Jesus Anointed
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2021 · 11 July 2021
We come to John 12 and we look again at the history of Jesus at just the point that the Passion Week begins. The first eleven chapters describe the whole ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ from John’s perspective, covering a period of three years. But the second half of the book from John 12 to the end covers one week, so everything that happens gets very intense from here on.
Jesus came not to bring peace, but a sword. There’s no one else like Him who evokes the extremes of love and hate, devotion and rejection, worship and blasphemy, faith and unbelief. He divides believers from unbelievers, sheep from goats, and children of God from children of the devil. You are either for Him or against Him, and the people for Him are extreme and those against Him are also extreme.
These extremes become clear through two characters. One is Mary and the other is Judas. They are symbolic of those two opposites. John 12:1-11, “Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with Him.”
“3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. 4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray Him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”
“6 Not that he cared for the poor, he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself. 7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 9 When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus,”
“The man Jesus had raised from the dead. 10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.” This is a stunning narrative setting the stage for the events of the final week of our Lord’s life. Lazarus has become the most well-known resident of the small village of Bethany, east of Jerusalem.
This was highly disturbing to the religious leaders of Israel. They never denied it. It was a fact. But they want to do all the damage control they can possibly do, so they plan in the conversations that Jesus knew, in John 11:53, to kill Him. Now, this has been coming for a long time. Jesus was very aware of it, and the plan has been escalated by the impact of the resurrection of Lazarus.
So Jesus can no longer continue to walk publicly among the Jews. So He went away from there, verse 54 says, to a little place called Ephraim and stayed with His disciples. There are some who think that He actually went into Samaria and Galilee. That is recorded in Luke 17, 18, and 19. So it looks like He had a few weeks between the raising of Lazarus and His arrival for Passover.
So in spite of the intention to execute Him, He comes back. Up to now, when the Jews wanted to kill Him, they could not, it was not God’s time. It was not His hour, but now it is, and He will die at this Passover on Friday at the exact time that the Jews are slaughtering the Passover lambs. He will die as God’s chosen Passover lamb to provide the sacrifice for the sins of His chosen people.
So John 12 happens 6 days before the Passover. This would be Saturday and this is the last legitimate Sabbath in the Old Covenant because on Friday, Jesus will die and ratify the New Covenant. When the New Covenant is in place, there are no more Sabbaths. So the church meets on Sunday when Jesus was raised from the dead, and continued to do that every Sunday up until today.
The symbol of the New Testament is not the Passover in Egypt. The symbol of the New Testament is the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first day of the week. What we see in verses 1 to 11 is the obvious division that was occurring by the presence and ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ causes faith in Martha, Mary, Lazarus. And Jesus Christ causes unbelief of the severest kind in Judas.
So let’s study these verses. We’ll look at their attitudes, but let’s start with the setting. Verse 1, “Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus, the man He had raised from the dead.” The crowds were curious to see what else He would be doing. The leaders were looking for Him to kill Him. Therefore, God’s timing was right, He came six days before the Passover.
It’s time for Jesus to come to the Passover to be the Passover lamb, be the sacrifice whose blood was sprinkled on the doorposts and the lintel back in Egypt to signify that a sacrifice had been made and the death angel would pass by. That family then would be spared. Well, Christ is the true Passover lamb that satisfies God once and forever for the sins of His people through all human history.
On that last Sabbath, the last legitimate Sabbath before He is crucified and bears the sins of the world, He chooses to share His hours with His beloved friends in Bethany. Jesus knew and loved these people. He had spent time with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We know that from earlier gospel accounts. Six days away from the hatred, the sin-bearing, the loneliness of being God-forsaken.
Six days ahead, but vivid in His mind, Jesus seeks the warmth and the love and the affection of dear friends. But sadly, in the midst of those few hours that He had to be with those who loved Him, the apostate Judas rises to commandeer the event, to scar the occasion. Now, as we look at the story, let’s look at the characters. Let us start with the heartfelt service of Martha.
Martha served well and service is regarded nobly in scripture. In fact, the word “serving” is the word ‘diakone’, from which we get the word “deacon” and servers in the church. There are references in Acts to people who served. So we don’t want to belittle this service that Martha rendered. But let us look at the event itself. When Jesus comes to Bethany, they made Him a supper.
Verse 2, “A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with Him.” Now this event takes place not at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but at the house of Simon the ex-leper. So how do you become an ex-leper? There’s no way unless you are healed by Jesus, the Creator Himself, which then gives us the reason why Simon would host this event.
So there are two special people reclining at the table. One is an ex-leper and another is an ex-dead man. Then you can add the Lord Jesus to the middle of it. Can you imagine them talking about what happened to them when they received His power that gave them back health and life? This was an incredible meal, but it wasn’t in honor of Lazarus or Simon. It was in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, Martha is serving. It is God-honoring service. Matthew 20:26, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.” Our Lord says in Luke 12:37, “Blessed are those slaves whom the Master will find on the alert when He comes. Truly I say to you that when He comes, He will put on a slave’s apron, and serve them as they sit and eat.” That’s how exalted service is.
What is the spirit of service? Acts 20:19, “Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.” What is the extent of service? Galatians 5:13, “By love, serve one another.” We’re all called to be servants of the Lord and servants of each other. Martha does it because she loves her Lord and she loves the people she serves. The Lord rebuked her because she needs to recognize that listening to the Lord is a higher calling.
Then we see the humble sacrifice of Mary in verse 3, “Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.” It doesn’t give us any insight into doctrine and yet these details are laid out here to describe the lavish nature of her affection for Christ.
A great illustration to remind us of total unrestrained sacrificial love. Nard was a rare herb grown in the high pasture lands of China, Tibet and India. It had been carried there by camels from India or China. Verse 4-5, “But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”
In Matthew 26:7 we read that that nard was in an alabaster jar. Alabaster is a white translucent stone that would be carved out to contain this nard. This kind of fragrant oil was used at a funeral. It could also be used just for the ladies to enjoy the fragrance. Mary’s heart is overflowing with love and gratitude. According to Mark 14:3, she smashes the alabaster jar and opens it.
Matthew and Mark tell us it went on His head and here we find in John that it went all the way down to His feet. Then she loosened her hair, which was a radical thing for a woman to do in the presence of men, and used her hair to wipe His feet. Dirty feet didn’t suit people sitting down for a prolonged dinner in a reclining position. This is an amazing and lavish expression of love.
The scene is interrupted by a man identified by Jesus in John 6:70 as, “One of you is a devil,” and He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, “For he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.” Judas thought that he would be wealthy, elevated to some position of power and authority. While everyone else was growing to love Christ more, he was growing to hate Him more.
The idea of a kingdom was becoming ridiculous to him. When things began to go against his wishes, he began embezzling the money. Verse 6, “Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.” Jesus said He was going to die. They were going to take His life. He can see the hostility and the animosity.
Matthew 26:8 says the other disciples agreed with this. It actually says the disciples protested. A place where true honor is offered to Jesus Christ will always bring out the hostility of those who belong to Satan. It actually says that Thursday night of this week coming, the devil himself entered into Judas. The perfume that Mary used was worth 3 times to him what he sold Jesus for.
The closer you are to the truth and reject it, the more severe your eternal punishment. The safest place to be is in the church if you believe. The most dangerous place to be is in the church if you don’t because if you ultimately reject Christ, you will be held accountable for the knowledge that you had that produced nothing but rejection. How much greater the punishment.
“To whom much is given, much is required.” Judas is not a solitary figure. We live in a world full of apostates. What is an apostate? Somebody who defects from truth with the knowledge of the truth. You would be amazed how many philosophers turned the world atheistic and evolutionary, who came out of Christian backgrounds, raised in churches, had Christian parents and still defected.
The Lord responds in verse 7- 8, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for My burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.” Our Lord here connects what she did out of an expression of love to His burial. Did she know that? Jesus said He was going to die. Was she prepared that when He did die, did she believe that He could resurrect Himself?
Matthew 26:12, “When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.” Mark 14:8, “Jesus says, ‘She has done what she could. She has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.’” In Mark 14:9 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world going forward, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
At that very moment when Jesus had said that, Mark says, “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.” Judas knew it was over. He figured he could make some cash on the way out. So he left and runs to meet the leaders, says, “I want to make a deal. I’ll tell you when and where you can get Him.” He negotiated it to 30 pieces of silver.
Verse 9, “When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see Him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.” Then this portion closes in verses 10 – 11, “Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.” You get an idea of the extreme hatred they had for Jesus.
It never was about evidence. They never denied His miracles. They didn’t deny the resurrection of Lazarus. They wanted to kill Him because many of the Jews were going away from the temple, going away from Judaism, going away from them and believing in Jesus. Against all that, you have people believing in Him. There is always a remnant who believe. That’s why we preach the Gospel. Let us pray.