WEBVTT 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:06.959 Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:11.359 I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.720 Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:18.239 Today, be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.519 Welcome to the Born for War podcast. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.160 Hey, good morning. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:39.200 If you don't know me, my name is Josh Floyd, and uh I'm one of the newly minted pastors here on staff at the road. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:41.600 So uh a little bit about me. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:46.159 I'm I'm over the prayer ministry here at The Road, so I run our noonday prayer meetings. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:48.000 I love prayer meetings. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:54.960 It's probably my favorite thing to do is gather with my friends and say yes to God. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:56.719 You know, it's it's a blast. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:09.120 I do prayer meetings here, I do prayer meetings wherever I can, wherever they'll let me in, I go to prayer meetings and sing or play or pray or show up or jump around and yell, whatever it takes. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:11.439 I used to be a school teacher. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:14.400 I was a school teacher for five years down in Pueblo. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:24.719 I taught two years at a middle school, three at a high school, I taught piano skills, I taught choir classes, I did high school musicals, played in the pit, directed them. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:38.560 I was telling the sound guys this morning as they were putting this microphone on my face, I've put so many of these on kids, it makes me feel like I'm supposed to come up here and do like a tap dance number and sing for you guys, but I won't do that, don't worry. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:44.879 A lot of you just got really tense when I said, I'm not gonna dance and sing for you today, don't worry. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:50.959 But um I because I am a teacher, I trimmed my notes down to five pages today. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:58.480 And uh I might speak a little fast, I might give you a scripture reference and jump right into it. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:03.280 But if you need to look at my notes, all of them are on the app. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:09.120 If you get the Rode app out on your phone, you can read exactly what I'm reading and preaching from this morning. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:14.639 So if you have your Bibles this morning, could you turn with me to Mark chapter 14? 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:16.639 Mark chapter 14. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.319 If you don't have a Bible, there should be Bibles in the seat pockets in front of you. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.960 If you don't have a Bible, take that one home with you. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:24.080 It's yours. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:35.039 And uh what I want you to do is either use a bookmark or a piece of paper or your left index finger, and you're gonna put it right there on Mark 14, and then we're gonna turn over to Luke chapter 10. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:38.159 So we're gonna look at two passages of scripture today. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:42.639 Um, not long ago, Mark 14, Luke 10. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:49.039 We were in a leadership class not long ago, and the question was asked: Who's the people in the Bible that you want to be like? 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:50.879 Like who's your hero in the Bible? 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:57.759 And people were saying, Oh, David's my hero for this, and I want to be like Moses because of his type of leadership, and I want to be like this person. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:04.960 And I wasn't a person that answered the question in that class, but I immediately knew that the answer, other than Jesus, right? 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:06.960 Everybody, we want to be like Jesus. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.080 That's our goal as Christians, is to be just like him. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.080 But the other person that came to my mind was Mary of Bethany. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:16.319 And she's one of my heroes. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.639 She's one of the people that I want to be like in my life. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:23.919 And there's not much written about her in Scripture. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.319 There's only three scenes that are painted in the Bible. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.000 And what I love about these three scenes is her posture is the same in all three of them. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:38.479 In all three stories about Mary of Bethany, she's at the feet of Jesus. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:43.520 In all three stories about Mary of Bethany, she doesn't have the need to defend herself. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.639 Jesus is the person acting on her behalf. 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:48.960 So I want to be like that, you know? 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:54.159 I want to be a person that's known for being at his feet and letting him fight my battles. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:54.960 Right? 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:58.159 This is how I fight my battles, right? 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:08.719 So this first scene that portrays her life is where she's sitting at his feet and hearing his word. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:12.000 You know, and we've all read this passage many times. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.000 It's where we're going to start in Luke 10. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.319 The second scene is very famous. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:20.160 Her brother was Lazarus, who was raised from the dead. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:28.639 And right before that happens, she's fallen down at the feet of Jesus, saying, If you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:31.360 And he weeps in response to her heart. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.000 It's the easiest memory verse in the Bible. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:34.879 Jesus wept. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.199 There you, you all have a memory verse now. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:38.319 Jesus wept. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:40.079 Now you just have to learn the reference. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:49.199 And he wept because of her heart for her brother and her response of humble surrender before him at his feet. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:05:05.519 And in the third scene, which we're going to look at in Mark 14, is where she breaks into this dinner meeting and she breaks her expensive alabaster jar of perfume and anoints Jesus a week before his crucifixion. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:14.079 And again, she's found at his feet, wiping the oil, the spike nerd oil, into his feet with her hair. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:25.120 And I think that her life eternally portrays one who loved Jesus with all her heart and offered her entirety to him without reservation. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.160 Let's look at this first passage in Luke 10. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.759 I'm going to start reading from verse 38, Luke 10, 38. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:42.079 Now it happened as they went that he, Jesus, entered a certain village, and that certain village we know from other places is Bethany, which is near Jerusalem. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.480 And a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:54.079 And Martha had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.759 But Martha was distracted with much serving. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:04.240 And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:07.040 Therefore, tell her to help me. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:16.480 And Jesus answered and said, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:18.240 Everybody say one thing. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:26.079 And Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:29.839 The title of my message this morning is One Needful Thing. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:38.160 And my purpose today is to convince you that that one needful thing is to see and hear Jesus. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:51.040 We see this modeled with Mary, where Martha is troubled and worried about many things, and he says, one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:52.720 What was Mary doing? 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:59.040 She was sitting at his feet, and it says she was hearing his word. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:01.199 She was hearing him. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.040 And that is the one needful thing. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:17.759 I believe this message this morning is a call to all of us that's been resounding for 2,000 years and will continue to resound, and it's a call to hearing. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.560 It's a call to hearing Jesus' word. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:26.959 And today I want to make that my message. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:29.839 We want to hear Jesus. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:39.839 See, the setting of this story in Luke 10, this is about six months before Jesus goes to the cross, and it's during a festival called the Feast of Tabernacles. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:47.519 The Feast of Tabernacles is a commemoration of the 40 years that Israel spent in the desert. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.560 And they lived in these little tabernacles. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.560 They lived in these little booths. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:08:00.399 Some of the Jews call it such, and I don't think I'm pronouncing that correctly, but what that word means is booth or tent. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:07.040 So what they would do is they would get the branches from four different trees, and you can read about this in the Torah. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:14.720 There's requirements for how to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and they would make these makeshift tents out of the branches of four different trees. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:20.319 And they would dwell in these tents because the Feast of Tabernacles is a pilgrimage feast. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:26.079 It's one of three pilgrimage feasts, along with the Festival of Weeks and with Passover. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:37.200 So this is about September, October time frame, and Jesus in John 7 says that he's not going to the feast with everyone else. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:47.120 And what he means is that this is a pilgrimage feast, which means that all Jewish men were expected to travel to Jerusalem during this week, the Feast of Tabernacles. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:09:01.279 And they would set up their tents wherever they were staying, and they would stay in these makeshift tree branch dwellings, and they would stay there for a week and they would bring their tithes and offerings and sacrifices to the temple. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:12.080 And in John 7, Jesus is talking to his brothers, his biological brothers, and they're trying to convince him to go to Jerusalem for the feast and show everyone what he's got. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:16.879 Because it says in John 7 that they actually didn't even believe that he was the Messiah at the time. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.759 His own brothers didn't believe him. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:27.600 And they were trying to kind of mockingly get him to go perform miracles in Jerusalem and show himself at the Messiah. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.559 And he says to them, No, my time has not yet come. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:42.080 And what he meant is that he knew if he went at this time, six months before he actually would go during the Passover, that he would provoke the rage of the Sanhedrin and they would try to crucify him then. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:46.000 So he delays in coming to the feast. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:50.240 And he's instead he spends some extra time with his friends Mary and Martha. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.440 So that's why in this scene we only see three people. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:55.360 Which is very unusual, by the way. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:01.759 During this time, a teacher of the law being with women is very not okay. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:08.240 Like women weren't even supposed to learn the Torah at this time, according to Judaic law, which is not in the Bible, by the way. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:20.399 There's over a hundred laws added to biblical Mosaic law during that time frame in Judaic law, and there's more than that, but there's over a hundred that just restrict women alone. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:28.559 So this is very controversial that Jesus is even speaking to Mary and staying in their house, and none of the rest of the guys are there. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.559 The rest of the guys are at the temple. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:39.919 They went on ahead of him, and eventually he will go to the festival later on, but right now it's just him, Mary, and Martha, and she's getting ready. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.679 This is what she's getting ready for. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:47.840 All of her friends are in town, and she is gonna provide the food. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:49.679 She's like, hey, I'll take care of the food. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:50.639 Don't you guys worry about it. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:11:03.200 You know, you can set up your little booths around our house, and uh I'm gonna put out my best china, and her and Mary are out there buffing the china, and she's got her napkins folded a certain way, and it's gotta be just perfect. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:09.919 Because the Messiah is gonna be there, and all of his disciples, and all of their friends, and we want to make sure that we make a good impression. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:22.000 So she's really distracted with all of this serving, and she's so distracted that she doesn't hear Jesus like Mary did. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:29.440 She's getting ready to host everyone, she wants the service to be perfect, and it distracted her from hearing him. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:43.039 See, this is this is the call to hear, even there's three times during the life of Jesus that the audible voice of the Father is heard over him. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:44.240 Three times. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:49.919 And only one of those times does he give an instruction to those around that are hearing. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.120 The first time is Jesus' baptism, right? 00:11:53.360 --> 00:12:00.159 And this voice, the dove descends from heaven, the Holy Spirit, and remains on him, and this voice says, This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:09.440 And the third time that the voice speaks, it's when Jesus is saying, Glorify your name, and the Father says, I have glorified my name and I will glorify it. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.879 He says that audible, and it says that his voice thundered. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.320 The people that heard him heard a voice thundering. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:24.559 But the second time is on the Mount of Transfiguration in Luke chapter 9, verse 29, if you're taking notes. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:29.919 Luke chapter 9, verse 29, as Jesus prayed, the appearance of his face was altered. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.679 This is on the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:36.879 So he's with Peter, James, and John, and his robe became white and glistening. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:45.600 Then all of a sudden, you know, Moses and Eliza show up and he's talking to them, and Peter's like, Whoa! And he starts running his mouth like he normally does. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.320 He's like, hey, let me build these three structures for you. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.279 And then the voice of the Father interrupts him. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:13:02.639 It says, A cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were fearful as they entered the cloud, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:04.720 Hear him. 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:17.279 See, one time in the Gospels, in the life of Christ, we hear the audible voice of the Father give an instruction to those around him, and it's two words, hear him. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.000 There's a call to hear this morning. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.519 He could have said any two-word instruction, two-word command. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.720 He could have said, This is my beloved son, love him. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:30.399 He could have said, This is my beloved son, follow him. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.080 He could have said, This is my beloved son, serve him. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:39.679 But he says, This is my beloved son, hear him. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:43.919 He wanted them to hear him. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.279 There's one audible command given by the Father in the Gospels. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.120 It is hear him. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.639 Jesus said to Martha, there's one thing needed. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.120 It is to hear his word. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:57.919 It's what Mary chose that was the good part. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:00.720 Jesus only talks about this one thing, one time. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:06.399 So there can only be one thing that is the one thing, and that one thing is hearing his word. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:10.960 This is what was so special to Jesus about Mary's heart posture. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.440 She was sitting before him to hear him. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.799 That's what her goal was to hear him. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.600 Her goal wasn't to convince him of anything. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:21.840 Her goal wasn't to do anything for him. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.120 Her goal wasn't to be onward Christian soldiers for him. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.120 Her goal was to hear him. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:29.600 And there's another one thing in the scripture. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.320 It's Psalm 27, verse 4. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:39.120 And this is where David says his one thing, and I want to argue that it's the same one thing that was Mary's one thing. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:41.120 Psalm 27, verse 4. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:43.600 One thing, everyone say one thing. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.080 You guys are such good sports. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:56.960 I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:09.840 See, David's one desired thing was the same as Mary's one needful thing that Jesus declared was the only thing needed, except here, instead of it saying hearing, it says beholding. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:12.159 So you're like, well, what gives, Josh? 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.440 I thought you said the one thing could only be one thing, and now you're saying it's two things. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:20.879 It's one heart posture. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:29.759 The one needful thing is a heart posture where the eyes of our hearts are directed toward Jesus, and the ears of our hearts are hearing his word. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.080 See, Jesus is the word of God. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:32.720 Amen? 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:33.519 Right? 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:37.039 John 1 says, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:38.879 The same was in the beginning with God. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:40.559 All things were made by Him. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.960 Nothing that has been made was made apart from Him. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:48.480 And then in verse 14 of John chapter 1, it says, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:49.279 Who was the Word? 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.320 Jesus. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:50.960 Right? 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:59.440 And it says, We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.039 See, he's referred to as the Word of God. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.240 In multiple places, John 1's the most famous. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.200 He's referred to as the wisdom of God. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.720 He's referred to as the light of God. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.480 He's referred to as the image of God. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:25.200 And these are all the same thing because what he is, what Jesus is, who he is, is God spoken. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:28.080 He's the word of God. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:35.759 Which means that even if he's not speaking, you're hearing the word of God when you look at him. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:36.320 Right? 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:40.559 How do we rightly posture our hearts to a word or to wisdom? 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:42.000 We listen to it, right? 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.399 We hear words, we hear wisdom. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.159 How do we rightly posture our hearts to light or to an image? 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.279 We see, we behold an image. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.240 We gaze on an image. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:55.200 Right? 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:59.600 Like all those paintings in the Louvre in Paris, France. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:06.079 You sit there and you look at the painting, and a picture is worth a thousand words, right? 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:11.359 So as we look at Jesus, it doesn't matter if he's speaking or not, we are hearing God's word. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:15.359 See, beholding is hearing. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.359 And listening is gazing. 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:26.799 And the one needful thing is to see and hear him, the word of God. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.640 So we have to respond to this call somehow. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.720 We want to look, but we want to look to see. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.359 And we want to listen, but we want to listen to hear. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:48.400 See, ten separate times in Scripture, Jesus asks the question, have you not read? 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:59.599 And he's referring to some passage in the Torah, and he's saying, Have you not read about David who ate on the Sabbath and these different stories? 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.880 And he's talking to people that have definitely read it. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:10.240 He's talking to Pharisees, he's talking to Jews who they read the whole Torah in a year. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:11.680 It's part of what they do. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:16.240 You know, they really do read Scripture a lot. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:21.440 And yet he still asks them ten separate times in the Gospels, have you not read? 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:29.920 So what causes us to look but not see, to listen but not hear? 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:38.480 Even in John 5, 39, he said to the Pharisees, You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:47.039 And these are they which testify of me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:56.319 You're not coming to me and you're reading. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.279 See, this is definitely the word of God. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:01.200 Right? 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:08.160 We read the scripture because he wrote the scripture, but it's more than a book to read. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:16.400 It's supposed to be a window that we look through to see the beauty and the glory of Jesus. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:24.160 See, this written word is supposed to give us a glimpse to the living word who is the person of Jesus. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.799 He is God spoken. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.400 The word of God. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.039 So what causes us to look but not see? 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:33.119 What causes us to listen but not hear? 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.039 What causes us to read scriptures but completely miss his word? 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:44.640 Well, for Martha, what got in her way was her ministry. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.079 See, it says that she was busy with much serving. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:51.599 Right? 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:56.559 In Luke 10, 40, Martha was distracted with much serving. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:05.039 That word serving is the Greek word diaconia, which is where we get the word deacon from, and it's the same Greek word for the word ministry. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:10.799 Like if you're doing the work of ministry, it's the same word used here that she was doing. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.880 So she was doing ministry. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:17.039 She wasn't doing bad things, she was doing good things. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:26.079 And that was the distraction from her being able to hear Jesus like her sister did. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:34.400 What's even more interesting is in verse 38 it says that a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:37.119 She was the one that invited Jesus in. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:42.079 I mean, it seems like she's doing all the right stuff, right? 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.000 She invited Jesus in. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:52.240 How often do we have our Bible studies or our church services or our prayer meetings, and we invite Jesus in, but then he sits in the corner and we forget to hear him. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:54.640 We forget to listen. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.799 We forget to behold him, like David. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:02.400 So what causes us to look but not to see, to listen but not to hear? 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.200 For John the Baptist, what got in his way was a jail cell. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:06.880 It was a spirit of offense. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:14.960 See, this is the guy who leapt in his mother's womb as a fetus because he knew Jesus was the Messiah. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:30.559 There was no doubt in his mind, but if we look here in Matthew 11, starting in verse 2, it says, When John had heard in prison, so he's in prison, about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Jesus, Are you the coming one, or do we look for another? 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.880 Dude, you knew he was the coming one in the womb. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.079 And now he's shaken in his faith. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:39.279 He's not sure. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:44.559 Because this jail cell has is a jail cell of offense around him. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.119 And the reason I know that is Jesus' response. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.720 He gives him the key to unlock the prison of offense in his heart. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:56.720 And he says in verse 4 Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:15.839 Things that you hear and see, blind men see, crippled stand to their feet, the deaf men hear, the dead are raised, the poor receive good news, and blessed are those who are not offended in me, he says to John the Baptist's disciples. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:22.880 See, he gives them the key to unlocking the prison of offense that John the Baptist was living in. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.519 His preferred outcome was not happening. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:30.960 He's thinking, well, this is the word of God, the Lamb of God who comes to take the sins of the world away. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.039 He's got his winnowing fork in his hand, he's gonna cast the chaff into fire. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:42.160 He's expecting this conquering king to come, and now he's in prison, and he's like, Well, what gives? 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:53.200 And Jesus redirects his attention from the jail cell to what he can see Jesus doing and hear Jesus saying, which was miraculous. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:58.799 See, when we look at Jesus, it can set us free whether we're in a jail cell or not. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:01.599 So what caused us to look and not see and listen to not hear? 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.599 Well, for the disciples, it was very similar. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:05.519 It was their preferred future. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.079 It was a spirit of unbelief. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:18.400 See, how many times did Jesus try to tell them that he was going to die and they could not hear him because it wasn't their preferred future? 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.039 Right? 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:23.359 He tells Peter, I'm gonna die, and Peter says, May it never be, Lord. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:24.960 And what does Jesus say to Peter? 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:27.119 He says, Get behind me, Satan. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:29.599 And he still didn't hear him. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:35.279 They still could not hear that Jesus was trying to tell them, I'm gonna go suffer and die. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:37.519 He told them on many occasions. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:41.359 Here's one in Luke chapter 9, verse 43. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:43.519 They were all amazed at the majesty of God. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:45.119 He's doing all these miracles. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:54.640 While everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, he pulls his disciples aside and he says, Let these words sink down into your ears. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:57.440 Okay, so whatever he's gonna say next is really important. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:04.000 Like if God said to you, Let these words sink down into your ears. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:06.000 You'd listen. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:11.039 And then he says, For the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:21.359 Verse 45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:25.440 This was just one of many times he tried to tell them. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:31.279 But their preferred outcome was a spirit of unbelief that shielded their ears from actually hearing him. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:41.680 His best friends, his closest allies, the guys that he ran with, the guys that were with him day in and day out. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:47.039 I mean, three of them were on the Mount of Transfiguration and they heard the father say, Hear him. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:50.400 And they still didn't hear him. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:53.039 But it's because they wanted a conquering king. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.680 They didn't want a dying lamb, they wanted the lion. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:25:00.400 They wanted him to overthrow the Roman Empire and set up his throne in Jerusalem. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.440 Because they're thinking, well, that's what the Isaiah passage says. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:06.480 You know, the increase of peace in his government, there will be no end. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:11.680 He's gonna smash the nations like with a rod of iron, like pottery shards. 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:15.839 But he's trying to tell them, not yet, I'm gonna die. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.759 They're gonna torture me and then they're gonna kill me. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:21.039 And they could not hear it. 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:23.680 Only one of his friends heard him. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:28.160 Of everyone that he walked with, only one person heard him. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:36.880 So now take that spot where you were bookmarking with your index finger, and we're gonna go over to Mark 14, starting in verse 3. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:42.240 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, so we're back at Mary and Martha's hometown. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.400 Simon the leper, he's not a leper anymore. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:47.039 He probably got healed, but he's still called Simon the Leper. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.079 And Jesus sat at the table, and a woman came. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:55.359 We know from other passages, parallel passages, that this is Mary of Bethany, that is this woman. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:59.920 A woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of Spike Nard. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:01.920 Then she broke the flask and poured it on his head. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:02.640 Verse 4. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:05.599 But there were some who were indignant among themselves. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:09.839 Indignant means that they were so mad that their nostrils were flaring and their face was wet. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:10.559 Wed? 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:11.599 Their face was red. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.440 And they were really breathing heavy, and they're like, so mad at her. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:18.559 They were indignant, and they said, Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:19.200 Verse 5. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:25.839 For it might have been sold for more than 300 denarii, which is the equivalent of like forty to sixty thousand dollars today. 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:30.480 One denari was a day's wages, so three hundred denarii was like a year's salary. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:35.279 It could have been sold for more than a year's salary and given to the poor, and they criticized her sharply. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.160 That criticized sharply means like they were yelling at her. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:41.279 This 15, 16-year-old girl, Mary of Bethany. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:42.720 But Jesus said, Let her alone. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:43.599 Why do you trouble her? 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:50.400 She has done a good work for me, for you will have the poor with you always, and wherever you wish, you may do good to them, but me you do not always have. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:51.759 She has done what she could. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:56.240 She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:04.000 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. 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:05.920 Let's talk about this alabaster vial. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.359 It's full of spike nard. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.279 It's probably 16, 18 ounces. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:10.880 This is about twelve ounces. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:15.279 So think more oil than this, more perfume than this. 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:19.119 And it's in an alabaster jar, which is like a type of soft marble. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:22.640 And it doesn't say that she opened it and poured a little bit on his head. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:25.519 It says that she broke it and poured it on his head. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:39.920 So we're talking like 16, 18 ounces of oil, spike nard, perfume, strong stuff, worth$40,000 to$60,000 that she wastes on Jesus. 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:45.759 And one passage says that she anoints his head, another passage says that she anoints his feet and wipes his feet with her hair. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.119 That's because it's so much oil, it goes from his head all the way down. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:51.359 It's everywhere, folks. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:53.279 She ruined the carpet. 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:56.559 It's a big mess. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.119 She wasted it on him. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:01.599 And this probably was her dowry. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:09.440 You know, this was probably what she was inheriting and supposed to be giving to her husband when she would be married. 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:17.039 Or maybe her dowry was the money amount, and she bought this alabaster jar with that money for the purpose of wasting it on Jesus. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:24.160 And what she's doing, she takes this$50,000 marble flask, breaks it, anoints it. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:29.519 She's got her hair, she's falling at his feet, and she's rubbing it on his feet and all over his body. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:35.680 And what she's saying is, my future is not in this man that I might someday marry. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:37.839 You are my future, Jesus. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:42.720 She gave up her preferred future. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:52.000 She gave up any hope of securing a wealthy husband with a good dowry, and she wastes her dowry. 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:59.599 She wastes her future on the head and feet of Jesus because she's aligning herself with his future. 00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:01.279 Right? 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:06.799 Catch me up in your story all my life for your glory. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:12.480 She's giving up her story and grabbing onto his story. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:15.440 She wasted at his feet. 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:26.480 See, we don't know for sure that what Jesus said to Mary six months ago during the Feast of Tabernacles, where Martha was distracted with her ministry and Mary was sitting at his feet and hearing him. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:34.559 We're not positive what Jesus said to her, but I would like to suggest to you that what he said is, I'm going to suffer and die. 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:45.359 And the reason I say that is because he says in this passage that she's anointed him beforehand for burial, which infers that she knew he was going to die, and she was the only one who did. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:52.079 And in a parallel passage it says, She has kept this for my burial, which means it was premeditated, folks. 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:54.160 She didn't do this a spur-of-the-moment thing. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:58.799 She didn't just, out of nowhere, the Holy Spirit tells her, Go get that alabaster jar and break it over him. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.119 No, she was thinking about this for months. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:04.720 This was premeditated extravagance. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:20.960 For months, she's thinking about what Jesus said to her as she's sitting in this makeshift booth during the Feast of Tabernacles, where it's just her and Jesus, and she's sitting at his feet and listening to his word, and he's saying, I'm gonna suffer and die. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:23.680 And she was the only one who believed him. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:32.880 She was the only one who truly heard him and was part of his future instead of her own future, his story instead of her preferred outcome. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:37.119 And she thinks about this for months, treasuring it in her heart. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:45.440 Several weeks before she breaks open the alabaster jar, he raises her brother from the dead, and she's secure, she's set. 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:46.960 This is the last straw. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:48.799 I'm gonna give it all to him. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:51.599 She planned it out. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:54.480 She thought, this might be my last chance. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:59.119 She doesn't know when he's gonna die for sure, but she doesn't know how much time she has. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:04.319 And he's in this dinner party at Simon the Leper's house, and she busts in the door. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.240 Women aren't supposed to be in there. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:23.119 Martha was serving, and Mary breaks in, pushes through the crowd of people, gets it to Jesus, breaks, anoints, wastes, weeps, wipes his feet with her hair. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:32.960 See, I want to tell you that Mary's extravagant offering was the fruit of extravagant hearing. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:39.680 She heard him extravagantly, and to Jesus, this was no surprise. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:45.759 See, Jesus, the pre-incarnate word of God, is used to this type of extravagance. 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:58.160 Every time he walks in the room, four living creatures cry out, holy, holy, holy, with all their might, and they cover their eyes because of his majesty. 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:00.079 He's used to extravagance. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:03.519 In heaven, extravagance is normal and logical. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:09.279 There's no one that's rebuking the four living creatures for crying out, holy, holy, holy. 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:18.079 No one's yelling at the 24 elders for taking their billion-dollar crowns off their head and smashing them on the floor every time Jesus walks in the room. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:31.119 It's normal and logical to give everything when you see and behold Him as the Word of God. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:45.200 It's good and right to waste your future at the feet of Him who's worth it all. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:52.240 Breaking this flask over Jesus, this house fills with fragrance. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:55.839 Mary's alabaster fragrance, the fragrance of her love for him. 00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:02.319 And both Jesus and Mary are then covered in the testimony of how precious he was to her. 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:07.920 See, a bunch of people were in the house, but only two of them left smelling like worship. 00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:10.079 Jesus and Mary. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:13.920 They both smelled like her love for him. 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:15.680 They both smelled like Spike Nard. 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:19.119 And what we know about Spike nard is this is such a strong perfume. 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:28.880