Cherish Christ

Introduction:
In June of 2012 we stepped away from our study of the Gospel of Mark at the end of Mark 13.  We moved to a series I’ve been calling “Church 101” starting in Rev 1-3, then onto our present study of 1 Corinthians where the Spirit is teaching us about basic Christianity, the Church, and growing in Christ.  One of the upcoming issues to be addressed in 1 Corinthians is Communion.  We are celebrating Communion today, but since we haven’t arrived at 1 Corinthians 11 yet, I saw this as a good time to jump back into Mark 14.

Recall our series from the Gospel of Mark: in Mark 1-10 we joined the disciples as they walked with Jesus in “A Fast-Paced Life.”  Like those 12 disciples, we watched as Jesus ministered to the nation of Israel, demonstrating by His actions and words that He is the Messiah, the Son of God.  Then in Mark 11-13 we followed Jesus, who continued “On a Mission.”  Everything Jesus did was in fulfillment of His mission, which was to be the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  As I mentioned, we left off at the end of Mark 13, which was Jesus’ prophecy about the End Times.  We are picking up again today, and perhaps continuing each Communion Sunday, with Mark 14.

Context is very important when reading the Bible and since we haven’t been in the Gospel of Mark for some time, let’s review what’s been going on.  In Mark 8 there was the feeding of 4,000 (not to be confused with the feeding of the 5,000 – a different event).  The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign that He was who He claimed to be (all the miracles didn’t clue them in).  Jesus warned His disciples of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and then He healed a man of blindness.  Next was Peter’s confession of Jesus being the Messiah.  This was followed by a Passion account and Jesus explained the cost of discipleship, saying that as His follower we must “deny self, take up our cross, and follow Him.”  In Mark 9 we have the Transfiguration followed by Jesus casting a demon out of a boy.  Then there is another Passion account where Jesus tells His disciples that He will be betrayed, killed, and rise the third day.  That is again followed by Jesus explaining the cost of discipleship saying, “the first will be last and servant of all.”  Jesus then gives a warning about Hell.  In Mark 10 Jesus is tested about the issue of marriage and divorce.  After that, the rich young ruler walks away and there is a third Passion account where Jesus said that He would go to Jerusalem, be betrayed to chief priests, condemned to death, delivered to gentiles, mocked, scourged, spit on, killed, and that He will rise the third day.  This is again followed by His explaining the cost of discipleship saying that we are to serve like He served.  Jesus then heals Bartimaeus of blindness.  In Mark 11-12 we have the Triumphal Entry.  Jesus cursed a fig tree (symbolic of Israel), cleansed the Temple again, and taught about faith and forgiveness.  He was then tested by scribes and chief priests about His authority, tested by Pharisees about paying taxes to Rome, tested by the Sadducees about the resurrection, and tested by a lawyer about the greatest commandment.  Jesus amazes everyone with His responses, as usual.  He then denounced the leaders for their hypocrisy.  Finally, in Mark 13 Jesus’ disciples asked about what was going to happen in the future.  He prophesied to them about the End Times.

Jesus has spent 3 years changing the way the disciples think, giving them truth even when they didn’t really like it.  Now, very near the end of His time with them He has a few more things to teach them.  That brings us to Mark 14.  Jesus is in Jerusalem.  It is Passover, only a day or two before the crucifixion, and it is one of the very rare times someone ministers to Jesus.

Cherish Christ:

The Plot to Kill Jesus (14:1-2)
The chief priests and scribes sought to kill Jesus by trickery, even after all the evidence that Jesus was the promised Messiah: the miracles, teaching, and acts of servanthood.  Those things testify  that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.  Yet, their hard hearts caused them to reject that overwhelming evidence and they just wanted Jesus dead.  He was a problem to them; they didn’t want the Truth.  They wanted their own power and influence over the people.  They were happy putting forward the image of godliness when inside they were bent on serving themselves.  They denied the clear evidence – Jesus is the Son of God.

The Plan to Anoint Jesus (14:3-5)

“Being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper” is what it says.  Jesus spent the day in Jerusalem, but stayed in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house.  We don’t know who Simon the leper is, but he is apparently some guy Jesus had healed.

Now, some theologians try to tell you that this account (and Matthew 26:6-12) is the same as Mary anointing Jesus in John 12:1-9.  But in John, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet, before the Triumphal Entry, 6 days before Passover.  In Matthew and Mark, an unnamed woman anoints Jesus’ head, after the Triumphal Entry, 1 day before the Passover.  These must be two different accounts, meaning Jesus was anointed twice in a couple days.  Both times by a woman with a bottle of expensive oil of spikenard, both times Judas got upset about it.  The second time, Judas was so mad he goes to setup his betrayal of Jesus with the priests. 

Actually, several of the disciples were upset about this use of the expensive oil, several of them yelled at her for doing this.  Now, she is just doing what the Spirit had led her to do and all of a sudden the disciples are yelling at her.  I don’t think the disciples meant to be jerks.  After all, Jesus has been serving the poor and the outcasts for 3 years.  What they suggest sounds like a pretty decent idea, right?  But there is a higher purpose in this instance, unusual circumstances right in that moment.  Jesus had told them multiple times that He was going to be killed.  God’s purpose in this (and the other anointing in John), is anointing His Son for burial.  Still, the disciples were jerks, their harsh reaction to the woman shows some hardness of heart.

I’m sure glad we never do that!  We never criticize someone who may just be doing exactly what the Spirit told him or her to do, but it isn’t the way we’d do it.  I’m not talking about sin or dishonoring the Lord here, it’s about how we all serve God.  Have you ever been told you don’t pray right, sing right, or dress right?  She was apparently led by the Spirit to anoint Jesus; that was the higher purpose in this moment.  The disciples didn’t understand that and they ended up rebuking her.  Jesus calmly steps in and explained it to them…

The Praise from Jesus (14:6-9)

This woman did a good thing, and Jesus told them to stop criticizing her.  She honored Jesus by what she did.  She didn’t sin; she didn’t do it in a questionable way, and her motive was not to attract attention to herself.  She did a selfless act to honor Jesus, and He honored her in return.  Oh, and Jesus’ prophecy was true, here we are talking about her.  In that moment, the proper thing to do was to cherish Christ.  The disciples were not cherishing the remaining hours they had with Him. 

Look, there are always opportunities to serve.  We’ve about worn ourselves out this week, right?  Last Sunday was the service, lunch, BVNC service, and VBS.  Then all week long was work and VBS every night.  Then Celebrate Recovery last night, preparation for the SS picnic today, all along the way ministering to people, praying, serving.  Yes, we’ve had a busy week.  Still, we need to take time, in our private moments and as a church, to cherish our time with the Saviour, to cherish Christ.  We need to take time out of our busy day, throughout each day, to just focus our minds upon Him and who He is. 

Conclusion:

That’s what we’re going to do right now…as we come together to the Communion table.