skip to main |
skip to sidebar
PASSION WEEK-A. Friday/Saturday: Jesus arrives in Bethany
This post corresponds to the related Google map of Jesus’ Passion Week you can access here.
This is a telling
of the Gospel story and event of Jesus and Mary who annointed Jesus’
head with oil, one week before he was to be crucified. The Gospel is
told by C.J.Mahaney and transcribed by Alex Chediak for a Desiring God
conference in 2007. You can read the entire message here
Extravagant Devotion
We then were asked to open our Bible’s to Mark 14:1-11. C.J. read the text. C.J. assured us that his text, Mark 14:1-11, revealed
a truly historic moment as it contained a profound pronouncement.
Nobody else except this woman receives this promise from the Savior:
“wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done
will be told in memory of her.” Why? Why her? Why now? Just her. Why
her? C.J. wanted to help us discover “why her” so that we all might be
affected by her.
The Mark 14
passage begins with disturbing descriptions of the chief priest: Only
Jesus’ popularity and the threat of a riot slow have slowed them in
their goal of killing him. That’s the backdrop to our passage. At the
end of the evening, the chief priests will get some help from Judas.
The Alabaster Flask
And
in between the intrigue of verses 1-2 and 10-11, there is a party
taking place in Bethany. Jesus and his friends are gathered. They are in
the home of “Simon the leper,” who – had he still been a leper – could
not have been hosting the get-together. C.J. suggested he might have
been previously healed by Jesus. John’s gospel, in a parallel passage, informs us that Lazarus was present, having recently been raised from the dead.
[C.J. joke:
"Imagine being there with Lazarus. I'd find some way to recline next to
him at some point in the evening. I'd have lots of questions for him.
It’s not often you meet someone who has died. What was it like to die?
Is it a bummer you have to do it again? What was heaven like? Who broke
the news to you that you had to go back? How did they break the news to
you? 'Lazarus, your sisters won’t stop crying, now the Savior is crying,
you’re going back, pal.' And what was that like? Hearing the Savior say, 'Lazarus, come forth.' Going from Paradise to the graveclothes. What was that like? If I’m disoriented by frequent travel, how disoriented is Lazarus?"]
John
also tells us Martha is present; the quintessential servant, she is
catering the party. And most important, the Savior is there. Presumably,
he is the guest of honor. One would expect the atmosphere to be warm
and friendly – there are no Pharisees or chief priests present. Only
those with every reason to be grateful to Jesus are present (except
perhaps Judas, who is still under the radar at this point).
Suddenly, a woman
(John tells us it was Mary) stands by Jesus and proceeds to break an
alabaster flask of very expensive perfume. She pours the entirety of its
contents over his head. The fragrance fills the room. It was impossible
to ignore this public, dramatic, passionate display of affection. The
disciples do not appreciate this act, and they scold her. The scene is no longer festive. Suddenly there is a dramatic change in the mood and atmosphere. A voice says leave her alone.
The Savior then
makes the profound promise: “wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the
whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Why? Why does he make this promise to her at this moment? What she has done must be told wherever the gospel is preached, because Mary uniquely exemplifies the transforming effect of the gospel, which is extravagant devotion to the Savior.
She demonstrates the effect of the gospel by her extravagant love for
Jesus. She was to be an example of piety to the church universal
throughout history. Her story is told so that we might evaluate if
we have been appropriately and effectively transformed by the gospel.
Not just applause, but application: We should evaluate ourselves in
relation to her.
Two points to be drawn:
1. Extravagant devotion is an evidence of conversion.
Earlier in Mark’s gospel we encounter a teacher of law who is told, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34).
It was surely both an encouragement and a warning to this man. You are
near, but not in. Well, it is clear that Mary’s not simply “near.” She’s
“in.” Big-time. This is what being “in” looks like.
Where there is a
profession of faith without affection for and obedience to the Savior,
it’s authenticity should be questioned. Be assured if you are truly
saved. If you have genuine affection for the Savior, and genuine
obedience to the savior, then you can have fresh assurance.
C.J. expressed
concern regarding the prevailing tendency among many in the church to
grant false assurance to those who profess faith in the Savior, but
whose lives bear no evidence to the miracle of regeneration (namely,
affection for and obedience to Jesus Christ). C.J. lamented that in the
U.S. evangelical church, it is quite common for someone to retain the
lifestyle of those in the world, but with the (false) confidence that
they possess eternal salvation.
Where does that confidence come from? In his novel The Painted House,
John Grisham describes a Sunday school teacher eulogizing a mean
character Jerry Sisco, killed the night before: “She made Jerry sound
like a Christian, and like an innocent victim. As baptists we’d been
taught that they only way you get to heaven is by accepting Jesus.
Accept Jesus, or you went to hell. That’s where Jerry Sisco was, and we
all knew it.” C.J. exhorted us not to emulate the example of this Sunday
school teacher who gave false assurance to someone whose life displayed
no evidence of salvation: affection or obedience. We are not
serving the children we have the privilege to lead if we impart false
assurance to them. Let us not encourage assurance where there is the
absence of affection for, or obedience to, the Savior.
Given the size of
this conference, C.J. noted, he would be remiss to assume that everyone
present is genuinely converted. “I think I can assume most everyone
here is, but given the large number, it would be unwise to assume that
all are converted, and perhaps even now God is drawing near those who
have maybe even made a profession of faith, are serving in children’s
ministry, but without evidence of affection or obedience. There are
other things you are more passionate about than the Savior. If that is a
description of you, I would warn you right now to receive this plea as
an expression of God’s mercy. If you are not genuinely converted
recognize that God is demanding you to turn from your sins to the Savior
for the forgiveness of your sins. Because extravagant devotion is an
evidence of genuine conversion.” (My paraphrase of C.J.’s warning)
If I witness a
person who is unaffected by truth, uninvolved in the local congregation,
and uninterested in spiritual things, that individual is very unlike
Mary, and therefore unconverted. Extravagant devotion to the Savior
cannot be concealed. It must find expression. It is evidence of true
conversion. This is the significance of Mary.
2. Extravagant devotion is the increasing experience of the converted.
C.J. asked us to consider if we recognized ourselves in the following illustration:
A woman took her
children to the park to break the monotony of the summer days. Instead,
she broke her heart. A young attractive woman skipped to a picnic table
in a secluded spot. The mother wondered who she might be so eager to
see. The mother grew preoccupied with her children and forgot to watch.
But when she did look again, it made her heart hurt. The young woman was
reading her Bible. She had so eagerly run from her car to meet the
Lord. The mother knew she had lost this passion. Something had happened
over the years of her walk with the Lord. She would not now be one to
skip to meet the Lord. She wept in the park for her loss.
The question C.J.
put to us is: Are we still skipping? Now all who are genuinely
converted can, at times, recognize themselves in this illustration. In
the Mark 14 episode, we are sometimes more like those criticizing Mary
than we are like Mary.
What should have
happened there in Mark 14? As Mary stood over the Savior pouring out the
perfume, affectionately, passionately, appropriately, over His
head….quietly, everyone present should have gotten up and formed a line
behind her and should have said to her, “Mary, could you please save
some for me to pour? For he has forgiven all of my sins. Mary, can I
pour some? For he healed me of my leprosy. Mary, thank you for your
example. Can I follow your example?” That’s what should have happened.
So who do you
resemble more? The arrogant and critical disciples? Or humble Mary,
expressing her love for the Savior through this extravagant display of
affection. How can we become more like her? How can we cultivate
extravagant devotion to Christ?
Application: We must review and reflect upon the gospel.
We must regularly
read, and meditate upon, the gospel, particularly the events
surrounding Christ’s death. The transforming effect of the gospel is
extravagant devotion to the Savior. Therefore, if extravagant devotion
is diminished, it normally means the gospel has been neglected. Charles
Spurgeon said:
Are you content
to follow Jesus from a distance? O, let me affectionately warn you for
it is a grievous thing when we can live contentedly without the present
enjoyment of the Savior’s face. Let us work to feel what an evil thing
this is – little love to our own dying Savior, little joy in our
precious Jesus, little fellowship with the Beloved! Hold a true Lent in
your in your souls, while you sorrow over your hardness of heart. Don’t
stop at sorrow. Remember where you first received salvation. Go at once
to the cross. There, and there only can you get your spirit aroused. No
matter how hard, how insensible, how dead we may have become, let’s go
again in all the rags and poverty, and defilement of our natural
condition. Let’s clasp that cross, let’s look into those languid eyes,
let’s bathe in that fountain filled with blood – this will bring us back
to our first love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and
the tenderness of our heart….The more we dwell where the cries of
Calvary can be heard the more noble our lives become. Nothing puts life
into men like a dying Savior.
How often do we
dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard? Those cries were all
necessary because of our sins, and those cries were sufficient for our
salvation. The transforming effect of those cries is extravagant
devotion to the One who uttered those cries.
C.J. than
cautioned that if we don’t intentionally review and reflect upon the
gospel each day, we will inevitably review our own sin – and,
consequently, be more aware of our sin that of God’s grace. Reflection
upon sin should be a means, never an end. Cry out for grace, and be
amazed by grace.
C.J. encouraged
us to custom-design a play so that we can each day survey the wondrous
cross on which the Prince of glory died. And express extravagant
devotion each day through the experience of dwelling where the cries of
Calvary can be heard.
If our affections
have grown cold, C.J. suggested we consider restricting our spiritual
diet to dwell where the cries of Calvary have been heard. Study a
gospel, particularly the passion week. Study the Savior as he resolves
to go to Jerusalem, as he is overwhelmed in the garden of Gethsemane,
and contemplates the experience of God’s full and righteous wrath
against sin.
C.J. movingly
recounted Jesus’ words on the cross as we sat with eyes closed. He then
encouraged us to have Christ-centered, Sunday school curricula, so that
the attention of our children is drawn to Christ and Him crucified with
regularity. Finally, he prayed that all present would be encouraged in
their ministry and sense the Savior’s pleasure, even as we take
appropriate measures to maintain our first love for Christ.
Books which C.J. commended for “dwelling where the cries of Calvary can be heard”:
J.I. Packer quote C.J. displayed:
The
preachers’ commission is to declare the whole counsel of God; but the
cross is the center of that counsel, and the Puritans knew that the
traveler through the Bible landscape misses his way as soon as he loses
sight of the hill called Calvary.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment