, kind attention in His relationships with the people. He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, and never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity; but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes. Steps to Christ page 12.1
But, remember we are even from those who did worse... our first parents. And the grace of God compells us !!! no way we can exclude ouselves but only through accepting the grace and live by the faith of Jesus Christ...Amen.
"The perfume of Mary's spikenard has wafted down through the centuries as a reminder of why the church is here. We are to give value to people in Jesus' name. That is the sweetest perfume ever and is priceless."
Hallelujah, AMEN!
Judas and the ones who grumbled and shook heads with him were able to quickly appraise how much something was worth. They were like the investors on a US reality TV show called Shark Tank..."sharks" who swarm in competitively to "make a killing" on a good business investment. Or another modern-day comparison might be oily, veteran pawnbrokers who are able to quickly glance, decide how much something is actually worth, and then quote a price to give themselves the greatest benefit. The perfume had barely dripped out the flask before they were eyeballing the exchange and shrewdly calculating dollar amounts.
But here's the irony, they could see the value of the perfume dripping off Jesus's beard, but they could not see the value of Jesus Himself. Judas and those who sided with him were under the spell of the world's greed and they could not see the inestimable value of Jesus (Matt. 6:24; 2 Cor. 4:4 NIV). For Mary the lure of money was gone, she didn't need to sell herself any longer, thanks to Jesus, and she could now break the flask without flinching. She looked for no opportunity except the opportunity to be with Jesus and honor Him. She knew the value of the perfume AND she knew the value of Jesus.
Jesus wants us to know that He can break the spell of whatever draws us away from Him...that's the sweet gospel (Mark 14:9). Pouring ourselves out before Jesus is never a waste or too costly. Choose to fall on the Rock and be broken in repentance and humility, to lose oneself like the flask cracking before Jesus (Matt. 21:44), or the other choice is the one Judas made....he stayed proud and unbroken before Jesus and there we see him crushed by his choice (Acts 1:18 NIV).
That's why I love Jesus!! He kept baffling the people of his time!!my kingdom is not of this world! What Perfume sent do I leave in my trail as I journey through my six days of toil and labor on my way to the Sabbath day!! I must live the Sabbath rest experience every day that Christ has given all of us!so is not only smelling good on the out side but what attracts people to me (us) will the Christ we live day by day ,
@Esther Pelletier:
I don't know if you were quoting from some passage or those were your words as you reflected on the lesson. Either way, you have blessed my soul this morning with those insights.
Thanks for sharing!!!!
I definitely agree. Thank you @Esther Pelletier.
Praising God, Wayne and Stephanie! What a blessing how He uses each of us to bring out new angles and visions of the gospel message for each other!
Wish we all could see Jesus as this woman saw Jesus
I consider these two events might have been recorded for the benefit of the observer/reader to learn from them the impact they had on Jesus vs. our emotional response to them. Considering Jesus’ disposition, He was not led by His emotions – anger, gladness, appreciation - regarding acts of kindness done in His favor or acts done to His detriment.
The gift of the women to ‘anoint’ Him – "She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for may burial" - was just as important to Him as was the act of Judas who was about to betray Him – Mark 14:8-10. Both spoke to the difference in spirit by which their acts were motivated.
I believe that which was important to Jesus, causing Him anguish, was hat His disciples still needed to learn so much from Him before He departed. Though He prayed for the Father to send the Holy Spirit, He knew that they would be left to themselves during dangerous times until the Spirit would come to anoint them with 'understanding'.
I consider His praising or rebuking of acts ought not to be received only with an emotional response; though emotions are human and will always play a part in our experiences. They are to be first and foremost a spiritual learning experience for us. The living soul is elevated by our Creator God as we lay up 'treasures in heaven'; it is He that rewards the faithful – Matt.6:19-21; 2 Tim.3:16-17.
The story of Mary(Magdalene) was well presented by my pastor one Sabbath . She's the same Mary who had been found in the very act with a man and was almost stoned to death but Jesus rescued her.No wonder she later on did not mind the cost of the perfume but vividly remembered a savior so good.
Spot on that Jesus Christ deserve to be poured by expensive perfume from Mary's dedication. Jesus Christ is the Foundation and Mary's is the Church of God.
This scene is wonderfully reenacted in an episode (season 4, EP 8) of "The Chosen" series. The emotion of the event begins with Mary shopping for the most exquisite fragrance saying "this is for the most important King the world has ever known". The scene plays out following the text of John 12:1-8. I wonder why Matthew 26:7, and Mark 14:3 indicate that she poured the oil over Jesus's head, while John's account says that she annointed Jesus's feet and wiped them with her hair? Needless to say, this act of extreme extravagance caused quite a stir in the room. John's account names Judas as making the biggest fuss, for reasons which we know to be his greed. This obviously becomes the turning point for Judas, as Matthew and Mark's Gospel next mention Judas's agreeing to betray Jesus. What an insult to Jesus to imply that Mary's extravagant act of worship was a waste. To Mary it wasn't. A full year's worth of wages was spent to annoint "the most important King the world has ever known". From her perspective it was the least she could do. Jesus rebukes the grumblers, which probably didn't go over well with Judas either, saying, "she has done a good work for me.". (Mt.26:10;Mk. 14:6)
To the eye of the unconverted it was indeed "over the top" and wasteful. Jesus defended and affirmed her because He knew why she did it. To Him it was beautiful.
Can we ever give too much for Jesus? I think not. Too many might want to give "just enough" to get by. Mary gave of her best to her Master. How much are we giving? I'm not talking financially either.
I am often stirred within when I hear the song about,
"Mary's Alabaster Box" sung by Cece Winans, the lyrics are so descriptive that I can almost smell the fragrance of the spikenard.
"The room grew still
As she made her way to Jesus
She stumbles through the tears that made her blind
She felt such pain
Some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper
There's no place here for her kind
Still on she came
Through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last, she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no words
Everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the Master
From her box of alabaster
And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren't there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When he wrapped his love all around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box
I can't forget the way life used to be
I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
And I spent my days
Poured my life without measure
Into a little treasure box
I'd thought I'd found
Until the day when Jesus came to me
And healed my soul
With the wonder of His touch
So now I'm giving back to Him
All the praise He's worthy of
I've been forgiven
And that's why
I love Him so much
And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And dry them with my hair (my hair)
You weren't there the night Jesus found me
You did not feel what I felt
When He wrapped his loving arms around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
Oh, you don't know the cost of my praise
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Janice Sjostran
I'm not sure I agree with the application made at the end of the lesson about Judas' "good opportunity". No other versions use the word "good", so I think it's a bit risky to make an application based on one Bible version (I consulted many of the more literal translations). However, no matter the word, applying Romans 8:28 to Judas' betrayal makes me a little uncomfortable.
Prophecy indicated Jesus would be betrayed so Judas' did fulfill that. But I don't believe God "needed" Judas to betray Jesus to bring about our salvation. As unlikely as it would be, if Jesus had been accepted by the Jews and no one had betrayed Him, He could still save us. This is because His sacrifice was never dependant on us. He laid down His life and He would still have done that. In a sense, Jesus made the sacrifice for us in the garden when He committed to saving us no matter what. He was already experiencing the separation or second death that would save us at that time. That was before Judas actually betrayed Him. Everything that followed - the insults, the rejection by the Jews, the cruel death on the cross - did not contribute to our salvation. What it did was show the enmity between humanity and God. Jesus went through all this too, out of love for us, but it wasn't what saved us.
Perhaps the author is too focused on details that don't matter a lot? (I don't think he intended to say that what Judas did was "good" in any way.)
But this brings up an interesting point: There is an apocryphal "Gospel of Judas" in which Judas is portrayed as a friend of Jesus whom Jesus asked to betray Him so that prophecy would be fulfilled. Thus Judas is portrayed more as a hero, rather than the way we are likely to see him today.
Based on what you said, I would say we don't even need to read the apocryphal. I have never read any of it and don't feel the need to after my friend of another denomination and I talked for two hours recently of religion said, "don't read it, read the Bible" It has... and... I now don't think anyone could wet my appetite now to read it.
Christina – I read your comments with interest and want to share some points with you which lead me to believe that Jesus’ life is more valuable for us to learn from than from His death; considering His death to be the physical result/outcome of the spiritual response of those who rejected Him and the life He lived.
Personally, I chose Jesus because of the uncompromising, single-minded life He lived. His teachings spoke to the spirit within me and gave my life direction which from then on promoted life instead of death.
Jesus did not consider anyone unworthy of His company. Anyone could join Him on His way through the countryside or when teaching in the synagogue, teaching anyone about the ‘New Way’ - how to live rightly and worship God in Spirit by faith in His Word.
Those being repulsed by His teachings demonstrate how evil within makes its way from the heart into the mind, and from their into action; just like the good fruit of the Spirit finds its way. Those rejecting Him were unable to 'see' the ‘New Way’s' spritual Light, and their spiritual darkness lead them to act out their evil imaginations.
Both, Judas and the religious leadership at that time shared this same spiritual darkness, equally unreachable to accept the Truth conveyed by the New Covenant. They plotted and waited for the right time to apprehend Him, deeming the anual tradition to release a prisoner to be the best time. Evil within lead their planning as prophecy was fulfilled one day at a time.
Finally, the time came for Judas, still rejecting Jesus’ teaching of the spiritual kingdom of God for Israel, to join hands with the religious 'establishment' as both wanted to retain their way to influence the affairs of Israel; both rejecting to travel the 'New Way' with Jesus; all who believe accept to change their life.
I am in complete agreement with you Christina. The fact that it was prophesied that JESUS’ own familiar friend would betray Him did not mean that Judas (or anyone else for that matter had to betray JESUS). Prophecy does not cause an event, it foresees it. Like everyone Judas had the freedom of choice. JESUS would have still laid down His life voluntarily for our sins had He not been betrayed, had the Jews not orchestrated His crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. The ‘how’ of JESUS’ sacrifice may have been different but not the ‘why’. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15
The best perfume and acceptable to Christ is to give ourselves in totallity to Christ. Self must die and cross be uplifted.
The alabaster woman was not close to Jesus as Judas was, but we find her sacrificing an expensive oil for the Saviour . Such hospitality would have come from Judas who had tested the power of Jesus during their walk together. I challenge myself and brethren to sacrifice for the Saviour instead of displaying opposite intentions in God's mission.
Opposite intentions of Christ missions, I don't need to know. Sacrifice for my Saviour I do know.