FBC Morning Light – February 28, 2023

A good Tuesday morning to you. Today we're reading in the book of Leviticus the last chapter in Leviticus, and then Mark chapter 14 and the 42nd Psalm. I want to focus on two ideas in Mark 14. One of them has to do with this scene where Jesus is at a dinner in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper.

At that dinner, it says this woman came with an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. She broke the flask and poured it on Jesus' head. This was an act of lavish, generous expression of devotion on the part of this woman toward Jesus.

In response to that, we read that there were some who were indignant among themselves and said, why was this fragrant oil wasted? Can you imagine? Don't be too quick to jump to the conclusion that you would have been appalled at such a question.

It's very possible, and I would suggest perhaps very likely, that we would have jumped on the bandwagon with those who are criticizing this woman. We learn in one of the other Gospels that the ringleader of that criticism was Judas Iscariot, because he had the bag, and he was concerned about the money.

He liked to dip in the till, if you will. The first question I want us to think about here in this whole thing is, would I be more likely to be the giver or the griper? Think about the state of your heart right now in your relationship with the Lord.

How quickly do you tend to complain and to gripe when things don't go your way, when other people do things you think are extravagant or whatever? This was a case of lavish extravagance, to be sure. If you've ever seen anybody express such lavish devotion to the Lord, how do you respond to that?

How do you deal with that? Do you get a little critical and think, well, they're going over the top, they're a little fanatical. Do you allow that to cause you to stop and think a little bit about your own devotion?

Do you have such a deep love for the Lord? That's one idea. The next idea I want to mention follows right on the heels of this, because after this situation, Jesus rebukes those who complain about the pouring of the oil.

Jesus rebukes them and praises the woman. But then in verses 10 and 11, it says, Judas Iscariot went out from that setting, he went out from there, he went to the chief priest to betray him, Jesus, to the chief priest.

The basic principle here is that a man who is rebuked, a person who is rebuked for a sinful attitude, sinful words, a sinful action, a person who is rebuked will become either bitter or better. Judas clearly became bitter.

He was embittered toward Jesus for the rebuke, and he went out and said, what do I need to do to turn him over to you, to betray him to you? He went to the chief priest. The alternative would have been to become better, to repent of his critical spirit and critical attitude and his judging and condemning of this woman for the waste.

Do you allow rebukes to make you better or to lead you into bitterness? The last thing I wanted to point out in Mark 14, and this is a full chapter of some practical applications, isn't it? It has to do with Jesus telling the disciples, look, all of you tonight, this is the night of the betrayal, all of you are going to flee.

You're all going to flee. Peter says, not me. If everybody else does, I won't. Not me. I'll die with you if I have to die with you. Jesus says, before the rooster crows two times, you're going to deny me three times.

Peter says, absolutely not. He says, if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. He led all the other disciples to follow him in their denial of what Jesus said they were going to do. From that scene, Jesus takes them out to the Mount of Olives, goes into the Garden of Gethsemane, and he takes Peter, James, and John a little deeper into the garden when Jesus goes further yet to pray.

While Jesus is praying, he tells the disciples to watch and pray. Pray with me. Watch with me. He goes off to pray. It doesn't seem like it was very long, at least what's recorded is a pretty short prayer.

By the time Jesus comes back, they're all sleeping. They're all sleeping. Jesus singles out Peter and he says, Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, he says, lest you enter into temptation.

The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Jesus wasn't just speaking to him about that immediate situation in the garden and telling him to watch instead of sleeping, because the Spirit indeed is willing, the flesh is weak.

He's referring back to Peter's adamant denial that he would deny. If I have to die with you, I will die with you. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is awfully weak. That's exactly the way it plays out.

You know the rest of the story when it comes to those three denials. Does Peter stick to his commitment, if I have to die with you, I will not deny you? No, he doesn't. He does exactly what Jesus said.

Why? Because the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. You know what? Are you and I any different? The Spirit is really willing, but how oftentimes we discover that the flesh is weak. How important it is then that as Jesus told Peter, we need to watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation.

Our Father and our God, we are challenged by this chapter today, by the failure of your disciples, those closest to Jesus, on the part of Judas, who became bitter at rebuke instead of better, who criticized the lavish display of love.

And then Peter, who in the weakness of the flesh, not only slept, but denied. Father, we recognize in ourselves the reluctance to accept rebuke, and we recognize in ourselves the ease with which the flesh overpowers the desire of the Spirit.

The Father challenge us and encourage us to watch and to pray, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, well listen, have a great Tuesday. I trust the Lord will bless you in it. Good day.