Jump Start # 1054

Mark 14:5 “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they were scolding her.”

  I finished a class on Mark yesterday. Fascinating study filled with people who delighted in learning more about their Savior. Instead of a verse by verse study, we looked at Ten Portraits of Jesus, as Mark was showing his audience what Jesus was really like.

Our verse today, taken just a few days before the cross, illustrates the several times that the disciples were not on the same page with Jesus. Their approach to problems and their solution to difficulties was much too often rough, lacking compassion and not helpful at all. For instance, when it was getting late, and the multitude of over 5,000 was hungry, the disciples suggested sending them away that they might find something to eat. Jesus said, “Feed them.” When the Syrophoenican woman came pleading for Jesus to heal her possessed daughter, the disciples responded, send her away for she keeps screaming at us. Now, from our verse today, in a home in Bethany, Mary comes and anoints Jesus with some extremely valuable perfume. This wasn’t the cheap stuff. This was not the everyday stuff you’d splash on and head to the market place. This generally had two uses: saved for a wedding or saved for a burial. Instead of holding on to it, Mary pours this on Jesus. He had revealed numerous times before this that He was going to be killed and raised on the third day. The disciples didn’t seem to grasp that. Mary did. She came to anoint.

The disciples, led by Judas, scolded Mary. Judas especially, makes a hollow plea for a righteous use of the perfume. Instead of wasting it on Jesus, it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. John tells us that Judas kept the money box and that he kept his fingers in it. The word is “pilfer” which means steal. Judas stole from Jesus. Judas wasn’t interested in helping the poor. He was interested in helping himself. Sell the perfume. It was thought to bring about 300 denarii which is a year’s salary. A lot of money. A lot of opportunity for sticky fingers to pilfer.

A few thoughts:

1. We need to see people and problems through the eyes of Jesus. We can be harsh and even lacking compassion sometimes. It is easy to “send people away.” That never solves a problem, it just keeps us from having to get involved. Shame on us. People problems are messy, time consuming and hard. Churches are in the people business. As we bring people to Christ, not all of them will be nice and neat people. Many, if not all, will have some baggage with them. Baggage such as false and wrong ideas that have to shown the correct way. Baggage such as broken homes and the ugly consequences of sin. Some have had addictions. Some have had employment problems. Some have had relationship problems. Send them away isn’t the message that God’s people need to be sounding forth. Help them. Help them get right with the Lord. Nice, neat people who have steady jobs and are professional people are not more important than those who have returned from the pig pen. I doubt the prodigal son had time to take a bath before he returned home. He couldn’t even find someone to feed him. Dirty, smelly, messy, yet heading home. There are folks like that. The self righteous mumble, ‘we don’t want those people here.’ The self righteous ought to be careful or they may not find themselves welcome in Heaven. The great commission involved taking the Gospel to every person. That includes the bad people. The messed up people. The mean people. The people who have been in jail. The good people. The nice people. The people that seem pretty clean. It includes all.

2. Some folks will use what seems to be a very sound and righteous statement but their motives are impure, dishonest and wrong. Judas is case in point. Selling the perfume and helping the poor sounds noble on paper. He said that because he was dishonest. His intentions were not pure. The spirit of Judas is alive today. Folks will do the same.

3. Jesus defended Mary and stated that her deeds would be told where ever the Gospel was preached. And here we are doing that very thing. Jesus did not feel that she wasted the perfume. Jesus said, “she has done what she could.” She couldn’t do everything, but she did do what she could. In fact, while she was doing this, Martha was serving food, and the rest of the crowd was sitting, eating and doing nothing. How easy it is to criticize those we think are wrong, yet we ourselves do nothing. This happens often in religious circles. Some will disagree with a practice another is doing. They will point fingers, criticize yet they are doing nothing themselves. Was Judas stealing money to help the poor? The text doesn’t indicate that. It seems that he was helping himself. What were the other apostles doing to prepare Jesus for His burial? Nothing. Ridicule Mary, while feeding their faces. Sounds too much like today. We need to do things right. We need to follow God’s pattern. We need to be doing. Some are long on talk and short on the doing part. It’s easy to point out the error of others while we sit about doing little. Good lesson for us to chew on. Are we more like Mary or the apostles?

She did what she could. Great statement. If that’s all you do, you have done well. Do what you can. Do it for the glory of God. Do it, even when others aren’t. Do it, even with some ridicule you. Mary did. Mary was right. Mary was honored by the Lord. Ours is a “doing” religion. At the end of the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus said, “Go and DO thou likewise.” Paul told the Galatians, “as we have opportunity, let us DO good to all people, especially those of the household of faith.” DOING. We need to be about the DOING part. Mary did.

Good thoughts for us to consider.

Roger