14/03/2021 – Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany

Bahan Alkitab: Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:1-8

Tanggal: 14/03/2021

Ringkasan:

Jesus raised Lazarus from the death at Bethany. Many of the jewish people who had seen what Jesus did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and plot the killing of Jesus Christ. They are afraid people will follow Jesus and leave the Jewish religion and their tradition.

Read John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany , where Lazarus was ,whom Jesus had raised from the dead so they gave a dinner for Him . Mary took a pound of expensive perfume (Nard), broke the Alabaster bottle and pour it to Jesus’ feet and wipe it with her hair. Judas Iscariot who saw this made remark that she was wasting an expensive perfume which is worth 320 Denaris, 1 year wage as 1 Denari equal to 1 day wage. he suggested the money could help the poor. Not that he cares about the poor but he is a thief , he often steal from the offering box.
Jesus defend Mary and said leave her alone , what she did is to prepare my burial. Everytime the Gospel is proclaimed , what she did is mentioned.

Jesus see the heart of men , he praised what Mary did as he wanted to let his disciples know that he has to die .
Mary is preparing him before he is crucified. Jesus is the Passover Lamb as pointed by John the Baptist.
Why did the israelites celebrate Passover? God told them to remind their children and their grandchildren to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and God saved them out so that they could worship Him. They are to kill a perfect animal (lamb) and to paint the blood on the door frames. If the Angel of death sees the blood , the angel will pass over the house and they are saved. otherwise their first born of the family and the first born of their cattle will die. Jesus is The Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world. John 1:29 Whoever believe in Him will not perished but will have eternal life. We are saved only through faith in Jesus Christ for His blood washed away our sins, He is the sacrificial lamb.

Jesus also the King of all Kings. God promised to send us a Messiah . He is a descendants of King David (Matthew 1:1) and from the tribe of Judah. The name Jesus Christ means Jesus the anointed one. King is also anointed by God. Jesus said in John 18:36 My kingdom is not of this world.

Compare Judas reaction vs Mary’s :

Mary – give everything she has, in those days a woman does not work outside. She probably does not have a salary , all she has is probably from her parents or if she is married, it is from her husband . so a pound of Nard is probably the most precious thing she has, and she gave it toJesus and wiped is with her hair . It is a grateful gesture, generous , respect , humble and love shown to Jesus as her King and God.

Judas- the saddest thing he has followed Jesus during His ministry , saw all the miracles and listen to His words. At the end Judas betrayed Jesus Christ and did not received Him as his saviour and God. That is the saddest thing for us also if we are in the church , we grow up in the church , listening to sunday school every week but at the end we do not accept Jesus Christ as our saviour , we don’t know him as we do not pay attention to His words.

Jesus is not only the Passover Lamb , He is the perfect High Priest whom on our behalf bring himself to God the Father to be the sacrificed for our sins. when he resurrected from the dead , he reigned as King .He is reigning in the hearts of those who believes just like Mary.

So who is Jesus Christ to us?
Is he our saviour?
Is he the King in our hearts?

Maria gave everything she has to Jesus.
What do we give to Him?
What do you have now?
-Time
– Attention
-Obedience
– Talents
-Money

Ask ourselves;
Do we want to follow Maria ?
-grateful heart, humble , generous.
or
Do we often follow Judas?
-greedy , love the world, thief, he betrayed Jesus Christ for money.
or
Jesus also said in

Ayat Hafalan:

John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world .

Guru:Yulies Tan