An Acceptable Sacrifice to the Lord
PJ Garton
The Darkest Night • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Good morning Church! If you have your Bible and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Mark 14:1-9. Mark 14:1-9, we are looking today at a beautiful act of worship that is recorded in Mark, Matthew, and John.
I want you to think about your most valuable possession. For most of us it is probably our home. The value of homes are more than just in their dollar value, they are also a place of memories, security, and investment. What would it take to make you desire to give away your home?
We moved to the Lake nearly 9 years ago and in July of 2016 we bought our home. It’s the longest I’ve lived in one home ever. So for me, it is home with lots of beloved memories. It would take something extremely special for me to give away my home.
Perhaps you have a large investment portfolio instead? It’s measured in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and it’s your retirement plan. What would it take for you to give it away?
What if you found land for sale in Alaskan wilderness and you discovered that it had gold and oil deposits on it. It was extremely expensive to buy though. So you had to sell your car, your home, all your collectibles in order to purchase it but once you bought it you and your family would be set for generations! Would you do it?
It reminds me of a parable that Jesus told in Matthew 13:44-46
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
What drives someone to be so reckless and wasteful with their worldly possessions? Why would someone sell everything for a treasure in a field? Or for a pearl of tremendous value? What drives someone to do that? Today, we’re going to see hate and hard-heartedness as well as pure devotion and adoration. We are going to learn about sacrificial worship that is gripped by the eternal worth of Christ Jesus. We’re also going to ask if you are willing to lay down everything for the sake of Christ in order to gain abundant life forever. Are you willing to do it?
Let’s stand together in honor of God’s Word as we learn about worship in Mark 14:1-9
1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” 3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Our passage takes place briefly before the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus. And the chief priests and scribes, the ones that have for years opposed Jesus and His teaching have decided to arrest Him and kill Him. These religious leaders are planning to murder Jesus. Yet, they’re still concerned with public opinion. They fear men and so they don’t want to do it because there isn’t a great opportunity and everyone loves Jesus! They’re concerned about doing it during the feast because it could cause “an uproar” among the people.
So what do we learn from verses 1-2?
The World Hates Christ
The World Hates Christ
There is hatred in Jerusalem for Jesus Christ. Even to this day, devout Jews still spit at Christians that go to Jerusalem because they hate Jesus and His followers. The religious leaders were willing to let Jesus teach in Galilee for years and sure they opposed the teaching but it wasn’t until Christ came into their home and began pointing out their hypocrisy and lawlessness that they truly began seeking a way to destroy Jesus.
Things don’t change much. The World is okay with Christians having a personal and private faith that is meek and quiet and does good. As long as there isn’t any sort of confrontation over sin, or call to repent, or desire to see God glorified in the world then many people are okay with Jesus but as soon as there’s a discussion about the Lordship of Christ and His authority over our lives and the need for salvation then there’s hatred and persecution.
In Matthew 26:57 it tells us that the plan to kill Jesus was formed in the home of Caiphas, the high priest. He is the one who spoke against Jesus and put forward the final plan to put Him to death. John 11:51-52
51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Are you surprised when the world hates Jesus? You shouldn’t be. Jesus promised tribulation and persecution for His people. Why do people hate Christ? John 3:19-20
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
It’s because people love the darkness. Simple as that! The Department of Justice notes that most violent crimes take place between the hours of 6pm and midnight. Robbery, murder, assault. People love their works of evil and perform them at night and the world is dark and hates the light of the world and hates those that bear the light of Christ. John 15:18-20
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Christian, the world and it’s residents will hate you as you live for the glory of God. The greatest heroes of Christianity all suffered much under the hand of the world and you can rejoice when it comes knowing that you suffer in the same way Christ did and that by your patient and gracious suffering, Christ will be greatly glorified.
Mark then changes the scene from hatred in Jerusalem to love in Bethany. Bethany is located on the Mount of Olives and the scene is in Simon the leper’s house. This leper had apparently been healed- otherwise, he couldn’t have hosted this dinner party with Jesus and His disciples. And Jesus was laying down at the table and a woman came in, Matthew records her as Mary who came in with an alabaster flask.
The Gospel writers tell us that this is very expensive. Pliny the Elder said that “the best ointment is preserved in alabaster” which itself was valuable as a container. The Alabaster jar and ointment was worth 300 days wages and is the equivalent of $50,000 being poured out on Jesus. This is such a beautiful act of worship and here we learn that
Worship Is Extravagant Devotion to Christ
Worship Is Extravagant Devotion to Christ
In first century Israel, women typically weren’t included in career paths and were home makers. Women were not permitted to interrupt men at the meal unless they were serving the meal. Mary wasn’t earning wages, nor was she typically able to obtain objects of such extreme value. Many commentators think that this was an heirloom and so it had sentimental value as well as monetary value.
Yet here, Mary breaks open the flask. Would you willingly break an extremely valuable family heirloom? Most of us wouldn’t. This breaking open of the flask is important because she’s not using this expensive gift with reservation. She is using every single drop for the glory of God! Nothing is held back from Him.
Are you holding something back from God? Is there some area of your life that you consider to be too valuable to pour out for Christ? Perhaps its your valuables like what we see here. You have resources and yet you don’t give because you may not trust that God is able to provide better for you, so you rely on your own wisdom and and you reason out that you will serve and attend, but not give financially.
Perhaps you feel the need to be in control. You want things in your life your way and you may have even sinned against others to exercise that control. You hesitate to fully surrender to the will of God. Mary’s example shows an irreversible choice of letting go something precious to her and she didn’t know how it was going to be received by Jesus.
You might guard your time fiercely when it comes to serving the Lord or spending time with Him. You might say, “Pastor, you just don’t understand how busy I am! I have way too many irons in the fire to take more time to serve the Lord. Okay, then get rid of an iron. Do you really think that God is pleased with you focusing on your own kingdom instead of building His? You may be reluctant to give God uninterrupted time or even consistent time and yet Mary here, paused everything to honor Christ. There was nothing greater for her to do, than spend time lavishly loving Jesus.
Maybe it’s worship. I mean, pure, unrestrained, heartfelt worship! When is the last time you closed your eyes during the worship service, lifted a hand in surrender to God, and poured out praises? Do you find your heart being more hardened because they’re not songs you particularly know or enjoy or do you delight in the fact that God is being exalted? Mary goes against the social expectations and just lays it all out on Jesus. She’s not concerned with the opinions of anyone else, she’s concerned with, does Jesus like this?
Tied closely to it is reputation. Maybe you are just really concerned about your reputation. What will people think if I live a life totally devoted to Christ? You might think “I don’t want people to think I’m some kind of religious nut job!” I don’t want to be considered a Jesus Freak or something. Okay… say that to the Savior Who hung on the cross for you. I dare you! Look Him in the eye as He holds together everything in your life and universe and tell Him that you’re more concerned about your reputation than His glory. and tell Him that. If you can, then you may not be a follower of His. If you can’t then be okay being a bit undignified in your worship like King David 2 Samuel 6:21-22
21 David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel. I will dance before the Lord, 22 and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more. However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.”
I could continue on with this, but the point I want to drive home is that worship is to our God alone, for His glory alone, and costs us something. It breaks us as we pour out our praises on the Lord. Some have said that the only way to reach the ointment to anoint Christ was to break the jar, but I don’t think that’s the case. I believe that Mary is proving her devotion to show nothing is being held back from Jesus. True worship surrenders all to Christ, it trusts that His worth exceeds our greatest treasures. Worship is the Christian’s response to the grace we’ve received from God. 1 John 4:19
19 We love because he first loved us.
You see, Mary isn’t taking all the time, risking her reputation, giving up control, revealing her emotions, letting go of her gifts, and pouring out her worship because she is trying to earn God’s favor. No. This love is showing her devotion to the One who is going to die to save her.
In 203, there were two young women: one a noblewoman named Perpetua and a pregnant slave girl named Felicity. In the city of Carthage they were discovered to be Christians and they were offered an opportunity to renounce their faith and offer just a pinch of incense to the Roman gods. Instead, they refused and chose to love their Savior completely and their worship cost them their lives. They were torn apart by wild beasts in the arena.
Would you offer a pinch to save your life? Before you answer, really assess your heart and examine it. Our heart must be carefully guarded and tended to. The heart of a believer has been made new by Christ, we have received a new mind set on spiritual things. What is your heart set on? What is your mind focused on? The answer to those questions reveal the object of your worship.
When you get to the end of the road and your life comes to a close, it’s not going to matter who your friends were, what your job was, how big your bank account was, how many toys you had, how many places you went to… none of that will matter! What will matter is what did you do with Jesus Christ? Is He the purpose of your existence? Is He the focus of your life?
But you know… the disciples don’t get it. They are hard-hearted and hard-headed for sure. Look at verses 4-5: Mark 14:4-5
4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
This act fired up the disciples that were there. They are described as “indignant” and scolded the genuine worship of Christ. That word indignant doesn’t just mean annoyed to anger like our word means. It is best understood as furious over the act that is being displayed. It’s like a bull snorting at a matador. Seeing red and violently protesting.
This leads to the third point:
Hard-Heartedness Can Lead to Misunderstanding True Worship
Hard-Heartedness Can Lead to Misunderstanding True Worship
The disciples saw this as extraordinary extravagance being poured out on Jesus in moments. John records that it is Judas Iscariot who was the ringleader in this protest. You can almost see it, right? “Jesus, you’ve changed. The Jesus I follow would never receive such a lavish gift! The Jesus I follow would take this and sell it to give the proceeds to the poor.”
It’s crazy isn’t it? On one hand this is seen as a lavish and wasteful gift, but on the other hand the widow’s mite was seen as too small to be of any importance. Yet Jesus praised them both. Why? They gave all that they had.
Francis Ridley Havergal was an English poet and songwriter who wrote the song Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated Lord to Thee. The song is a prayer that I’ve prayed on many occasions. In the song there is the surrender of life, works, voice, body, silver, intellect, will, heart, and love. All of it for God! Not one ounce of my love or devotion, God, I don’t want to withhold one ounce of it! I don’t want one ounce outside of your Lordship!
The Bible 2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
A cheerful giver is the test of worship. The widow with her amount was all she had, Mary with her gift wasn’t holding anything back. The world will tell you that loving Jesus is fine in moderation, but as soon as you begin delighting in the Lord and enjoying Him with a lavish, prioritizing love then people will begin to look down on you or berate you.
But the disciples continue on. They aren’t just indignant but they scold her. There’s the idea of an ongoing rebuke that takes place where there is repeated demeaning. This is a really good place for us to assess our hearts and ask if our hearts reflect Mary’s pure worship and adoration or do our hearts reflect the disciples which were filled with complaining, grumbling, and hard heartedness. The cure for a heart that is hardened toward worship is confession and repentance.
Many times, worldly reasoning often distorts worship. True worship values Christ above all. Let me ask: do you judge others devotion to the Lord? Do you ever think about your wants and desires and preferences even over the adoration of Christ?
It’s clear from Mary’s heart, that her sole concern is to please the Lord Jesus. Despite what the disciples may say, despite the attitudes of others, despite what is culturally appropriate— her concern is for the glory of God.
Looking at the rest of the passage for today we see that Jesus absolutely loves Mary’s worship.
Authentic Worship Is Applauded by Christ
Authentic Worship Is Applauded by Christ
Looking back at the widow giving her mites and Mary here, we see that Jesus doesn’t look at the human wisdom that we give to our gifts but the motivation of love that prompts them. Simultaneously these two truths are important to hold to: in the Kingdom of God no act of worship is meaningless and no gift is wasted.
Jesus is quick to defend this act of love. He agrees with the disciples that it is good and right to love the poor and provide for them, but the poor will always be there to help. To lavishly love Jesus in such a tangible way? We don’t have every opportunity to do that.
Jesus’ point here is that we can and should minister to the needs of the poor, but something more important was at hand. Jesus came to defeat sin, Satan, and death. To inaugurate the Kingdom of God. This period was a time of joy and celebration and this act of lavish love is a gift to God because of the great salvation that is coming.
Jesus has told the disciples on several occasions that He was going to be killed. He has taught that He must go and suffer for the sins of mankind and take on the wrath of God for sinners to purchase our redemption that would be received by faith alone. So, what should our response to Jesus be? The answer is worship! Romans 12:1
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
We are called to lay ourselves down at the altar of Christ. He is our ultimate love and devotion and that devotion costs something. Matthew 16:24
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Jesus is worthy to be worshipped and adored as the only Lord and King. This week, ask yourself—what’s my alabaster flask? What am I holding back from Christ? Bring it to Him, break it open, and trust He’ll call it beautiful.
BIG POINT: Sacrificial giving, rooted in love for Christ, blesses the Lord and proclaims His worth, even when misunderstood by the world.
BIG POINT: Sacrificial giving, rooted in love for Christ, blesses the Lord and proclaims His worth, even when misunderstood by the world.
HEAD: God wants you to know that sacrificial worship, driven by your love for Christ, reflects His infinite worth and is honored by Him, even when the world misunderstands it. God sees your heart and knows your motives. So from a place of love for Christ, lay it down for His sake because He is worthy!
HEART: God wants you to believe that when you offer your most valuable possessions or priorities to Christ out of love, He sees it as a beautiful act of devotion, regardless of how others judge it. So give it to Jesus. It may not be possession or priorities, perhaps you need to offer yourself? Perhaps you need Christ. He is worthy! You must repent of your sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation. That word believe in Romans 10:9 doesn’t just mean to acknowledge or agree. It means to rely on or trust in! So trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you.
HAND: God wants you to identify (your "alabaster flask") something precious you’re holding back and surrender it to Christ this week in an intentional act of worship. Take time to think about it. At this time we will respond with a time of communion and then we will sing a prayer to close out our service.
