Mary Anoints Jesus | Holy Week | Tuesday

As Holy Week continues, we step into one of the most intimate and powerful acts of worship found in the Gospels - Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. 

With a jar of perfume worth nearly a year’s wages, Mary pours out everything she has in a moment of deep gratitude, humility, and love. It’s extravagant. It’s costly. And to some, it doesn’t make sense. 

But when we remember what Jesus had just done - raising her brother Lazarus from the dead - we begin to understand. When we truly see Jesus for who He is and reflect on what He has done for us, worship becomes less about obligation and more about overflow. 

In this episode, we reflect on what it looks like to respond to Jesus with that same kind of unfiltered, unconditional praise! A posture that may not always be understood by others - but is always seen and received by Him. 

As we continue walking through Holy Week, our prayer is that this moment would challenge and invite you to pour out your own offering of gratitude - whatever that may look like.

Let’s keep journeying together!

Song Credit:
This episode includes a brief acoustic portion of “Gratitude”  written and performed by Brandon Lake. Used here for devotional and illustrative purposes.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Welcome to Holy Week with Sermons on the Side.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

This week, we're doing something a little bit different.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Each day, Monday through Friday, we're walking through Holy Week together, slowing down to follow the final days of Jesus' life, leading up to the cross and ultimately the resurrection.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

From the celebration of Palm Sunday to the quiet weight of the upper room to the sorrow of Good Friday.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

We want to sit in each moment and see what it reveals about who Jesus is and what it means for us right here, right now.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So whether you're listening in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment alone, our hope is simple.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

That this week wouldn't just be something you remember, but something you experience.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

So let's step into today's part of the story.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

At the end of that episode, rolling out of our prayer into that cool worship song, Hosanna crushed it. Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Listen, this is fun. This is a very different week to our northern normal rhythm. Yeah. And uh even the flow of the episodes, and you know, I'm looking forward to just having not just a time where we can look at scripture and respond in worship, and not just from these like prayers that you're walking us through, but also being able to sing communally no matter when or where you're listening to this, you know. Exactly. I love it. So hey, there might be more of that coming for the rest of this week.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Keep your ears open and uh no, seriously, this is uh well said, bro, because it feels it feels so cool on Easter week leading into the holiest weekend on the calendar year for us. Yeah, uh, it just feels right to do things a little different with our episodes. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

And I and I just I love this, I love putting out an episode each day, Monday through Friday this week, because I can already feel my heart in preparation for Sunday morning.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Indeed.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

And uh man, I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Come on, come on. Well, here on day two, we're gonna look at a really interesting story that takes place, and it's written in the book of John, chapter 12. It's about a lady named Mary. Now, this was a very common name in the Bible times. There are multiple ladies, important ladies, you know, that have have these different roles in the biblical story, uh, that are named Mary. And this particular lady is named Mary, and her sister's name is Martha, and her brother's name is Lazarus. And yes, that Lazarus, you know, the guy, the man that all three of these siblings, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, really tight, good friends with Jesus for many, many years. And so we've we see their story come, or they could pop up in the Jesus story multiple times, not the least of which is the time where Lazarus gets sick. Mary and Martha send word to Jesus, come, we know you're a healer, come come help your boy out because it seems serious. And Jesus doesn't come right away, and Lazarus dies. And by the time Jesus gets here, Lazarus has been dead for four days. But Jesus knew that God was setting everyone up for a big time miracle, and Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. He had been dead for four days, and he brings him right back to life. And this was a miracle on another level, right? So word spread, you know, it became this, it created even more anticipation and buzz around Jesus and his travels and all the stuff he he would do. But as you can, what we're gonna ask everybody to do as we talk about this story today, think about Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, who loved him dearly. They were really tight, these siblings. Oh, yeah. Think about how overjoyed they were at Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Well, it happened a number of months after Jesus did that amazing raise Lazarus from the dead thing, that Jesus and his disciples were sharing a meal with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus at their house, which they often did.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

So this meal uh actually took place right in the Holy Week time frame. Uh some one of the gospel accounts says it happened the day before the triumphal entry, which we talked about yesterday. So technically, maybe we're kind of going out of sequence, but it's okay. Oh, yeah, no big deal. Uh, two of the gospel writers said that this happened during Holy Week, after, you know, so whatever.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Whatever the case. I was raised Southern Baptist. We're rounding up to the nearest Holy Week. That's all we're doing. It's just you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 5:32

That's it. We ain't worried about it, but during the meal, uh when they were kind of doing their normal thing, Mary, Lazarus' sister, comes in and comes to where Jesus is reclining and eating at the table. And she is carrying a super expensive jar of perfume. It says it's 12 ounces. Check this out. I'm gonna read it straight out of John 12. A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor, Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a 12-ounce jar of expensive perfume made of essence from Nard, whatever that means. And she anointed Jesus' feet with the perfume and wiped his feet with their hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance. All right, now check this out. You ever buy a perfume for your lovely wife? I have once before, yeah. Have you ever bought it in a quantity of 12 ounces? They're usually, you know, perfumes usually in smaller jars.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Dude, like a big jar of perfumes, like two ounces. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Can you imagine 12 ounces of expensive perfume? So, I mean, it cost a lot of money. And she dumps the whole thing on Jesus' feet, anoints his feet, wipes her feet with her hair. It's this really amazing moment of where she's like worshiping and it's super emotional, and that fragrance fills the room. I just can't imagine what that must have been like. And do you know that she got some hate for doing this?

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Right. One of Jesus' disciples named Judas, more on him tomorrow, a little teaser. But Judas was like, what a waste. That was so expensive. That's a that's a year's salary, is what that jar of perfume costs. We could have sold that, she could have just brought it to you as an offering. We sell it and give the money to the poor. But Jesus was like, back off, Judas. She's worshiping me. And Jesus even kind of gave a gave a little hint about his upcoming death and said, Hey, she's preparing me for my burial, figuratively speaking. But so here's the thing. I wanted to bring this story up because I know that Mary had had this reputation of loving to spend time with Jesus. Because one of the other stories that was like super famous, where she instead of being part of preparing the meal, this is a different visit a year or so before, she was just sitting listening to Jesus. So that's kind of her her vibe. This is her approach. Which by the way, what if you're gonna be known for something, that's a great, that's a great reputation.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

That's a great reputation. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

But in this moment, she took it to a whole nother level. Come on, and she said, you know what? I want to do an extravagant moment of worship. And I believe that what like drove that moment and that decision to do it was thankfulness to Jesus for what he had done.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Bringing her brother, her beloved brother back to life. And so that's really what I wanted us to think about as a Sermons on the Side family together today, on this day of Holy Week. Think about the things that we're grateful for that God has done in our life. And to think on that, and it is appropriate and really normal for gratitude and thankfulness to drive some really special worship. Like, like over-the-top, extravagant kind of worship.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah, things that don't make sense to other people worship.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

And that's a great way to say it.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Because I'm like, why are you doing that? A simple thank you, Jesus, would suffice. Right. But it doesn't suffice when we really sit in gratitude for what the Lord has done. And so that's what I want our prayer time and our worship moment to be about today, is to think on the things we're grateful for. The things that God has done in our lives. Hey, we got a bunch of stuff we're still praying and ho and asking him to Hosanna us, you know, like we said yesterday, Lord, please save us. But it is right and wise and appropriate, especially on Easter week, to stop for a second and say, you know what, Lord, you have you have done great things in my life, and I'm gonna thank you for it. So I want us to enter into this time of prayer together, wherever you are while you're listening to this, and let's let the Lord hear our gratitude. So pray with me, if you will. And as we prepare to begin our prayer, I'm gonna ask you to think on what are the things that you're most thankful for right now. When you think about what God has done for you, what comes to mind? I'm gonna ask you to speak those things out to the Lord right now. Say, Lord, I thank you for what you've done in my life. And just speak that out in prayer to him. Father, we are so grateful. Our thanks to you. I mean, our words really aren't enough. They fall short, but but we're gonna say them anyway, and we're gonna say them over and over again. And we're gonna thank you for the things that you've done. Or we're gonna thank you for the things that you're working in our lives we might not even be aware of yet. Lord, we're grateful for all the things you have spared us from. All the things that you are preparing for us. But we are so thankful. So on this day during Holy Week, Lord, please receive our worship, receive our offering to you, and Lord, receive our gratitude in Jesus' name.

unknown 12:54

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

All my words fall short. I got nothing new. How could I express all my gratitude? I could sing these songs as I often do, but every song must end, and you never do. So I throw up my head and praise you again and again. Nothing else fit for a key except for a heart singing. I've got the swan with my arm stretch. Except for a heart singing.