Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, I have the notes up on the Bible app. If you like to follow along, we can bring up that QR code. You can follow our church on youversion. And there you'll see the notes. This morning's a good instance of I've got a lot more content in here than I'll have time to preach. And so you scan that, you can follow along.
And I hope that blesses you.
Is everybody doing well?
It's going to be a good morning.
I want to share this morning about one of my favorite people in scripture.
We're going to pick up right in the middle of a text, and so I'm going to put it in context a little bit for you. We sang a song just earlier about a woman who poured a very expensive. The Bible says it was a year's salary. She poured out on the feet of Jesus, and as she's doing this, she receives great criticism.
And where we're going to pick up today is Luke, chapter seven. We see how Jesus responds to one of the critics. If you'd stand to your feet as we honor the reading of God's word, Luke, chapter seven.
We're going to pick up in the middle of this story, and then we'll come back and tell it a few moments later. Luke, chapter 7, verse 41.
Jesus is telling a parable. This is what he says. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.
One owed 500 denarii, the other 50.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: When they had nothing with which to
[00:01:39] Speaker A: repay, he freely forgave them both.
Tell me so he's asking a question. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him more?
Simon. This is not Simon Peter. This is Simon. The book of Matthew and Mark actually identify him as a leper, probably a former leper. Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: He said, you have rightly judged.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: And he turned to the woman. She's just anointed his feet with oil.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: He said to Simon, do you see this woman?
[00:02:11] Speaker A: I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet.
She's washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this
[00:02:25] Speaker B: woman has not ceased to kiss my
[00:02:27] Speaker A: feet since the time I came in.
[00:02:30] Speaker B: You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my
[00:02:34] Speaker A: feet with fragrant oil.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: Therefore I say to you, her sins,
[00:02:37] Speaker A: which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.
But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.
[00:02:52] Speaker C: Jesus said to her, your sins are
[00:02:56] Speaker A: forgiven, and those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this who even forgives sins?
[00:03:05] Speaker C: He said to the woman, your faith
[00:03:09] Speaker A: has saved, you go in peace.
This Trinity Church is God's word.
We believe it to be true. You may be seated.
You know, we hear conferences built around Esther and Ruth and Deborah.
But I'm going to preach a series one of these days on some of the great unknown or under known women of the Bible.
I've talked about Rahab and what a great intercessor she was. But today I want to talk about another tremendous woman of God, a hero of the faith by the name of Mary, Mary of Bethany. I know it can be confusing when we talk about Mary's because there are a lot the Bible talks about Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Bible mentions another Mary Magdalene, out of whom was cast seven demons. Another Mary was mentioned at the resurrection. But this Mary we're going to talk about today is the sister of Lazarus, Mary of Bethany. In fact, I believe she's one of the most significant characters in the Bible. She's the one who came to Jesus, anoints him.
Expensive perfume. Today, by inflation, that would be around $60,000.
Can you imagine?
You talk about giving out of your heart, Curtis. You talk about giving something that is of extreme value. Imagine taking your life savings for one moment of worship, the one you love.
Jesus said, Matthew 26:13.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Assuredly, I say, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this
[00:04:55] Speaker A: woman has done will be told as a memorial to her. And boy, it sure has her. She's named in all four gospels. It's the only account, by the way, that is named in all four Gospels. With the exception of the feeding of 5,000 and certain details of the Passion. You know, the crucifixion story.
We still today have songs that are coming out and sermons that are being preached. Now, for the sake of making sure that I'm preaching accurately and rightly dividing the word. There are four alabaster instances.
And if you read them in the gospels, you'll notice some differences. And so there's actually question. Was this all the same instance? Was it all the same woman? Possibly it was two different Jesus is his head being anointed is mentioned in 1. His head and feet being anointed is mentioned in another, in two, just his feet are anointed. But alabaster is mentioned in all of them. And the similarities make me lean towards this being a singular event.
And that's how I'm gonna preach it today. That's how the Chosen did it. So it's probably right.
One of the similarities that I notice in this account though is that in every passage you read about Mary of Bethany, you will find her in the same place. Everybody say place.
A place is very important.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: And you find that she found a
[00:06:29] Speaker A: place in relation to Jesus. It's actually the title of my message. She found a his feet.
Having a place matters. You know, our dog, he decides his place. When my son is home, he says that his place is in my son's bed.
When my son is not home and it's just my wife and I, he is not allowed in the bed.
He decides that, well, his place is at the foot of our bed. He'll get as close as he can.
In fact, our last Sunday afternoon nap was interrupted because we heard some banging under our bed. What in the world is going on? And somehow our giant hundred and ten pound Rhodesian Ridgeback dog had gotten stuck under our bed.
But he knows this is my place.
He has a place. In fact, right now his place is probably on the couch, which he is not allowed to be on. But he's just decided, I'm a part of this family and that's my place.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: We all know what it's like.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: We have moments where you've experienced the power, the significance of having a place.
Maybe you've tried out for a basketball
[00:07:40] Speaker B: team and you get the news you made the cut, you have a place
[00:07:44] Speaker A: on the team, Maybe you're applying for
[00:07:47] Speaker B: college and you get the approval letter and you find that you have a
[00:07:51] Speaker A: place at our university.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Most of you have experienced a moment where maybe you've been invited to a dinner at a restaurant or in a home and you find that you have
[00:08:01] Speaker A: a place at the table.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: A place is very significant.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: But one of the things that I
[00:08:09] Speaker B: noticed, I even had a breakthrough moment this last week.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: It's been a very busy schedule. Pastor mentioned the Link conference and fine arts and, you know, we've got mission trips and we were ministering at another church this last week and it's just like every day it feels like we've had something going on and I was just kind of complaining.
Do you ever complain? Probably not. That's just me. Pray for me.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: And I was just whining.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: I'm just like, I'm tired. I didn't sleep good and we lost an hour of sleep. And I, you know, and my kids, I got to drive them to the church nine times a day for fine arts practices and my body is covered in poison ivy.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Hallelujah. And I'M just.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: I'm. I'm having a pity party.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: But in that very moment, I was
[00:08:57] Speaker A: driving through our neighborhood, and I drive past our home, and my wife says, look at our beautiful home.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: And all of a sudden, I take my eyes off of what I don't
[00:09:09] Speaker A: have or my weariness or my tiredness or this other obligation that I have, and I begin to thank the Lord.
You see, Pastor preached this last Thanksgiving. He talked about how we enter into his gates with thanksgiving, we come into
[00:09:25] Speaker B: his courts with praise. And so if cannot find a place to praise God over a circumstance or an issue or a person in your life, you're literally restricting it from heaven's access.
So the moment I began to praise and thank the Lord God, I thank
[00:09:42] Speaker A: you that you have given us a place.
Yes, my yard has poison ivy, but I have a yard.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Thank you for my yard.
Yes, my kids are busy, but thank you. They have a place in Fine arts. Thank you. They have a youth group that's on fire for God. Yes, I have an obligation to go here and to do this, but thank God I have a place at a church amongst people who love me. Oh, God, you have been so good to me. And all of a sudden, I mean, I was just thanking the Lord. Is this not true, Leah? I'm just like, thank you, God. And all of a sudden, I just
[00:10:19] Speaker C: begin weeping
[00:10:22] Speaker A: as his presence comes into our car.
There's power in our breakthrough. But you know what brought me to that place?
[00:10:32] Speaker C: The realization that I have a place.
God's given us a home.
He's given us a church. He's brought wonderful people that we can seek the Lord with. I have a place. You have a place.
[00:10:45] Speaker A: Everybody say, I have a place.
So Mary found a place at the feet of Jesus, and you're gonna see that this is a pretty audacious thing. Falling at someone's feet has very great significance. You'll see this in Luke chapter 17. You see a Samaritan leper falls at Jesus feet in gratitude after Jesus heals him.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: You see this with the man possessed with a legion of demons. First he falls at the feet of
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Jesus, crying out for mercy.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: But then he also falls at his
[00:11:20] Speaker A: feet after he's been healed, restored, freed in his right mind.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: The woman with the issue of blood falls at the feet of Jesus, grabs
[00:11:29] Speaker A: the hem of his garment.
Jairus does the very same thing, falls at his feet to plead for the life of his daughter.
In Matthew 28, you'll see that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are running
[00:11:42] Speaker B: to tell the Disciples that Jesus has risen.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: And as they encounter the resurrected Christ,
[00:11:47] Speaker B: they fall at his feet and they
[00:11:49] Speaker A: grab him, worship him.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: To fall at the feet of Jesus, this is worship. This is adoration. This is exaltation.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: This is reverence for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
And Mary found this place early on.
She found, first of all a place of prayer.
She operated in intercession at the feet of Jesus.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: She found a place of prayer.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: You see this in John 11, verse 1. It says there was a certain man sick. Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: It was the Mary I like how
[00:12:31] Speaker A: it describes, by the way.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: This is the Mary who anointed the
[00:12:33] Speaker A: Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair.
[00:12:38] Speaker C: This lady's famous.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Her brother Lazarus was sick.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: Therefore the sisters sent to him, saying,
[00:12:44] Speaker B: lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: When Jesus heard, he said, the sickness is not unto death, but for the
[00:12:51] Speaker B: glory of God, that the Son of
[00:12:53] Speaker A: God may be glorified through it. Now watch this verse 5.
[00:12:58] Speaker C: Jesus loved Martha and loved Mary and loved Lazarus.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: That's a significant statement because you're going
[00:13:12] Speaker B: to see they're about to walk through a trial. But it informs us that Jesus had
[00:13:17] Speaker A: a special place of love for this family.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: So Mary and Martha hear that Jesus is approaching. Two days go by. Lazarus dies in the process.
And Jesus is coming. The Bible says he was about two miles away.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: The funeral processions have already begun.
Martha comes to Jesus first in verse 20.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: As soon as she heard Jesus was coming, she went to meet him.
[00:13:45] Speaker A: But Mary was sitting in the house.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: Martha said to Jesus, lord, if you
[00:13:50] Speaker A: had been here, my brother would not have died.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: And this is a powerful moment.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: This is not. I looked at all the commentators.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Martha's not being faithless. She's not being critical in this moment, but she's making a declaration really of faith. Lord, I know that if you had been here, you have the power to heal.
And Jesus makes a wonderful statement, one of the seven I am statements through
[00:14:15] Speaker A: the Gospel of John.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: He says, mary, if you will believe
[00:14:18] Speaker A: me, you'll see the glory of God.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: She responds, I know. Yeah, One day, one day when we go to heaven, one day we're gonna see each other in the resurrection. And Jesus is like, no, that's true.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: But what I'm talking about is today you will see Lazarus rise again.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: And he makes this powerful declaration, I
[00:14:42] Speaker C: am the resurrection in the life.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: I am the resurrection of in the life. And then he sends for Mary.
Martha goes home.
Mary comes back two Mile walk. Jesus stays where he is.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: And in verse 32, it says, When
[00:15:02] Speaker A: Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Same words verbatim.
Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping.
He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And he said, where have you laid Lazarus?
And they said, lord, come and see.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: Jesus wept.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: I want you to see the parallel. Martha approaches Jesus, and Jesus reveals this incredible revelation.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: I am the resurrection and the life.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: But when Mary approaches, it's different.
She had the same words, the exact verbatim words. You, Jesus, if you had been here, he would not have died.
[00:16:04] Speaker C: But her posture is different.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: She's found a place at the feet of Jesus. And she makes her request with tears.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: And Jesus responds with tears.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: The Bible says he groans in the spirit. Have you ever had prayers like that?
I mean, this is like. This is not like intense prayer.
I believe this is something that goes even beyond praying in tongues, praying in the spirit. There's a prayer In Romans chapter 8, in verse 26 that talks about groans too deep for words.
[00:16:48] Speaker C: This is what's coming out of Mary,
[00:16:51] Speaker B: and this is what's stirring the heart of Jesus so that he himself begins to groan. In fact, what the Bible says in Romans 8, it says that as we groan, the Spirit himself groans.
I think there is a depth of prayer that you and I can operate in that literally. It's not just the cry of our heart that's being lifted up, but it literally stirs the heart of God that
[00:17:15] Speaker C: he weeps and he groans as we pray.
Oh, how can we get there?
[00:17:27] Speaker A: You know what I believe was happening?
One of the elders in our church, Robert Griffin, he'll always come to me.
Pastor says. He says the same thing to him all the time.
[00:17:37] Speaker C: I'm going to place a demand on the anointing.
What does that mean?
[00:17:44] Speaker B: This is that moment.
[00:17:45] Speaker A: I don't know if you've ever had somebody come up to you.
I've seen both of these scenarios.
Martha comes, she states the need. Here's what's going on. And Jesus responds with truth.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna minister. And we've all probably had moments like that.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: Somebody comes to you and explains, here's the situation I'm going through, and you hear them and you reason with them and you encourage them. Yeah, well, here's the truth and here's what the Bible says, and I'm gonna pray with you.
[00:18:17] Speaker C: Then there's Merry moments.
Rick goes way deeper than exchanging a prayer request.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: The same need, the same words,
[00:18:31] Speaker C: a different place.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: She's at the feet of Jesus, and with tears and with groans, you know what she's doing.
[00:18:41] Speaker C: She's placing a demand on the anointing.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: She's grabbing hold of the feet of Jesus. And I'm just here to tell you, when words run out, tears still speak.
This is that deep place of groaning that grips the heart of Jesus.
Tears. Did you know, David, he said in Psalm 39, in verse 12, Lord, listen to my tender cries.
Read my every tear like liquid words
[00:19:16] Speaker A: that plead for your help.
I'm here to tell you you have not wept one tear in the place of prayer.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Grieving, mourning, crying out to God for
[00:19:26] Speaker A: that need that's close to your heart.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: You've not shed one tear that he
[00:19:31] Speaker A: has not seen, that he does not respond to that.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: He looks at that very tear and it's like liquid prayers that are coming before the very throne of God
[00:19:42] Speaker C: get before his feet.
You think about Mary and we know
[00:19:48] Speaker A: later on she receives criticism for the place that she found at the feet of Jesus.
What gave Mary the right to pray this way?
[00:20:01] Speaker B: What gave her the right, the audacity to come and to weep and to grab his feet and to groan before the Son of God?
[00:20:13] Speaker A: You want to know where she found that place?
We read it earlier.
[00:20:18] Speaker C: Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: She love will give you permission to
[00:20:28] Speaker C: do some outrageous things.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: She's not coming before a God whom she fears, although I'm sure she honors him.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: She's coming to a Savior whom she loves and knows that he loves her in return.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: Love gives us a place at his
[00:20:48] Speaker C: feet to pour out our heart.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Imagine this posture in prayer. Not as a beggar pleading for mercy, not guilting Jesus. If you had been here, I know that my brother would still be alive. No, but she is falling on her knees and grabbing the feet of Jesus, crying tears, groaning in her spirit. And the response of Jesus is to weep and to groan and to respond.
[00:21:25] Speaker C: Where is he?
Let's go right now.
Oh, I want to be like Mary.
I want to be like Mary.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: I want to be in a place
[00:21:38] Speaker C: of friendship and loving intimacy with the Lord, that he hears my cries and he hears my groan and he responds to my prayers. We can be in that place.
It's a place at his feet.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: The second area that you'll notice. Mary found a place. She found a place of learning.
This is instruction. At the feet of Jesus.
She had a place of learning.
Luke 10:38. It happened as they went into a certain village. A certain woman named Martha married, welcomed him into the house.
She had a sister called Mary who sat at Jesus feet. There she is in her place once again sat at the feet of Jesus and heard his word.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Martha was distracted with much serving. She approached him and said, lord, don't you care that my sister has left
[00:22:35] Speaker A: me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: Jesus answered and said, martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about so many
[00:22:47] Speaker C: things, but one thing is needed.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Mary has chosen that good part which
[00:22:55] Speaker C: will not be taken from her.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: See, this is the same challenge that
[00:23:00] Speaker A: Jesus gave to the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter three.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: You guys have good works.
I see your labor. You guys are hard workers.
You stand for the truth.
You oust what is wrong, but you've
[00:23:16] Speaker A: left the one thing.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: You left your first love.
[00:23:23] Speaker A: Mary found the one thing.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: She found it at the feet of Jesus. You see, the Bible says that the greatest command in Scripture is that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. This is the first and the greatest commandment. The second is like it, you shall
[00:23:39] Speaker A: love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus was instructing the church at Ephesus.
[00:23:46] Speaker C: Come back to the one thing.
[00:23:49] Speaker A: The reason that Mary was remarkable in
[00:23:54] Speaker C: this text was she remembered the one thing.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: And I'm convinced on the authority of Scripture, friend, if we can learn to set our affections on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you know
[00:24:10] Speaker B: what's going to begin to happen. You're going to begin to see other
[00:24:12] Speaker A: people through his eyes.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: The love that God has for others. You're gonna begin to see that same love.
It's gonna cause you to look beyond the barriers that we use to distract and to divide and to confuse us.
[00:24:28] Speaker C: But we must see the one.
This is love.
[00:24:35] Speaker A: This is what Mary entered into as
[00:24:38] Speaker B: she sat at the feet of Jesus. A posture of receiving, meditating, hearing the words of Jesus, which the Bible says are eternal life. Jesus, I just want to love you. I want to see you. I want to hear you. I want to sit at your feet
[00:24:56] Speaker A: and receive from you.
You see, his words is more than just a good teacher, more than just a prophet.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: The Bible says his Words are light.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: 2nd Peter 1:19.
[00:25:09] Speaker B: His words are truth.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: John 17:17.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: His words are nourishment to the soul. Matthew 4:4. His word is a fire. Jeremiah 23:29. His word is a mirror that reflects our true nature.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: James 1:23.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: His word is a fire that cleanses
[00:25:28] Speaker A: and purifies Ephesians 5:26. His word is a treasure, valuable and pure. Psalm 12:6.
[00:25:36] Speaker C: His word is alive, powerful.
[00:25:38] Speaker A: Hebrews 4:12.
[00:25:40] Speaker C: This woman is opening her heart to the living word of God, Jesus at his feet.
What gave Mary the right?
[00:25:56] Speaker B: There's work to be done.
We're hosting.
[00:26:01] Speaker C: But one thing.
Love gave her a place.
She says, there's nothing greater than this moment right here.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: There's nothing greater than this moment.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: I'm sure.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: We go talk to Mary, nobody's gonna remember what they ate that night.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Nobody's gonna remember, did I remember to
[00:26:22] Speaker A: make the bed before our guests came over?
[00:26:25] Speaker B: Did we scrub the toilet before they came?
[00:26:29] Speaker A: Nobody's gonna remember these things.
[00:26:30] Speaker C: But she remembers his words.
She remembers his eyes.
[00:26:37] Speaker A: She remembers the time that she spent with Jesus.
Love gives us a place at his
[00:26:44] Speaker C: feet to open our heart to truth.
I want to be like Mary, receiving the word of truth.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: I want to encourage you as you get into the Bible and take time every day to open the Scriptures to come into his presence. Don't just check the boxes.
[00:27:10] Speaker C: Come into his presence and sit at his feet and open the word.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: Jesus,
[00:27:22] Speaker C: will you teach me?
[00:27:25] Speaker A: Jesus, will you reveal truth to me?
Jesus, will you show me the mysteries
[00:27:33] Speaker C: that are in this text?
[00:27:37] Speaker A: I tell you, I was reading about Mary all this last week, and I sat at dinner one night with my friends and family, and I'm just like,
[00:27:46] Speaker C: what do you guys think this means?
[00:27:48] Speaker B: Because I knew there was something more
[00:27:50] Speaker A: than what I was reading the words
[00:27:52] Speaker C: on the page, and I didn't get
[00:27:54] Speaker B: it in the moment.
[00:27:57] Speaker C: But then I went and I sat with Jesus and I said, lord, will you.
Will you teach me this?
[00:28:10] Speaker A: I know there's mysteries in here that I don't. That I don't yet perceive. Will you show me the secrets that
[00:28:16] Speaker C: are in your heart?
[00:28:20] Speaker A: Leonard Ravenhill, father in the faith, was kind of famous. He would encourage his spiritual sons. They would sit down
[00:28:34] Speaker C: across from him.
Steve Hill did this to me. This is how I know he would say, come close.
[00:28:44] Speaker A: And I remember this happened to me. I lean in a little bit.
[00:28:47] Speaker C: He says, now come closer.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: I lean in a little bit more.
[00:28:51] Speaker C: No, no, no, no, no. Come close.
I get out of my seat and I come like on my knees until I'm awkwardly close, cheek to cheek.
And he whispers, God has secrets.
But God doesn't shout his secrets.
He whispers them.
You gotta get close.
We gotta get close.
I want to be like Mary.
I want to be close to Jesus.
I want to hear his whisper.
I want to be like John upon His breast, hearing his heartbeat, hearing his words, hearing his instruction.
Mary found this place at his feet.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: She had access because of love.
[00:29:53] Speaker C: And so do you.
And so do I.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: The third place that Mary found.
Is this helping anybody?
The third place that Mary had was
[00:30:09] Speaker C: a place of worship.
Pouring at the feet of Jesus,
[00:30:18] Speaker B: Pouring
[00:30:20] Speaker C: in worship, in adoration. This is what we were singing about earlier.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: She comes into the presence of the Savior.
[00:30:29] Speaker B: They're having a meal.
There's important people, there's professionals, and there's Pharisees. And the disciples are there.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: And Mary comes in and she disrupts the whole thing.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: She opens this alabaster flask. It was probably a wax seal on the top that could only be opened one time. She opens this $60,000 perfume and begins to pour it out on the feet of Jesus.
And the response of a Pharisee.
If Jesus was truly a prophet, he would know that this is a sinful and immoral woman.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: How dare she touch him?
So when Jesus tells the parable, he asks this religious hypocrite, who do you think loves more?
The one who's been forgiven much or the one who's been forgiven little?
He says, well, I guess the one
[00:31:41] Speaker C: who's been forgiven the great debt is the one who would love more.
That's exactly right. And that's what this woman is.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: And in saying this, he's also implying that you apparently don't discern that you've been forgiven very much.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: The irony of this is Matthew and Mark both mention that Simon was a leper, he was unclean.
But the very fact that he's hosting this meal, that he is still in religious duty as a Pharisee, means that
[00:32:13] Speaker A: somewhere in his relationship with Jesus, Jesus healed him.
But apparently he has forgotten that he
[00:32:23] Speaker B: too needed to be washed, that he too needed to be cleansed. But what I love about Mary is she did not defend herself.
[00:32:33] Speaker C: Jesus defended her.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Jesus affirmed her identity. Jesus stood for her and says, no, you are not immoral. I declare you are forgiven.
This is not wasteful. This is extravagant worship. And everywhere the Gospel is preached, they're
[00:32:51] Speaker A: going to hear about this woman.
[00:32:55] Speaker C: Oh, my.
[00:33:00] Speaker A: The Gospel of John gives another insight, another criticism.
John 12:3.
Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead, they made him a supper. Martha served. Lazarus was one who sat at the table with him.
Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.
[00:33:26] Speaker B: The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, other texts mention this, but this is
[00:33:35] Speaker A: the only one John I love. He gives extra insights. He says, oh, is Judas who said this?
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?
[00:33:48] Speaker A: He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief.
He had the money box he used to take what was put in.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: And Jesus said, leave her alone.
[00:33:59] Speaker A: Again, to her defense, she has kept this for the day of my burial. The poor you will always have, but me you will not have.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: Always.
[00:34:09] Speaker A: There's a few blessings that come from the posture of worship that Mary had at the feet of Jesus.
Affirmation.
I've already mentioned it.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Simon criticized her.
[00:34:21] Speaker A: She's immoral, she's a sinner.
But Jesus defended her.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: You see, she had her eyes on
[00:34:29] Speaker A: the one pastor talks about this current
[00:34:34] Speaker B: of love that flows from the very heart, the most intimate places of God.
[00:34:39] Speaker A: God. And she was in tune with that current.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: She was in the flow of that current so that somebody could give an accusation. You're just a heathen, you're a sinner, you're unclean.
[00:34:50] Speaker A: And she did not hear it because
[00:34:52] Speaker C: she's too busy weeping and worshiping and loving Jesus.
Oh man.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: If I'm getting offended,
[00:35:04] Speaker B: makes me wonder, is the love that God has for me a current in my life? Or do I need to reach, recalibrate and get my eyes back on Jesus?
That's just me.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: I don't know if that's you.
What a religious self righteous Pharisee called a sinner. Jesus called forgiven.
The other criticism.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: You don't know this costs so much. What about the poor?
There are hungry around us.
[00:35:36] Speaker C: Judas Jesus affirms her identity. This is not wasteful.
This is extravagant worship.
And the world is going to hear about her radical generosity.
Oh, I want to be like Mary.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: You see, there are things that will come from the heart of God in
[00:36:01] Speaker C: the place of worship.
As you draw near to him, as
[00:36:04] Speaker A: you sit at his feet, you begin
[00:36:06] Speaker C: to hear these whispers.
You're seeing who I am.
Let me tell you who you are.
[00:36:14] Speaker B: That's what happened to her.
[00:36:15] Speaker A: In the place of her, you're not
[00:36:17] Speaker C: a sinner, you're forgiven.
[00:36:20] Speaker A: This isn't wasteful. This is worship.
[00:36:22] Speaker C: You've got a heart of worship. And he declares over her, go in peace.
[00:36:28] Speaker A: I think it's time that you and I begin to take what the word
[00:36:33] Speaker C: of God declares over us. And we begin to receive this. This is my identity. People can Call me a sinner.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: People can call me whatever. They can give me racial slurs. They can talk about my income, they can talk about my history. But at the end of the day,
[00:36:47] Speaker B: I know who I am.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: Because I have sat at the feet of Jesus and he has told me
[00:36:52] Speaker C: exactly who I am.
[00:36:58] Speaker A: Your words matter.
I saw a study this last week.
There's a group of smokers who are trying to quit.
And there were 40 that were given the instruction, if somebody offers you a cigarette, tell them I'm trying to quit smoking.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: There was another group of 40 that
[00:37:19] Speaker A: was given the instruction, anytime they're offered a cigarette, tell them I'm not a smoker.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: Did you know what they found is the one who said, I'm trying to quit?
They had about a 40% success rate
[00:37:33] Speaker A: of quitting smoking over a year long process.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: But the one who made the declaration, I'm not a smoker. They had an 80%, double 80% success rate quitting your declaration, Matt. I'm just here to tell you, you come to the feet of Jesus. You're not a sinner anymore.
You're a saint of the most high God. You've been washed, you've been redeemed. You're being sanctified. You're being conformed into the image of the Son of God. That's who you are.
So stop walking around declaring, you know, I don't know why we do this in the Bible.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: I'm getting too fired up now. I'm supposed to be drawn to a close.
[00:38:16] Speaker C: Simon the leper.
[00:38:17] Speaker B: No.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Simon who was healed of leprosy.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: The immoral woman? No. Mary of Bethany, the radical worshiper.
Blind Bartimaeus. No. Bartimaeus who was formerly blind doubting Thomas. No.
Martyr Apostle Thomas. I don't know why we take our faults and our short.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: That's devil's territory.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: The accuser.
Shut up, devil.
I have found my identity at the feet of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And he says that I am forgiven and I am washed and I am new.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: All right. The other blessing that you're going to find in the presence of God Worship team, if you come.
The second blessing you find in the presence of God, in the presence of worship is anointing.
Everybody say anointing.
[00:39:13] Speaker C: This is a beautiful picture.
She anoints Jesus.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: She pours out this extravagant gift of worship.
But I want you to notice how she does this. She comes into the presence of the king
[00:39:36] Speaker B: and she finds once again her
[00:39:38] Speaker A: place at his feet.
She breaks open this alabaster and she Begins to pour it out on his feet.
[00:39:49] Speaker B: And the Bible says that she is
[00:39:51] Speaker C: crying over his feet.
[00:39:56] Speaker A: And she decides instead of a towel, she's going to take her hair and
[00:40:02] Speaker C: begin to wash his feet with her hair.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: When Jesus is defending her, he says
[00:40:11] Speaker A: that this woman has not stopped to stop kissing my feet.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: Do you get the picture? She's weeping. I've been forgiven.
My God has been so good.
Yes, I was a sinner. Yes, I was immoral. But he has washed me.
And she's kissing his feet and wiping them with her hair.
[00:40:36] Speaker A: And can I tell you that that day when they got up and they left that house,
[00:40:43] Speaker C: there were two people who walked out under the fragrance of that anointing.
[00:40:49] Speaker A: Not only Jesus, but this woman also left smelling like a million bucks.
This woman walked out under the anointing.
[00:40:59] Speaker B: Oh, this is what happens when you've been in the presence. This is what happens when you adore
[00:41:04] Speaker A: him in the place of worship.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: Yes, I'm lavishing my love on the Savior,
[00:41:11] Speaker C: but I'm also receiving of that anointing.
[00:41:15] Speaker A: I also walk out smelling like heaven.
[00:41:17] Speaker C: When I've been in the secret place.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: I also walk out reeking of glory. When I have gone beyond the veil into the secret place.
[00:41:26] Speaker C: In his presence, I carry holiness. When I've been in the holy place, I want to be like Mary.
I want to be like Mary.
[00:41:40] Speaker A: The last blessing, and we close with this.
There is affirmation.
[00:41:48] Speaker C: This is who you are.
God will defend you.
There's an anointing, and then there's adoration.
And this is a blessing to know that you have access to adore the King of Kings.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: I don't know if there's a higher privilege.
I don't think there is.
[00:42:15] Speaker C: You can be anointed.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: You can have the word of truth, but the.
[00:42:19] Speaker C: The fact that you can come and sit at his feet and just love him, that I can behold the glory of the Lord, that I can be in his presence.
[00:42:38] Speaker A: That was Jesus prayer in John 17.
[00:42:42] Speaker C: I want to be with you where you are.
And that's the invitation.
We have access.
[00:42:52] Speaker A: I've asked the question of every point.
What gave Mary the right?
[00:42:58] Speaker B: She's a sinner.
She's a woman.
This is wasteful. It's excessive.
[00:43:06] Speaker A: But Jesus said this is a depth
[00:43:10] Speaker C: of love that only someone deeply forgiven could give.
You're not immoral.
You are forgiven.
You are not wasteful.
You're worshipful.
That's extreme generosity.
[00:43:27] Speaker A: Love gives us a place at his
[00:43:29] Speaker C: feet to give our whole heart.
Thank you, jesus.
Thank you. Jesus.
