John 12:1-11

Palm Sunday

April 5, 2009

John 12:1-11 (New International Version)
Jesus Anointed at Bethany

 1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

 4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.[b]" 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

 7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

 9Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

 

 

 

LET US FOLLOW JESUS TO THE GRAVE!

I. An act of love prepared him for the grave

II. His act of love prepares us for the grave

 

Today we're going to discuss a subject that isn't always pleasant or an easy thing to do. Today we're going to talk about making funeral arrangements. Have you ever had to make the arrangements for the burial of a loved one? For those who have had to do that, you know how difficult it can be especially when death comes unexpectedly. It has happened to a number of us that when we got up one morning, little did we realize by the end of the day we would be picking out a casket, and buying a burial plot for a loved one.

           
Since making preparation for a burial can be a traumatic experience, more people are beginning to make their own long before death is near. It's called “pre-arrangements.” In other words, people are going to a funeral home of their choice to pick out their own casket, make their own funeral arrangements, and reserve a burial plot and prepay it all.

           
But is that all there is in preparing for burial prearranging, what casket or what cemetery in which to be buried? That's the question we want to consider today on this Palm Sunday.  When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, it was, in many ways, a funeral procession.   He was heading to his grave.  As we follow him to the grave, we ask, “What preparations were made for his burial?” In the portion of God's Word before us we learn that   I: An act of love prepared him for burial. Part II: His act of love prepare us for our burial.

           
Speaking of making prearrangements for burial, do you know how much an average funeral costs? Just an average funeral with nothing fancy runs around $8,000. That's a lot of money, but we are willing to pay that because it's a way in which we express love and honor for the one who has died.          That's exactly what was happening at the dinner at Simon's house. Mary lavished Jesus with an expensive act of love and honor in preparation of his burial. Let's review what happened. The events of our text took place in the village of Bethany where a dinner was being given in honor of Jesus on the night before Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time. All the disciples were there, along with a number of close friends, including Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead and his sisters, Mary and Martha. Like on another occasion that took place in Bethany, Mary draws our attention to what she does. While the dinner was going on, Mary took a jar of very expensive perfume and poured it out on Jesus' head and feet, and then wiped his feet with her hair. According to the gospel accounts, the disciples were indignant about what she was doing. It was a disgrace for a Jewish woman to let down her hair in public and besides, the disciples thought pouring out the perfume, worth a year's wage, was a waste of money. John tells us that Judas, hypocritically, claimed it could be put to better use in helping the poor. But listen to how Jesus defended her actions. He said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”

           
With these words Jesus is telling us that although his death was still a week away, she was preparing his body for burial with the perfume. And it is good she did this because we know there wouldn't be time for that later. Recall when Jesus died, his body was hastily taken down from the cross and quickly placed in a grave without proper preparations because the Sabbath day was about to begin. And recall when the women went to the tomb on Easter to prepare Jesus' body properly for burial it was too late because he had already risen. Now we don't know whether or not Mary knew that there wouldn't be time for Jesus' body to be properly prepared for burial after he died. That's not really all that important to know. What's important is that Jesus saw this as an act of love which honored him and prepared his body for burial.

           
Now I suppose we might think, “Had we been there we would have done the same thing!” The same as who though, Mary or the disciples? Think about it. Would we be willing to part with a year's wage for Jesus on something that wouldn't last for more than a few moments? Perhaps that's not a fair question, but what about $10 a week? Unfortunately, at times because of our sinful nature, we, like those disciples, object to spending too much on Jesus. At times, don't we consider even the few moments we spend with Jesus a waste of time? Now certainly, we can't duplicate what Mary did for Jesus in preparation for his burial, because he died only once. But we still have reason to honor Jesus with acts of love in all we do or say. Jesus deserves such honor because he poured out for us something much precious than costly perfume. He poured out his life's blood not to cover the stench of a decaying body, but to cover the stench of our sin. And so dear friends, in everything we do, yes, even in our offerings, may we honor the Lord with our acts of love even as Mary did.


                                                                                                II.
           
As we stated earlier, the Lord accepted Mary's act of love as preparations for his burial. But did that expensive perfume really prepare the Lord for his death? What made the Son of God ready to be buried? Not Mary's love for him or any expensive perfume poured on his body, but his love for her, and for you and for me. Out of love for us, Christ was willing to die for our sins and be buried. And it's this act of love that now prepares us for our burial. And we can even say more. It's not the fact that Jesus was put in the grave that prepares us, but the fact that Jesus came out of the grave. Because Jesus' grave is empty, we now know our sins are forgiven and our final resting place is not in some dark grave, but the eternal rest of heaven. Yes, Jesus' sacrifice, his death, his burial are the only things that can truly prepare us to face death and the grave.

           
Let me share with you a true story which illustrates what this means. A faithful Christian woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She had always been faithful in coming to church. But when she learned about her terminal disease she stopped coming to church. When the pastor asked her why she had stopped coming, she said, “I felt guilty because I felt like I was only going to church to get ready to die.” To which her pastor replied, “Isn't that why we all go to church-to get ready for when we die?”

           
That is true, isn't it? Why do we walk through the doors of this church? Why do we walk to that baptismal font carrying our children to be baptized? Why do we walk to that table to eat the Lord's Supper? We walk to these places because there God proclaims the good news of the Savior's death and resurrection which alone can remove the fear of death and the grave.

           
And so dear friends, let us realize that yes, someday we will have to go to the funeral home to make preparations for burial. And yes, there is wisdom in doing this ahead of time. But let us realize that the real preparation for burial doesn't take place at the funeral home. It takes place at the Savior's empty cross and at his empty tomb. Yes, when we walk with Jesus by faith, we will always be prepared.  May this coming Holy Week prepare us for the day of our death!