John 12.1-8 Jesus my Devoted

  • Sam Ford
  • Feb 10, 2008
  • Series: Gospel According to John

Jesus the my Love

February 10, 2008

Sam Ford

 

A Romantic Devotion

I got married quite young.  I was 20 when I got engaged and Caylin was 18 and a month from graduation. The beginning of any relationship is full of Romance.  It is fun and spontaneous and sometimes crazy irrational.  I'm not sure where the Romantics have gone, but when I was dating Caylin I knew exactly what I wanted and I was going to win her with Romance.  So I went to the extreme on more than once occasion because she had what I wanted-HER.  I would embarrass myself, I would sacrifice relationships with friends, I would break the bank, if it would get me her (Hundreds of Notes, Prom Scavenger Hunt, crafts, Wreath of Roses, BIG Christmas Gift).

 

Romance should lead to Devotion. When you recognize WHO this person is, that they are everything your heart desires-a decision must be made.  You put yourself out there-you commit to this person, you say I WILL GIVE MY LIFE TO YOU, ,I will from this point forward consider YOU MORE IMPORTANT than myself, I will sacrifice for you, I will choose to go through tough stuff with you, I will help you grow, I will build a family with you, I will love you, I will devote myself to you first and foremost.. 

 

Devotion alone leads to genuine love. 

Devotion is not rooted in passing feelings.

Devotion is not a temporary commitment

Devotion is not partial

Devotion does not give up

Devotion is not periodic only certain times

Devotion is not I'll make my decisions independently

Devotion is not routine and duty

Devotion alone leads to genuine love. 

 

Romance is not enough to create genuine LOVE in a relationship-it's too passing.  Romance will not take you through the difficult times.  Romance itself will produce loving feelings and strong emotions, but it will not develop trust or security.  Flowers and dates can make someone feel important, but it won't necessarily cause the development of amazing communication.  Striking good looks will fade and the money will eventually run out as you buy diapers and dog food, then what is left?

 

Stopping at a Romance with God

I'm afraid that many of our relationships never get to that place of DEVOTION with God and stop at ROMANCE.  We're stuck in that Polly Anna, God is my wonderful boyfriend who gives me everything I want. We love God as long as he gives us what we want, what we desire, what we expect.  And when we first "DATE" God, he gives us a new sense of life and a sense of freedom that sweeps us off our feet.  But then we quickly realize that life with God isn't always Romantic Roses and fine dining-sometimes he gives us thorns to deal with and bitter food to eat.  It hurts.

 

In John 11, we see that God allows "those whom he loves" to experience suffering.  And because we make most of our decisions based on what on what is most convenient and comfortable from our perspective, we suddenly fall out of love with God-I WANT A NEW GOD.  We think we deserve better, that we know better, and we evaluate how GOOD God is by how GOOD my personal situation is never considering that GOD SEES EVERYTHING past, present, and future right NOW.  That our perfectly loving God, perfectly just God, perfectly merciful God, perfectly gracious God makes decisions with more knowledge and wisdom than we will ever have! 

 

A Genuine Devotion to God

A genuine devotion to God only occurs when we finally really KNOW God...who he really is, not who we want him to be and we really KNOW ourselves from His perspective.   A genuine devotion to God requires that you understand the GOSPEL....the meaning of the CROSS of Jesus. A lack of genuine devotion is a lack of deep understanding of the truth of God in the Gospel.

 

The Bible says that, Romans 5.6-8

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[1]

 

Our Devotion to God begins with seeing how much he ACTIVELY LOVED us when we were who we were.  Who are we?  The fact of the matter is that we denied our GOD, who was completely DEVOTED to us, and became in his words, WHORES.  In Ezekiel 16, God spends an entire chapter tell his people how they have turned to every idol under the son and GIVEN THEMSELVES, their lives to these man-made things.  And again, in Hosea the prophet's own wife leaves and becomes a prostitute.  And in BOTH CHAPTERS, God is seen pursuing his bride despite this dirt and darkness...bringing her back...fulfilling his promise even though the bride does not deserve it.

 

Our devotion to Jesus is rooted in The Gospel tells us who God is, who we are, and what he does to bring us back to him.. We don't believe who the Bible says we are...so we butcher the gospel, and it loses it's power.  A false gospel will never develop GENUINE LOVE....

 

"God doesn't think I'm that bad" - You love God because you earned it (Moralism) This WILL NOT develop a genuine Love for Jesus Christ because it is rooted in pride.  We do good works and in the end we  get "paid" for what we earn.  We tell God, "Give me what you owe me..." and when he doesn't come through with blessing-we get pissed because he didn't come through on what we "earned." 

 

"God loves everyone." - You love God because He let's you do whatever you want (Licentiousness) -- This WILL NOT develop a genuine love for Jesus Christ because it's rooted in sin and unrestrained freedom.  A loving God does not let you and I do whatever we want...he doesn't leave the blind to stumble in the darkness.  That would not be loving.

 

"God loves me because I don't upset him."  You love God because you're supposed to."  (Legalism) - This WILL NOT develop a genuine love for Jesus because because it's rooted in fear. The only reason we obey is because we don't want to get struck down with lighting from a God who has a short fuse.

 

All of these are a brutalization of the truth of God.

"I'm a more terrible sinner than I'll ever admit, but I'm more loved than I can imagine." THE TRUE GOSPEL is WE ARE BROKEN, BLIND, EVIL, REBELLIOUS, HOSTILE, DEAD MEN and WOMEN in NEED OF A SAVIOR but UNWILLING TO ADMIT IT, deserving nothing but the wrath of the Creator whom we have flipped the spiritual middle finger to believing that we KNOW the truth, we DEFINE who we are, we DICTATE what is right and wrong, as we turn our back on a PERFECTLY LOVING, PATIENT, GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL GOD, who owes us nothing but gives us EVERTHING by giving HIMSELF TO DIE. 

 

From God's perspective, you deserve nothing.  This is exactly what he tells Job.  And yet, the conversation doesn't end there.  And if we can for a moment see what really transpired in a very real way on that cross, our allegiance to Jesus as King becomes more than allegiance, more than friendship, it becomes a DEVOTION to the one's whose worth is immeasurable.  The worth of Jesus will determine our love for Jesus.

 

SETTING THE STAGE

Read John 11.45 - John 12.11

 

Martha's Service

John 12.1-2

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table.

 

Mary's Service

Mary's love language is acts of service.  Although it's not a perfect science, there are several love languages:  Words, Gifts, Acts of Service, Time.  We all have a love language that speaks to us more clearly than others and one that is more natural for us to communicate.  Mary's is service.  She used to have a real problem with service.  Let's just say that she didn't serve out of love.  When you do something out of love, you really don't care what the response is or what other people are doing.  You're motivated by what the RIGHT thing to do is in the moment-love.

 

Luke 10.38-42

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

 

Service/duty alone is not enough

It seems like Mary may have learned her lesson, and that is, that SERVICE and DEVOTION are not necessarily the same thing.  Service alone is never enough.  Going through the motions, routines, and duties do not automatically generate genuine love-they can't.  If a relationship becomes founded upon DUTY as opposed to DEVOTION, then we really don't have relationship.   We have a job.

 

If your bride asks why you love her, and you say, "Well, you're my wife."

If you husband says, do you love me, and your response is, "I married you?"

If your spouse says, "You don't really love me," and you respond with, "Sure I do, look at all the things I do for you, I put food on the table, I clean the house, I take care of the kids, I go to a job I hate, I wash your dirty underwear, I plan dates...ALL FOR YOU..."  That's not devotion.

 

When God says, "Do you love me?" do you respond with, Look how much I pray, look at the poor I give to, look how much money I give the church, look how much I serve....We have needs, but do not serve out of need...it should be out of devotion to Jesus.

 

Matthew 7.21-23

21  "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

 

 

Mary's Devotion (Matthew 26, Mark 14, John 12)

John 12.3   3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

 

How Mary Honors Jesus

1.      A Pound of Expensive Ointment (PICTURES)

This perfume that Mary produced wasn't common. It was usually an oil, perfumed from an herb that grew in the Himalayas - somewhere around India or Tibet - only this text tells us it was "pure nard", the genuine article worth a fortune.   Mt & Mk say it was in a bottle made of "alabaster," also from that area. It had to be imported from very far away. That made it valuable - the business minds (JUDAS) in the group quickly figured it was worth a year's wages for the average laborer or soldier.

 

2.      Anointed the Feet of Jesus
If we take the accounts in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 as the same accounts from different perspectives, we get a picture of Jesus reclining at a small table on the ground (Michelangelo) got it wrong.  His feet are extended outward and he probably stinks.  Jesus was just as human as the next guy and in the middle east in Spring it got a bit balmy out.  His pits probably smell like Walla Sweets so the gesture itself is simply a kindness.  But it is was also a special blessing in the middle list to be anointed with oil. She pours it on his head (12 oz, enough for everyone) and probably over his entire body, the majority of it on his feet.

 

3.      Wipes his feet with her hair

Mary is so invested in her act of worship she unties her hair, which would have been highly inappropriate for a woman in those days, especially as she disrupted a meal with men only, and uses it to wipe up the excess from Jesus feet.  She pours out all of her pride, all of her dignity, and loves on Jesus to an extreme without care of what anyone thinks. Her act of love and worship was public, spontaneous, sacrificial, lavish, personal, and unembarrassed.


For whatever reason, she wanted to give Jesus her best.  On the surface, she appears to be expressing gratitude for restoring the life of her brother.  But I think there is more here.   Mary wants to demonstrate how much she appreciates, loves, adores Jesus for who He is, in addition to   what he did to save her brother. 

 

Mary honors Jesus because she understands the Gospel - Mark 26, Mark 14

Matthew 26.12  In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

 

Mary is one of the few to understand what is going to happen. Jesus has told his disciples many times that he is going to die.  She is, perhaps, one of the few who recognizes that this could be the last time that she will be with her master...it's only a few days before he will be arrested and eventually crucified.

 

Mark 14.9  And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.

 

Wherever the GOSPEL is proclaimed, they will speak of what Mary has done.  Mark connects the gospel with Mary's act of devotion.  She is in some way living out her response to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She recognizes: WHO SHE IS, WHO JESUS IS, and WHAT HE HAS DONE to save her from her sin...how much He has loved her. 

 

Mary became the Aroma of Christ

John 12.3b The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume

 

2Cor 2.14-15

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

 

Mary became this-the aroma of Jesus Christ.  Not her devotion, but the WORTH OF CHRIST filled the house through her act of sacrifice.  Jesus is certainly worthy more than this perfume, but in this moment she begins to understand and savor the worth of Christ that she will genuinely worship him and sacrifice to do so.  

 

Her sacrifice to Jesus, her worship to Jesus, her offering to Jesus, is about her DEVOTION to Jesus.  She does not sacrifice because others will think her holy; she does not worship to garner attention (if anything she is shamed); she does not offer to Jesus so that He will love her more; she does it all because of how much she values Jesus.  In the eyes of many, it is unreasonable, extravagant,   overwhelming, and beautiful.

 

I could care less what other "church" people might think about my worship, my offering, and my devotions.  But I do care about what my children see.  I do care what my wife sees.  When I am dead and buried, I pray that they say Dad was a man who was DEVOTED to JESUS. 

 

Judas masks his own lack of devotion with religion

John 12.4-6  4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

 

Judas tries to sound spiritual and take some sort of spiritual "High Ground" in this instance.  He isn't the only one.  In Mark 14, a couple of the other disciples get in on it too.  We don't know what they were thinking, but we do know that Judas is slime ball who steals money out of the money bag so his concern for the poor is really concern for his own pocket. 

 

SATAN WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO HINDER YOUR WORSHIP

Satan will use whatever means necessary to hinder your sacrifice and worship to God.  He will even use religion.  Religion is not a bad thing, but it can become very sterile, controlled, and routine.  In religion, there is very little room for spontaneauty, and extravagance all in the name of the Lord.  Communities very easily fall into routines and traditions that simply overwhelm what was once passionate and risk and exciting. 

 

GENUINE WORSHIP as an expression of DEVOTION IS NEVER WASTED

You can't give Jesus too much.

 

GENUINE SACRIFICE for God is not open for DEBATE

Romans 14.

 

WHEN YOU LOVE CHRIST, WE WILL DESIRE HIM AT ANY COST TO OURSELVES

John 12.24-25

 

Jesus Response - the poor are not the goal

John 12.7-8  7 Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

 

This should never be mistake for Jesus saying that the poor are not important or that we should ignore the needs of those less fortunate.  I do believer, however, it is a REALIGNMENT of what is most important.  The question is not SHOULD we help the poor, but WHY do we help the poor.

 

There are many "good" reasons to help the poor, but there are a lot of bad ones like guilt, pride, etc.  We do play a part in redeeming the world by weaving back into it social justice.  But it must be rooted in a devotion to Jesus.  Social justice then is a part of the fragrance of the gospel.  If serving the poor becomes the devotion, then social justice takes the rightful place of Jesus as Savior.  Our relationship with Jesus becomes centered on DUTY and RESPONSIBILTY versus purre DEVOTION for and an EXPRESSSION of WHO JESUS IS.  Again, it's a way to stop short of true devotion to Jesus.  (Read Matthew 25.35)

 

Our Response

Her act of love and worship was public, spontaneous, sacrificial, lavish, personal, and unembarrassed.  (We can barely lift our hands in this church for fear of what someone might think)

 

So the question then is, what have you ever sacrificed for Jesus? 

  • What have you given?
  • What have you not taken?
  • What have you gone without?
  • What have you denied yourself of?

 

I'm sure you have sacrificed for a lot of things.  You have put time and energy and money and resources into something.  And that something is valuable to you.  Where have you done that for Jesus?  And I'm talking about a sacrifice that cost you something, something that was hard to do-choosing to do what which is uncomfortable or inconvenient.   

 

2Samuel 24.22-24

22 Then Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "The Lord your God accept you." 24 But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing."

 

God isn't interested in your money...he wants you heart.

I expect that when a lot of pastors say, "what have you given to Jesus", the translator in their head goes off and what they actually hear is something like, "What does you tithe at church look like?"  Their half expecting offering plates to come firing out of the pews as their guilted into writing a check to make God or the pastor or themselves feel good.  This church is not interested in your money.  We're interested in seeing people devoted to Jesus.  When men and women are devoted to Jesus, then where they're money is going, how they are loving their husbands and wives, what their parenting looks like, fall into place

 

The question is where is your heart?

Matthew 6.21, 24

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

24  "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

-         I'm devoted to you God, until you do something I don't like or expect

-         I'm devoted to you God until someone better comes along

-         I'm devoted to you God, except my money is mine, what I look at on the computer is private, and what I think about is off limits

-         I'm devoted to you God except don't ask me for anything

-         I'm be devoted to you God...on Sundays from 10-11:23

-         I'm devoted, but I make my own decisions God

-         I'm devoted to you God, because , that's what Christians are.

 

CONCLUSION

The worth we attribute to Jesus and what he has done will dictate the level of our devotion

Luke 7.44-50

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." 48 And he said to her,  "Your sins are forgiven." 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves,  "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" 50 And he said to the woman,  "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

 

YOUR EVIL: Many of us will sit, just as the Pharisees and thank God that you're not a terrible person like that murderer, or that porn addict, or that pedophile, or that adulterer and be filled with pride because you're so much better. 

 

YOUR LOVED:  God has given the most he could give, himself.


[1] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Ro 5:6-8

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