WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:19.679 Good morning. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:22.640 Welcome. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:34.640 Have you thought this morning about how put together we all appear this morning? 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:48.560 Have a nice platform of everything arranged well, musicians who all seem ready to lead us in worship, all prepared, all practiced up. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:51.679 Take a look around you. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.479 Seriously, take a look. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.600 Everybody looks put together, don't they? 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:02.960 Most of us have showered this morning. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.640 We're dressed nicely. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:20.560 But if all we do is look, we don't see what God sees. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:35.200 If all we do is look at each other and we consider appearances, we don't see what can be seen from heaven's view. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:48.640 So for example, we don't see that there are saints here this morning who have walked with Jesus far longer than some of us have been alive. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:02:02.239 We don't see that there are older saints among us who came to follow Jesus later in life and so are still young Christians. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:24.159 To take a different perspective, we don't see that some among us this morning had to think hard and long about whether or not to put in the energy to actually get ready and come to this room to worship together because of how much pain they're in. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:30.479 And you might never hear about it. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:41.039 We don't see that some might be really struggling with grief this morning because it's the anniversary of the loss of a loved one. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:59.680 We don't see that one or two of us, because percentage-wise that might be all it is, one or two of us got up early this morning and read our Bibles and prayed and was well prepared to worship. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:14.400 We also don't see that the majority of us probably have already fought and battled with sin and have lost the battle this morning. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:21.520 We don't see things from heaven's view very often, do we? 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:31.199 We could go on and on describing all of those different things that make up the people here this morning. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:36.960 From that way of speaking, we are a very diverse group of people. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:49.360 We gather here this morning with all of our different appearances, yes, but more than that, when we dig underneath the surface and we open us up a little bit, each of us is very different. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:51.599 We are struggling with different things. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.159 Maybe we are excited about different things. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.960 Some are bearing great weights while others are free with great joy. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:16.560 But we all join together this morning because we know that while our situations are different, Jesus is still worthy of all of our worship. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:32.720 You may not have actually thought through those words, but you are here this morning because, in some sense, you agree that we want to hear God speak to us from his word. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:37.519 You agree that we want to sing his praises together. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.240 You you agree that we want to walk with him. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:48.160 You you agree that we want healing, we want to see Jesus, we believe that he is worthy of all of this and more. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.360 And this is a good place for you. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.319 This is a great place for you. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.279 God knows your needs. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:07.759 You may not be comfortable sharing all of the depths of your being this morning, but there is someone who knows. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:16.160 God knows your hurts, He knows your longings, He knows your cares, He knows your joys. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.439 He rejoices with you and He mourns with you. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:21.920 And we want to do that too. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:28.639 We want to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, and we would love to be a part of that. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:38.240 But from heaven's view, God longs to lead you to Himself where there is eternal joy and there is complete fulfillment. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:40.480 Now, of course, we know. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.959 We know that there are some who want nothing of that kind of God. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.720 They don't want that kind of God because that feels intrusive. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:56.240 That feels out of control rather than submit to the Lord Jesus. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.920 They want what they want, and so they want to be their own God. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.040 And that's the world we live in. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:08.079 And this room this morning is a microcosm of the world. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:21.040 We represent the world this morning with all of its brokenness, with all of its joys, with all of its longings, and with all of its hurts and pains, and probably even with all of its suspicion about God. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:32.560 And it's the same world in which the Lord Jesus lived and served and died. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.920 It's the same world we find in Matthew chapter 26. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:53.199 If you would take your Bible with me and open it to Matthew's gospel, we are nearing the end of our study of Matthew's gospel record, where we hear of the last days of the Lord's earthly life. 00:06:53.519 --> 00:07:03.040 This chapter begins, the last section of Matthew, which is comprised of about the last two or three days of the Lord's life. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:29.600 Matthew reminds us of that with a transition sentence at the beginning of the chapter, and it moves us from the long speech that Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 24 and 25 into this perspective that thinks deeply and richly about the last hours of the Lord's life by reminding us of what is coming. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:30.720 Look with me. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:32.480 Matthew chapter 26. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:36.800 I'm going to read verses 1 through 13, if you would follow along with me. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:53.920 Says, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:10.319 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:15.120 But they said, Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:21.839 Now Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:34.480 And a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:41.120 And when the disciples saw it, by the way, I'm going to pause there for a moment. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.759 One of the Gospels says that it's Judas who says this. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.639 Another of the gospels says it's a handful of the disciples. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:51.039 Matthew throws everybody under the bus. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:53.759 Because we all need to be thrown under the bus, right? 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:00.559 But they said, sorry, the disciples saw it and they were indignant, saying, Why this waste? 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.320 This could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.799 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:13.840 She has done a beautiful thing to me. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.159 A good thing, literally. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:21.039 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:27.120 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:38.240 Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:39.759 Amen. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:47.679 This is Matthew's narrative of the last three days or so of Passion Week. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.759 So verses one and two introduce this section of the narrative. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:10:01.039 And verses three through thirteen is the first unit of this last section from chapter 26 to chapter 28. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:06.639 And Matthew's drilling down to the most intense moments of the Lord's life. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:14.000 But he also reminds us that we've arrived at the moment that he's been leading us to all along. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:28.399 So, for example, in chapter 16, verse 21, he told the disciples, listen, we're coming to the point where we're going to Jerusalem, and I'm going to be handed over to the chief priests and the elders, and they're going to beat me, and they're going to hang me on a cross, and I'm going to die. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:34.000 Then they said that again in chapter 17, verse 22, and again in chapter 20, verse 18. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:38.159 And so now in chapter 26, Matthew tells us, we've arrived. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:44.720 Everything that I've been telling you from the very first moments of this book is now here. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:51.919 And Jesus brings us to that climactic portion of the account with, you know. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:55.679 You know. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:59.919 It's two more days until the Passover. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.120 At the Passover, the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.200 Ready or not, here it comes. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.840 I should have counted the number of days until Christmas. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.639 Ready or not, it's coming. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:25.759 Ready or not, winter's coming. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:28.879 You know this, right? 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.480 There are things about the calendar that you know. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.840 But this is so ironic because the disciples know the Jewish calendar. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.360 They've grown up in the Jewish system of religion. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:47.120 They know when Passover is, they know that great moment of the Jewish feast. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:53.200 They've lived with it all their lives, and they've been in Jerusalem already for three to four days because of the Passover. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:12:01.440 But during this memorial of the Lamb slain for the redemption of Israel, the Lamb of God would be killed to redeem all of God's people. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:07.919 You'll notice that the quotation marks are at the end of verse 2. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:17.600 Because verse 3 shifts to a description of something else that's happening. 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:24.720 Sort of like, meanwhile, shift scenes to the palace of the high priest. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:36.960 After the change of pace introduction, so Jesus moves from this end times discussion with his disciples in chapter 25. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.559 Now we change the pace to the Passover week. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.519 Now Matthew lays out two connected events. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:54.240 One event is Jewish leaders, the elite, in the palace, and the other is at the home belonging to someone known as Simon the Leper. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.320 The events themselves are pretty clear. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:02.480 One group orchestrates a murder. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:11.840 The other group loves Jesus, not knowing that he's preparing for his death. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:21.679 One group involves clandestine interactions, while the other involves griping with a contrast of moving devotion. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:28.399 That gets us to the two ways I want us to think about this account for the rest of our time. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.000 Let's consider the cast of characters that's here. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.120 From heaven's view. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:46.960 But as we do that, we're going to see that this really isn't about the cast of characters so much as it is about the conduct of Christ, the character of Christ. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.679 So look with me first at the cast of characters. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:57.919 This cast of characters, just like all of us gathered together this morning, is a representation of reality. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:08.000 There are various kinds of people gathered together, but if we dig a little bit underneath the surface, they are very different and they represent very different situations. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:15.600 As God would describe the differences among us this morning, he has given us a picture of people's lives in the first century. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:21.840 Now the groups here are some distance apart. 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:27.519 But the two groups are all gathered because of Jesus. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:30.080 Who are these characters? 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.200 Well, first we have the chief priests and the elders. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:47.279 And Matthew records for us that these leaders, these religious, spiritual, outfront leading the people, leaders, are deceitful. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.639 I'd love to spend the rest of our time just preaching on that. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:59.519 I spent about three hours this week on a rabbit trail on that point. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:01.679 It's fascinating. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:03.440 It's fascinating. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:13.279 So when your Bible says in the ESV that they plotted together in verse 4 in order to arrest Jesus by stealth, that stealth word literally is by deceit. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:17.919 You might say trickery if you have a different translation. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:20.879 They were being deceitful. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:29.919 So not only were they seeking to murder Jesus, they were wanting to do that through their own inner character of deceit. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:34.639 They're cowardly and they're passive aggressive in their sin. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:39.440 Luke tells us that they were afraid of the people. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:51.840 They were afraid of the crowds of the common Jewish people present in the hundreds of thousands at Passover rising up against them if they did this publicly. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:58.080 And so in their fear, they are deceitfully seeking to kill Jesus without anyone knowing. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:05.120 This might be an allusion to Psalm 52. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:13.759 Psalm 52, verses 1 through 4, David says, Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:26.159 The steadfast love of the Lord endures all the day, but your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:33.120 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it's the same word used here for deceit. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:39.840 Psalmist goes on You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.879 You love all the words that devour, O deceitful tongue. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:54.159 And here is Jesus, the recipient of that deceit. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:05.200 Now, in contrast to the chief priests and the elders, our second character is Simon the leper, who's welcoming. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.119 They're in his home. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:22.079 So there's this group at the palace working deceit, but in Bethany, we're in the house of Simon the Leper. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:32.079 If you know your Bible, you will probably remember that Bethany is the place where Lazarus and his sisters live. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.519 So they're not at Lazarus' house. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.200 They're at Simon's house. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:41.920 And not just Simon's house, but Simon the leper's house. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:45.200 And that's problematic. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:18:05.440 Because according to Leviticus chapter 13, Leviticus 13 says, the leprous person who has a disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, unclean, unclean, and he shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:11.039 He is unclean, he shall live alone, and his dwelling shall be outside the camp. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:17.279 In other words, this is not the place for a respectable person to be. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:36.640 That may very well be that Jesus has healed Simon from his disease. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.240 Nevertheless, Simon is still known as what? 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:45.759 The leper. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:48.799 The leper. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:19:04.640 So sort of like we would we would assign a, for better or for worse, we would we would assign a quality to someone who has been incarcerated for most of their life. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.279 They're the convict. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.599 And that follows them all of their life. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:27.200 In much the same way, there is at the best a stigma involved with Simon. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.720 He is known as the leper. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:36.720 Now, throughout church history, he has traditionally been viewed as having been healed by Jesus. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:44.160 Nevertheless, he has this burden that he cannot be rid of. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.839 Or do you see in Jesus what the chief priests and the elders saw? 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.799 It's a fascinating post-biblical account. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:32.880 If you are familiar with books that were written in the first century that are called Pseudopigrapha, that is, we don't know who the author was. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:34.960 They were written in a false name. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:43.039 Baruch is Jeremiah's scribe in the Old Testament. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:52.079 But we know it wasn't that Baruch, if his name really was Baruch, because this book was written after 70 AD, after the destruction of Jerusalem. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:53.440 Fascinating little book. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:21:01.920 And it records that when Jewish lepers would show themselves to the priests for a clean bill of health. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:03.839 That was what the law of Moses required. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:05.920 That's what Jesus told some lepers to do. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:12.640 When he cleansed them, he said, Go and show yourself to the priests according to the law of Moses, so that you can receive a clean bill of health and be cleansed. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:14.079 The stigma will be gone. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:15.279 You've been clean. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:29.039 So 2 Baruch says that when that starts happening, it's a sign, it's a sign to the Jewish people that the one who makes lepers clean has arrived. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:37.359 The king who has healing in his hands has arrived. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:40.400 And where is he? 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.400 He's not in the palace with the spiritual leaders. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.519 He's in the home of the leper. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:59.440 Instead of receiving Jesus as Simon did, the chief priest conspired. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.799 To kill him. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.160 Our third group of characters is the disciples. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:09.440 Followers of Jesus. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:18.880 At this point, the longest term ones, three and a half years or so, have been walking with Jesus, following Jesus, learning from Jesus. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:24.799 They've been sent out on mission trips by Jesus. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.680 They've healed people by the power of God. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.359 They've cast out demons. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:31.119 They've learned how to pray. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.240 They've learned how to lead as Jesus leads. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.160 They've had successes. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:37.519 They've had failures. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:43.359 By now they ought to be ready to lead as Joshua led Israel after Moses did. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:46.319 But what do we see? 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:49.279 They're indignant. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:53.920 And they're oblivious. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:56.720 They don't get it. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.960 They don't get it, and as a result, they condemn the woman. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:04.319 Now the text says that they were indignant. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:05.279 They were mad. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:08.240 Why were they mad? 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:16.480 Because they thought the right thing to do was to sell this product, to take the proceeds, and to help the poor. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:35.759 They couldn't see past that view in front of them to understand that here's a woman who is giving her most precious possession because Jesus is worthy of her worship. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:46.000 They viewed the woman's actions as foolish and wasteful. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:54.319 But Jesus viewed her actions as honorable and even incorporated them into the sovereign work of God. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:59.279 The disciples were focused on the value and the good it could do. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:07.279 Their focus is let's benefit the poor, while the woman is intent on Jesus. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:18.240 The disciples were oblivious to the woman's intentions, focusing only on their own perceptions. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.680 A little bit earlier I asked you to literally look around. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:30.559 Did you reach any conclusions about your perceptions? 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:35.839 And were they right? 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:51.359 Isn't it so easy as sinful human beings to have perceptions of other people and to reach conclusions about other people just on what we see? 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.039 Or maybe what you heard through the grapevine? 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:06.400 Maybe someone is just standing up and singing along with us, but there's just no joy in their face. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.200 And you think, what's wrong with that person? 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:13.519 Don't they know Jesus? 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:16.799 Don't they know this is to be a praise song? 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.680 And so we've judged them, right? 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:30.319 Without really knowing that they fought Satan all morning long. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:36.319 And it's it's survival for them. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:46.079 Who received the correction in this account? 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:53.440 Not the woman, but the disciples. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:58.960 Jesus says, leave her alone. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:04.400 In other words, you ought to know better by now. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:06.319 And you know what? 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:09.839 We can name the twelve disciples. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:27.279 We can name the twelve disciples, we we know their names, we we can identify their attitudes, we can identify Jesus' correction to them, and those elements remain permanently etched in the written word of God to their dishonor. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:48.720 Their sin remains forever recorded in Holy Scripture, but the woman remains unnamed in her honor because she honored Jesus. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:56.480 You think, well, why isn't an honor that she's unnamed? 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:06.880 Listen, my friends, the greatest honor that you can ever have is to make sure that Jesus receives the greatest glory. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:17.680 When you make life and eternity all about him, that is your greatest honor. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:27.279 The woman remains unnamed because she honors Jesus and she is our next character. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:42.079 This unnamed woman gives up her wealth so that she might honor Jesus for a few moments. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:45.759 This is a great treasure. 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:53.359 The words that Matthew uses here imply something that is extremely expensive, very, very costly. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:57.759 This is a jar that is worth a year's wages. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.640 Mark tells us it's 300 denarii, about a year's wages. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:09.119 So it's about a 12-ounce jar, and it's worth in the neighborhood of$30,000 to$50,000. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:20.160 You break the top off of it, and you dump it out on Jesus' head. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:24.160 Why would you do a dumb thing like that? 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:27.839 That's the disciples, right? 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:43.039 They're thinking that it's wasteful, it's foolish, but the woman is saying, No, no, I love my Jesus enough that I am willing to give all that I have to pour this on his head. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:49.759 Her service is an honor of the Messiah, and her heart is humbled. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.160 She will be remembered forever, but is given no name. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:55.039 Why? 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:56.319 Why? 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.279 Because this is not about the cast of characters, my friends. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:02.799 This is about the Lord Jesus, who's about to die. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:09.200 This is about the King in all of his glory. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:15.519 And there are 12 disciples who can't see the glory. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:19.200 But there's an unnamed woman who can. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:22.400 This is gospel. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:24.480 Notice what Jesus says. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:26.079 This gospel. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:32.000 I say to you, wherever this gospel in verse 13 is proclaimed, what? 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:33.920 What gospel? 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:36.559 Well, it's good news. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:37.759 What good news? 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:39.839 We have to go back to verse 2. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:44.880 The king is going to be handed over. 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:49.759 He's going to be delivered up to be crucified. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:52.240 That is your good news. 00:29:52.400 --> 00:30:05.119 And wherever that good news is proclaimed, Jesus says, what this woman has done for me will be told forever to honor her because she honored me. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:19.920 The good news, her humble honoring of Jesus by preparing him for his burial, is contrasted starkly with the Jewish leaders, the deceitful leaders of religion and society. 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:24.240 But it parallels Simon offering his home. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.799 Well, there's these disciples who really don't know what's going on. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:41.519 We have leaders who ought to be leading, but instead they're deceiving. 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:46.960 We have disciples who ought to be learning to lead, but who are oblivious. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:58.000 And the only ones who really know what's going on are the outcast and the lady who thinks it's okay to burn$50,000. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:02.960 Do you know what that tells us? 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:05.279 It's not about the cast of characters. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:10.480 It's about the one who's worthy. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:16.799 See, this is Matthew's way of warning the early church. 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:23.599 That early church that was a cast of characters as diverse as those in this account. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:28.000 An early church that's as diverse as we are this morning. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:31.200 And Matthew's asking, where do we fit? 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:39.119 Are we among those who are deceitful and who oppose Christ, who oppose God's purpose? 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:43.119 Or are we those who receive Jesus with welcoming hearts? 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:46.960 Oh no, we come to church and we receive Jesus. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:55.759 Well, are you those disciples, those Christians who can't even see the value of a woman giving her most precious possession away to honor Jesus? 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:01.119 Or are you the unnamed woman whose story is told forever in honor of her Savior? 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:10.640 Because it's the Savior here, who is worthy of all honor. 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:15.200 He is the last of our cast of characters. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.640 Not because he is least, but because he's the most significant. 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:29.519 Here is Jesus, the Messiah, preparing to die. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:36.880 Simon is there saying, This is great. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.200 Jesus is in my home. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:46.640 Here's the disciples thinking, yeah, this is just another one of those situations, somebody going crazy for Jesus. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.000 But Jesus is there knowing. 00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:58.559 There's two days until the Passover. 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:04.960 There's two days until I must be the Lamb. 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:10.240 Knowing all. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:17.839 Having planned it all, the sovereign Christ is now living it out. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.759 Here is the shepherd correcting his sheep. 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:28.480 Those sheep that in a few mere hours will be scattered when the shepherd is struck. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:34.480 That's what Zechariah said would happen, and that's what will happen. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:39.119 Shepherd correcting his sheep. 00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:43.359 The shepherd receiving honor fit for a king. 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:49.440 Israel's God in the flesh about to be handed over and crucified. 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:54.160 He's preparing to die as a lamb at the Passover. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:58.799 So what do we see of him? 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:04.240 I have here in my outline that our next section is the conduct of the Christ. 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:08.000 Maybe it's better to think of this as the character of the Christ. 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:11.280 The character of the Christ. 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:14.800 He is worthy of worship. 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:17.519 How do we see that? 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:28.480 Well, first of all, he's here at the home of Simon the Leper, preparing his closest friends and followers for his death. 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:31.599 They're oblivious. 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:35.119 Over and over and over again, they've been told this is what's going to happen. 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:37.360 We're going to Jerusalem and this is going to happen. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:40.079 And they're okay. 00:34:41.760 --> 00:34:44.000 We've never experienced anything like this before. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:47.760 And Jesus, we're not quite sure you're right in the head because the king doesn't die. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:49.840 The king conquers Rome and gets rid of them. 00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:52.320 But okay, we'll go along with you. 00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:58.480 His closest friends and followers are in holiday mode. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:01.920 They're thinking ahead to the Passover. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:03.599 Hey, we get to celebrate the feast. 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:05.199 Yeah, we're going to sacrifice the lamb. 00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:07.119 We're going to remember the Exodus from Egypt. 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:08.960 We're going to remember God's redemption. 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:17.360 But we get to celebrate together, together, and they don't realize that this Passover will be unlike anything anyone has ever experienced. 00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:23.599 And they don't realize that Jesus is preparing them for that. 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:40.719 They don't realize what Jesus said in chapter 20, verse 28, that even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:42.960 They don't see that being lived out. 00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:52.480 They perceived him as the Messiah, they see him as their king, and the anticipated king is going to be a victorious warrior, not a murdered peasant. 00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:59.199 Now, why would Jesus work so hard to prepare others for his death? 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:02.239 Their king's going to die. 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:11.440 So is he comforting them by saying, I'm going to be handed over and crucified? 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:13.519 It's a strange way to comfort people. 00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:17.760 Is it to strengthen them for the process? 00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:19.280 Well, maybe. 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:23.519 If that's the case, it doesn't work out very well because they all left him. 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.800 Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter. 00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:32.800 Only a few women really stuck with him all the way through it. 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:39.039 No, I think he's reminding them of God's program so that they're not as surprised as they might be. 00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:46.880 But even more, he's reminding them that he's preparing them for after his death. 00:36:47.840 --> 00:36:58.000 Do you remember how later on, after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, all of a sudden the disciples start remembering things? 00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:01.199 You see over and over again, oh yeah, you know what? 00:37:01.360 --> 00:37:03.519 We remember when Jesus said this. 00:37:04.719 --> 00:37:07.280 Now this all starts to make sense. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:11.280 Afterwards, they could see that this was God's purpose. 00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:26.480 So, at least in part, Jesus spoke of his impending death many times to prepare a foundation in the disciples' minds by teaching them that this was the purpose and the plan of God, and it cannot be thwarted. 00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:33.440 And in fact, that plan and purpose of God is inconceivable. 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:47.920 The Son of Man, God in the flesh, would be delivered up to be crucified. 00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:53.760 Sometimes I hate grammar. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:54.880 You know this? 00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:57.440 No, I always hate grammar. 00:37:57.679 --> 00:37:59.119 I always hate grammar. 00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:01.119 But it's important here. 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:12.480 In verse verse um, verse two, when it says the Son of Man will be delivered up, it's a passive form of the verb, which means it happens to you. 00:38:13.360 --> 00:38:16.960 The action of the verb happens to the person. 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:22.400 So Jesus is handed up. 00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:26.719 We might think that that, oh, maybe that's Judas, because Judas comes next. 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:29.440 Judas is handing them up, and that would make sense. 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:44.480 But most likely this is a divine passive where this points to the plan and the purpose of the Godhead in eternity past to redeem God's people. 00:38:45.840 --> 00:39:04.079 That in eternity past, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit determined that God the Son would be the Passover Lamb, and to be the Passover Lamb, God the Son would have to be handed over by the Godhead to be crucified. 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:09.360 You don't see that if you're a disciple. 00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:13.039 You only see that from heaven's view. 00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:22.559 This hints at the plan of God in eternity past to be the perfect Passover lamb, handed over to the chief priest to be crucified. 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:27.360 In fact, this is what Peter says later on in Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse 22. 00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:33.840 He's preaching his sermon and he says, Men of Israel, all these hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem at the Passover. 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:35.360 Hear these words. 00:39:38.400 --> 00:39:48.079 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God of mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. 00:39:48.239 --> 00:39:51.119 As you yourselves know, you are without excuse. 00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:54.239 This Jesus delivered up. 00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:55.119 How? 00:39:56.079 --> 00:40:00.480 According to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:09.840 Yet human beings are still responsible for you crucified and killed. 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:14.880 You killed him by the hands of lawless men. 00:40:16.559 --> 00:40:22.239 But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible. 00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:28.079 It was not possible for the Son of God to be held by death. 00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:37.119 From the human, sinful human perspective, the Jewish leaders were fighting against God's program of Jesus being the promised Messiah. 00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:40.159 By killing him, they rejected God's purpose. 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:41.760 But what did God do? 00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:46.719 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it's not possible. 00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:55.360 That shows us that what Jesus is doing here is incorporating sinful people into the divine plan to accomplish his purpose. 00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:58.559 Listen again to Acts 2.23. 00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:07.039 This Jesus, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, but that comes after the foreordained purpose of God. 00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:11.280 There's this using sinful people to accomplish the divine plan. 00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:15.599 And in Matthew 26, verses 3, 4, and 5, we see that action. 00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:20.400 The chief priests and the elders are plotting together, and notice what they did. 00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:22.800 Four things. 00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:29.199 They plotted to arrest him without reason. 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:33.920 They plotted to arrest him by deceit. 00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:40.000 They plotted to please people rather than God. 00:41:42.880 --> 00:41:44.960 And they plotted to kill. 00:41:49.599 --> 00:42:00.000 As part of the triune Godhead, Emmanuel, Jesus prepares to die at the hands of sinful men. 00:42:04.320 --> 00:42:29.519 How ironic is it that the one whom Paul says to the church at Colossae holds all things together by the words of his power, and that he made all things with his fingertips is going to be handed over to die at the hands of the ones he made. 00:42:31.760 --> 00:42:33.440 Shouldn't surprise us. 00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:40.880 Matthew's book begins with Jesus avoiding death at the hand of Herod, and now it's driving forward to that very thing taking place. 00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:49.360 It should not surprise us because Proverbs 16:4 says, Yahweh made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. 00:42:54.079 --> 00:43:00.400 Heaven's view shows us what's happening in the mind of Jesus. 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:17.519 He knows even as that unnamed woman brings out this jar, he knows that at that very moment deceit is taking place to hang him upon a tree. 00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:27.199 And he knows that this woman, breaking this jar and pouring it on his head, will prepare him for burial. 00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:38.239 And in that moment, perhaps most astounding of all from our perspectives is that he ministers to and receives the worship of outcasts. 00:43:40.320 --> 00:43:45.360 This is just a few days, two days before Jesus' last Passover meal with his disciples. 00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:49.599 The time until his death can realistically be counted in hours. 00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:53.440