John 12

You're still here!!!  Awesome.  Keep up the good work.  Only nine more days to go and you will have accomplished something great; being in the Word for a full month.  Very cool.  Today is John 10.  Take a look.  The thing that stood out to me most in this passage is that there is a comparison being made.  The comparison is of a true disciple and a fake one.  On one side, we have Mary, a good friend and follower of Jesus.  She loves Jesus so much that she cannot contain herself.  She goes out and buys the most expensive perfume she can afford and brings it to Jesus.  It is about 12 ounces of perfume and it wasn't from the Jerusalem Walmart or anything, it was a perfume that was made from spices and herbs found in India.  This was not Justin Bieber perfume, this was like Chanel No 5 quality we are talking about.  Okay, I think you get it.

So Mary walks in where Jesus is with his friends, one of whom He just raised from the dead last chapter (Lazarus) and began to pour it on the feet of Jesus!  What?  Dude, that is some really expensive perfume and you are pouring it on someone's feet?  Gross!  The reason Mary was doing it was because she loved Jesus and some believe that it was in anticipation of His death.  At burial the body would usually be anointed and wrapped with spices.  Another reason for her doing this was to acknowledge Christ as King or Lord.  In Mark it goes on to say that she also anointed His head which was a symbol of Kingship. 

Regardless it was Mary's love for Jesus that drove her to make such a great sacrifice.  No doubt she was also grateful for the miraculous act of bringing her brother back to life.  Mary worshipped at the feet of Jesus through sacrifice.

The other "disciple" present in the room was Judas.  Judas reacts to Jesus in a totally different way.  Instead of having a focus on giving, he's thinking about himself.  It looks pretty "religious" though.  His reaction is this "Why was this perfume not sold...and given to the poor?" Sounds pretty on target right?  He is saying "Jesus, this was not right!  We could have used that money to help the poor." Now, if his heart was in the right place, we might have something here.  But if you continue to read in verse 6 it says, "he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief,".  Judas not only betrays Jesus later but he had been doing it all along as His disciple!  He was actually stealing from the poor all along and now all of the sudden he is concerned about them?

Jesus had a pretty cool response to all of the shenanigans that took place.  That's right...SHENANIGANS!!!  He says "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial." His point is, "she knows I am going to die soon, that I will give up My life, let her have this moment of worship!" If you read the rest of the chapter, you'll see that it is focused on the death of Jesus.  In verse 23 John writes "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified".  In other words, the time is coming for my death.  This death will glorify God by paying the penalty for sin, cancelling death, and paving a way for sinners to have a relationship with God.  What a great reason to worship at the feet of Jesus!

You see, there is a contrast here.  A true disciple of Jesus sacrifices of herself/himself in order to worship Christ.  A fake disciple just shows up to where Jesus is to take and gain for herself/himself.  Which are you?  Are you giving to others so that Christ will be glorified?  Are you giving of your time and resources so that the name of Jesus would be known and seen as great?  Or are you showing up to church, mission trip, camp, retreat, Bible study and hoping to gain something just for yourself and that's it.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't a sin to want to get something out of study, prayer and so on.  But it is a sin if it just ends there.  It is a sin if you are just doing it to gain someone's approval or make your girlfriend or boyfriend think you are something that you are not. 

At the heart of this passage is "are you a true disciple of Jesus?" What will you sacrifice for Him?  What lengths will you go to so that His name will be made great?

Cool Facts: 
Not only did the authorities of the time want to put Jesus to death but they also wanted to put His followers to death.  In verse 10 it says that they wanted to kill Lazarus.  Wouldn't Jesus just bring him back to life again?  Things that make you go hmmm....

In verse 31 it says that in His death, Jesus would dethrone "the ruler of this world".  That ruler is Satan or the Devil.  It is interesting that something that looks like defeat, His crucifixion, is in reality a victory for Jesus!  His death conquers sin and death and gives life to those who trust in Christ.  In that moment, Satan is defeated and holds no power over us (Colossians 2:12-15).