Contrasting Devotions (John 11:45-12:11)
I asked ChatGPT who is Jesus to the non-Christians. Here is how Jesus is seen across the different faiths: teacher/rabbi, prophet, holy man or guru, enlightened teacher, historical figure, moral philosopher, reformer.
What I also found across faiths and perspectives was he is revered and seen in a positive spiritual light by some faiths and mostly respected. When you talk to non-Christians who have heard of Jesus, chances are they will say good things about Him. They do not believe He is the Son of God, most will tell you Jesus is a great man and a great teacher but all will say He is not divine. i think that is fairly accurate.
During His time on earth, Jesus was probably very popular. Wherever He went large crowds would often follow Him, drawn by His teachings and His miracles.
If Jesus was physically walking in our world today, I am pretty sure He will attract large crowds as well. If He visits Singapore, our National Stadium will be filled to the brim.
While people do not believe in Jesus, it does seem that in general people do see Jesus in a rather positive light. But why then are Christian being persecuted for believing in Jesus?
Jesus was a great teacher and He performed many miracles and yet He was crucified by the very people He came to save? Why?
Starting this morning we will be resuming our series on the gospel of John. The aim for our series is twofold: One is that we might receive eternal life through believing in Jesus, the Son of God. And secondly, that we might grow in Christ, as we behold more of His glory.
Before our break in the series, we were looking at John 11:1-44, where we witness the death and resurrection of Lazarus. John 11 is the beginning of the turning in the gospel of John. Both John 11 and John 12 is a sort of transition into the second half of the Gospel.
As we unpack the rest of the book what we will observe is that these chapters are moving us towards the climax of revealing Jesus for who He really is: God Himself. And at the same time, they begin the exposition of the true meaning of “the hour” and the work that Jesus came to do. The whole focus is on His death and resurrection, and this becomes the preoccupation of the rest of the Gospel.
Our sermon text this morning is taken from the Gospel John 11:45-12:11.
The resurrection of Lazarus by the Lord Jesus Christ was over, and the people who had been standing by and had witnessed the miracle were left to wonder at it. What was to be their reaction? Would they believe on Jesus? Or would they fail to believe?
Would they become His followers or His enemies? As we read the sequel to the story we will find that both are true; that is, some believed, while others disbelieved and still others who wanted Him dead.
The contrast between an irrational devotion to sin and a lavish devotion to Jesus.
In our text this morning we will encounter two contrasting responses to Jesus. One is irrational and the other lavish. Together they guide us to establish the big idea for our sermon this morning: The contrast between an irrational devotion to sin and a lavish devotion to Jesus.
We will be looking at three main points:
An irrational devotion to sin (Jn 11:45-57)
A lavish devotion to Jesus (Jn 12:1-8)
The irrationality of sin (Jn 12:9-11)
An irrational devotion to sin (Jn 11:45-57)
Following the resurrection of Lazarus, we were immediately informed that many believed. I shall not comment on the genuineness of their believe, since the text itself does not say. But what I want us to see is just as immediately we were told that some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did.
What was their motive in doing so? The conjunction “but” gives us a pretty good picture.
It conveys a contrast with the many who believed and this could only imply that they had ill intent, probably wanting to get Jesus into trouble and to get into the good books of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees did not disappoint, true to form, they felt threaten by Jesus. Blinded by sin and concern with their desire to maintain their position of power and influence, they fail to see the saviour. They only saw a miracle worker who not only threatened their position of respect and power but could potentially incur political upheaval.
Their concern was probably that what has been happening may lead to the Romans being forced to take care of the situation. This does not bode well for them. It jeopardizes their position of influence. They vexed over what to do about Jesus. The reality is this, they were not concern with whether Jesus was a good man or not, whether He was a great miracle worker or a great teacher. Their concern was how His actions and teachings would affect them. Their fear of loss of influence and possibly money led them to reject the Son of God.
In response to their problem, Caiaphas, the high priest, offers a plan. His plan was simple, get rid of the problem. With cunning and coldness, the High Priest calls for Jesus’s death by offering a justification for doing so. Surely, they cannot kill an innocent man but if they could justify the killing then God could not hold it against them or so they think. If the motive is right, it will outweigh the evil of the actual deed, right?
Caiaphas’s justification was both politically motivated and personally beneficial. Politically, he sees Jesus as a scapegoat for the nation and its leaders. Personally, it secures his power base. The proposal was convincing and thus plans were made to kill Jesus.
The religious leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus because his presence was a threat to them. They were concerned for themselves. They were primarily self-centered. Although they were respected religious leaders but their religion is nothing but an empty religion. Their faith looks nice on the outside but inside it is very ugly.
Things have not changed very much today. Christianity is among the highest persecuted religion in the world today. The reasons have not changed very much either. Some see the faith as a political threat and others as a threat to their own religion and many are offended by the gospel itself. Why is this so? I believe it is because of the self-centeredness of empty religion. It is a religion that focuses first on the almighty ego. It is based on individual effort. It is about the benefits one can reap from the good that one does. When challenge with the reality that blessings and salvation is in Christ alone, it threatens the very foundation of their own belief system. It is almost unacceptable that they are not the ones in control.
What about us as followers of King Jesus? Are we in danger of practicing empty religion? The answer is yes, we are.
We are when we have no relationship with Jesus. What do I mean? It is when we simply come to church, give our offerings, say and do the right things and just keep a tight watch on our moral integrity.
But doesn’t that kind of describes most of us if not all. We come to Church, we give our offerings, we are careful not to let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen, we watch our lives and our doctrines. So are we practicing empty religion?
The answer lies in our focus. Are we focus on self or on Christ? How do we make the differentiation? One word, devotion. Specifically, where does our devotion lie in?
The Pharisees and Chief Priest were devoted to their own sinful selves; they relish on power and control. They thrive on respect from the people. They were intent on protecting their traditions rather than seeking God. You know why they are intent on keeping traditions, it is because traditions help to maintain the status quo which in turn secures their power and control.
Likewise with Judas, his focus was also on himself. John called him a thief who did not care for the poor but for his own pockets. He was part of the 12 and have seen the miracles performed by Jesus and have been taught by the Great Teacher. And yet his heart is still devoted to self. He was concerned for his own pocket.
How about us? Are we in danger of being devoted to self?
Yes, if not careful we can serve out of selfish motives. There are some who serve to control others. Other serves to gain merits. Still others who serves out of a false sense piousness.
How can we determine our motives?
Asking ourselves how much we are willing to sacrifice does give a clue on whether we are more focus on self or focus on Jesus. Do we see whatever we do, be it in serving our family at home, serving our fellow brothers and sisters in the body as our service to Jesus and find joy in doing that? Or do we ask what I get out of it by serving. Sometimes our motives are exposed by how we react when our faith is tested and the price, we are willing pay to stay the course. Other times we are exposed by how we react when our service is not appreciated or recognized.
Our devotion to Jesus is ultimately shaped by our understanding of the gospel. How
Our devotion to Jesus is ultimately shaped by our understanding of the gospel. How so?
The first thing to ask is whether the gospel is all about us or about God. Whether we believe that when Jesus was crucified, when He was rejected and alone, when He took the fall, was He thinking about us above all? Friends if we think the gospel is centered on us than we will not be asking how devoted am I to Jesus but how devoted is Jesus to me? How has He met my needs and my wants? How has He blessed my life?
Friends, to truly be devoted to King Jesus, we need to understand that in His crucifixion, He was not thinking about us above all things. He was thinking about His Father. It was His obedience to God the Father that drove Him to the cross. Can you recall His prayer in the garden?, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
If we truly understand the heartbeat of Jesus and the price He had pay to save us, we will not simply be devoted to Jesus, we will want to offer Him the most lavish devotion we can muster and even then we will still feel it is not enough and know that it will never be enough.
How can a lavish devotion look like?
A lavish devotion to Jesus (Jn 12:1-8)
Before we look at what lavish devotion to Jesus looks like, I want to begin by helping us to beware of thinking we are devoted to Jesus but in reality we are just being devoted to a form of religion.
Ending John 11 with the chief priests and the Pharisees issuing their orders for the arrest of Jesus, John now brings us to where Jesus is. He immediately reminds us that his gospel story is reaching a climax soon. John tells his readers it is six days before the Passover. The shadow of the cross is becoming clearer and clearer.
Jesus is now in the vicinity of Jerusalem at the house of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. While the clock is ticking Jesus is dining.
Josh Moody in his commentary on John offered an interesting insight in the opening verses of John 12 and I quote: “But here, the cross still lies in the near future. Here, it is time to eat. Jesus turns up and they immediately throw a party (John 12:2). Is this our response to Jesus. If Jesus were to come to our town, would our first thought be, “Quick, let’s have a party”? “Go out and buy some steak, put burgers on the grill, invite friends—Jesus is coming.” Or would we put on a rather somber religious service—a little bit boring and not too exciting? We are right to approach God with sincere reverence (Hebrews 12:28), but reverence is not the same as stuffiness — the can’t and pretension of a form of religion that takes itself seriously while only pretending that it takes God seriously. Heaven, Jesus tells us, is like a banquet, and being with Jesus will be celebration and awe all rolled into one.”
We must be careful not to mistake our devotion to a form of religion as our devotion to God.
I am not sure if I would quite put it that way but I quoted him because he made a very good point in his warning to us to not fall into the trap of pretending to take God seriously by the pretension of taking a form of religion that takes itself seriously. This has bearing on how we see our devotion to God. We must be careful not to mistake our devotion to a form of religion as our devotion to God.
When churches split over musical instruments, when churches insist that there can be only one version of the Bible, when churches insist on adhering to traditions regardless of whether it is man-made or not, often they are not devoted God, they are devoted to a form of religion.
Let us beware that we do not mistake our preference in how we worship as devotion to Jesus when it is really devotion to a form of religion.
How can we determine wherein our devotion lies?
One of the reasons why I am a Baptist by conviction is because we hold Scripture as the final authority in our faith and practice and to be more precise, we believe scripture is the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
My point is to want to be truly devoted to God we must look to the inerrant word of God as our final authority and guide.
Now Let us get back to the narrative to see what lavish devotion can look like.
During dinner, while Martha was busy serving and Lazarus was reclining at the table with Jesus, in comes Mary with a pound of expensive ointment made from pure and poured it on the feet of Jesus. Nard is an expensive perfume drawn from the plant spike found in the foothills of the Himalayas. It was famed as an exquisite perfume and would have released an aroma of spicy musk into the air.
Based on Judas estimate on how much the ointment can be sold for and on the average wage of the people then, some have estimated the cost to be equivalent to the total annual salary of an average or above-average wage-earner.
Why did Mary pour the perfume on the feet of Jesus. On the surface one can be tempted to agree with Judas that it seems wasteful. Maybe some may ask are we being good steward of what God has given us. But let us try to see what motivated Mary.
Could it be that she knew that Jesus is going to die soon? There seems to be a hint of that in Jesus’ reply to Judas accusation in John 12:7, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.”
This will not come as a surprise if she suspected. In Luke 10:39, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what He said. In John 11:32, Mary was the one who express faith in Jesus, “Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” So if anyone who knows, Mary would be one of the first.
However regardless of how much Mary understood the situation, our focus is on her devotion to Jesus. While washing of feet was a common act during those times but anointing of feet is not so, in fact the only records of the anointing of feet is in the gospel and specifically the feet of Jesus. So what can we draw from this account?
I want to propose to us that the action of Mary is a model act of devotion for us to emulate in the following ways:
Firstly it is a model of humble service as demonstrated by her posture of anointing Jesus’ feet with oil and then proceed to wipe His feet with her hair. This is what Paul has to say about a woman’s hair, “but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.” The hair of the woman was seen as her glory and to wipe the feet of Jesus with her hair points us not only to the depth of her humility but the depth of her devotion.
Secondly, the expensive oil points to the lavishness of her devotion. This is simply extravagant and generous. Some may conclude given the expensiveness of the perfume, that the family was wealthy but still to give away in such an extravagant manner speak volumes. She did it just to show that she loved her Lord.
Thirdly, true devotion to Jesus must be shaped by the gospel. In John 12:8, Jesus says, “For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
How are we to see this?
This verse can be misinterpreted, or it can be overcorrected, and we must be careful to avoid both extremes.
The statement is made within the context of Judas accusation against Mary for being wasteful and his false concern for the poor.
Poverty is a terrible thing and we are to be compassionate towards the poor.
The key to understanding what Jesus is saying is the gospel. The gospel must be central to what we do, the gospel must be what shaped our devotion to Jesus. There is a place for social action and justice missions but we must ensure that what we do in the name of Jesus must not sideline the message of the gospel. Extravagant generosity towards the poor cannot be equated to a lavish devotion to Jesus. True devotion to Jesus must be seen in a genuine commitment to the proclamation of the gospel. Social outreach cannot replace the gospel, it must complement the gospel.
Bruce Milne in his commentary rightly warns us,““The cross must control every aspect of the disciple’s life, including alms-giving. Jesus is not presenting us with the competing loyalties of ‘spiritual’ versus ‘material’ giving. It is a prime case of both/and, rather than either/or, with each at the proper occasion, and all in the light of the cross.”
Simply put, we do what we do compelled by our love and devotion to Jesus, what shaped that love and devotion is the gospel.
Mary is our model example of lavish devotion to Jesus , one that we must emulate. In Mark 14:9, our Saviour goes on to say, “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Mark 14:9). She here is referring to Mary and is implied is Mary’s act was to become a lasting memorial of her love for Jesus an example for us
As we bring our sermon to a close in the remaining verses from John 12:9-11, may it serve as a warning to us of how irrational sin can be.
The irrationality of sin (Jn 12:9-11)
Here in these verses, we see once again the contrasting response to the miracle of the raising of John. Here we learn that while people came to see the Great Miracle worker, they also came to see Lazarus whom Jesus raised to life. Seeing Lazarus brought to them a persuasive ground for believing.
In contrast, the Chief Priests, continue to display for us the irrationality of sin. Seeing Lazarus alive and well not only failed to lead them to believe but instead expanded their hit list. Lazarus being the subject of Jesus’ miracle led them to want to get rid of Him too, because they see Him as another threat. Lazarus risen from the dead only to face a threat of death. Why did they want to kill Lazarus. John tells us it is because on account of Lazarus many Jews were turning to Jesus.
The chief priests in the face of a living proof testifying to an amazing miracle not only rejected Jesus and sort to get rid of Him but they even felt threaten by the one who testify to the greatness of Jesus.
Friends if we think that people will come to faith if they were to see great miracles proving the existence of God, we are sorely mistaken. Sin blinds us. The Bible describes us as dead to our sins, meaning we are spiritually dead and dead people cannot respond to God. The chief priests were blinded by their sins, they knew the signs that Jesus has perform still they sought to get rid of Him. Instead of marvelling at the living testimony in Lazarus, they wanted to get rid of the evidence. The sinfulness of heart is beyond human rationale.
Even when mankind was in the most perfect environment, living the most perfect life and having the most intimate relationship with God, we still choose to reject God, we still desire to be in control. That is how irrational and atrocious sin is and it has not change.
Friends, the fact is God is real, the fact is we all have sin and we will face eternal damnation, the fact is there only one salvation. The fact is only Jesus can save. Do you really want to continue to reject Christ? His salvation is freely given to those who believe, the doors of heaven is open only to those who follow Jesus because He is the only way.
As we reflect on the passage, for me one of the saddest characters in our narrative this morning is Caiaphas. In his attempt to justify the murder of the Son of God, he prophesied the atoning death of the Son of God. He failed to understand his own prophecy that Jesus had to die to secure our salvation. It is a necessary death, it is a substitutionary death. He was so close to salvation but his devotion to sin led him to becoming, the catalyst of the atoning death of Jesus. In his evil desire to secure his own position, he failed to understand that it was God’s intent for Jesus to die in order for sinners to live.
Friends, the truth is before us this morning. If you have yet to believe in Jesus, I invite you to come talk to me or to any of the elders or to the friends that brought you here. If you do not know who are our elders, we are the ones wearing name tags with the red lanyard.
Beloved, when God showed His love to us while we were sinners by sending His Son to die for us, it is a love that is beyond extravagant. Nothing can describe the greatness of God’s love. We are totally underserving of such love. If we truly understand this, there can be only one respond, we will want to be totally devoted to Him and the best devotion we can offer must be nothing short of lavish. How can our lavish devotion to Jesus look like?
It is express in how we love one another, how we serve one another, how we carry one another’s burden. How we are totally devoted to one another in the body of Christ.
So how can we do that?
During our Combined Anniversary sermon, I commended us for not only having gospel clarity but also demonstrating gospel visibility. Now I want to exhort us to do more, to make the gospel even clearer in our midst.
Let us do more in our one anothering. Many of us have been reaching out to one another after service, our third floor is becoming very crowded, let us do more. I am calling those who dash off immediately after service, take a pause and take the courage to reach out and be open to being reached out to. Let us continue to flood the third floor.
Let us go beyond Sunday, let us reach out to one another in the weekdays. Let us minister to one another during the course of the week. Be willing to share our needs with one another, be willing to help those in need. Let us continually spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
If there are some of us who are burdened by some commitments and have to dash off every Sunday. Do not keep your burden to yourself, let us help you and for the rest, let us be prepared to help.
Let us not only reach out to those who are in our midst but continue to reach out to those who have been absent. I know of a dear sister who have been faithful reaching to another who have not be coming, sometimes she receive and sometimes her text is met with silence but she continue to reach out and it as been very encouraging for me to witness her love in action.
True devotion to Jesus also involves obeying His commands and having a burden for lost souls.
True devotion to Jesus also involves obeying His commands and having a burden for lost souls. Most of us are fearful or uncomfortable to approach strangers to share the gospel, we are even shy to share with our friends and close ones. Let our devotion and love for Jesus compel us to step out of our comfort zone.
One of the encouraging thing that I have witnessed in our midst is how our evangelism have been very organic, we seldom rely on program but we have members just stepping out to the community sharing the gospel with others.
If we are fearful or shy than partner with one another. In your CGs be intentional in planning special evangelistic sessions occasionally. This would help those of us who may not be to confident in sharing the gospel, to bring friends and learn from others how to have gospel conversations.
These are but some ways in which we can express our lavish devotion to Jesus. I am sure you will have more examples. Just do it.
Our acts of lavish devotions are not something beyond us. We all can do it and we all should be doing it. Let Mary be the example for us to follow.