13 May Inestimable Value
Read: Mark 14:1-11
Last Sunday Don Padgett preached an encouraging message from Genesis 1 on God’s creation of and ultimate purpose for mankind. Ultimately, God created us for his glory and has made a way for us to fulfill that purpose through the cross of Jesus Christ! This Sunday Pastor Ken will continue our series in Mark: Who Do You Say that I Am?, with a message from Mark 14:1-11. Here we will see a stark contrast between the response of Mary and the responses of the Sanhedrin and Judas. May we daily respond to Jesus as Mary did in extravagant, unashamed worship! As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering, let these words from Dr. Akin encourage you and move you to further consider the state of your heart before God.
Heart Preparation
The backdrop of this story is the Jewish feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread in Jerusalem. It was a time of thanksgiving for God’s miraculous deliverance of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage (Exod 12). This Jewish “Independence Day” included the slaughter of the Passover lamb, whose blood on the doorpost 1,400 years earlier had caused the “death angel” to pass over each home where he saw it, sparing the life of the firstborn in that family.
In the shadows of secrecy, the Sanhedrin (“the chief priest and the scribes”) were seeking to arrest Jesus and kill Him. Mark says they hoped to arrest Him in “a treacherous way” but not until after the feast. Jesus was popular with the people so they would wait until the crowds had gone. However, things would proceed on God’s timetable, and Christ the Passover Lamb would be sacrificed for us right on time (1 Cor 5:7).
The scene shifts to Bethany, to Simon’s home. Jesus apparently had healed him of leprosy (Matt 26:6). John 12:1 tells us the event happened “six days before the Passover,” so Mark’s account is a flashback. The lady here was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, the latter of whom Jesus had raised from the dead (John 12:2). Simon may have been their father.
As Jesus was “reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of pure and expensive fragrant oil of nard. She broke the jar and poured it on His head” (Mark 14:3). Nard was a sweet-smelling perfume from a rare plant found only in India. Mary broke the flask, making it no longer usable, and poured its full contents out on Jesus, both His head and His feet; then she wiped His feet with her hair (John 12:3). Each time we see Mary, she is at Jesus’ feet (Luke 10:39; John 11:32; 12:3). A woman normally would not approach a man in this public-meal setting except to serve him food. Mary cared not one whit for cultural conventions. Jesus was her Lord and Master. She deeply loved Him and would have done anything for Him. She wanted everyone to know the inestimable value she placed on Jesus. So she went public! No one could deny or doubt where her loyalty lay. Can the same be said for you and me?
Excerpt from Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Mark, by Daniel L. Akin, pp. 320-321.
Song List for Sunday
- “This Is Amazing Grace,” Shane and Shane Arrangement
- “Nothing but the Blood,” by Matt Redman
- “Revelation Song,” by Gateway Worship
- “Lead Me to the Cross,” by Hillsong United
- “The Stand,” by Hillsong United