Our Greatest Treasure
Sermon Notes
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called Visible God, which is about seeing God through the life of Jesus. We’re studying a book of the bible called the Gospel of John which records the life and words of Jesus, as it was written by an original source, an original follower of Jesus, and today we’re talking about our treasures. So let me ask you what are some things you treasure in life?...What are some things you treasure in life?...Is it money or material possessions?...Is it your health, your family, or spending time with your friends and family?...What are some things you treasure in life? Everybody has certain things they treasure, and we’ll make sacrifices for that which we treasure. For example if somebody treasures money they’ll sacrifice their health or time with friends and family, working endless hours for more money. On the flip side some people will sacrifice their money and bigger salaries, for more time off with friends and family. My point is everybody treasures something, and everybody makes sacrifices for the things they treasure. So the question isn’t are you making sacrifices for the things you treasure, it’s are the things you treasure worth the sacrifices?...Are the things you treasure, worth the sacrifice?...This is what we’re gonna talk about today, so let’s turn to John 12:1-8 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle, turn a few books to the right, you’ll find John. The title of today’s message is Our Greatest Treasure, and here’s the big idea. Jesus is worth more than our greatest treasure...Jesus is worth more than our greatest treasure.
Context:
Here’s your context. In John 11:1-44 Jesus claims to be the resurrection and the life, and he proves it by raising Lazarus from the dead. He proves he really is the resurrection and the life, he really is the God who can give us eternal life. Now in vs 45-57 it says many people come to faith in Jesus after witnessing this event. But there’s a group of religious leaders called the Pharisees who’ve been trolling Jesus, they don’t like Jesus and are afraid more people will start following Jesus. So they issue a death warrant on Jesus, which makes ch 11 a major turning point in the Gospel of John. It’s the point where Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross. He saves Lazarus’ life, but he’s also preparing to lay down his own life, and we’ll pick it up in ch 12:1.
The Word:
John 12:1-8 states this, “Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was...” Okay so Jesus left Bethany after the Jews issued his death warrant, but now he’s back in Bethany getting ready to celebrate the Passover. The tension in the text is building toward Jesus going to the cross. In fact ch 11 ends in vs 57 with the chief priest and Pharisees spreading the word that if anybody sees Jesus at the Passover, they need to tell them so they can arrest him. Everything’s starting to build toward Jesus going to the cross, and here in vs 1 we’re learning Jesus was willing and ready to go. He’s moving into danger, not cowering away from it. He comes back to Bethany, back to the very town his life was just threatened in.
Again vs. 1, “Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.” Now this isn’t the kind of dinner where everybody lounges around until somebody gets hungry or hangry, then you order Dominoes or Uber Eats because you’re too tired to cook. Instead this is the kind of dinner that’s taken a lot of time to prep. We even see Lazarus’ sister Martha mentioned here, and she’s honoring Jesus in the way she knows best, which is serving. Martha’s the kind of person who wants everything to be perfect for guests. If a guest is sleeping over, she’s the person who’d put hotel bottles of shampoo on the bed with a loofah and a towel formed into a Swan. So this isn’t just any kind of dinner, it’s a very special dinner, a celebratory dinner that’s being held in honor of Jesus. They’re celebrating and honoring Jesus for raising Lazarus from the dead. The text even says they gave this dinner for him. It’s a dinner for him, it’s a dinner for Jesus. It’s a dinner that’s all about honoring Jesus, and he’s about to be honored in a very special way in vs 3.
Vs. 3 states, “Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Okay there’s a lot happening in this part of the text, so we need to spend a little time on this to really grasp what’s happening contextually. See back then when people came to a banquet like this they’d have perfume or ointment available for people. It’s because at this point in history they didn’t have things like deodorant or easy access to running water for daily showers. So in hot climates they’d sweat and smell like people standing in line at Disney. They’d smell nasty from being in the desert heat all day, and so when a guest came into their home, they’d dab a little perfume on their head to cover up the smell. Some of you ladies still do that for the guys in your house. I never owned Febreze or scented candles until I got married, but now it’s like we have fragrances for every season...So what Mary’s doing here is perfectly normal, but there’s 3 things she’s doing that aren’t normal. It’s 3 incredible things she’s doing to display how much she honors Jesus, to display how much she truly treasures Jesus.
#1 = She Breaks The Jar: She breaks the jar of ointment, the jar of perfume. We don’t get this detail in John’s gospel, it’s in Mark’s gospel. In Mark 14:3 it tells us she broke the jar, and it also tells us it was an alabaster jar. Alabaster’s a beautiful stone like marble, and because of its beauty and strength, it was often used to store expensive perfumes. In fact many people would give an alabaster jar of perfume to their kids as a part of their inheritance. It was for financial security in case there was a famine, a disaster, or something that caused their kids to be in a financial crisis. So when Mary first brings this out the people in the room would’ve been like “Ah, yes! It’s the perfect way to honor Jesus.” Now they’re thinking a little dab here, little dab there, maybe a sprits under the arms, but she breaks the jar! She breaks the jar, meaning she isn’t giving Jesus a dab, she’s given him the entire thing! It’s why the text even says the entire house was filled with fragrance. It’s because she broke the jar and used the entire thing on Jesus.
#2 = She Puts Perfume On His Feet: The 1st incredible thing she does is break the jar, the 2nd incredible thing she does is puts the perfume on Jesus’ feet. In Matthew and Mark’s gospels it says she put it on his head as well. Now like I said before they didn’t have running water back then, so people’s feet were considered one of the nastiest parts of their body, especially after walking around in the dusty dessert all day. In fact dealing with people’s feet was considered so disgusting and demeaning, that some places outlawed even slaves from having to touch people’s feet. In the next chapter we’ll see Jesus being rebuked by his disciples for washing their feet. It’s because they believe Jesus shouldn’t have anything to do with such a disgusting and demeaning job. But Jesus is such a humble servant leader, he’s willing to do even the lowest of tasks. Mary’s showing similar humility towards Jesus, by putting perfume on his feet.
#3 = She Wipes His Feet With Her Hair: The 3rd incredible thing she does is wipes his feet with her hair. It’s something Jewish women wouldn’t do back then, because Jewish women would rarely let down their hair in public. It was often viewed as disgraceful for a woman to do that, kind of like we see in some Islamic countries. So for her to let her hair down, for her to wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair, was a very humbling moment for Mary. In a sense she’s saying “I don’t care what anybody else thinks of me. I treasure you so much Jesus, that I’m willing to sacrifice my wealth by breaking the jar, sacrifice my pride by anointing your feet, and sacrifice my reputation by taking down my hair to wipe your feet. I’m willing to sacrifice it all for you, because you’re a treasure that’s worth the sacrifice.” She believes Jesus is worth the sacrifice. But the hair thing was the final tipping point, and others in the room start freaking out.
Vs. 4, “But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 ‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’” Okay so Judas is angry, but he isn’t the only one. In Matthew and Mark’s gospels it says even the other disciples scolded Mary for this, they were indignant towards her. But we’d react the same way if we were them. I mean first of all Mary’s dumping an entire bottle of perfume on Jesus’ feet and head, and wiping it up with her hair. That’s not normal. We can’t get all super spiritual saying “Well what’s all this really saying in the Greek?” It’s weird! That’s what it’s saying, it’s saying it’s weird. What she’s doing isn’t normal in that culture or ours, so we’d respond like them too.
But I also want you to notice how much Judas said this perfume was worth. He said it’s worth at least 300 denarii which is 300 days worth of salary. It’s almost an entire year’s salary. Today the average American household earns $60,000 a year, so it’s like her pouring close to a $60,000 bottle of perfume on Jesus. This past week I googled what the most expensive perfume in the world is, it’s called Clive Christian No. 1 Imperial Majesty. “It’s scent is a light Tahitian vanilla, with a hint of rosa centifolia, that is reminiscent of the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.” I didn’t even realize we knew what Aphrodite smelt like, but apparently it’s worth $215,000 a bottle. Can you imagine buying that and just dumping it all over somebody? Surely we’d respond the way Judas and the disciples are responding. Surly we’d respond saying “Mary what are you thinking? Why’d you do such a careless thing? Why’d you waste your money like that when you could’ve used it for so many other things?” Judas says you could’ve used it to help the poor. But Judas doesn’t really care about the poor, he cares about himself. Listen to vs 6.
Vs. 6, “He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Judas doesn’t really care about the poor, he cares about not getting a cut of that expensive perfume. The text says he’s in this to help himself. In the words of John Piper, “In response to the worth of Jesus, Mary’s heart was full of wonder and thankfulness and joy overflowing in lavish demonstrations of affection. But Judas’s heart felt none of that. He valued money more than he valued Jesus.” Mary loved and treasured Jesus, but Judas loved and treasured money over Jesus.
Vs. 7, “Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.’” Jesus often talked about caring for the poor, so the implication isn’t a lack of care for the poor. Instead this is about urgency. He’s saying Mary senses the urgency of things, the urgency that his life is coming to an end, so she’s doing the right thing by prepping his body for burial. It’s triaging the moment and asking what’s more important, is it going to work, or getting to say one last goodbye to a person you love that’s dying. D.A. Carson states, “The point is under normal circumstances, concern for the poor has its place. But these aren’t normal circumstances. The Messiah is about to die, and Mary in a gesture rich with prophetic symbolism, has met the need of the moment by anointing Jesus for burial.” She doesn’t fully understand it, but she does sense some urgency that Jesus is about to die, so Jesus affirms she’s doing the right thing when he tells Judas to leave her alone. When he says the poor you’ll always have, he’s triaging. He’s saying they can still care for the poor when he’s gone, but his time is running out, because he’s going to the cross.
Now this entire story is a contrast between how much Mary and Judas treasured Jesus. Mary treasured Jesus, but Judas treasured money. Mary treasured Jesus more than a year’s salary, but Judas eventually traded Jesus for a few thousand dollars. The difference between the two is a question of worth? It’s what is Jesus really worth to them? Remember in the beginning I told you everybody treasures something, and we’ll make sacrifices for that which we treasure. It’s clear that Mary treasured Jesus so much, that she was willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus. But Judas treasured Jesus so little, that he was willing to trade other things for Jesus. What is Jesus worth to you?...What is Jesus worth to you?...What are some things you’ve been trading Jesus for?...Have you been trading spending time with Jesus for lesser treasures like your kids sports, scrolling tiktok, binge watching Netflix?...Have you been trading giving financially, even giving more generously to Jesus’ church, for lesser treasures?...Have you been trading your ethical and moral walk with Jesus, for lesser treasures? City Awakening is Jesus so worthy to you, that you’re willing to surrender everything to him like Mary, or is he worth so little to you, that you’re willing to trade him in for something else like Judas?
The Big Idea:
Look the big idea is that Jesus is worth more than our greatest treasure...Jesus is worth more than our greatest treasure...and what makes him so worthy of surrendering our lives to him, is his love displayed on the cross. It’s knowing he treasured us so much, that he was willing to sacrifice his very own life for us. We surrender all for him, because on the cross he surrendered all for us. But I’ll admit that my level of surrender, doesn’t match the level that Jesus is worthy to be treasured. My heart isn’t at the level of surrender that Mary’s was at.
But think about how much more amazing Jesus must really be, than our current view of him. Think about how much more amazing Jesus must really be, than my view and your current view of him. Because as amazing as we think he is, we’ll still tighten our grip on other treasures. But Mary was so amazed by Jesus, that she didn’t tighten her grip, she loosened her grip and surrendered it all to Jesus. She saw his glory, his power, his love at a level so magnificent, that it caused her to say “I surrender it all...I surrender it all, I surrender everything to Jesus because he’s worthy! He’s worthy of sacrifice! He’s worthy of honor! He’s worthy of glory! He’s worthy of me loosening my grip on all other treasures and surrendering it all to him!” So if you think Jesus is amazing with your tight grip, imagine how much more amazing he must really be, to cause Mary to fully loosen her grip! Imagine how much more amazing Jesus must really be, to cause Mary to fully open her hand saying “I surrender it all.” May we come to treasure Jesus like that. May we treasure Jesus so much, that it causes us to open our hands saying “I surrender all.”
Jesus forgive us for tightening our grips and undervaluing you like Judas...and would you open our hearts and hands to treasure you like Mary...Would you open our hearts and hands in such a way, that it causes us to joyfully surrender our entire lives to you...Would you help to increase our level of surrender, so it matches the level you’re worthy to be treasured.”
#1 = She Breaks The Jar:
#2 = She Puts Perfume On His Feet:
#3 = She Wipes His Feet With Her Hair:
“It’s scent is a light Tahitian vanilla, with a hint of rosa centifolia, that is reminiscent of the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.”
John Piper, “In response to the worth of Jesus, Mary’s heart was full of wonder and thankfulness and joy overflowing in lavish demonstrations of affection. But Judas’s heart felt none of that. He valued money more than he valued Jesus.”
D.A. Carson states, “The point is under normal circumstances, concern for the poor has its place. But these aren’t normal circumstances. The Messiah is about to die, and Mary in a gesture rich with prophetic symbolism, has met the need of the moment by anointing Jesus for burial.”