The Sacrifice of the King Pt 1

As we're worshiping you, Lord, we look to you, Lord. As we come this morning, we each bring whatever our week gave us and whatever you gave us. And we ask for your encouragement this morning to keep on keeping on, Lord, and to stand in having done all to stand, trusting you, Lord. Would you stand? That is where hearts, wounds will stay. You're worthy of our praise this morning.

You give life, your love, how you bring light to the darkness, Lord. You know what light does? It reveals, it dispels the darkness. It energizes, it enlightens, Lord. You are the light of the world, Lord. We praise you, Lord Jesus. We thank you. You truly breathe life into us. As your word said, let us make man in our image. And so we have that. That. We need to fellowship with you.

And before we come to you, we're just spiritually dead. When we come to you and are born again, life is never the same. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Have some fellowship, guys.

Good morning.

Glad you could be here this morning. If you could begin to locate your seat, grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

First of all, on the left-hand side are all of the things that we have going on throughout the week. So as always, find us on Facebook. Find some of those spots to get plugged into, places where you can be involved. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, some things to pay attention to. This coming Saturday, fellas, we're going to have a men's breakfast, 8 o'clock a.m., back in the Agape room.

And then also, for the young adults, worship night coming up. Reminder for the ladies that the women's conference is December the 3rd. And again, that sign-up sheet is out there in the lobby. And then one thing that is not. In your bulletin, hopefully everybody has either brought their Operation Christmas Child boxes or you're going to run home and get them in between services and bring them back before second service.

But there are still five spots available to go down to Dallas with us to work at the Operation Christmas Child warehouse down there. So if you are interested in that, please get a hold of Jana. I'm not sure if the sign-up sheet is still out there or not, but get a hold of Jana because we do still have some spots available for that. As far as I know, those are the things that are going on.

So if you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 13. Psalm 13. As always, looking at the New American Standard just so we sound the same. Then afterwards, you can go back to using whatever Bible you brought. As you are turning to Psalm 13, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen. The even verses. Psalm 13. For the choir director, a Psalm of David. How long, O Lord, will you forget me? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.

Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death. And my enemy will say, I have overcome him. And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. But I have trusted in your loving kindness. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. And Father, I do come before you and we thank you that we can sing to you because you have dealt bountifully with us.

Lord, we can trust in your loving kindness. Because your loving kindness is bountiful. Better than life. And so, Lord, I pray that as we spend time in your word here this morning, that you would do your work through the power of your Holy Spirit, through your word. Father, there have been lots of little ways that the enemy has been trying to hassle this morning.

Soundboard issues, all kinds of things. And so, Lord, I just pray that you would move by the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, that you would fight against those attacks of the enemy. And Lord, prevail, Lord, through the power of your word and by the power of your spirit. Father, we thank and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26.

Matthew, chapter 26. Today, we move into another section in the book of Matthew. Really, coming towards the end of the book of Matthew. The section that we move into today is a new series that I've entitled, The Sacrifice of the King. And so, this is part one. Part one of the series, The Sacrifice of the King. And if you like subheadings, I've put the subheading, The Preparation, on this.

Because that's exactly what's going to begin to take place. We now move into that last period of Jesus' life. We've been in that last week for quite some time now. But now we move into about the last 48 hours before his crucifixion. It's been interesting to watch the story of Jesus build. Because we watched from the very beginning, we saw the birth of the king.

We saw the presentation of the king as he came forward to be baptized. And then to be tempted by the enemy. We saw his teaching on the kingdom as he presented the sermon on the mount. We saw him perform miraculous works as we saw the miracles of the king. We saw him as he told parables about the kingdom. Told those kingdom stories to us. We watched him as he confronted the religion of the day.

And we've seen as he has presented the future kingdom to us. And now it's time to get back to the work that he was sent for. Because Jesus. Did not just come to be a great teacher. Even though he was a great teacher. Jesus didn't just come to be a great example. Even though he was a great example. He didn't just come to be a great servant. Even though he was a great servant.

He came for a singular purpose. And the singular purpose that he came for. Was to redeem mankind from their sin. By being the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And that sacrifice is what we're going to see Jesus begin to be prepared for today. And so as we move into these first 16 verses. Of chapter 26. We're going to see three things. We're going to see the plot.

We're going to see the anointing. And then we're going to see the deal with Judas. And so we pick up in chapter 26 verse 1 with the plot. It says when Jesus had finished all these words. He said to his disciples. You know that after two days the Passover is coming. And the son of man is to be handed over for crucifixion. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together.

In the court of the high priest named Caiaphas. And they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and to kill him. But they were saying not during the festival. Otherwise a riot may occur among the people. Now as this plot begins. We actually first of all see a statement from Jesus. Because Jesus is going to predict one more time for his disciples. His upcoming crucifixion.

But it all starts with a very interesting statement. It says when Jesus had finished all of these sayings. The sayings that are being spoken of here by Matthew. Are his answering of the questions. As far as the apocalyptic things come. As far as what will be the sign of your coming. And the sign of the end of the age. He had spent all of this time sharing with him.

About the future. About the signs that they would be able to pay attention to. Between the time of his ascension. To the time of the great tribulation. From the time of the great tribulation. To the second coming. And from the second coming until that millennial kingdom. And you know as well as I do. That one of our favorite things to do. As human beings is to speculate about the future.

We love to speculate about all of these upcoming things. Because we get excited. I'm excited about the second coming of Christ. I'm excited about seeing the signs of the times continue to unfold. And to try to think about what things are going to be like. And see how all of the things that are happening now. Are lining up with the future that Jesus has prepared for us.

But in the same way that Jesus finished these sayings. And now it was time for him to get back to the work of redemption. It's also important for us. To not live in the fantasy world of Lord. What's going to be. But to remember that God has called us to be here and now. It's important to pay attention to the signs of the times. May I remind us brothers and sisters.

That we still live in a fallen world. We still live in a world that is full of very broken people. And I'm reminded of the words of Jesus. That he will speak to his disciples in the book of Acts. When his disciples ask him Lord. Right before his ascension. Lord at this time will you restore the kingdom? Do you remember how he responded to his disciples? He said it's not for you to know the times or the seasons.

Which the father has set in motion. You be witnesses of me. To Jerusalem. To Judea. To Samaria. To the uttermost parts of the world. I'm reminded brothers and sisters. That while it's important for us to pay attention to the signs of the time. And to be looking for the second coming of Christ. We cannot be so busy looking for the second coming of Christ. That we forget to.

Pay attention to the work of redemption right here on this earth. Because as I continue to be reminded. We live in a very fallen world. That is full of very fallen people. That needs a church. That yes is looking for the second coming of their savior. But that is also interested. In doing the work of redemption now. With the people that we have around us. Because that's what we're called to do.

It's not for us to necessarily know. The times or the seasons. Which the father has already. Set into motion. It's our job to now go out and be witnesses. In Jerusalem. In Judea. In Samaria. In the uttermost parts of the earth. And so don't forget. That we have a job to do right here on this earth. Even though we're excited about what's coming. And so it says Jesus had finished these sayings.

And he looks at his disciples. And he says you know. That after two days the Passover is coming. And the son of man is to be handed over for crucifixion. He needs them to know. Because time has gotten very serious. Because time has gotten very close. He says I want you to pay attention to something. The Passover is almost here. And because the Passover is almost here.

The crucifixion is coming. I love that he is so clear to them. Exactly what's about to take place. And they still don't get it. They still aren't fully paying attention. They're still somewhat shocked. When the entire thing takes place. You know why? Because their hearts aren't as in tune with the Holy Spirit. As they should be. And I'm going to talk about that in just a moment.

When we talk about the anointing that takes place in Bethany. Their hearts are still not quite as in tune with the Holy Spirit. As they should be. And so they kind of don't fully pay attention. Jesus goes I need you to know something. The Passover is about to be here. And since the Passover is about to be coming. I'm about to be taken. And to be crucified. This is the briefest time that he spent talking about this.

And it will be the last prediction that he makes. In the book of Matthew of his crucifixion. Because the time for predictions is done. And the time for action has come. And so Jesus makes this prediction to his disciples. About his coming death. He says they will come. And they will seize me. And they will crucify me. And then we see the plot of the chief priests.

Notice what it says in verse 3. Then the chief priests. And the elders of the people were gathered together. In the court of the high priest named Caiaphas. And they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth. And to kill him. Now this plot. Has been happening for quite some time now. As a matter of fact. I would say probably for the last six months of his life at least.

They've been trying to figure out. They've been trying to find a good time to catch him. As a matter of fact. The last week of his life here in Jerusalem. They have been trying to catch him in his words. Remember his confrontation with the religious leaders. As they were asking him questions. Trying to find some form of blasphemy in him. Some way that he would trip up in the things that he'd said.

So that they could find reason to accuse him. They've been looking for ways. But now the time has gotten very serious. Now the time has gotten very close. And so they're meeting at the house of Caiaphas the high priest. You notice the players that are gathered. All of the chief priests. All of the elders. All of the religious leaders within the land. Are all gathered in the house of the high priest.

Trying to come up with a plan. You can sort of picture how this would have gone right. A bunch of men gathered in robes that are way too elaborate for them. Wearing phylacteries on their heads. Representing the scriptures that they were not supposed to violate. Meanwhile. Plotting the death of the one that all of those scriptures. That they weren't supposed to violate.

Plotting the death of the one that all of those scriptures spoke that would come. At the exact time when those scriptures spoke about him coming. Because they too had missed it. And they're plotting this death. Notice how they plotted. They said that they want to seize him by stealth. That word stealth means craftiness. Or deceit. Or trickery. In other words.

There's nothing that's off limits. For how they want to catch him. And what do they want to do when they catch him? They would like to kill him. This plot is a very serious plot. And in their own minds. They are the masters of not only their own fate. But they are the masters of the fate of this so-called Messiah. Who seems to align himself with the scriptures.

And seems to present himself as the son of God. And yet we see that they're not actually in control of anything. Because I want you to notice what they say. Verse 5. But they were saying. Not during the festival. Meaning the Passover. Otherwise a riot might occur among the people. You see there's an interesting paradox that's created here. Is there not? An interesting comparison.

Contrast if you will. That's created here. Jesus had just told his disciples. In two days is the Passover. And what's going to happen on the Passover? The son of man will be taken. And will be crucified on the Passover. You come to this other room. This house of Caiaphas the high priest. And they're all gathered there. And they say we want to catch him. And we want to kill him.

But we don't want to do it when? On the Passover. Why? Because we don't want a riot to occur. You see the time of the Passover. Was the time of the celebration of the nation of Israel. Of their deliverance from the nation of Egypt. Their deliverance from bondage to the nation of Egypt. And while they sat there under the bondage of Rome. The time of Passover had a tendency to be a time.

When the nation of Israel felt a nationalist experience. Like they usually didn't any other time of year. It was a time where families gathered together. So the family spirit was stronger than any other time of the year. And if there was ever a time for an uprising. As far as the nation of Israel was concerned. It was during the time of the Passover. And the religious leaders knew.

Tensions would be high. Nationalistic spirit would be high. There were mixed views about this man Jesus. Who claimed to be the Messiah. And they knew that anything they did against him. Could potentially cause a clash. Which would affect their power. As far as the Roman government was concerned. So they said let's hatch a plan. But not during the Passover. Because that's the wrong time to do it.

And yet the Passover was the exact right time to do it. I'm reminded of something. And I think the first point I would like to make to you is this. We're reminded in this that God is the sovereign God. Of the heavens and the earth. Man may make his plans. Man may try to set his course. But ultimately God is sovereign. You see they had decided the Passover was the wrong time.

For this Jesus to be taken and to be killed. And yet it had been God's plan. Listen from the foundation of the earth. That at Passover time. At this particular year. That Jesus would be crucified. Daniel had prophesied of this hundreds of years before. When he said this many years. Seventy sets of sevens. Seven have been determined. After sixty nine sets of seven years.

The Messiah will come in. To Jerusalem. And he will be cut off. But not for himself. God had set it into motion a long time ago. So they could make whatever plan they wanted to. But ultimately the sovereign God. The creator of the heavens and the earth. Who had already set a plan in motion. His plan would happen. And may I say brothers and sisters. It's no different today.

As I mentioned on Wednesday night. What's happened this week. Is we've seen the heart of the nation revealed. And we've once again seen that God is sovereign. We've once again seen that. Man does not appoint leaders. God does. Sometimes God appoints those leaders. To bless a nation. And sometimes God appoints those leaders. To judge a nation. And I believe what we're beginning to see.

Is the same thing we've been seeing. For about the past twenty or so years. In the United States. In the United States of America. We've seen God's judgment begin to come. As he continues to give us weaker and weaker leaders. Who can't make a strong on righteousness. Or can't make a strong stand on righteousness. Can't make a strong stand on morality. And as we continue to see that happen.

We will continue to see the United States fall away. And we will begin to see a world leader emerge. Who will claim that he has a plan. But we know. That God. Is ultimately the one that has the plan. And while it may seem like man. Is working out all of these things. We know that there is a sovereign God. Who is in control behind the scenes. Who none of this.

Has taken him by surprise. We serve a sovereign God. Not only was he sovereign in the events of mankind. When it came to the crucifixion of Jesus. Not only is he sovereign in the events of mankind. When it comes to the history of the world now. But he's sovereign in your life as well. And as we mentioned last week. Nothing in your life has taken him by surprise.

And he's ultimately in control. It may not feel that way sometimes. But he is. Because we know that the God. Who holds the universe in his hands. Also has your name inscribed upon his palms. So we see that they say. Not during the Passover. But of course God. Had other plans. And now as we come to verse 6. We see the anointing. Now Jesus was in Bethany. At the home of Simon the leper.

And a woman came to him with an alabaster vial. A very costly perfume. And she poured it on his head. As he reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant. When they saw this. And they said why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold. For a high price in the money given to the poor. But Jesus aware of this said to them. Why do you bother the woman?

For she has done a good deed to me. For you always have the poor with you. But you do not always have the poor. But you always have me. For when she poured this perfume on my body. She did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I say to you. Wherever this gospel is preached. In the whole world. What this woman has done. Will also be spoken of. In memory of her.

The next thing that we have. Is really a beautiful scene. Of the preparation of Jesus. A scene that not everybody fully grasped. At the time. Except Jesus. And I believe the woman who anointed him. That we'll identify in just a moment. I think they fully grasped. Exactly what was taking place in this scene. Because remember. The disciples were not really picking up.

On what Jesus was saying. As a matter of fact. Every time they'd hear Jesus speak of his crucifixion. They would just sort of block that out. They would pretend that that wasn't taking place. But this woman who anointed him. Seemed to be picking up on it. And every time she picked up on it. I think her heart was more and more in tune. With exactly what Jesus was saying.

Was going to be taking place. And so this scene is a beautiful scene. And so let's talk about the place where it took place. First of all it says. When Jesus was in Bethany. Now Bethany. Was a city just outside of Jerusalem. It was sort of a safe haven for Jesus. As a matter of fact. Jesus had performed a beautiful miracle. The healing of Lazarus. The raising of Lazarus from the dead.

There in Bethany. Bethany was the home of Lazarus and Martha and Mary. You may remember the dinner that took place. With Martha and Mary. Jesus was there. Martha was very busy. Martha gets a bad rap in this by the way I think. Martha was very busy about the preparation of the dinner for Jesus. Mary and Lazarus were sitting at the feet of Jesus. And Martha's in there going.

Lord I'm trying to do all the cooking. And Mary's just sitting there. And Jesus says Martha. You're all worked up about things you don't need to get worked up about. Mary's chosen the most important thing. And I'm not going to take that away from her. And so this place Bethany. Was a really pretty special place. For Jesus. It was his safe haven if you will.

And so he's gathered at this dinner. That's taking place in Bethany. Now we're also told the home of the one. With whom it's taking place. It says Jesus was in Bethany. At the home of Simon the leper. Now I tried to do some research on Simon the leper. And you know there's only one time. Simon the leper is brought up in scripture. And it's at this point in time right here.

Other than the fact that this is mentioned also. In one of the other gospel accounts. There's no other account we have. Of this guy. Named Simon the leper. We only know two things about him. His name was Simon. Wait for it. And he'd been a leper. Right? Those are the only two things we know about this guy. Other than the fact that he hosted a dinner. In his house for Jesus.

But remember what does leprosy stand for in scripture? Well first of all leprosy was a skin disease. An incurable skin disease. An incurable skin disease. That once it started. Eventually ate away at every bit of your body. Until it completely consumed you. And then killed you. And so leprosy in scripture is always picturing sin. It's always a type of sin. Because sin does the exact same thing.

Sin is a disease that eventually affects your entire body. And it slowly but surely eats away at all of you. Until eventually it kills you. And yet where is Jesus at this point in time? He is at the home of Simon the leper. Why is that important? Because a leper was supposed to dwell where? Anybody remember? Outside the city. Where he was away from everyone.

And do you remember what he was supposed to yell? I'm a leper. Why? Because no one was supposed to come near him. Because his skin disease was so contagious. And yet here is Jesus at the home of Simon the leper. So what should that tell us? Jesus must have at some point in time healed Simon the leper. You see who Simon was before is less important. Than who he is.

Than who he is now. Because who he was before was a leper. But now he is a man who can host the savior of the world in his home. It's a beautiful picture is it not? Because you see when I think about who Simon the leper was. I think about who I was. That I was a sinner. That I was a man who was sold under sin. That I was giving in to all of the flesh of the world.

And it was absolutely eating me alive. And it would eventually. It would eventually have one end in my life. It was going to kill me. Only it wouldn't just kill me on this side of eternity. It would kill me for eternity. And yet Jesus came into my life. And do you know what he did to my life? He cleansed me. And now I am Ryan the sinner. Who has been saved by grace.

And now I too am hosting the savior in my own home. Because do you remember that? Do you remember that little part there in the book of Revelation? I realize it's written to the church of Laodicea. It's written to the church. But he says behold I stand at the door and knock. And if anyone hears my voice. And will open up the door. I will come in. And I'll eat with him.

And he with me. See when I invited Jesus into the doors of my heart. And I'll host him every day. In the home of Ryan. Who was the sinner. Do you know who else is there? We read in John's account. Which by the way. If you. If you want to put. A little note in the margin of your Bible. Write John chapter 12. John 12. Because that's the other place. Where this exact same story is given to us.

We learned that there was somebody else there. The other one that's there at this particular time. Is a guy by the name of Lazarus. And most of you know the story of Lazarus. But if you don't. I want to. I don't want to take for granted. That you know a story that you don't know. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. And you may remember. Jesus received a message from Mary and Martha.

At one point in time. Said. Lazarus. The one whom you love. Is sick. So it says. Jesus waited. How long do you remember? He waited two more days. Why do you wait two more days? Because he needed Lazarus. To be dead. And Jesus says. Let's go. Because Lazarus sleeps. And they said. If he's sleeping. Doesn't that mean he's going to get better? And Jesus realizing that they didn't pick up on the subtlety of what he said.

Told them plainly. As it tells us in John. Lazarus is dead. But let's go. Because you're about to see the works of God revealed. So they go down to the city. And as they go down to the city of Bethany. Mary and Martha meet them. And they say. Lord if you'd only been here. If you'd only been here. This wouldn't have happened. And Jesus says. Do you believe? Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life?

He who believes in me. Even though he dies. He will live. And they say. Yes Lord we believe. So he goes to the grave. To the grave of Lazarus. Remember what he says. He says. Lazarus. Come forth. And out comes Lazarus. Alive and well. You know what that reminds me of? Reminds me of that little statement there. In the book of Ephesians. Where he says. And you who were dead.

In your trespasses and sins. He has made alive. And so right here in this home. You have a beautiful picture of the gospel. Because you have Jesus. There was Simon the leper. Who has now been cleansed of his leprosy. And you have Lazarus. The man who has been raised from the dead. And Jesus is eating dinner with him. Why? Because Jesus is with those whom he has redeemed.

Those whom he has cleansed. And those whom he has brought back from the dead. That's us. We're eating dinner with Jesus right now. Because we are the ones whom he has redeemed from sin. We are the ones who he has raised from the dead. And now we can eat with him. Because there's hope in Jesus. The words of a song have been going through my head this week. I had to do a really, really difficult funeral yesterday.

So bear with me. I'm a little extra emotional today. I had to do a really difficult funeral yesterday. But the lyrics of a song have been running through my head this week. As I've been preparing for this funeral. And it's a song by Chris Rice. And it's just called Untitled Him. In the parentheses it says. Come to Jesus. So I looked up the lyrics to the song to make sure I had them right.

Because sometimes I screw lyrics up. The lyrics start like this. Weak and wounded sinner. Lost and left to die. Raise your head. Because love is passing by. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus and live. It moves its way down just a little bit. And it says. Sometimes the way is lonely. And steep and filled with pain.

I'll try to do better I promise. I'll tell a joke in a minute. But when the sky is dark. And pours the rain. Cry to Jesus. Why? Because he's the only place where there's hope. And it is so clearly portrayed in this dinner. With Simon the leper. And Lazarus the dead guy. Gathered around Jesus. Because the one who cleanses from sin. And the one who restores life.

Is right there in their midst. And brothers and sisters. We may not have Jesus physically here with us right now. But his Holy Spirit is still here present with us. And he is still the God who cleanses from sin. And he is still the God who restores life. And I just wish. That I could get that message. Pounded into the heart of everybody that I know. Because the hardest thing in the world.

Is to tell people that message. And have them get up. And walk out. Like it was never preached.

Well. Enough of that. We move on from there. It says that while they're at this dinner. A woman came to him. With an alabaster vial. A very costly perfume. And she poured it on his head as he reclined. At the table. We're given very few details about this. Other than it was a woman. And she had a very costly vial. A very important perfume. Again. The account in John gives just a little bit more detail.

He tells us what it was worth. And we learned that it was worth about a year's wages. For a working man at that point in time. Let's say a year's wages for a working man. In today's era. We'll call it minimum wage. $20,000 a year. Ish. Right? That's worth a lot of money. That's an expensive bottle of perfume. Right? Nordstrom would love to sell that. That bottle of perfume.

And so. She takes this bottle of perfume. It's in an alabaster flask. Or an alabaster vial. She takes it. And she begins to pour it on the head of Jesus. Now. You should probably ask yourself a question. Why does a woman have such a costly bottle of perfume? Well it would have been. Of great value to her. Because this would have been almost like a dowry for her.

It would have almost been what she would take into a marriage. To say. This is what I'm worth. Is this bottle of perfume. So she, if you will, took everything that she was worth, everything that she had, and she made the greatest sacrifice that a woman of that point in time could make. She took all of her financial security. She began to pour it on the head of Jesus as he reclined at that table.

Can you imagine what this scene would have been like? If you don't know very much about the way that they ate dinner at that point in time, they were way more laid back than we are. Right now, if you looked at the picture of the Last Supper, right, that picture shows everybody sitting in what shows them all sitting in chairs, gathered around the table, sitting upright in chairs like you would in England, because, well, quite frankly, that's what they knew. That's not how they would have eaten at that point in time.

You notice it uses the word reclining because the table would have been somewhat low and they would have literally reclined on a pillow. They would have kind of relaxed a little bit while they were eating. I got to tell you, my ten-year-old eats the exact same. Same way. Skinny as a rail. She must be doing something right, right? So that's the way she eats.

She likes to recline. Every now and then, I'm like, sit up, and then I'm like, huh, that's probably how Jesus ate. Yeah, go on. Anyway, so that's kind of how they would have eaten. So as he's reclined like this, she comes up behind him and she opens up this bottle of perfume. Now, this is a bottle of very costly perfume. Now, I don't know about you, but every time a bottle of perfume is opened in a room, especially

with a bunch of dudes in it, what do you begin to think? You begin to smell, why did it start to smell so good in here? That aroma would have filled the entire room. And as that aroma fills the room and she begins to pour it on the head of Jesus, and as it runs down his hair, we read also in the account in the Gospel of John that she also washed his feet with it.

This was an extravagant thing to do. It was a sacrificial thing to do. It was a ridiculous thing to do. It was an extravagant thing to do. It was an extravagant thing to do. It was a ridiculous thing to do. It was an extravagant thing to do. It was an extravagant thing to do. But it was a great act of worship. And as oftentimes happens with a great sacrificial act of worship, there's a lot of different

responses to it. Notice what happens in verse eight. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this and said, why this waste? This perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given. This perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given. This perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given. The reaction from the disciples is somewhat surprising.

Am I right? They're indignant. They're upset. Why are they upset? Well, we could have taken this and we could have sold this and we could have given all the money to the poor. Now, Matthew's a little bit more gracious than John is about this because Matthew doesn't mention who was behind this statement. John reminds us that the one behind this statement was none other than Judas himself, who had

control of the money. and had a tendency to take a little for himself. You see, that's always how it starts when we condemn one person who's a little bit sacrificial in their worship, who's a little bit extra in their worship, is there's always one person who's like, why would they do that? And the rest of us sort of pick up on that, like, yeah, why would they do that?

I bet they're just trying to draw attention to themselves. I mean, we could have really done something good with that. I know, right? What were they thinking? It always starts with that one person who has that negative attitude, and then it sort of flows to everybody else around us, and that's what began to happen, and they were indignant. But did you notice how they hid their indignant nature?

How they hid, especially Judas, how he hid his greedy sort of nature? He hid it with his desire to take care of the poor. We could have taken this, and we could have sold it, and there could have been all kinds of money that we could have given to the poor. It's always amazing how we can cloak our selfish desires with what we could do for others. Right? I don't know if you,

listen, I'm gonna step on a few toes here, I'm sure. I don't know if y'all heard about the climate accord that took place. It was either last week or the week before, and that, oh, shoot, I had written down how many private jets had flown to the climate accord that used about 1,000 tons of greenhouse gases. Bear in mind that sending a rocket to the moon used 75 tons of greenhouse gases, and yet all of these climate elitists decided that they would fly, fly their private jets to an accord that had to do with taking care of the climate.

It's kind of like lecturing people about what they do with their money when you own five homes. You know, it's stuff like that. And so that's kind of what these disciples do. And listen, before we start condemning all the rich elite people, do we ever do it ourselves? Sure we do. Let's not condemn others without pointing the finger at ourselves first. You see, they hid their,

Judas hid his greed with his desire to take care of the poor. And so they're indignant about what she did. But I want you to notice how Jesus responded. But Jesus, aware of this, which would indicate what? They all said this under their breath. They all said this hoping that he wouldn't hear. Listen, we need to understand something. Complaints always get back

to the person you're complaining about. You just need to know that. And complaints always get back to, to Jesus. They do every single time. He hears them all. Isn't that great? Every time you complain and you say it really quiet or you're in a room with only the two people that you want to complain with, you've hidden yourself away so that you can complain about the things that are taking place

so that no one else will hear you. You know who hears you? Jesus does. Because he hears everything. Well, anyway, so that goes on from there. And it says, Jesus, aware of this said, why do you bother this woman? She's done a good deed to me for you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. For when she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her. Jesus, rather than being indignant, was actually blessed. I love the first thing he said. Well, why are you giving her a hard time? She did a good deed. She did a good thing. She did a beautiful thing. He said, you're always going to have the poor with you.

Now, lest we think that that's Jesus saying, don't take care of the poor. Let's remember what he just said in the previous section, that we are to do good to people. As a matter of fact, our fruit is the greatest test of our faith. Because they said, as much as you did it to the least of these, you did it to, me. As much as you did not do it to the least of these,

you did it to, me. But what he's saying is, make sure that I come first in all of these things. You'll always have the poor with you, but you won't always have me with you. Then he goes on to say, she seems to have a spiritual acuity that you've missed. You see, she did this to prepare me for burial. What does he mean by that? Well, Jesus knew that his body,

his burial would not happen the way that a normal Jewish burial would take place. You see, in a normal Jewish burial, what would happen is that there would be time that was spent. The body would be anointed with different types of spices and perfumes. It would be wrapped properly and placed in a tomb in a very careful sort of way with all of the proper things done.

Well, Jesus was buried in a hurry. And while he was wrapped the way that he was supposed to, they weren't able to prepare him with all of the perfumes and spices as they would normally prepare him. That's why, at the resurrection of Jesus, the first people that were there were the women. Why? Because they had come after the Sabbath day to anoint his body properly

with spices and perfumes. And yet Mary knew, somehow, she was tuned in with the Holy Spirit enough to know there may not be time for that. I just want to do something for Jesus that I can do. He said, she's prepared for my burial. And then he goes on to make a great statement. He says, every time this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this woman's story will be told.

Now, you may be asking yourself a question right now. Who is this woman? Well, again, if you were to look over at John chapter 12, you would learn that this woman is Mary, the sister of Lazarus, the sister of Martha, the one who was always at the feet of Jesus. This is such a beautiful picture of what, what worship is supposed to be. This is such a beautiful picture

of what God desires in our heart for worship. And so, before we move on to this last section that's somewhat disheartening, I would like to talk for just a few moments about worship. Because that's exactly what we see here is the pure heart of worship. What does it look like to have the heart of worship that God desires for us to have? Well, from this little story,

I've drawn out five things that have to do with the heart of worship. Number one, she was sensitive to the Spirit. She was sensitive to the Spirit. You see, somehow the Holy Spirit had been at work in her so that every time Jesus was making these predictions about His death, because remember, when Jesus would make His predictions about His death, who did He address it to?

His disciples. That didn't necessarily just mean the 12. I think potentially she could have been there in some of those times when He said what was coming. Some of those times when He said, hey, you need to know they're going to take me and they're going to crucify me. And she was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. She was sensitive to that leading. She was sensitive

to what was actually going on. And she was paying attention to the things that Jesus was saying, not just what she hoped He was saying. She was paying attention to the things that Jesus was saying, not just what she wished He was saying. And she was tuned in with that Holy Spirit. And I have a question for you. Are you sensitive to that moving of the Holy Spirit

in your life? You see, it's so easy to not pay attention to what the Holy Spirit's doing because He's teaching you things all along. He's showing you things all along, but we have to be sensitive to what He's telling us. We have to be sensitive to that leading in our lives. And sometimes our sensitivity is dulled by the distractions of this world. Sometimes our sensitivities

are dulled by the sin of this world. And as our sensitivities are dulled by the sins of this world, that gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, because He's always gentle with us, is He not? That gentle, gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit gets missed. We lack that sensitivity to the things of the Holy Spirit. I love being around folks who are always sensitive to that leading.

You ever felt like the Holy Spirit's telling you to do something and you're like, no, that's dumb. Listen, next time, don't say, no, that's dumb. Just do it. Because you never know what the Holy Spirit's leading you to do. You never know when the Holy Spirit's going to use you in a very powerful way. You see, the Holy Spirit was who was leading Mary to anoint

the head of Jesus. Can you imagine what would have happened if she would have said, no, that's too extravagant. No, that'll cost me everything. That's my entire financial security. Everybody's going to make fun of that. Everybody's going to think that's weird. Everybody's going to think that's too extravagant of a thing to do. Can you imagine if she'd done that?

We would miss out on this entire story. We would miss out on this beautiful picture of what worship is supposed to be. But no, she was sensitive to the Spirit. The second thing that I take note of about worship is that worship is sacrifice. Worship is sacrifice. And again, in our 21st century, I think that we forget that that's what worship is. See, worship of God

originally was sacrifices. The way that they worshipped God was to bring a sacrifice to Him. They would pick out a perfect lamb from a lamb from the flock so that they could make a sacrifice to the Lord. And when that sacrifice was brought to the Lord, it was referred to as worship. I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again. I fear sometimes that we only dumb worship

down to the 30 minutes that takes place right before the Word gets taught. And that's only one small portion of worship. It's a very important part of worship. Don't get me wrong. But it's only one part. We call that praise. Praise is a really important part of worship. But what we're doing right now is worship to the Lord. When you get up in the morning, if you decide that

what you're going to do is take some time to spend some time with Jesus, that's worship. And it's sacrifice. When you choose to serve Him even though you don't feel like serving Him and it's a sacrifice, that's called worship. When you choose to go out of your way and that sensitivity of the Holy Spirit and reach out to the person that's around you, that's worship.

You see, anything that we do in the name of the Lord, anything that we do for the Lord with the right heart is worship. But worship always means sacrifice. Worship means sacrificing something of myself. As a matter of fact, in the book of Hebrews, we're told to bring the sacrifice of praise. You know why? Because sometimes when we show up on a Sunday morning,

sometimes when you get up to do your own personal praise time, which I hope you do your own personal praise time, I hope you have your own little praise concert in your house or in your car or in your basement or on your lawnmower, wherever people won't hear you. Because I, Jesus knows I have to go places people can't hear me. Otherwise, my girls look at me and they go, Daddy, shh.

Sometimes you don't feel like praising, right? And yet, we're supposed to do it anyway. Why? Because we're to bring to God the sacrifice of praise. She sacrificed everything to worship her Lord. Sometimes, brothers and sisters, that's what God's calling us to do is to sacrifice everything in our worship of Him. Number three, worship is always to be focused on Jesus.

Oh, how often our worship gets focused on everything but Jesus. We had that potential here this morning. I don't know if you know that or not, but we had some issues with our soundboard this morning. I have no idea if they're fixed yet. They're not, because my sound guy still looks stressed out and he's shaking his head no. We've had issues with our soundboard

this morning, so we went back here in the back and we were praying and I don't know if they can hear themselves while they sing. I know that online it's not going to work, but I know that online it's not going to work. I know that online it's not going out because the soundboard's not working correctly. So we had a conversation right beforehand and I said, you know what?

If everything stops working, just keep singing. Just keep belting it out. Because the sound system, it doesn't matter. The lights, they don't matter. It going out online, I love that the word goes out online, that doesn't matter. What matters is this, is that we glorify Jesus in everything that we do. Whether the sound system works or not, whether the lights

work or not, you probably don't know this, although those of you on this side of the sanctuary might, this heater's not working this morning. See what I mean? Satan's been attacking all over the place today. Sorry over here.

None of those things matter because our focus is supposed to be on what? Our focus is supposed to be on Jesus. If our focus is on Jesus and all of a sudden all of the other things of the world don't really matter all that much, do they? But how often in our world today do we make the focus of worship all of the wrong things? The focus is supposed to be on Jesus.

Because Mary's focus was not on the disciples who were criticizing her, was not on the cost of the ointment, was not on the fear of what the future held, but on simply extravagantly pouring out her heart of worship to her Savior. Number four, our worship can oftentimes be misunderstood by others. Our worship can oftentimes be misunderstood by others. Not everybody will understand the way that you choose to worship the Lord.

Listen, everything needs to be lined up with the Lord. What Scripture says, don't get me wrong. But not everybody's always going to understand. Not everyone will understand the sacrifice that you make. What do you mean you left behind that high-paying job so that you can work a minimum wage job basically to serve the Lord? Shouldn't you have paid attention to your financial security?

Why are you making yourself such a fool by raising your hands in the middle of the worship service? Don't you know everybody's staring at you? Sometimes people aren't going to understand. And listen, when you make a stand for Jesus, you invite the opportunity to be misunderstood. You invite the opportunity for people to misunderstand you.

It's a truth I have to live with on a daily basis in my life. There's a pastor down in Texas. His name is J.P. Pecludin. He says, the moment that you take a position in leadership, you invite the opportunity to be misunderstood. And may I say, taking a stand for Jesus takes that one minute. One step further. Don't let the misunderstandings of people keep you from being obedient

to your Savior. And then number five, and I think this is one of the keys, one of the most important keys. The heart of worship comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus. The heart of worship comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus. Where do we always find Mary? We always find her at the feet of Jesus. We always find her sitting at the feet of Jesus. Now, we don't actually

physically have Jesus here with us, do we? So it's really hard for us to sit at the feet of Jesus the way that we do. The way that she did, right? So what does that mean for us? Well, the term to sit at the feet of is actually a Hebrew idiom meaning to learn from. That's exactly what that phrase means, to learn from Jesus. Well, how can we learn from Jesus?

I only know one really true way and that's to be in the Word of God. To be in the Word of God on a consistent basis, to learn from Jesus. Because if I am in the Word of God learning from Jesus, allowing the Spirit of God to minister the Word of God, to minister the Word of God, to me, then I'm going to be in tune with the Spirit of God which will make me much more willing to sacrifice to God which will do all of the other work that needs to be done in my life. But it starts with me being at the feet of Jesus.

It starts with me being in the Word of God. There's a wonderful story that I read in my preparation for this. Someone told the story of a guy by the name of Donald Gray Barnhouse. If you don't know who he is, he's an amazing theologian, amazing Bible teacher from way back when. And the story goes like this. As a young man, Donald Gray Barnhouse was on a train

riding with an older gentleman. Donald Gray Barnhouse was reading the newspaper and the older gentleman was reading his Bible. And Donald Gray Barnhouse looked at him and said, I wish I knew the Scriptures as well as you did. And the older gentleman looked at him and said, you'd know them a lot better if you'd put down that newspaper and pick up your Bible.

And that's exactly what Donald Gray Barnhouse did. And he became one of the greatest theologians of his time. Now, fast forward a little ways because if you fast forward, there's another story about Donald Gray Barnhouse. He became an amazing Bible teacher and he was teaching at a seminary one time and a student came up to him and he said, I would give anything to teach the Bible like you do.

And Donald Gray Barnhouse looked at him and said, good, because that's exactly what it will cost. Brothers and sisters, I'm learning so much of this world is just so fading away. There is so little of this world that's worth holding on to. And so I must continue to spend my time at the feet of Jesus in his word, learning what he has for me because that's the one thing that won't fade away.

All of these other things are passing away. But my knowledge of him is the one thing that will last for eternity. And if I'm to have the heart that he calls for me to have, then it must begin at the feet of my Savior. Well, unfortunately, we go on from there to a sad part of the story. It says in verse 14, then one of the 12 named Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests

and said, what are you willing to give me to betray him to you? And they weighed out 30 pieces of silver to him. From then on, he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. The next thing that we see is one of the 12. It's interesting that Matthew points out exactly who this guy is. One of the 12. Now remember, how long have the 12 been with Jesus?

Three years now. Three years they've been with Jesus. They've been with him through thick and thin. They've watched all of the things that he's done. They have taken part in all of the things that he's done. They have been a part of the ministry. They have watched him work. They have seen the miracles. They have seen everything that he's done. And yet, one of the 12,

Psalm 41 verse 9 calls him my own close friend. The one who is my own close friend. The one who Jesus trusted so much. The one who the other disciples trusted so much that they let him hold what? All of the money. One of the 12 went to the high priests. Went to the chief priests of the day. And he looks at them and he says, what are you willing to give me? Now there's a lot of speculation

by Bible commentators as to what it was about this particular point in time. That caused Judas to decide, now is the time for me to betray Jesus. What pushed him over the edge? I have no idea. Scripture doesn't say. You have to wonder if that scene pushed him over the edge. You have to wonder if his greed for money pushed him over the edge. Whatever it was,

something pushed him. And he decided it was time to turn tail. He decided it was time to turn on his savior. He said, what will you give me? And they said, 30 pieces of silver. Now again, there's a little conjecture as to how much that actually was because we're not given the denomination. How big were the pieces of silver? How much were they worth? Remember,

oftentimes money was weighed at that point in time. And so how much was it worth? No one's really sure. But it is interesting that the denomination 30 pieces of silver is given. Because if you were to go back in the law, those of you that have been with me in our time in Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, you know that that's the price for the redemption

of a slave.

So he tells them, I'll give you 30 pieces of silver. And he says, good enough. And from that point on, he began looking for the opportune time. He's only got a couple of days left. Jesus had already told him in two days. He knew there was going to be a time coming really soon. He may as well capitalize off of it. So my question for you is this, as we close out this morning.

As we close out this morning, we've seen kind of three different hearts revealed here. The first one that we saw was the heart of the disciples. The heart of the disciples that seemed to not fully be in tune with the Holy Spirit. That seemed to not fully be in tune with exactly what Jesus was doing because they still had their own plan. And their own plan was for Jesus to be

the political Messiah that they had hoped that he would be. As much of the miracles that they'd seen, as much of the wonderful things that they'd seen him do, they still did not fully grasp exactly what he was doing. Perhaps your heart is sometimes like those disciples. You still have your own plan. You still have your own agenda. You're still looking for a political Messiah.

You're still looking for someone who is going to bring about the best world here and now. And you're kind of missing out on what the Holy Spirit wants to do in the big scheme of things. And then there's the heart of Judas. Judas, who seemed to only be concerned about his own kingdom. Judas, who only seemed to be concerned about himself, who was willing to sacrifice everything

and everyone, including Jesus, as long as it would better him. Boy, I do pray no one has that heart in here this morning. But if you do, today's the day to repent. What have you been willing to sacrifice Jesus for? What have you been willing to give up your relationship with Jesus Christ for? What is your 30 pieces of silver? But then there's that heart of Mary.

That heart of Mary that was in tune with the Holy Spirit, who was focused on Jesus, who had sat at the feet of Jesus, and was just willing to sacrifice everything to show her love and devotion for Him. What position is your heart in this morning? Only you can answer that question. And only Jesus can do that work in your heart. Amen? Would you all stand?

As the worship team comes up to share one more song with us, I just ask that you allow the Holy Spirit to search you. That you allow yourself not only today, but throughout the rest of this week, to spend just a little bit more time at the feet of Jesus, learning from Him, getting more in tune with this Holy Spirit, and seeing a little bit more how much He has cleansed you and brought you back to brand new life. Father, we come before you and thank you for the time that we've had in your word. And Lord, I just ask that you would use your word in our lives as you see fit.

Lord, as always is my prayer, I pray that anything of me that was ridiculous would just absolutely be botched out of people's minds. And Lord, only the things of you would remain. And so Lord, move as you see fit in our hearts and lives. And we thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. He was again forsaken.

Accepted.

Your spirit is within me.

Would die for me.

Amazing love to all. Forsaken.

Oh, your spirit. It's my joy to all. It's my joy to all.

Praise you. We thank you. We love you. Please go before and bless our week now. May we focus on you, Lord. May we offer the sacrifice of praise, Lord. And look to you, the author and finisher of our faith. In Jesus' name. Amen. The Lord bless y'all.