Wed. / Thurs. - Days of Commitment

For many years, the nation of Switzerland has prided itself on remaining neutral. During the 20th century, in spite of the fact that two world wars raged around its borders, the Swiss refused to get involved. Even today, Switzerland shies away from any treaty or commitment that might infringe upon its cherished neutrality. For example, many people do not realize that Switzerland is not even a member of the United Nations.

However just recently it has come to light that during the Second World War, Switzerland was a little less neutral than we all believed. While the Nazis were looting Europe and slaughtering six million Jews, they were depositing the stolen assets of their victims into Swiss bank accounts.

After the war, the Swiss returned only a tiny fraction of this stolen money to its rightful owners. They simply kept the rest. But now, fifty years later, a major effort has been mounted by international Jewish organizations to recover those assets on behalf of the families of the victims of the Holocaust. And the interesting thing is that the Swiss banks have not been very helpful in this effort. Because when there’s something to be gained or lost, people—even the Swiss—tend to find it very difficult to be neutral.

And that’s what we see in the final week of Jesus’ ministry. As the week wears on—the week that changed history—there’s almost a polarizing effect taking place around Jesus. As the shadow of the cross grows closer; the issue of commitment becomes clearer. We find that a few people are moving closer to Jesus; but most others are melting away from him. Today we’re going to look at three people who wrestled with this issue of commitment.

The week began on Sunday with a tumultuous parade as the crowd welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. They were ready to give him the key to the city because they expected him to kick out the Romans and reclaim the throne of David. But he didn’t do it. And you can almost sense the feeling of let-down and disillusionment among the people from that point on.

On Monday, Jesus cleansed the Temple and in the process made even more enemies among the religious leaders. They came after him on Tuesday, ready to rumble. They challenged his authority, questioned his credentials, and tried to trip him up with trick questions. But Jesus responded with 3 powerful stories that showed how they had rejected God.

So by Wednesday morning, with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread only two days away, as we read in Mark 14:1, the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

That’s why I call Wednesday and Thursday the days of commitment. The religious leaders had already committed to their course of action—they were going to find a way to kill Jesus. And Jesus had already committed to what he was going to do—He was going to lay down his life as a sacrifice, because that’s what God had sent him here to do. So the only thing left was for the people around Jesus to decide what they were going to do. What would their commitment be?

Wednesday was like a quiet interlude in the middle of this momentous week. Palm Sunday had been an exciting day. Monday had been a turbulent day, as Jesus cleared the Temple. Tuesday had been a difficult, draining day as Jesus went toe to toe with the religious leaders.

On Thursday, Jesus and his disciples were going to gather in the Upper Room to eat the Passover meal together. Later that evening, they were going to walk across town to the garden of Gethsemane, where the final ordeal would begin.

But on Wednesday—quiet Wednesday—Jesus didn’t go into Jerusalem. He stayed in Bethany. He rested, and you can almost sense him gathering his strength for what lay ahead.

While they were there in Bethany, Jesus and his disciples were invited to dinner at the house of a man named Simon. Mark tells us in verse 3 that this man was better known as Simon the Leper. But he didn’t have leprosy anymore, or he wouldn’t have been throwing dinner parties at his house. That would have violated the Laws of Moses that called for lepers to be completely quarantined outside the city, without any contact with other people.

No, Simon had been cured of his leprosy—and I believe that Jesus was the one who cured him. How do I know that? Because the Gospel of John tells us that Simon gave this dinner in Jesus’ honor.

We don’t know when Jesus healed him. But we do know what he was like before he was healed. Stooped shoulders. Fingers and toes missing. Scabs on his arms. Filthy rags on his back. But that was before Jesus’ touch.

Maybe Simon was the leper Jesus healed after he gave the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe he was the one man in ten who came back to say thank you. We don’t know. But we do know that Simon had Jesus and his disciples over for dinner.

And that act in itself was an act of commitment. Because everybody knew by now that Jesus was a wanted man. The Pharisees were clearing a cell for him on death row. The Romans were hewing the beams for a cross to hang him on. By the end of the week, Jesus’ face would quite possibly be on a wanted poster.

It takes guts to have that kind of a man over for dinner. And not only Jesus—Simon invited Lazarus too. (John tells us that Lazarus and Mary and Martha were among the dinner guests.) The Pharisees had put out a contract on Lazarus because Jesus had raised him from the dead. Lazarus was a walking evidence of Jesus’ power. They wanted to quickly put him back into the grave where he belonged.

By this simple act of hospitality, Simon went way out on a limb for Jesus. But that’s because he was so thankful for what Jesus had done. Jesus had given him back his life. Where once there had been a nub, there was now a finger for his daughter to hold. Where once there had been ulcerous sores, there was now smooth skin for his wife to caress.

Where once there had been rejection and shunning and lonely days of wandering outside the town, now there was warmth and happiness—a house full of friends and a table full of food.

And Simon owed all this to Jesus. So he wanted Jesus to know that when the chips were down, and if he ever needed a meal to eat, or a place to stay, there was one house in Bethany where he could always go. That was Simon’s commitment.

What about you? When you look at your life and consider all that Jesus has done for you, are you willing to lay it all on the line for him like Simon did? Are you willing to stand up for Jesus when nobody else does? Are you willing to be identified as one of his followers when the wolves of opposition are howling?

Simon the Leper did what Simon Peter couldn’t do. He stood up to be counted. His simple act of kindness was an act of commitment. He was a blessing to Jesus in doing this. And Jesus never forgets those who bless him. Jesus said in Matt. 10:32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

That brings us to Mary’s commitment. Let’s read about it in verse 4…

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

In John 12, we learn that this woman was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. John adds the detail that she also poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

Mary was a woman of deep devotion to the Savior. In fact, she only appears in Scripture three times, and each time, we find her at the feet of Jesus. In Luke 10, she found blessing as she sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to him teach.

In John 11, when her brother Lazarus died, she brought her burdens to Jesus and laid them at his feet. And here, at the house of Simon, she gave her best to Jesus and anointed his head and his feet with perfume.

She brought an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. Nard is a fragrant ointment that comes from the spikenard plant which grows in the Himalayan mountains of India. In ancient times, the resin was extracted, and sealed in alabaster vessels in order to preserve the fragrance.

Because it was imported by caravan all the way from India, it was very expensive. In fact, in a day before banking and savings accounts, this jar of perfume may well have represented Mary’s life savings. It was her greatest treasure.

It may even have been her wedding dowry, or her hope chest. So in giving it up to Jesus, she was giving up all of her wealth, and perhaps even her future prospects of being able to obtain a husband.

In 2 Samuel 24:24, King David said “I will not sacrifice to the Lord an offering that cost me nothing.” That was Mary’s sentiment exactly.

I’d like you to notice several things about what she did and the commitment it represented:

1. What she did was decisive:

Notice that Mary broke the jar. This was a decisive action. It was a one-way gift. There was no going back. Once the jar was broken, it was broken. Is that the kind of commitment you have made to the Lord Jesus?

2. What she did was extravagant:

The apostle John tells us that she poured out a pint of nard, not a pinch. Sixteen ounces of perfume, not just a few drops. Mary wasn’t holding anything back here. She gave him all she had. There was nothing left over.

3. What she did had lasting impact:

Can you imagine pouring a whole pint of Chanel #5 on someone from head to toe? I dare say that you would smell that person coming for the next few weeks! And so it was with Jesus.

On Thursday, as he sat at the table with his disciples eating the last supper, Jesus could still smell the perfume. It was on his clothes, in his hair, in his beard. As he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus could still smell the perfume. As he hung dying on the cross, his body a mass of torn and beaten flesh, I think that Jesus could still smell the perfume. And as the soldiers tore his garments apart at the foot of the cross, and rolled dice for his robe, maybe they could smell the perfume too.

Mary’s act of devotion, her total commitment, hung in the air around the Savior. It was the fragrance of her faith; the bouquet of her belief in him. The aroma filled the whole house, and all who were there could smell it.

4. She was unconcerned with what others thought:

John tells us that when she anointed Jesus’ feet, she wiped them with her hair. In those days, a woman’s hair was her glory. A woman would never unbraid her hair and let it down in public. Yet this is what Mary did, in order to minister to her Savior. She humbled herself. She put her own dignity aside, along with thoughts of what others would think, in order to dry the Master’s feet.

She was anointing Jesus for burial here. She was identifying with him in his death.

Well, what did other people think of what Mary did? They condemned her. John tells us that Judas objected. Mark and Matthew tell us that the other disciples joined in and rebuked her harshly—the Greek word means to express violent displeasure.

Let me tell you something. If you make a wholehearted commitment to Jesus Christ, you are going to get the most opposition from those who appear to be followers of Christ but who haven’t made that same kind of commitment.

You may decide to go to the mission field. There will be Christians who will try to talk you out of it. You may decide to start tithing. There will be Christians who will say “Now, you don’t have to go overboard on this giving thing.”

They will cloak their criticism in religious robes. They will discount what you are doing in the most spiritual terms. But they’ll try to put roadblocks in your way, because the depth of your commitment convicts them of the shallowness of theirs.

Which brings us to Judas.

None of the other disciples knew at this point that Judas was a thief. That only came out later on. As far as they were concerned, Judas was their treasurer. You know who we put in charge of the money—the one who’s good with figures. The one who’s organized, the one who’s sensible, the one who’s level-headed and practical. I dare say that that is what the other disciples thought of Judas. That’s why they chose him to be their treasurer.

And when Judas began to complain indignantly about what Mary was doing, they all joined in, because he had credibility. And they were complaining on the basis of what a waste this was. You can almost hear them saying “This is not good stewardship. This is not a proper use of the Lord’s resources. The money from this perfume should have been used for ministry—for missions.”

Those sound like pretty good reasons on the surface don’t they? But you have to understand that they are coming from hearts that are not fully devoted to the Savior. What they regarded as waste, Jesus regarded as worship. What they saw as reckless extravagance, Jesus saw as real exaltation.

In verse 4, somebody—probably Judas—asked: “Why this waste of perfume?” and the word used for “waste” there is exactly the same Greek word that Jesus used later on, in his high priestly prayer, when he called Judas the “Son of Perdition”—literally, the “Son of Waste”.

Judas was a man who had so many opportunities to be saved and to live for Jesus, but he wasted them all. He totally wasted his life. He had the unbelievable opportunity of living next to Jesus for 2–3 years. But proximity does not equal devotion.

As one of the apostles, Judas was given the power to perform miracles and cast out demons. But power does not equal love.

Judas had been given the responsibility to be the treasurer for the disciples. But position does not equal submission.

Judas wasted all this because he had decided that his number one commitment was to himself. He was going try to live his life for what he could get out of it. And he was willing to use Jesus for his own ends.

That’s why he had his hand in the till. That’s why, as we read in Mark 14:10, he “went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

What about your commitment to Jesus this morning? Where are you at right now? Are you hedging your bets? Are you afraid to go all the way out on that limb, like Simon did? Are you afraid to break the jar and give your all, like Mary did? Are you trying to play the angles, and calculate the personal gains, as Judas was doing?

Without total commitment to Jesus, life doesn’t work. Look at how these three people turned out. Simon and Mary turned out to be heroes. They didn’t have any regrets. Jesus said about Mary “I tell you the truth, wherever you go in the world with the Good News, people will be talking about what Mary did.”

But look at what happened to Judas. He was overcome with regret and went out an hung himself. I know lots of people who have named their children Simon or Mary. But I don’t know of a parent anywhere who would want to name their son Judas. His name has become a synonym for treachery and greed. And all because he simply decided to commit to living for himself instead of living for Jesus.

In the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez landed at Vera Cruz on the shores of Mexico with a small army of just 700 men. Their mission—to conquer Mexico, which was ruled by the powerful Aztecs.

Legend has it that, as soon as his men were ashore, Cortez ordered that his fleet of eleven ships be set on fire. And as he and his men stood on the beach, they watched their only means of retreat sink to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. There was now only one direction they could go. Forward to victory.

That’s the kind of commitment that it takes to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It’s a one-way commitment. But a commitment like to Christ is never wasted. Just ask Simon and Mary. They had no regrets.