John 12:1-8
II.
Background (12:1)
A. It is our Lord’s final week before the crucifixion
B. It all would coincide with the passover
C. Jesus is staying at a B&B in a tiny village called Bethany
D. Here is where Mary, Martha and Lazarus live – Lazarus being kind of unusual in that he had been dead a few weeks prior in John 11, but Jesus cancelled that ticket – at least for a little while longer
E. Here, there is some gift giving going on that we all need to practice!
A. Serving (12:2) – “and Martha SERVED”
1. Notice what is first up – Serving. Servitude. The foundation of gift-giving is a servant’s heart folks!
2. Serving the Lord
a. One of the identifying marks of a believer is their burden to do something for Jesus – to bless Him
1) Psalm 103:1,2
2) Acts 13:1,2
b. It is not something that you can do with left-overs
1) Left-over time (which never exists)
2) Left-over talent – the world ruins us and wears us out before it releases us to feel like we can do something for God
3) Left-over money (there never is any)
c. It is supposed to be with our best (Mt 25:21)
d. And not just ONCE, but throughout all of our life (Lk 12:43)
3. Serving others
a. Jesus was very rarely alone
b. He had at least 12 other hungry men with Him, along with their wives
c. Martha lived for Jesus to come to her home – loved serving Him, and because of that, enjoyed serving everyone. She just needed some help with feeding them all at times
d. I’m talking about being a blessing to people
1) To do something for someone
2) Just making someone else’s day
3) To minister is to meet a need, encourage, stand with someone
4) To give the Gospel to the lost (Mark 16:15)
e. We can’t say we serve God if we do not serve others as well
4. Give the gift of a servant’s life
a. For Jesus
b. For others
c. Especially for the Lost
B. Saving (12:3a) - Investing
1. It is a good thing to do
2. Life is costing more and more
3. But to SAVE, is something we MUST do if we want to do something for the Lord
4. Here comes Mary now – not the mother of Jesus
a. She brings a very costly box of ointment
1) About 12 ounces of very, very expensive spikenard – perfume
2) Most ladies’ purfume are in ¼ ounce, and cost £50!
b. Two different people anoint Jesus
1) Once in a Pharisee named Simon’s house
2) And then here
c. But I want you to think about where she got such a costly box
1) These boxes of ointment would cost a year’s wages of hard field labour
2) She has no husband here – she is a single lady
3) How did she afford such a thing?
d. SHE SAVED for it
1) She put money back for years for it
2) She planned, and kept back from SPENDING
3) While the rest of the world was accumulating THINGS, she carefully, bit by bit saved to purchase a small box of spikenard
4) And then, when Jesus came, and said He was going to die for her sins, in her place, and be buried, she was ready to GIVE!
5. Principles of Saving (Pr 13:22)
a. Usually the last thing we do with our money
b. But if we want to be able to GIVE, we must learn to SAVE
1) Folks that came out of the Depression learned how to save
2) My Mom saved wrapping paper, aluminium foil
3) Folks, we are spoiled!
c. And we must learn to not just SAVE for ourselves (Rom 16:18)
d. You see, if we would learn to save FOR THE LORD, we would be always ready to be able to GIVE unto the Lord
e. Everyone in this room, who is saved, and on their way to heaven should have an ability to give when a need arises. And the only way to be able to do that is to SAVE JUST FOR THAT PURPOSE.
6. Oh if we Christians would invest our talents and future and money for Jesus, the returns would be incalculable!
C. Spending (12:3)
1. What is saving without spending?
2. Mary could have held onto that box for her own burial one day. She could have kept it all for herself
a. Remember, no one probably helped her save up and purchase that box of ointment
b. Probably, no one else would ever give HER such a gift
c. But she realised here was her opportunity to give something of value to Jesus
3. It ought to be easy to spend on the Lord
a. Not proudly, but with humble gratitude – just because of who He is
b. Not spend in pennies, but emptying of your self
1) She emptied out that box on Jesus, and even on HIS FEET
2) She emptied out herself – using her own hair to spread the ointment
c. We spend so easily on ourselves, and on our love
d. Does anyone else see the sweet relationship between Jesus and Mary?
1) I think we would all agree that she loves Jesus
2) And she doesn’t think twice about giving her best for Him
4. Wow! The whole house was filled with the wonderful smell of the gift. This is when our GIFT becomes of great value – when it is spent
a. Eph 5:2 – Jesus’ offering of Himself smelled sweet in heaven
b. Philp 4:18 – a Christian’s life when lived in service to Jesus makes heaven smell wonderful folks!
D. Striving (12:4-6)
1. Oh, here comes some conflict – when you set out to do something for the Lord, be aware – there will always be
a. A reason why not to do it
b. A hurdle to try and stop you from doing it
c. An enemy to try and scare you from attempting by embarrassing you
2. Judas can’t believe his eyes! Or his nose!
3. You can always identify unsaved people, and backslidden Christians.
a. They see someone doing something JUST FOR JESUS, and they get offended – people who are offended are either unsaved, or backslid and need to repent!
b. They only see waste
c. Really, they only think of themselves – even though they talk about how “OTHERS could have been helped”
d. People rob God, and steal from God all the time
1) Would never give a LOT to the Lord in the offering – only dribs
2) Would never sacrifice anything – except for their own pension, or for their boyfriend or girlfriend
3) So God just continually gets the left-overs!
4. Folks
a. Anyone who sets out to live a life all for Jesus will always be misunderstood – because it offends the lazy and ungodly
b. Anyone who gives above the norm will be made out to be a freak
c. Anyone who decides the greatest commandment is worth obeying will not be popular
d. But then again, when has it ever been different?
e. Again – it is all for HE who is OH SO WORTHY
E. Do it Straight Away (12:7,8) – You only have one life – maybe only one opportunity to do something for Jesus
1. If you are going to do things just for Jesus, you need to do it now
2. Mary knew she didn’t have even one more week
a. We have the poor always to do things for
b. There are always going to be needs to meet
c. But the opportunity to do something for Jesus is NOW
3. None of us have the guarantee of tomorrow
a. No Christian here is guaranteed tomorrow
b. No lost man or women
4. If you are going to live your life for Christ, you don’t plan on doing it tomorrow – you DO IT TODAY – ALL DAY
5. If you are going to GIVE, you do it TODAY – not when you have more money
6. If you are going to read your Bible, you do it TODAY – not tomorrow – you don’t HAVE tomorrow!
7. If you are going to get saved, do it TODAY – tomorrow you could wake up in HELL! (2Cor 6:2)
A. Serve – “and Martha SERVED” The Lord, and Others
B. Save (12:3a) – Invest so that you can GIVE
C. Spend (12:3) – don’t horde all your talents
D. Strive (12:4-6) – against your own limitations, against oppositions
E. Do it Straight Away (12:7,8) – You only have one life – maybe only one opportunity to do something for Jesus