How Not to Waste Life’s Greatest Opportunities. (Matthew 26:1-16).
Introduction.
We’ve all seen and heard it probably more than once, the saying goes, his eyes were bigger than his stomach. As a little boy I sometimes piled more food on his plate than I could possibly eat. If you not done that yourself, you have probably seen someone else do it. The all you can eat buffet.
What I want to do today is talk to you about what a story in the New Testament that revolves around the whole idea of a terrible waste, but in this case, I think there is a surprise ending lying beneath the surface of a familiar story. So, with that in mind when you turn with me to Matthew chapter 26 and let’s talk about what really is wasteful.
This passage of scripture just sort of naturally falls into three parts. Aat the beginning of this passage Jesus makes an announcement that there is a plot to kill him and in the few days he’s going to be crucified he’s going to be killed. The second part of this passage is the story of Mary, she’s not named in this passage, but she is in the parallel passage in the gospel of John, and she anoints Jesus with oil. Then in the third section we see Judas go and betray Jesus.
Matthew chooses not to write these events in chronological order, he changes the order of the events slightly, and that’s important because when an ancient author does that type thing, he’s doing it in order to make a point and deliver a message. This is not a story narrative in the way would think of things today. This is a theological narrative in order to express a truth, so I’m going to deal with the passage in the order in which Matthew not in chronological order that the sections appear in other Gospel accounts. By doing so I am hopefully making the same point that Matthew was trying to make. Therefore, I am going to approach and read each three sections individually starting with the announcement that Jesus makes in verse 1-4 in my bible it is called.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all the sayings and teaching, that He said to His disciples, 2 “He told them, that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” (Matthew 26: 1-4)
Before I begin let me remind you that Bible experts say there are five major speeches in the Gospel of Matthew and at the end of each one of them is this little phrase, “Now it came to pass when Jesus had finished these sayings”,
This is one of those points, therefore this is Matthew’s way of connecting the discourse, in this case the Olivet discourse, we have just read in Matthew 24 and 25 with what follows. So, this is one of those marks he puts down to orientate us as we move through his gospel account. This is not the first time we’ve been told this, the first time Jesus announced that he was going to die was way back in Matthew 16 when he told Peter that he was going to die and Peter said, No Lord, and Jesus said Oh yes and then said to him “Satan get behind me”. That was the first time Jesus had said he was going to die. There are two others, but what is different in this passage is that for the first time he puts an exact date on it. In verse two, he says two days after Passover, the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.
That’s just an astonishing statement imagine somebody saying I’m going to predict my death in two days and I’m going to tell you how it’s going to happen. He says to them, I am going to be killed and here is the date.
The account then steps out of what Jesus said for a verse and tells us what is going on in the meantime as Jesus is telling them these things. We’re also told in these opening verses that the chief priest and the scribes and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, and they plot to arrest Jesus by deception and kill him. So, we see Matthew connect the announcement that Jesus has just made with the fact that at the same time the religious leaders of his day are plotting to kill him.
If you have followed me through the Gospel of Matthew you know they initially tried to stop him by argument, that didn’t work, they tried to stop him by debate, that didn’t work, now they are going to try and stop him by force. However, they also realized that they could not do it just yet, they would wait until the Passover celebration was over in case there was an uproar among the common people saying, “not during the feast lest there be an uproar among the people”. Passover was coming and there could have been as many as 2 million people in Jerusalem that weekend and they’re afraid because Jesus was such a popular figure that if they tried to arrest and execute him before the feast that there might be uprising among the people. So, they face a real dilemma, the argument has failed, the debate has failed, so somehow they have got to deal with this situation by trickery.
That what the first portion of this passage, the first little subsection so to speak, where Jesus announces he’s going to be crucified and in a back room somewhere we also see the religious hierarchy plotting to kill him, at the same time. Now let me just add a little observation at this point, it might sound like on the surface because these religious leaders of Jesus day are plotting to kill him, that they were therefore determining what was going to happen. Nothing could be further from the truth. Later, on the day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching, he talks about the fact that Christ was crucified and he says, “This was determined beforehand by God the father”. I could add to that that in John chapter 10 Jesus himself said, “no man takes my life from me, I lay it down voluntarily”. The impression on the surface might be that Jesus is being caught up in these circumstances, but nothing is further from the truth. As upsetting as this story is, as it looks like he is moving towards crucifixion, remember God the father planned this before the foundation of the world., and Jesus Christ himself is very much in control of what’s going on, and he is going to voluntarily lay down his life for us. Which brings me to the real point of what is going on here.
These opening verses are just reporting the facts that Jesus is about to be crucified at the machinations of the religious leaders and at the hands of the Romans. But what’s really going on has already been prophesied across the whole of the Old Testament and will be explained to us across the whole of the rest of the New Testament, and that is in fact, he is voluntarily going to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. John the Baptist said this the very first time he say him, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
As the Jews would sacrifice the lamb on the altar, Jesus is going to become the sacrifice on the cross that takes away the sin of the world. That leads us to the second part of this passage which begins in verse 6, which tells us.
The Anointing at Bethany
6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” 10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Matthew 26: 6-13)
Many say that Simon the leper was someone who had leprosy in the past but had previously been healed by Jesus, otherwise people would not have gathered in his home. This was probably a place that Jesus had visited before and had now become one of the places where Jesus stayed when he was coming to Jerusalem. Bethany is just outside Jerusalem; other people had previously benefited from his ministry were there. Mary who was the sister to Martha was ministered to there and Lazarus was raised from the dead there. This alabaster jar contained a very costly oil, and this woman poured it on his head as he sat at the table.
From what is indicated in this passage Bible scholars have figured out that the cost of this oil was equivalent to approximately a year’s wage for a labouring at that time. I hesitate to pick a figure, but just imagine you spending a year’s salary on one bottle of perfumed oil, and then you just take it and pour it on someone’s head. She’s goes and anoints him with it.
We need to pullt some things together here. He just announced he’s going to be crucified, and what does she do she anoints him. Now, do you recall what the term Messiah means, it means the anointed one, so she is symbolically recognizing he is the Messiah, she hears this and immediately gets it so a few minutes later she appears and anoints him for burial. In the passage Jesus even explains to the others why she did this, for my burial, he said. So, she totally got that he’s the Messiah, who was going to die. Therefore, she breaks open this very expensive perfume and she pours it on his head, anointing him and the disciples see, and it says they were indignant, saying what a waste of money. What are you doing woman, you have just poured out all that money for nothing? Other gospel passages that tell this story add some interesting insights to it. Mark says they criticized her, but the really interesting thing is that in one of the accounts it tells us that it was Judas who started the criticism saying that this expensive oil might have been sold and the money given to the poor. What a waste he says, think of all the poor people we could have helped.
Notice it tells us Jesus was aware of these grumblings and he says, why do you trouble this woman and then in verse 10, 11 and 12 he gives three reasons why what she did was OK. The first one is verse 10, is because she has done a good work for me. There are two different Greek words that can be translated good, one is more the idea of utilitarian good, the other one means beautiful. He uses the second here and says what she just did was really beautiful, lovely. I think some people serve the Lord and although they do good, they do it murmuring and complaining with a bad attitude. Jesus is saying what she did was an inherently good thing, and it was also beautiful. There’s something lovely about doing good, especially when it’s done with the right attitude.
There’s a second reason in verse 11, and he says, “The poor will be among you always, but you will not always he me”. Jesus just announced, I’m being going to be crucified and I’m leaving you soon, but the poor people will always be around so you’d always have an opportunity to do good amongst them, you can always help poor people, but you can’t always serve me in this way.
The third reason is, he says by pouring this fragrant oil on my body she is preparing me for my burial. So, the third reason is she did it because she understands what’s going on and it is significant that she’s doing this because she understands that the Messiah must die.
If that wasn’t enough, he adds in verse 13,” Wherever this gospel is preached in the future in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her”. Ideed, here it is included in the Word of God, and we are talking about her today.
This passage began by saying Mary’s was just one of those who sat at Jesus feet and listened to him teach. So, she started out just listening to the word of God, but as a result of that she gained an insight telling us that we too should really pay attention to the word of God. Because it is only by doing so that we can truly understand God’s plan and God’s purposes and God’s practices of how he works in life. By listening to Jesus teach she got an insight as to who he was, the Messiah, and that he was about to do be crucified and as she began to understand the sacrifice of Christ, she herself offered a sacrificed equivalent to a year’s salary to serve him.
I want you to see the pattern here, she listened to the Lord teach, she gained insight into what God’s was saying and doing and that prompted her to sacrificial service. And what did that get her? She got criticised for serving him. Please note, if you’re serving the Lord, you’re going to be criticized but she still sacrificed and served non the less, But we also see she got rewarded big time. The Lord himself said to her, I’m going to honour you, because wherever this gospel is preached people are going to know what you did today. Rather than listening to the criticism and not doing anything, she went ahead and acted on the insight that she got from the word of God and acted accordingly. She ignored the criticism and because of that she gained a blessed, but that’s not the end of this part of the story, let’s continue in verse 14.
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. (Matthew 26: 14-16)
Matthew deliberately rearranged the material to put in juxtaposition to what Mary just did and what Judas just said. A few minutes ago Judas started this thing supposedly being about money and now he goes and betrays him to the chief priests saying, if you give me 30 pieces of silver, Ill betray him.
How valuable was Jesus to Mary, now we see in contrast how valuable Jesus was to Judas. 30 pieces of silver. However, what I really want to talk about is why did why did he do this. I mean he was in the inner circle of Jesus’ closest followers; this has always struck me. I’ve mentioned this before when I worked through the gospel of John about ten years ago in the forerunner to this podcast, my previous podcast “The Big Chunk Bible Study”. In doing that I came to the fact that at the end of his life in the inner circle the 12 apostles one of them wasn’t even a believer and he betrayed him. If that isn’t bad enough, of the other disciples, some would deny him, and some would deserted him, and I looked at that and thought, well I’m comforted by that, for when I am being betrayed or abandoned by others even my close friends, at least I’m being conformed to the likeness of Christ. That’s what he went through, way more than me and if that means some are going to betray or abandon me because of my faith, that’s OK. That’s just a fact of life, spiritually speaking.
For Judas it seems his betrayal was just about greed. John gives us the insight that Judas had been a thief from the beginning, so as well as putting his hand in basket so to speak, he saw this situation as a waste because the oil could had been sold for money, remembering he was the one who would have had stewardship responsibility over the distribution of the financial resources of this small band of followers.
I think there are other factors, John says Satan entered him, so Judas towards the end became demon possessed, but I think at the bottom of this was that he simply was greedy for power and money, and his disappointment over the fact that he’s not going to get either if this Messiah is going to be killed, drove him to make these catastrophic choices. From this point onwards he looked for the opportunity to betray him and that is what he did.
These religious leaders also got the break that they were looking for, they wanted to kill him and now they can entered into an agreement with Judas to do just that. Judas has a hole in his heart, and he decides to replace his relationship with Jesus Christ with something material, but as we shall see that just won’t work. I think the key to this story is his use of the little word “waste”, so I’m going to end by talking about what some consider a waste of a life. Some could look at the life of Jesus and see that it ends with him being crucified on a cross and saying, a great guy but what a waste. What a waste you killed this guy who was insightful, why did you do that? Look at all the good he did, the people he healed, the truths he taught, and yet people still crucified him, what a waste. However, from God’s point of view that was no waste. This was, as I said before, all in the pre-planned purpose of God, from the foundation of the world. The plan of God was always that Jesus Christ should sacrifice himself because that is what was needed to bring people back into the presence of God, for eternity. This death was no waste, maybe you could look at what Mary did and say, imagine spending a year’s salary on one bottle of perfume and pouring it all out in a minute or two, what a waste. Who does that. However, when Mary heard about the coming sacrifice of Christ, she understood that and she should make a sacrifice also.
The New Testament talks about the Christian life as if it is a life of sacrifice, and when we really understand the sacrifice of Christ then we too should be motivated from within to live a life of sacrificial and service. There is a famous verse in Romans 12 which says.
“Therefore, brothers and sister, by the mercies of God and the sacrifice of Christ present your bodies a living sacrifice which is your reasonable service”.
There are other passages that say something similar and also teach us how to makes this practical in the everyday areas of our lives. When Mary saw the sacrifice of Christ, she made a sacrifice also and when you understand the sacrifice of Christ and you respond like she did to the mercy of God you should be motivated to live a life of sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others. Paul while languishing in jail facing a death sentence yet he would still rejoice and view his whole life as a life of service and sacrifice for others. When you understand the sacrifice of Christ, you should be motivated to live a life of sacrifice, and if you really understood the sacrifice of Christ, you should be motivated to sacrificially give and serve regardless of what people say or regardless of the criticism you receive, you should just keep going and giving, because that’s what Jesus did.
Let me close by suggesting to you she didn’t waste her money, she used it. I told you I thought the key to this story was the things in life that we consider a waste. This story is telling us Jesus didn’t waste his life by sacrificing it for us, Mary didn’t waste her hard-earned money by sacrificing it to the Lord. No, the only person who wasted something was Judas, he wasted his life and that is the terrible thing to waste. We talk about wasting our time, we talk about wasting our money, but you can also waste an opportunity. That’s what you don’t want to do in life, because that is a real waste. That is an unnecessary, senseless waste from an eternal perspective. That is the ultimate waste, what a terrible thing to waste.
Judas had one of the greatest opportunities in the history of mankind, he walked around with Jesus for three years and he got to the end of it and sold it out for 30 pieces of silver. I think this passage when taken in its entirety eloquently demonstrates the fact that Mary gave, and Judas took.
I think when we really understand the sacrifice of Christ you are compelled to live a sacrificial life, serving him and other people. Rules demand a price, but love’s demands a gift, and something is never really a gift when we can easily afford it. A gift only becomes a gift when there is an element of sacrifice behind it. Love never calculates, love never thinks how little I can give, loves desire is to give to the utmost limits. When we understand the sacrifice of Christ, we are motivated to live a life of sacrificial service to the Lord and to others regardless of what people say or think. What God did by giving us his only son means we cannot give him less than our best. That’s the point of this, if you understand what Jesus Christ gave for you, we can do no less than give him our best in return as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Giving our minds, our time, our money, and grabbing every opportunity to serve him by serving others.