JESUS WAS ANOINTED BY A WOMAN

Mark 14:1-11

Key Verse 14:9

“I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Today’s message mark’s the beginning of Jesus’ last week on earth. Actually, as this message opens up, Jesus has only two more days to live before he will die on the cross. In this time, we see the attitudes of people towards Jesus. That is, we see a contrast between those who walk in the darkness rejecting Jesus’ love and those who walk in the light and who accept his love. A woman, whose name we don’t know, comes to him and does an extraordinary thing to him. Jesus describes it as a “beautiful thing.” The pouring out of her perfume on Jesus was a wonderful expression of her heart towards Jesus. No one could match this act. She gave everything to Jesus. It was so moving that Jesus promised it would be remembered throughout the world. Then there is Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, whose heart is dark and is seeking only to get something from Jesus. He is a warning to us that we should watch our hearts carefully and have pure motives to follow Jesus.

Through this message, let us think about what kind of beautiful thing we can do for Jesus. What can we do for Jesus because of his wonderful love and grace towards us? May God help you to give you a heart to Jesus like this woman.

Part one. Jesus will become the Passover Lamb. (1-2)

Let’s read verses 1-2, “Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread were only two days away and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. ‘But not during the Feast’, they said, ‘or the people may riot.’” The Passover was the day of independence for the people of Israel. It was celebrated annually to help the people remember God’s wonderful act of saving grace to them while they were a slave nation in Israel.

How did this happen? God used ten plagues on Egypt to force Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. However, he was very stubborn and would not let them go. Finally, the tenth plague was the one that forced him to let the Israelites go. It was the death of all the first born. God said that he would send an angel of death to kill all the firstborn. He told the Israelites to take a one-year old lamb and sacrifice it and put some of its blood on the door posts of their homes. When the angel of death came over, it would see the blood and would pass over that house and not kill the first born living in that house. Hence the word “Passover” meant that God’s judgment would pass over that house.

The important reason why the Passover is mentioned here in verse 1 is because Jesus himself will become the Passover Lamb. According to John 1:29, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Now, in two days, Jesus will become like a lamb led to the slaughter. He will be condemned to death and crucified on the cross. When he sheds his blood on the cross he will be bleeding and dying for all the sins of all the people of the world both present and future. There is no one who can free us from sin. There is no one who can cleanse our guilty heart and free us from shame and God’s judgment and wrath, except Jesus and his blood he shed. Only he among all the people who have ever lived has the power and authority to forgive our every sin, because he is the promised Passover Lamb. Because of Jesus’ blood, when we believe, God’s judgment and wrath will pass over us and not touch us. So this is a very significant time in the gospel of Jesus. It is the whole point of why he came.

In this time, the chief priests and teachers of the law were plotting to arrest and kill Jesus. They should have joy like everyone else because it was Passover, a time of celebration and thanksgiving for God’s wonderful grace and love. However, their hearts were dark because they were rejecting Jesus and giving into their sinful nature. They felt threatened by Jesus’ popularity and felt like their authority was being challenged by Jesus. Their jealous hearts were unrepentant. They thought that they knew God. They thought that they were serving God. They appeared on the outside to be religious men. However, they were like Cain who was jealous of his brother Abel’s righteous faith and plotted to kill him and did so. In their sins of jealousy, they wanted to kill the promised Son of God who was sent to save them. So they waited until after the Passover season, after the crowds left Jerusalem, so that they could condemn him to death and have him killed.

Part two. Jesus was anointed by a woman. (3-9)

Let’s read verse 3, “While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.” In this part we see a distinct difference of one person’s heart compared with the chief priests and teachers of the law mentioned in verse 2. Their hearts were dark and evil, rejecting Jesus’ love and grace. This woman’s heart, on the other hand, was full of thanksgiving and love to Jesus.

Why did this woman act as she did? This act seems rather strange and unusual. We can only believe that she did it because of the grace of Jesus towards her. This woman had been living a very sinful life. She might have been a prostitute who was in the depths of her sins. Her sins made her feel condemned and dirty and guilty. She had no way out from her sinful life. She had no escape from her sinful thoughts and desires. She was as if she was stuck in a deep and dark pit unable to climb out to freedom. She had no strength to come out. But then one day, she met Jesus and he had great mercy on her. In his love he freed her from all her sins. He accepted her as his precious daughter and gave her a life free from guilt and shame. Now she was a new creation in Christ. Now she no longer was a slave to sin. So out of her deep heart, with her whole heart she expressed her love to Jesus by breaking this jar of perfume and pouring it on Jesus head.

According to John’s gospel, she not only poured out the perfume on Jesus’ head, she also poured it on his feet and wiped his feet with her hair. What an expression of love and thanksgiving it was to Jesus! According to verse 3, the jar contained a very expensive perfume. Perhaps this jar of perfume represented her life’s savings. Maybe she was also saving this perfume for her marriage. To a woman, perfume is precious and special. When given the opportunity, they like to spend a long time looking at and smelling different kinds of perfumes. Even a little bit costs a lot. This woman did not care how much it cost or what she might be saving it for. She only wanted to pour it on Jesus to express her love for Jesus. She knew no other way to express her love and gratitude to Jesus.

How did those present react to this woman’s action? Let’s read verses 4-5, “Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.” Those present here were the disciples. They could not understand her actions. They thought that what she did was a big waste of money. They became angry at her for such a wasteful act. They thought that what she did was really bad. Why did she have to do this? Wouldn’t sending him a thank-you card be enough? Couldn’t she just said, “Thank you”, and left him. They could not grasp and understand why this woman expressed herself in such a way. It looked too fanatical and extreme.

Their response seems pious and practical. She threw out a year’s wages in only a few seconds. How stupid. How foolish. At least she could have sold the jar of perfume and given it to the poor. A year’s wages could have went a long way to help many people. It could feed many poor people. It could help them to get better clothes. What they said looks right.

It is easy to agree with the disciples. When we see someone’s actions and don’t understand the motivation behind it and the expression of their heart behind it, then we can quickly become critical, judgmental and pragmatic. At the beginning of his kingship, when King David brought the ark of God into Jerusalem for the first time, he became very excited. To express his joy, David began to leap and dance before the Lord with all his might before the ark as it was being led into Jerusalem. While he did so, some of his clothes fell off. His wife was watching him and she became angry at him and despised him in her heart. Later she rebuked him for being vulgar in the front of so many people. However, she did not understand his reasons behind his actions. He did not purposely make it to have some of his clothes fall off and to look that way. He was simply expressing his joy through dancing to the Lord, and some of his clothes happened to fall off. He said to his wife about it, “ It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel---I will celebrate before the Lord. (2 Sam.6:21)”

We can learn from this woman that we should express our love and thanksgiving to Jesus and not think about what others might say about it. Of course, we should do it in a proper way and not get out of hand. That is, it should be done in a proper and orderly way. Yet at the same time, we should do so and not hold back. So whether we sing or dance to the Lord or pray to the Lord, if it is from our heart and done with thanksgiving and sincerity, then we have nothing to be ashamed about. God sees our heart and is pleased when we express our love and thanksgiving from our heart to him.

How did Jesus view this woman’s action? Let’s read verse 6, “Leave her alone, said Jesus. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Jesus was not angry with her actions. He did not see them as a waste. He was greatly moved and said that she had done a beautiful thing to him. Jesus really understood a woman’s heart. The disciples could not understand a woman’s heart. But Jesus could because he is God who knows our hearts. To him it was not a waste in the least. To him it was a beautiful act, a beautiful expression of love that only a woman could give. It was from her heart. Her heart was beautiful. Her actions moved his heart more than any of the disciples could.

How could she do this? It was when she knew the forgiving grace of Jesus. Her soul was moved by Jesus when he forgave her sins. To her, the grace of Jesus as very powerful and very strong. At the same time it was also very personal to her condition. By her actions in pouring this perfume, her heart spoke to Jesus. As she poured out every last drop of perfume on Jesus’ head, so she poured out her whole soul in thanksgiving and praise to Jesus for his wonderful grace. What she did was not a waste, but a great expression of a forgiven sinner’s heart to Jesus.

What we do for Jesus out of our love for him is never a waste. Sometimes people, such as family and friends, might make a comment that we are wasting too much time in UBF. One mother of a student who was studying the Bible 1:1 thought that 1:1 Bible study was good for her son. But when he started attending Friday Group Bible study and Sunday Worship, she thought he was going too far and becoming fanatical. She said, “Why are you wasting all your time at the Bible Center? Aren’t you going a bit too far with this Bible fellowship stuff?” No, it is not a waste because Jesus was feeding his soul and growing him to be a future Bible teacher. When we spend time we are getting to know Jesus better. Also, God is blessing many to have good fellowship with each other. The YDJ team is building a strong fellowship of love, faith and commitment to each other and to Jesus. They are growing stronger and stronger. According to the Diamondback, the school newspaper, the UBF praiseband, which is made up of YDJ members was voted the best local band. They are number one, because Jesus made them number one when they sing for the glory of his name. They spent time and their youth and energy, and God rewarded them with that honor. Another example is Tinuke Jagun. She gives her whole heart and all her strength to express her love for Jesus. She gives her time to feed Jesus’ sheep even though she is studying and working. Like the woman, she is pouring her alabaster jar of perfume on Jesus by her actions. She is doing this because of the personal saving grace of Jesus towards her. It is a beautiful thing to see God’s work in her and other YDJ members.

Sometimes shepherds and missionaries seem to find no new sheep after many months of faithful campus fishing. It is easy to question ourselves and say, “Am I wasting my time?” We can feed sheep for years and nothing seems to happen and then they stop. Are we wasting our time? No. God sees our heart and desire to feed his sheep and he rewards us. It is a beautiful thing when we give our hearts to serve Jesus’ sheep who have been abandoned in this selfish generation. Last Fall, Missionary David Chung was surprised to receive a phone call from one of his sheep who hadn’t studied with him for over a year and a half. This sheep seemed long gone and forgotten by us all. Yet he called up because he remembered Missionary David’s shepherd heart for him. He wanted to resume Bible study with a thankful heart. He is willing to travel about 45 minutes every week to study 1:1 with Missionary David at the GMU campus. We can see here that the labor in the Lord is not in vain. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Thank God for those of us who are doing a beautiful thing to Jesus and overcoming the strong pragmatic way of thinking of our generation. We can only do so when we know the personal saving grace of Jesus. Thank God for Jesus who saved us from all our dirty and smelly sins. May God help us to deeply know his personal saving grace. May God help us to express our love to Jesus and pour out our jar of perfume on Jesus with thanksgiving and full devotion.

What else did Jesus say about this woman’s actions? Let’s read verses 7-8, “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” What Jesus is saying here is quite profound. It is the modern person’s dream that one day there will be no more poor people. The communist doctrine envisioned that there would be equality among the masses. There would be bread for everyone. But this never worked out. Though we want to help the poor and give to the needy, all the poor people will never disappear. There will always be poor people. The poor people can be helped at any time because there will always be poor people.

There is then, a priority. It is serving Jesus. It is doing what we can for Jesus while we live on this earth. It is making a name for Jesus. In his words, Jesus In this statement, Jesus reveals that this woman was more spiritually alert than the disciples. Earlier, Jesus had told the disciples to be on their guard and to be alert and to keep watch. They did not seem to understand or know what he was talking about. They were still struggling with each other to be number one and to be recognized. They only wanted to be served. But this woman was different. She was serving. She was serving Jesus through this beautiful heart act.

She seemed to be spiritually alert and knew that his death was near. Jesus saw her act as his anointing before his coming death and burial. What other important comment did Jesus make of this woman’s beautiful heart action?

Let’s read verse 9, “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Jesus foresaw and promised that this woman’s beautiful heart act would be remembered throughout the world. Wherever missionaries go and wherever the Bible is taught and the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed, this woman’s act will stand out. This is because it is expressed from the heart of one very thankful and humble forgiven sinner. We can be assured that God remembers our work and labor for him. God never forgets our love and sacrifice for him. God remembers everything we do for him. People often forget about us and it is easy to be disappointed and discouraged when we are not recognized by others. But God will never forget what we do for him. So we should remember that whatever we do, it should be done for the Lord and his glory and not to seek man’s approval and recognition. Therefore, we should continue to try to do good in the eyes of God and serve his work from our hearts. If you do, God will make your name great and you will be famous.

Part three, Judas Iscariot. (10-11)

The mention of Judas Iscariot in this part is a dark contrast to the woman’s pure heart act of love and devotion to Jesus. This woman’s heart was beautiful. Judas’ heart was not beautiful. Let’s read verses 10-11, “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

Judas Iscariot was one of the Twelve disciples. He followed Jesus, but his heart was not with Jesus. His heart was with money. He loved money. According to John 12:6 he was a thief. He was in charge of the money bag for the disciples. From time to time, he would take some of the money for himself.

However, he sensed the times and the atmosphere was changing. He sensed that something wrong would happen to Jesus. He then thought only about his own well being. He wanted to find an opportunity to hand Jesus over to the authorities for some money. In reality, Judas did not love Jesus, though he seemed to be a disciple. When he did not give his heart to loving Jesus first, his heart became polluted.

He then desired to do a wicked thing and betray Jesus, the one who loved him and who would die for him. This great act of darkness in contrast with the woman’s action really challenges us to think about where our heart is. Do we truly love Jesus with all our hearts? Are we here because we want to give to Jesus the lover of our souls, all our heart and all our devotion? Or are we here for some personal and secret reason to get something and satisfy our sinful nature?

We should search our hearts and be careful and keep watch. We don’t want to study about Judas because it is a dark event. Yet it is mentioned for a reason. We don’t have to dwell on it however in this message for it is not the point. What we want to remember today is this woman’s beautiful act of her heart towards Jesus. We want to do something for Jesus, similar to this woman. What can we do but give our heart to Jesus out of love for his grace? May God give you a heart of love to Jesus like this woman. May God help you to break your jar of perfume and pour it all on Jesus.