One Great Act of Love Matthew 26:6-16

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Last week I should say last week last year at our Wednesday night
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Bible study The topic we explored is how did
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Jesus talk to the different people? He came across during his ministry We've seen this in Matthew as we've got as we gone on this journey
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Where he talks to people differently depending on who they are We have seen his interaction with children and what you quickly learn is that Jesus loves children
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He enjoyed being around them. He was gentle with them
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He highlighted the humility of children To communicate that those who enter the kingdom of God are those who humble themselves
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We have also seen Jesus interact with those who wore sin on their sleeves These were the drunkards the tax collectors the prostitutes
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What we have seen is that Jesus spent time with these people He knew how sinful they were, but he did not want to leave them in their sins
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So he called them out of that lifestyle so that they would truly have life
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He was not afraid to minister to those in society who were considered taboo On the flip side we have seen
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Jesus interact with those who thought they were righteous But really weren't these were the
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Pharisees the Pharisees were those who didn't think they needed any spiritual help They were diligent to keep the law and their traditions, but their hearts were far from God These were the people that Jesus was most hard on in Matthew 23 we saw
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Jesus give a lengthy rebuke of their hypocrisy We have also seen
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Jesus interact with his disciples During Jesus three and a half years of ministry. He spent most of his time with 12 men
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He spent this time telling them everything they needed to know to carry on his mission after he was gone
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He poured himself into these men whom God would use to change the world But the interaction that may be most interesting of all was how
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Jesus related women There were several women whom
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Jesus spent much time with these women were some of his closest friends Now Jesus never married so these women were in many ways his sisters
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They were not related biologically, but they had a deep bond These women were very comfortable around Jesus He was their dear friend
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He was friends with three different Marys Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Joseph and Mary the sister of Lazarus Whom Jesus raised from the dead he was friends with the sister of Mary a woman named
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Martha Jesus was also very close to another Mary his mother as you look at the life of Christ What you notice is the close relationship that he had with women
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They Were his friends and even though Jesus spent most of his time with his disciples It was his female friends who were there as he was being crucified
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As Matthew 27 Verses 55 and 56 records there were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed
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Jesus from Galilee ministering to him among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee One author said concerning these women they could not bear to watch his sufferings
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But neither could they bear to leave him what we learn is that eventually they made their way closer to the cross where Jesus mother already
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Was Mary was already there? John 1925 records standing by the cross of Jesus where his mother and his mother's sister
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Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene Their loyalty to him did not stop after his death and Their loyalty continued while he laid in a tomb
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While the disciples hid for fear of the Jewish leadership these women were not ashamed of Jesus Then after Jesus resurrection
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He first appeared to women To Mary Mary Magdalene whom
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Jesus told to go tell the disciples that he had risen from the dead Historically speaking.
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This is incredible the relationship that Jesus had with women
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Because down through history there are numerous examples where women have not been treated
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Well, so it is important to see how much Jesus valued and how well he treated the women in his life
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While we approach Jesus death in Matthew 26 the disciples are with him But there are also women present and one woman does something that shows her great affection for Jesus But as we will see
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What she does caused quite a stir So this morning as we continue our sermon series through Matthew, we will see this episode
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So at this time, I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me there Matthew 26 verses 6 through 16 and if using one of those red
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Bibles It's on page 988 The sermon is titled
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One great act of love and here's our big idea
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What this text is calling you to do Listen to Jesus Counsel on how true love is displayed listen to Jesus counsel on how true
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Love is displayed and we're gonna see two instructions how in this text, but before we jump in Let me give you a little recap of where we have been
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Last week we looked at the first five verses of Matthew 26 in these verses
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We started to see things really heat up as it pertains to the time when
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Jesus would die What we saw in this text is that Christ was fully ready for his impending sacrificial death
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He had spent his whole ministry with his eyes Fixed on Jerusalem and now the time has come where he has accomplished everything
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He was supposed to accomplish and now he was prepared to give himself up to the
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Jewish leaders Who would deliver him over to be crucified? We saw many wonderful Aspects of Jesus character in this text his focus was on giving himself up This shows his focus
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We also saw his courage we also saw his great love that he has for his people
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He always knew that he needed to die for the salvation of anyone who would believe in him And now he told his disciples that he is ready to fulfill that What a wonderful Savior he is
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Now this leads us to our text where we will see this episode that involves Jesus his disciples and One woman who did something remarkable
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Let's begin by looking at the first two verses verses 6 and 7 of Matthew 26 now when
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Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper a woman came up to him with an
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Alabaster flask a very expensive ointment and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table
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Now as we read this Once again, we find ourselves in the last week of Jesus life in Verse 2 of this chapter.
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Jesus told his disciples that he was going to die in two days because the Passover was two days away
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Now what is interesting is that each of the four Gospels in the New Testament? Do not always follow a an
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A to Z chronology Sometimes the author arranges the order for his own purpose
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But largely speaking the authors do follow a chronological timeline leading up to the time when
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Jesus would die In a parallel passage in John 12, we learned that this episode still happens the week that Jesus died
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It just happens six days before the Passover So in other words this episode happens four days before the conversation
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We saw last week where Jesus told his disciples that he was going to die on the Passover During this last week of Jesus life.
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We learned where Jesus spent some of his time from verse 6 Verse 6 says that Jesus was with his disciples and some women in the village of Bethany Bethany was a small village about two miles outside of Jerusalem on the eastern slope near the
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Mount of Olives Bethany was like an immediate suburb of a large city
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The large city of course being Jerusalem This would be like cities like st.
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Louis Park or Golden Valley that are right next to Minneapolis and of course
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Jerusalem was a major city for many reasons it started off as a military fortress
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But what happened over time is that this is where the people flocked to this is where the king lived This is where the temple was this is where all the people came to the
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Jewish festivals throughout the year and This is the city where Jesus would die
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So Jesus finds himself in Bethany right next to Jerusalem And he's there as we will see in more detail with his disciples and at least two women
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What we learn in verse 6 is that they were in a man's house who lived in Bethany and that man is
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Simon the leper Now not surprisingly Simon earned his name from having leprosy
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Leprosy was a horrible skin disease in ancient times this disease ate away at the skin and there were certain laws outlined in Leviticus 13 that prohibited leopard lepers from being in public they were the outcasts of Society there were specific camps where they were to live until the leprosy passed
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What we have seen in Matthew is that Jesus had compassion on the sick We have seen
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Jesus heal lepers. He healed one leper in particular in the beginning of Matthew 8
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Matthew 10 8 said that when Jesus came he came to heal the sick raise the dead cleanse lepers and cast out demons in that particular case in Matthew 8 the leper came out of his
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Isolation to pursue Jesus and Jesus did not turn him away, but graciously healed him
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Now earlier, I said that Simon the leper had leprosy. I said that he had leprosy past tense because he would not be able to be around Jesus and the others if he was not cleansed as I mentioned in Leviticus 13 the
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Mosaic law prevented lepers from being in public So certainly this was a leper whom Jesus had healed and this man also became a follower of Jesus This is why
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Jesus and his disciples are on his at his home They are enjoying a time of fellowship together
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While they are in Simon's house something amazing happened in verse 7 Matthew writes that a woman came up to him with an alabaster
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Flask a very expensive ointment and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table
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Now this episode is in three of the four Gospels. It is in Matthew Mark and John Some say that this episode is also in the
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Gospel of Luke in Luke chapter 7 Where Jesus has dinner at the house of a
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Pharisee? But that event took place in the region of Galilee Where a different woman poured ointment on Jesus this event as I've mentioned took place in Bethany just outside of Jerusalem But the fact that this episode is in three
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Gospels is informative for us When we look at each vantage point, we learn different details.
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They give us a fuller picture of what happened the Gospel of John in John 12 verse 3
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That passage tells us that a woman poured this ointment on Jesus and this woman is
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Mary Now the question is well, which Mary there's three Mary's that Jesus spent actually for Connie's mom
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This Mary is the sister of Lazarus Lazarus was also present at this meal.
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What's interesting about this is that Lazarus had died He's risen from the dead and now he's enjoying a meal.
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Just just enjoying life Well, everyone was at the house of Simon the leper two women
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Mary and her sister Martha prepared a meal for all that were present the
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Apostle John Notes, what kind of ointment? This was that Mary poured on Jesus.
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It was called pure nard Kind of something a rock band. Isn't it kind of an interesting interesting name?
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The Gospel of Mark also contains this detail This oil was derived from the nard plant found in India and Mark and John note
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Not only that this oil is nard oil But that it is pure nard oil as one author said pure meant it was genuine and unadulterated
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Which is what made it so costly This oil was a perfume reserved for acts of devotion for special people on special occasions
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Not only was the oil rare and special but so was the container containing the perfume
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Matthew and Mark tell us that this oil perfume was contained in an alabaster flask
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An alabaster flask was made out of marble that was quarried from Egypt This was the best container to store costly oil.
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So think about it. The container comes from Egypt The oil comes from India, I mean you can see how why this would be so expensive this is rare and they are in Jerusalem an alabaster flask
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Was the best flask there was? What Matthew tells us is that this woman?
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Who we know is Mary takes this alabaster flask of pure nard And she pours it on his head
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Kind of out of nowhere In the Gospel of Mark the author Mark tells us another detail what
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Mary did as she poured this ointment on Jesus head was break this expensive flask made of marble
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If you have somebody break something in your house like oh, no She just breaks it and it just comes out and Mark tells us in Mark 14 5 how expensive this ointment was that verse tells us that this ointment contained in this flask of marble was worth 300 denarii in Matthew we have learned the value of a denarius one denarius was worth one day's labor for the average worker so 300 denarii was worth about one year's labor
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So this is remarkable what she did let's think about this in our lives sometimes people who aren't considered rich Might have expensive things that were given to buy another
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The married women in this room probably have an expensive ring on your finger worth thousands of dollars
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With that expensive diamond on there other people have jewelry that may have been handed down to you
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Imagine giving that expensive piece of jewelry to a friend whom you dearly love
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To tell this person how much they mean to you is not enough You need to show it and you need to show it not by giving them something cheap
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But by giving them something expensive Some might see this as a waste
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You could have used that money for something else. You could use that money to save up To be even more financially secure, but we're gonna see what the right answer is here in a little bit the question is
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Did what she do is it a good thing or was it a waste was it wrong?
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So this woman pours this rare expensive oil on Jesus head Now, let's see the response to this.
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We're gonna see the response from Jesus second and the response from the disciples first So verse 8 says this and when the disciples saw it they were indignant saying why this waste?
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What we read is that the disciples are Indignant that Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus did this
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Now indignant is not a word you hear every day. What it means is you're angry. They're incredibly angry at what she did
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So once again, there are two responses to what this woman did one response is to say that that this was a very
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Kind act that you show to someone you love the other response is what a waste
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The disciples view on what she did is verse 8 says is the latter what a waste
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How could she just throw away something so valuable And what we are going to see here is that there are two different groups of people responding with the view that this was a waste
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One group are believers. The other group is an unbeliever The Believer is represented in verse 8 and this group is represented by 11 of the 12 disciples
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While the second group that represents unbelievers is represented by one man
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Judas Both of these groups respond to this act that Mary did wrongly and in our second point
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Jesus will explain why what she did was noble But right here Through what we saw the disciples say in verse 8 and what we are about to see
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Judas say in verse 9 It is obvious that their response is sinful So the disciples said that she wasted the pure nard in verse 8, but let's see what
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Judas says in verse 9 Judas says this Nobly for this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor
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What a great guy He says this should be sold and given to the poor
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We know this is Judas who said this because John 12 Reveals the identity of the one who brought up the poor in this situation.
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It wasn't Peter It wasn't John. It wasn't James It wasn't any of the other disciples.
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It was Judas some might think man. Maybe he wasn't wasn't a bad guy
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He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and Having charge of the money bag.
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He used to help himself to what was put into it Okay.
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Well, there's your answer. There's his motive He doesn't care about the poor. He cares nothing about the poor
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He wants to enrich himself This is his character The disciples did not know this about him, but Jesus certainly did we learn about who
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Judas is here He presents himself as one thing, but he's really another
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John calls him a thief who cared nothing for the poor. He only cared about enriching himself
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Since he helped himself to the money bag that he carried for Jesus and his disciples
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Be careful who keeps track of your money, right? That's one lesson we can learn from this
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Now if one is a thief one, obviously doesn't care about the poor people who care about the poor are generous with the poor they help the poor out when there is a need a
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Thief like Judas is the kind of person who takes advantage of the poor right here
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We get a picture into who Judas truly is. He's a fraud Not a disciple of Jesus The other 11 disciples certainly had flaws
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Throughout Matthew we have seen their weak faith pretty soon We will see their cowardice when they abandoned
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Jesus as he's arrested and taken to the cross but Judas and the 11 disciples have an enormous difference between each other there's a gulf of difference between them and that difference is 11 of them
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Are heaven -bound? One of them is hell -bound Not only did
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Judas care nothing for the poor, but he also cared nothing for Jesus and This is the greatest sin of all
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Some people might ask it. What is the greatest sin one can commit? It is to have no love for the
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Lord Jesus Christ where he means nothing to you Let's look at what you just did in verses 14 through 16 of this chapter
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Then one of the twelve whose name was Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said
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What will you give me if I deliver him over to you and they paid him 30 pieces of silver and from that moment?
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He sought an opportunity to betray him So Judas Presents himself as one who is a good person since he expresses that he cares for the poor
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But his private life shows something much different as we just saw
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John called him a thief Who would help himself to the money bag and we learned in verses 14 through 16 how far his lust for money would take him
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Judas knew that the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus dead. They had been plotting to kill Jesus for a long time now
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Judas knows that they want to arrest him in private Remember last week verse 4 of this chapter says that the
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Jewish leaders plotted together in order to arrest him by stealth Judas knew their desires and Judas thought the
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Jewish leaders and I can both get what we want That's the best deal people make right you get something you want.
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I get something. I want everybody's happy the Jewish leaders
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Desire to arrest Jesus in private while Judas desires to enrich himself
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So Judas goes to them and verse 15 tells us what he said to them What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?
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The price that they give him is 30 pieces of silver. This is not a random number
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This has significance from the Old Testament Of course the Jewish leaders We're supposed to be experts in the
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Old Testament Exodus 21 32 says that 30 pieces of silver was the cost of a slave to for a master to purchase a slave
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Think of how dark that is This shows how sinful the human heart is
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Judas lives for money And he is willing to betray the only perfect person who has ever lived
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Jesus Christ. He is willing just to give him up Jesus means nothing to him
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Here's what's so remarkable about this the disciples had no idea that this wicked of a man
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Had been in their presence this whole time In John 13 when Jesus revealed to his disciples that one of them was going to betray him the disciples did not know whom he spoke of This should make us wonder how many fake
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Christians are out there We do not want to be irrationally
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Suspicious of everyone But there are lots of fake Christians in this world My prayer is that no one in this room would be that Just because someone names the name of Christ just because someone says they're a follower of Jesus doesn't mean they are
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We all have warts, but we want to be true disciples moving in the right direction And what we see here are two different groups of people
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That the eleven disciples who have warts But but at least they're gonna be moving in the right direction and then you have one who betrayed
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Jesus Who is a son of hell? Now once Judas heard the money
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That would be given him for turning Jesus in verse 16 says from that moment. He sought an opportunity to betray him
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The price was enough the price for a slave 30 pieces of silver it was enough
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Judas had no love for the Lord and he showed this through his actions First Corinthians 16 22 is a strong warning
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God promises horrible things For those who have no love for him who will not be happy in him think about that To follow him enormous blessing to reject him is a curse awaiting
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This was Judas's future He was always a fraud and at the end of his life
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This came to light no matter how hard he tried to present himself as righteous by claiming they cared for the poor
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He did not fool Jesus on The surface it might look like Judas should be commended for saying what he said, but in reality
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Jesus saw right through this There would be no commendation for Judas only condemnation
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So it goes for every unbeliever who presents himself or herself as righteous, but in reality are vile
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What we see often in our days that people present themselves as righteous But they are really vile it just about everybody presents themselves as righteous
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Now Judas was a false Christian, but even secular unbelievers present present themselves as righteous
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People of virtue signal all day long telling people how wonderful they are
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How much they care, but in reality they are vile vile humans Today, there's a big game later today
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My team never makes the big game by the way, but there's a big game later today Today is the
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Super Bowl if you choose to watch the Super Bowl You're gonna see a lot of stuff if you don't watch it, that's
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I mean, I don't blame you But what you're gonna see it during this game is virtue signaling.
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It's gonna abound What virtue signaling is is telling the world how righteous you are it is pushing forward?
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The false morality of the age while neglecting true morality The National Football League wants to tell you how righteous they are in the end zones
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They have slogans and racism it takes all of us They are of course operating under the false
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Marxist definition of racism that puts minorities in the oppressed group Well white people are the oppressors just because of the color of their skin
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The irony is that they are actually pushing forth racism while they say they are anti racist virtue signaling
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Isn't just pushing forth a false morality though It can also be pushing forward things that are truly good like helping the poor as Judas did but under the proclamation of how much one cares is an evil agenda
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So you will hear all these slogans from the NFL about how righteous they are, but God's not fooled
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The NFL is against God's law look at who they put forth during half the halftime show Are they gonna be singing hymns during the halftime show no
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Look at the commercials they allow Look at how they objectify women they say they're pro women while they objectify women out the other side of them
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This is the NFL and yet they want you to know how virtuous they are I Don't think it's sinful per se to watch the
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NFL. You just have to be very careful It's sad because the game of football is a wonderful game
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It's just all the other stuff that goes with it That ruins it So we see the behavior of Judas in our day
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The people who say they are for the poor who say they are Righteous who say they are for all these wonderful things, but they're really against God and God's not fooled by it
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But it's not just the unbeliever who has a wrong understanding of what is truly loving in this situation
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As we see in our text the disciples have a wrong understanding as well Once again verse 8 says that the disciples were indignant they were angry at what this woman did
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They thought what she did was a waste that the money should be used for something else Now Judas is the one that said the money should be used for the poor, but it's reasonable to think
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That all the disciples agreed with him While Judas cared nothing for the poor the disciples did since they were believers that at least somewhat they care for the poor
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But they are still missing the significance of what is happening right before their eyes and how true love is applied in a given situation
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All of them thought that the alabaster flask of ointment would be sold and used for a better use
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The disciples pushed forward a false love by being quick to judge What Mary did for Jesus without carefully considering what she was doing?
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One of my dear friends once told me We need to be quick to love and slow to judge That's good counsel
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It doesn't mean never judge. It just means slow to judge We sometimes don't know why someone is doing what they are doing and what first Corinthians 13 7
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Says is that love believes all things? That's not saying be gullible. It's just seen saying give people the benefit of the doubt
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But that's not what happened here Judas and the eleven disciples
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Immediately pounced and accused her of being irresponsible and missing out on the opportunity to bless all those poor people
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On the surface it may look like what they said is right Like they understand how love is best applied in this situation
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But pushing forward their opinion in the situation What they were doing was wrong
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And we're about to see how displeased Jesus was by their response listen to Jesus counsel on how true love is displayed and the first instruction how as we have seen in Verses 6 through 9 is by seeing that false.
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Love is displeasing to him False love is displeasing to him
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Here's a second second instruction how we are to see how true love is displayed And that is through showing that strong affection for his sake pleases him
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Showing strong affection for his sake pleases him. We're gonna see this in verses 10 through 13
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So we just saw How Judas and the eleven disciples responded to Mary pouring the ointment of Jesus the ointment on Jesus?
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Now let's see how he responds in verses 10 through 13, this is what Jesus says But Jesus aware of this said to them.
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Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me
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For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me in Pouring this ointment on my body.
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She has done it to prepare me for burial Truly I say to you wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she has done will also be told in memory of her a
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Completely different response So Jesus rebukes them and tells them at the end of verse 10 that she has done a beautiful thing
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To me what this woman did to Jesus was an incredible act of love and Jesus highlights this
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Jesus meant a lot to Mary and Mary meant a lot to Jesus When Lazarus died and Jesus came to see
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Mary and Martha weeping that their brother had died this is what John 11 33 and verse 35 says when
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Jesus saw her weeping and The Jews who had come with her also weeping. He was deeply moved in spirit and greatly troubled then verse 35 says the shortest verse in the
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Bible Jesus wept Jesus was sorrowful not only to see
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Lazarus dead, but to see Mary weeping over her brother's death He was moved
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These three siblings Mary Martha and Lazarus were dear friends to Jesus.
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This really shows the humanity of Jesus He had close friendships He had some very close friendships while he was on the earth and Mary Martha and Lazarus were three of those friends
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As he sees his friend dead and his sister's weeping he says he's so moved by it that he just he weeps himself
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With these three siblings in Jesus. There's another sweet episode in Luke 10 verses 38 to 42 in that passage
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Martha was so preoccupied with Serving Jesus that she didn't enjoy him
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But Mary did enjoy his presence Verse 39 of that passage says that Mary sat at the
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Lord's feet and listened to his teaching Jesus told Mary's sister Martha Martha Martha You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her
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Jesus and Mary had a very deep relationship and in this moment in the home of Simon the leper
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She wanted to show him how much she loved him So to show her love she poured an alabaster flask of pure nard that was worth almost a year's wage
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Think about that. What's the average income? Fifty sixty thousand a year people make could you imagine just giving someone something someone something that's worth fifty to sixty thousand dollars
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Wow John 12 tells us that she didn't stop there
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Says that she anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair
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Wow In anointing his head and wiping his feet with her hair as he reclined at the table
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This showed her great love for him. She was showing him great honor When one attended to another's feet, this was the work of a servant
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So she was humbling herself She's not just showing honor to Jesus more than that.
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She's worshiping him And you see this throughout the Gospels There's times where when people worship
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Jesus and Jesus always receives the worship Because he's worthy.
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He's God. He's not just a man. He's worthy and how much we need to show it to him as well
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Jesus was not only her friend. He was her God This was extravagant love that she showed her dear friend and he noticed it and received it
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Jesus said in Acts 2035 that it is more blessed to give than to receive
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By receiving this gift of ointment on his head He was blessing Mary the blessing goes both ways the one who gives and the one who receives
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This is by the way, why when someone gives you a nice gift don't say no. No, no. No, I won't take it receive it
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By receiving it you're actually adding to their joy By not receiving it you're taking away their joy you ever thought about that way receive the gift when someone gives it to you
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What Jesus says in verse 11 is that the poor will always be with you, but you won't always have him
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What Jesus means is this opportunity to physically bless him is going to pass
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Because he's going to the cross and then after he resurrects he's going to his father in heaven
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He's not going to be around much longer He's telling them the poor will be among you when
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I'm gone and by all means help them when I'm gone in other ways But the best way for her to use this ointment is to bless me with it
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In the situation, that's what true love calls for And you need wisdom to know that This is the right thing to do
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This was Mary Mary's opportunity to show Jesus how much she loved him and he receives it as a righteous man would
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What he says in verse 12 is that by doing this act of love Mary is preparing Jesus for his burial What people do with the dead is make them smell better by pouring ointment
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Now Mary probably didn't know the imminence of Christ's death, but in God's providence
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He had her show Sacrificial love in this way by just giving up this ointment for him
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She knew Jesus was worthy of this expensive perfume to be placed on him and to say that is an understatement
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Jesus was so grateful for this act of love that he not only told Judas and the disciples that what she did was a beautiful Thing he also told them in verse 13 and the fact that we're talking about this today is evidence of this
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Truly I say to you wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she has done will also be told in memory of her
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We're talking about it today. Think about that what Jesus words have been fulfilled
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Jesus wanted this great act of love by Mary to be preserved and it was it's in three of the
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Gospels as We ponder what Mary did to Jesus and Jesus approval of what she did
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How are you to apply this to your lives? First and foremost Jesus calls you to show affection to God the
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Father and to him They are waiting for you to show this affection and they will always receive it
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As you go through your day Lord, how wonderful you are How great you are how much
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I love you. God always wants to hear that and it's not because God's an egomaniac Yes, you know people full of pride.
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Tell me how great I am, right? You need to massage my ego That's not what's happening here.
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God is worthy. That's the difference Prideful people are not worthy and they want praise.
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God is worthy And he receives it every single time we show our love of God through acts of service to others.
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Yes But as we look at this passage the love we want to emphasize is admiration toward God Mary showed her affection to Jesus by doing something special to him
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You of course cannot directly bless God physically, but you can praise him with your mouth and this we should do on a regular basis
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You show affection to the Lord Jesus and our Father in heaven by worshiping them through adoration
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As you show affection to God the outflow of this will be showing affection toward the people
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That God has placed in your life to those who are married show affection to your spouse
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This affection starts emotionally in terms physical God designed a marriage to be this way and how beautiful it is when husband and wife have this great love for each other
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Do something special for your spouse? It might be a husband buying a nice piece of jewelry for your wife.
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She's worth that And if you can afford it do it Don't save that money for a rainy day.
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All the husbands are like, why did you say that? For wives, it's doing something special for your husband.
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Okay, there we go that he desires to parents show affection to your children
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You want your home to be a warm friendly place? You also want your church to be that way.
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We want our church to be that way We should always be showing our appreciation for one another and I love this about our church.
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I see this. It's a warm place It's a warm place where we we do love each other I see that and and and by the grace of God, we will see that more and more and You know
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We're the I'm the pastor and my my wife and kids are the pastor's family and you you've shown this affection toward us
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You know twice a year. You've given us a gift a generous gift and we are so grateful for that. We say, thank you
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Jesus is pleased when we show strong affection to him Who means so much to us and to the other people in our lives?
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Who we appreciate as well So this is what we're called to do So as we wrap up here
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Listen to Jesus counsel on how true love is displayed in this text. We've seen two instructions how
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The first is by seeing that false. Love is displeasing to him The second is by showing that strong affection for his sake pleases him
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This passage is not telling you to not care for the poor You should care for the poor.
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You should do acts of service to others You are commanded to do these things But Jesus is telling you and I in this passage that we need first and foremost
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To display strong affection toward God and by extension to others also
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Our love for others starts with strong affection toward God The problem with Judas and even the disciples is that they lost
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Focus of the reality that they were to enjoy Jesus and show their strong affection to him but Mary the sister of Lazarus did the right thing and While the others had their own idea of how the alabaster flask of perfume should be used
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Jesus commanded her for blessing him Mary's one of those people you're gonna want to meet in heaven.
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The Bible talks very highly of her When they're in the home She's enjoying
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Jesus and here she's enjoying Jesus and what an example for us to follow
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You are not just to do things for God but to do things to God by showing your admiration To him our life should be one of displaying the special love to God and others
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Now next Sunday, we will look at one of the most memorable moments of Jesus ministry
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He and his disciples are gonna share a meal and this is gonna be a very familiar meal because this is a meal we take part in every single month and We're gonna see a lot of what he wants us to see as we go through that text and I look forward to Lord willing looking at that with you next
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Sunday, but at this time, let's bow our heads in prayer Father in heaven what a treasure your word is and what a treasure you are
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Worship you the most important thing that can be said about us is that we love you
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Because everything else is gonna flow down from there You know, why do we do what we do? It's because we love you
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And we want to live our lives for you and I pray that that would be the desire of every single person in this room we can learn a lot from Mary in her generosity in pouring this flask of Expensive ointment on the one she loved the most
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Jesus and may we show this great love to you as well We worship you
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Lord and help us to show this love to others in our lives. It's not worship toward them But it is an appreciation
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For the blessing that they are in our lives. So help us to live this out and I ask this in Jesus name.