WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.840 To Matthew 26. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:09.679 Matthew 26. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:17.440 If you're using one of the Pew Bibles there in front of you, you can turn to page 881. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:21.359 Matthew chapter 26. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:25.600 Doug and Royal are away this morning. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:29.120 They'll be back, and we'll look forward to seeing them again next week. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:32.479 But we're continuing on in this Gospel of Matthew. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:40.240 We're going to be looking particularly at the first 16 verses of Matthew chapter 26 this morning. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.719 Matthew 26, verses 1 through 16. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:51.840 This is what Holy Scripture says. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:01:07.439 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he told his disciples, You know that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:18.560 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:23.599 Not during the festival, they said, so there won't be rioting among the people. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:33.040 While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.280 She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.799 When the disciples saw it, they were indignant. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:42.159 Why this waste? 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:42.879 They asked. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.640 This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:52.159 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, Why are you bothering this woman? 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.799 She has done a noble thing for me. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.640 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:03.439 By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:12.479 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:22.080 Then one of the twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you? 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.919 So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:31.120 And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:34.400 Let's seek the Lord. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:47.599 Father, we want to be those who are filled with true hearts, with pure hearts, with sincere hearts, with overflowing and fragrant hearts of love. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:03:02.479 So we're asking that you would guard us, guard us from the deceit that could be in our own hearts, guard us from distractions that would take us away from Scripture and this beautiful portrait we find that you would stir our hearts this morning. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.000 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:04.960 Amen. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:17.680 Different cultures over different centuries have different rituals associated with embalming and preparing someone for death and burying someone. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:19.840 I did just a little bit of reading this week. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.360 It's really interesting. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:27.599 You can find, you might think naturally of Egyptian mummies and pyramids, but there's more than that. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.840 You can find cultures that pack bodies with salt or honey or even vegetable powder. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:39.120 You can find dances for the dead, laments for the dead. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:48.479 You can find funeral burials at sea or tomb burials or even burials where bodies are put up on a pole for the birds to eat. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:04:01.759 In verse 12 of our passage for this morning, Jesus says the woman who pours this perfume on him has prepared him for burial. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.960 Already that should strike us as a little bit strange. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:18.720 In the cultures and other practices I alluded to, they take a corpse, they take a dead body and prepare the dead body for burial. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.319 Jesus is not dead, he's very much alive. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.519 Eric Anderson is our resident funeral industry expert. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:32.399 So if you have really specific questions about embalming or those kind of processes, don't ask me. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:33.040 I don't know. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:33.920 You can ask Eric. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:36.240 He's the one who's reading scripture for us this month. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:47.120 But I'm gonna make a strong assumption that when they're training people in the art of embalming, they don't take someone who's maybe on their deathbed and then embalm them. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:55.040 They wait and they they apply that to corpses, or maybe they practice on people, but but not in that kind of complete way. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:03.600 But here's Jesus being prepared for death with this oil that's poured on him. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:09.600 And he's not dead, much less on his deathbed. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:10.959 He's very much alive. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:14.079 He's a man in his 30s, he's preaching, he's teaching. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:20.800 So if you just came to this passage and you hadn't read or heard anything else in Matthew, you might find it very peculiar. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.600 And Matthew presents it in that light. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:32.480 But we've already seen in Matthew that Jesus has the constant awareness of his coming death. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.959 Here's an example, Matthew 16, verses 21 to 23. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:52.000 From then on, Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.199 And do you remember when Jesus says that? 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.800 Peter takes him aside and begins to rebuke the Lord. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.199 Oh no, Lord, this will never happen to you. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.360 Jesus turned to Peter and told him, Get behind me, Satan. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.639 You're a hindrance to me because you're not thinking about God's concerns but human concerns. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:13.759 Jesus came on a mission. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:22.480 He knew he had to die, but his own disciples struggled to interpret the events of his life in light of his coming death. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:25.199 But not this woman. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:36.560 She does seek to cherish him and adore him, and Jesus himself interprets her action in light of his coming death. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:47.519 We're pressing on towards the climax of Matthew's gospel, and that climax is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.399 So we just finished a large block of Christ's teaching. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:55.600 We're not going to have any more large blocks of Christ's teaching. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:58.720 He'll speak, but no large blocks of Christ's teaching. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.199 But now this drama is unfolding. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:06.160 It's like the monologue has been given, and now the curtain's opening for this climactic act. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:11.439 And here's the first scene that we come to here in John and Matthew chapter 26. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.759 Jesus prepares himself for death. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:21.439 This woman helps to prepare him for death. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.600 And she adores him. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:30.800 The death of Jesus should compel us to adore him. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.560 That's the big idea for this morning. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:40.240 The death of Jesus should compel us to adore him. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:50.319 We're going to explore today this very true story, and we'll look at the setting of this story. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:54.800 We'll consider the characters and the plot. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.120 And then finally, what's the significance of this story for our lives? 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:05.199 With that big idea in mind, always in the background, and we'll come to it again and again here. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.639 The death of Jesus compels us to adore him. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:10.879 That was what this woman offered. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:12.160 What about you and me? 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:14.959 Be thinking on that question as we go through this passage. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:16.720 So, first, the setting. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:18.240 Verse number two. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:27.920 Jesus tells his disciples that he will die at the time of Passover. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:30.639 That's not a coincidence. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:35.279 That's a divinely orchestrated setting to this story. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.759 When you or I think of Passover, it's still celebrated today. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:54.080 We might think of it's a holiday, you get some time off of work, maybe the kids are out of school for Jewish friends that they have, they renew some acquaintances and they have some rituals with their extended family. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:09:06.240 But if we think about when this Passover festival was first instituted, it was not something that Moses came up with himself or Abraham. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:10.639 God himself institutes Passover back in Exodus chapter 12. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:19.279 You don't have to turn there, but just by way of reminder, what's going on in that passage when God first brings out this festival of Passover? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.120 The people of Israel are enslaved in Egypt. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.840 And God has sent a number of plagues on the Egyptians as judgment on them. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.639 And he's threatening one great final plague. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.360 He's threatening to kill all the firstborn sons in the land. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.279 And then he gives instructions about celebrating Passover. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:42.480 And then he follows through on that threat. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:48.480 And the Egyptians find that the firstborn child in each household has been killed. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:58.559 So if we go back to the very beginning of Passover, it's not in that first instance a time of just simply celebrating with family and friends. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:00.879 It's a death memorial. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:11.440 Now, it was for God's people a time of thanksgiving because their homes weren't visited. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:13.919 And that brings us to the instructions. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:22.399 So God instructed the people take a firstborn animal and kill that firstborn animal and smear the blood over the doorframe. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:37.440 And then as the Lord was passing through the land of Egypt that night, pass over, pass through, the homes that had blood smeared on the doorframe, he would pass over those homes. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:43.039 He would pass by and not visit the judgment on those homes. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:53.279 And that's what the Israelites were to commemorate year after year after year after year with the Passover. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:11:02.799 And here in our passage, Jesus intentionally links his own coming death with this time of year of the Passover. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:13.919 And if we think about what's going to happen, the blood smeared on the wooden doorframe becomes the blood of Christ on the wooden cross. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:22.080 The slaughtered firstborn lamb becomes the slaughtered firstborn son. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:37.360 God passing over the homes and the death and the judgment of those who applied the blood becomes God passing over the eternal judgment that you and I deserve because He has crushed His firstborn son. 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.360 And we find life in him. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:50.080 That's what time of year it is here, as the story unfolds for us. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:56.000 We also find that this setting is at a home. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:01.519 We're told in verse number six Jesus is in the home of Simon the Leper. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.639 Uh that might sound like you know a really cool name for a rock band. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:11.519 I can assure you, no one wanted to be called a leper of any kind. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:21.840 It was a disastrous disease to have in this time period, any time period, but particularly then, the people normally had to be isolated away from others. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:27.440 And that's interesting because here, Simon the Leper's home, there are people there. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:29.440 What's going on with that? 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:35.200 Well, it's possible that Simon had died, and perhaps this was still the name of his home. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:40.320 I think probably more likely is that Simon had had leprosy and then he had been cured. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:47.120 So it was okay for Jesus and these others to be in his home, but he still carries that name with him. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:52.159 Even once you've been cured, once a leper, always a leper. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:59.360 We don't know exactly all the people that were there in this home. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.720 Matthew tells us about Jesus and his disciples. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:11.919 If we bring this passage together with John chapter 12, John records a very similar anointing of Jesus in chapter 12. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:21.360 And so if we bring those stories together, John tells us that Mary and Martha and Lazarus were there in the home. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:29.360 And John specifically mentions that Lazarus was the one that Jesus had raised from the dead. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:32.639 So you've got, and Kevin and Sarah aren't here today. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:37.759 Kevin is preaching at a church, and the pastor's name is Larry Lazarus. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:39.360 Isn't that just a great name for a pastor? 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:41.279 I'm jealous of him. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:49.759 So you have what's most likely Jesus in this house of Simon the leper, this house of death. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.279 You have possibly there alongside of him a walking corpse in Lazarus. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:00.080 Do you hear all of the death that's happening in this passage? 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.159 That's the setting. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:05.840 The death time of year and the house of death. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.039 What about the characters? 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:10.639 Have you got a good drama? 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:13.519 Every good drama and story is a cast of characters. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:22.480 And here we find in verses three and four chief priests and elders of the people that are conspiring to have Jesus arrested and killed. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.399 So these are the villains of the story, these Jewish leaders. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.279 And it's not anything negative about all Jews. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.639 Jesus himself was a Jew. 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:31.919 He's the hero of the story. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:38.960 But we do find right here that these Jewish leaders are trying to betray and kill an innocent man. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:47.440 But it gets worse than that because one of Jesus' own disciples is even worse. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:51.120 He's not just a villain, he's a traitorous villain. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:52.720 Judas himself. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:02.720 In verse number one, Jesus says the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:18.080 Verse 14, Judas asks the chief priest what he will get if he hands over Jesus to them. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:30.639 Then in verse 16, we're told that Judas began looking for opportunities to, and the word here is betray, or yours might say deliver him up, but it's the same Greek word, hand him over. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:41.679 Jesus predicts his betrayal, Judas inquires about the betrayal, and then Judas seeks to execute the betrayal. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.000 What about the other 11 disciples? 00:15:52.240 --> 00:16:02.480 Well, here in this story, they're not exactly villains, they're not trying to betray Jesus, but they're also not exactly presented as heroes in the story. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.360 They're not presented in the most positive light. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.759 It tells us that they're indignant with this woman. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.240 You see that there in verse number eight. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:16.559 One commentator pointed out these men, many of them were fishermen. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:17.759 They were blue-collar guys. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.759 They probably weren't the wealthiest people in the world. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:26.879 So perhaps they had a little special hesitation about something extravagant being poured out or how money could have been used. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.159 They might have had a sincere heart, many of them, for those that were poor. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:38.080 And yet, Jesus doesn't commend them for their indignation, he corrects them for their indignation. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:44.000 Because when the Lord of glory is present, everything should be focused on him. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.360 And they don't see it the way that they should. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:52.559 That leaves two main characters in the story. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:59.840 This woman who's devoted to the Lord that Matthew doesn't name. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:08.319 But again, if we bring in John chapter 12, he says it was Mary, sister of Martha. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.359 The one who had sat at Jesus' feet and learned from him. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:19.839 If that's the case here, it shows that she's believed what she's heard. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:27.119 She's not just there because she's got a sick child, and maybe if she does something extravagant for Jesus, her sick child will be well. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:34.640 She's there because by faith she's grasped hold of what Jesus has been teaching all throughout the Gospels. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:39.200 She's got eyes to see the Son of Glory, and she wants to show it. 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:47.039 She understands how soon he will be departing, and she wants to show her love for the Lord. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:01.039 Christ is the anointed one. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:06.559 In the Old Testament, kings had oil poured on them. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.960 Matthew's presenting Jesus all the way along as the king. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:21.359 And so isn't it interesting that there would be this woman who has eyes of faith that perhaps even in this action is trying to express something of her belief that he indeed is the Messiah. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.119 He indeed is the anointed one. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.680 So of course she must too anoint him. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.680 And that brings us to Jesus. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:36.720 Time and time again, Jesus is the central character in Scripture. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.240 Time and time again, we find that he's the hero of the story. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:45.119 As the passage opens in verse 2, he refers to himself as a son of man. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:51.119 And that's a title that often speaks of his authority, his power in judgment. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:53.519 That's how it's used back in Daniel chapter 7. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.559 It's given a dominion and rule and reign. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:02.400 In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus says he will come as the Son of Man with power and great glory. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:11.359 Yet here, he says the Son of Man's going to be handed over to be crucified. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.400 And he doesn't say he's going to do anything about it. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:23.359 Here's the one with all glory and power and ability, and it's as though he's going to allow himself to be crucified. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:30.559 What is this that someone with such great authority would allow this to happen to himself? 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:31.759 But he does. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:32.640 There's the paradox. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.319 He's the Lord of Lords, yet he's willing to suffer and be killed. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:46.720 If you were watching, you know, this play out at a movie theater, you'd have right at the top of the marquee with the stars, there's Jesus' name first. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:56.240 He says in verse 11, You always have the poor, but you don't always have me. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.480 Jesus himself highlights his own significance. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.319 Listen to what Deuteronomy 15, 11 says. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:16.720 That is why I am commanding you, open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother and your land. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:19.039 Do you hear the contrast there? 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.759 Moses says you're always going to have poor people. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.880 And his response is, well, not don't worry about it, just who can do anything about it? 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.640 Moses' conclusion is you're always going to have poor people, so be ready to help them. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:33.119 And it seems like that's what the disciples were thinking, right? 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:35.359 We've got poor, let's be ready to help them. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.480 Jesus doesn't say that we shouldn't care about the poor. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:39.519 That's not the point. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.240 But he says you're always going to have poor people in the land. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:46.640 And the implication is be thoughtful of them, try to help them as you can. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.720 But he he does something different than Moses. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:51.440 He says, but you're not always going to have me. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:56.559 And as long as I'm here, I have to take center stage. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:03.839 If Jesus wasn't really God, wouldn't that be an audacious claim to make? 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:14.559 You know, sometimes you'll hear people say, Well, I don't know if Jesus was God, but you know, he was such a nice guy, so so humble, and he cared for the poor. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.880 That doesn't work from our passage. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.279 Jesus says, Yeah, the poor, but me. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.160 If he wasn't God, he's not a nice guy. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:28.799 He's an insufferable egomaniac. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:44.880 Or he's telling the truth and he's giving people what they really need to take him, to view him, to prioritize him, to love him, to adore him. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:49.519 Jesus' death compels us to adore him. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.920 And let me just put in one church application here. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.799 I know we haven't gotten to the significance yet, we'll we'll come to that. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:05.599 But just as a church, we have To prioritize Jesus and his death and his entire work. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:11.200 He doesn't specifically mention his resurrection and ascension here, but that's that's part of the grand conclusion. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:17.039 But we as a church have to prioritize Jesus and his death above everything else. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:29.440 You know, I know this is kind of getting to baseball season, and you've got some churches where it's like if you think about it, like a baseball team, it's like, all right, we've got starting pitcher, the new children's wing. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:36.319 And then we've got starting at first base, caring for the poor, and starting at pitcher is the music ministry. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:37.920 None of those things are bad. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:42.640 If you want to uh um I started to say if you want to die and give us money, I don't want anyone to die. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:49.839 So let's let's not don't if you want to give us money to help the re revamp the white building next door, we'll we'll take it. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:56.240 Those aren't bad things, but we have to prioritize Jesus, most of all. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.759 We don't want it to be like, you know, where's Jesus? 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:00.640 Where's his gospel? 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:03.119 And it's like, well, okay, I think I see him. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:08.799 He's in the upper deck, he's selling peanuts, he's got an apron that says, I died for you. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:10.319 So this is still a gospel team. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:11.119 This is great. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:18.160 All right, but no, we want Jesus to be front and center of our life, of our ministry as a church. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:23.920 And then those things come alongside as a support to lift up who Jesus Christ is. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:32.480 We've taken a look at the setting, this place of death, and these different characters with Christ Himself at the center. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.920 What about the plot of how this unfolds? 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:43.279 You know, at first glance, it might seem like those verses I read are kind of disconnected. 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:51.599 You have some people wanting to kill Jesus, you have a woman dumping perfume on Jesus and some controversy about that. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.839 Then you have Judas trying to betray Jesus. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:01.200 So we see the first and last part of that, how they work together, but what's what's going on in the middle? 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:07.200 Well, I've already mentioned this, but again, we see this threat of death as the plots unfolding. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:09.920 Verse 2, Jesus predicts his death. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:13.759 It takes place during Passover, this feast associated with death. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.559 In verse 4, the villains are trying to conspire and kill Jesus. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:22.319 Jesus in the house of a leopard, he's probably alongside a resurrected dead guy. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:25.920 In verse 15 and 16, Judas is conspiring to get Jesus killed. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:33.440 And then right at the heart of the passage, right in verse 12, this woman, Jesus says, has anointed him for burial. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:44.880 So you've got this threat of death, but we see a contrast in the plot of this story and the way that people approach his death. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:48.480 Jesus is preparing himself for death. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:53.039 The chief priests and elders, they want to prepare Jesus for death. 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:55.359 Judas wants to prepare him for death. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:58.480 And the woman wants to prepare him for death. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.279 But they're doing it in all kinds of different ways. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:04.480 Some from hearts of hatred and betrayal. 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:10.160 In the case of the woman, from lavish devotion and love. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.279 You can see the actions that happen there. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.119 Judas is willing to hand the Son of Man over. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:28.559 We know from scripture he's going to betray the Son of Man with a kiss, and the woman's going to use her hands to take the perfume and anoint Jesus with love. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:34.480 You see it too in the value that's placed on these actions. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:37.039 That's a little harder for us to see. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.559 It says that Judas agrees to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:56.400 Now I know in our day, whenever you hear like silver coins, you're thinking of a pirate's treasure chest, and you read a story about some woman that found a silver coin in her attic that was worth$300,000 or whatever, and like 30 silver coins. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:57.839 That's pretty amazing. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:01.920 Silver was a fairly common currency in Jesus' day. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:07.680 And what Judas agrees to is really not life-altering money. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.119 Some people value it at a few hundred dollars. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:17.119 Some people say maybe it was a few thousand dollars, but either way, it's not life-altering money. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:28.960 Judas is willing to betray the Lord who walked with him for three years and gave him friendship and teaching and encouragement. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.799 And he's willing to do it for a flat screen TV. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.839 You see how little the value is he places on Jesus? 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:43.200 Contrasting that in the plot is the woman. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:48.559 It says in verse 7 that the perfume is very expensive. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:54.559 And then in verse 9, the disciples say that it could have been sold for a great deal. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:58.880 Now, again, I know we don't think of perfume as that valuable. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:04.400 If you're on Let's Make a Deal, and Wayne Brady says, All right, behind curtain number one, we've got some perfume. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.240 Curtain number two's got some silver coins. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:07.759 We won't tell you how much and how valuable it is. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.039 What do you think you're going to take? 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:11.920 People are going to go for the silver coins, of course. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:17.200 But Matthew's intending to show that this is very valuable. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:22.319 He doesn't tell us exactly how much, but it's it's a contrast to the coins. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:28.640 Uh John mentions it's valued at 300 denarii, which is more like a year's salary. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:41.440 So you've got, you know, maybe 500 or even maybe$5,000 compared to$50,000, or it could be as great a difference as$100 compared to$100,000. 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:49.440 And people in this day and age didn't generally have bank accounts with a lot of savings. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:52.400 Here's a regular ordinary woman. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:57.920 How she got this, if this was given to her, we don't know, but this is her valuable assets. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:04.640 And she's willing to give it all up for Jesus because she loves him so much. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:13.359 The story is designed to draw us in to the claims of Christ about this woman. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.200 She's prepared me for burial. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:17.039 She knows who I am. 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:19.119 What about us? 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:22.480 Do we recognize the Lord? 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:25.839 And does it show in the way that we live? 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.680 Does it show in that kind of an outpouring of devotion? 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:33.599 That brings us finally today to this significance of all of this. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:35.279 If we said, well, what's the moral of the story? 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:36.400 That's too trite. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:38.480 But what does this mean for us? 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:42.720 Let me just suggest three applications here as we draw towards the close. 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:51.359 First, we should marvel at the sovereignty of God in directing world history. 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:52.880 Why do I start there? 00:28:53.119 --> 00:29:04.480 Well, you go from the time of Passover, which calls to mind an event that took place more than a thousand years before the coming of the Lord, slaughtered lambs in ancient Egypt. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:11.759 Then you've got this home and this everyday normal woman and her actions. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:19.839 And you've got what Jesus says, wherever the gospel is proclaimed, what she did is going to be told in memory of her. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.559 So we're helping to fulfill that prophecy today by just talking about this woman. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:32.640 We're fulfilling what Christ said was going to happen everywhere in the world, even on a place like Long Island, way away from the Middle East. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:34.319 This is being fulfilled today. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:40.799 So we've got hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus to this woman to preaching on Long Island. 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:42.559 What could bring that all together? 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:43.680 Only the Lord. 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:48.640 And what's the thread at the heart of all of that is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:57.599 You have to marvel that God in his sovereignty would plan redemption, would accomplish redemption, would now allow redemption to be proclaimed everywhere. 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:02.079 Second application. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:04.720 And that's just one story. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:05.599 This is just one story. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:08.640 There's all kinds of stories in the Bible that do just that. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.079 They bring us to Christ. 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:17.440 Second, we should be believing that Jesus came to bring life to the dead. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:24.640 Yes, there's a lot of death in this passage, but he's coming to affirm this woman. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.039 He's coming to receive her devotion. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:32.799 Even the disciples that are kind of confused here, they're going to one day see more and understand more. 00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:37.279 And the same Jesus that's preparing himself for death is not going to remain in the grave. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:38.480 He's going to be alive. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:42.400 He's ascended to the Lord's right hand even now as we proclaim him. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:52.799 The disciples don't want to accept this woman, but Jesus sees her heart. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:58.079 He vindicates her amidst all of her accusers. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:04.400 Do you feel sometimes as though you're not vindicated before the eyes of the world? 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:10.960 They want to leave you out for dead, but Jesus vindicates his people. 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:21.359 And he says, Well done. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:24.799 Romans 5.8. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:31.839 God commended his love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:38.480 If that's his love for us, no love on our part could be too great to express to him. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:43.200 We sing the song from heaven, he came and sought her to be his holy bride. 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:47.039 With his own love, he bought her, and for her life he died. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:52.000 Jesus comes to bring life, and he does it through his death. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:53.359 What a glory. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:32:06.400 And then last, and coming back again to our main idea, we must adore Jesus and His work with everything we have. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:17.440 So I already touched earlier that we as a church have to make Christ, the crucified one, our priority. 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:21.759 That's not just true of us as a church, that should be true of us individually. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:25.279 This is a very personal and individual story. 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:27.680 One woman's lavish love. 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:30.079 She's enraptured with love. 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:31.680 And think about what she does. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:39.279 What if you had perfume, a bottle of perfume that was$50,000 or maybe more? 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:41.039 What would you do with it? 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:44.559 You know, maybe got a date coming up. 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:46.000 This guy could be the one. 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:47.119 I'll get a dab. 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:48.079 I'll get a dab. 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:51.039 Promotion at work. 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:52.720 All right, I'll take a dab. 00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:53.920 Promotion at work. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:57.440 Maybe your wedding day, like I'm going four dabs for the wedding. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:32:59.279 Okay, this is this is serious stuff. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:04.319 She doesn't, there's no dabbing here. 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:07.759 She doesn't parcel it out over time like we do. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:10.480 She just, she just pours it out. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.079 Like, this is it. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:19.200 Well, how can I worry about the future when Christ is here right now and I love him so much and I've got to show it right now? 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:25.839 It's more than just prioritizing Jesus. 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:27.440 Now I know I use the word priority. 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:35.279 It's a fine word to use as long as we recognize how how much she is abandoning herself to the Lord. 00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:42.480 It's not like there's my adoration for Jesus, and then he's number one, and I got some other things that are kind of right near it. 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:44.559 There's no close seconds. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:51.759 This is not, if I said I love ice cream, I've got a priority for Hagendas, but Ben and Jerry's is like right there. 00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:52.960 It's like number two. 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:54.880 It's not what's going on here. 00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:57.440 There's no close seconds. 00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:01.839 The Lord is it, she's enraptured with love. 00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:05.599 And this woman is a spectacle. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:12.320 She's a spectacle of emotion and devotion, and it's beautiful. 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:21.840 The apostle Paul writes in Corinthians that the apostles have become a spectacle to the world. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:24.559 We're fools for Christ. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:27.440 And what beautiful fools they are. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:29.920 What beautiful fools we are. 00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:36.400 If the world sees us as reckless and foolish and well, we love our Lord. 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:38.400 So of course we'll sacrifice. 00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:42.800 Of course we'll do and attempt great things for him because we love him. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:48.159 The death of Jesus compels us to adore him. 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:59.679 So does the way you live your life cause others to say, wow, what that's that's bizarre. 00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:09.840 They could have used their time or or their money or or their or their possessions, they could have used it like in more valuable ways than that. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.159 What's gotten into that person? 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:15.039 Is that what others would think? 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:17.199 Is that they see you living your life? 00:35:18.480 --> 00:35:19.679 There's a cost. 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.800