Anointing Jesus Sermon

Womans Day 2013

August 9, 2013

On this womens day, as I have been asked to share, I

have been reflecting on the worship of women in the
Bible, and one woman in particular stands out in my
heart of a great worshipper of God.
This is a woman who truly loves Jesus and shows her love
to him well
This is something we all strive for maybe with Jesus
but often times we see it more clearly in our relationships
Think about those first weeks and months of a new
relationship. Its almost a game of showering one
another with praise, love, gifts, and affection.
I remember vividly when Casey and I first started dating,
and the lengths we went to show one another that we
cherished the other. I went to Europe and bought him a
trinket or gift from every little place. He took me on a
special day out on Valentines Day to the circus.
For each of these gifts, we were so excited to give them
and the response of the one receiving the gift left much
to be desired. Casey couldnt care less about a
showering of random trinkets and I was less then thrilled
to be at a circus feet from elephant poop while in my high
heel shoes.
Both of us were at a loss with these gifts, not at all what
we had wanted, but an effort had been made on the part
of the other to show love and care.
The saying goes Its the thought that counts, and we
often say that to make ourselves feel better when
something doesnt go as planned.
Casey and I both love to tell the other person of a gift we
were THINKING OF or TRYING to get but couldnt. And
we say its the thought that counts.
Well maybe that holds a little true, but I often feel like its
an excuse.

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 If I am only thinking about how I would like to love Casey
but never really showing him, then how does that really
translate to him? It may be the intention in my heart but
a reciprocal love is not given and shown to the other
person so it is missing a huge part of its intention.
The intention of love is not for me to think about loving
another person, but to actually SHOW the other person
love.
I must think about how the other person would receive
love and then translate my feelings into a way they would
receive them.
This may sound exhausting, but its the way it works.
And leave it to a WOMAN to show us in scripture how
this kind of true love is poured out before Jesus.

READ: John 12:1-11

John identifies this woman as the sister of Martha who

was Mary.
The alabaster jar was a flask or small jar made of white
semi-transparent stone. It was a container that was used
to hold perfumes or ointments
Nard was a very expensive perfume that was given as a
gift or to anoint someone for a special occasion or burial.
It was very expensive because it was from the Himalayan
mountains and was worth 300 denarii and the normal
person made one denarii a day! So it was a years worth
of wages!
The breaking of the flask was perhaps an expression of
the whole-heartedness of her devotion. Having served its
purpose, it would never be used again
Her actions not only demonstrated her own love and
devotion to her Savior but it also showed that she had a
real insight into HIS true purpose and ministry
Have you ever thought about that? The way we worship
Jesus shows what we believe about Jesus. The ways we
worship Jesus show what we believe about Gods heart

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 There are three things that are revealed by her act of
worship, three ways that she saw Jesus that the other
disciples missed at that moment.
She saw Jesus as king, priest, and the spotless lamb.
1. King: such an extravagant gift could only be lavished
on a king. It would be inappropriate for anyone else,
but that was who Jesus was to her.
2. Priest: she was anointing Jesus because he was her
priest and she wanted him to make atonement for her
and find her forgiven
3. The Lamb: at this time Jesus was telling his disciples
that he was going to die, but they were unable to
understand. Mary was preparing him for death even
though it was also hard for her to understand and
something she didnt want.
Jesus is all these titles and so much more.
Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the
Bread of Life, Emmanuel and the Deliverer.
Christ is the Cornerstone, the First and the
Last, and the Good Shepherd. Jesus is the
Head of the Church, the Holy One, and the
Lamb of God. Jesus is the Life and the
LIGHT. Jesus is Messiah and Morning Star.
Jesus is the Rising Son, the Root of Jesse, and
the Second Adam. Jesus is both Slave and
Son. He is the Son of Mary and the Son of
God. He has made himself the Living Stone,
the True Vine, and the Wonderful Counselor.
He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus
is the One who Is and the One to Come. Jesus
is our most HOLY GOD!
But all these titles cant even compare to the truth of
simply KNOWING and LOVING Jesus. This is what is so
beautiful about this act of worship for Jesus. Its not
enough even to just know who Jesus is, we have to move

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 to KNOWING Him and then sharing our own love with
him.

Marys heart is overflowing with love for Jesus, and then

she thinks, HOW WOULD JESUS RECEIVE MY LOVE.

Her act isnt stuck in her heart, she goes to great length
to translate her worship and love to Jesus so that he can
receive it and feel loved.
Have you ever considered that not only does Jesus want
to love us, but that he wants to feel loved back by us? He
is obviously BLESSED by this act of love by Mary and
enjoys it, so why wouldnt he want the same from us?
Have you ever asked Jesus, how do you WANT me to love
you? How can I show you my love?
This was the intent in Marys heart, and it definitely
translated on that fated day.

She doesnt count the cost, she doesnt care who sees
her, she is totally consumed in her love for her Savior and
pours it all out for Jesus
What strikes me the most about this act of worship is its
EXTRAVAGENCE.
Mary took the most precious thing she possessed and
poured it out over Jesus in her love for him.
Love is not love when it nicely calculates the cost.
There is a story that I have heard called The Gift of the
Maji by an author called O Henri.

Jim and his wife, Della, are a couple living in a modest

flat. They each have only one possession in which they
take pride: Della's beautiful long, flowing hair, almost
to her knees and Jim's shiny gold watch, which had
belonged to his father and grandfather.
On Christmas Eve, with only $1.87 in hand, and
desperate to find a gift for Jim, Della sells her hair for
$20, and eventually finds a platinum fob chain for
Jim's watch for $21. She found the perfect gift at last

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and runs home and begins to prepare dinner, with 87
cents left.
When Jim comes home, he looks at Della with a
strange expression. Della then admits to Jim that she
sold her hair to buy him his present. Jim gives Della
her present an assortment of expensive hair
accessories (referred to as The Combs), useless now
that her hair is short. Della then shows Jim the chain
she bought for him, to which Jim says he sold his
watch to get the money to buy her combs. Although
Jim and Della are now left with gifts that neither one
can use, they realize how far they are willing to go to
show their love for each other, and how priceless their
love really is

Love cant just be love in our hearts, but it must be

something that is translated into action and can be
received by the one we love.
This must mean the most in our life with Jesus
We must have a love for him that goes beyond our own
thoughts of him into lavishing our love upon him

We see such a sharp contrast here because the disciples

were spending their time not worshipping Jesus but
focused on Mary and judging and criticizing her.
This story has become so familiar to us that we miss that
more often we are the disciples sitting at the table rather
than Mary showering love on Jesus.
We know a lot about Jesus and we think about our love
for Jesus, but so often we dont translate that into actual
LOVE for Jesus

"Religious people find God useful. Christians find God

beautiful." Tim Keller

But the difference in these two groups of people the

disciples love versus Marys love cannot be overstated.
They are worlds apart.

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 Just ask someone who has ever been loved.
In my own marriage I know this. I know Casey knows a
lot ABOUT me and I even believe that Casey thinks about
how he loves and appreciates me, but until he SHOWS
that love for me I dont really take it all in.
This past year he really did something that went beyond
the thought and SHOWED me his love. I came in one
afternoon and all over my house were different colored
signs with handwritten notes from Casey. They said
Best wife ever or Best Dancer Ever or Best Cook
Ever. There were almost 20 of them. I felt so
appreciated, so celebrated, so loved. It had definitely
translated into my heart that day.

On this womens day we need to reflect on what this

woman did to truly love Jesus and what it meant to him.
Do we just find Jesus useful or do we find him
BEAUTIFUL?

Do we just KNOW who Jesus is or do we SHOWER him

with our love. Because it would matter to us, and it
matters to him.