Mary vs. Apostles' inroads in murmuring

In conjunction with the betrayal of Jesus Christ just before His death, John 12 relays, [3] Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

[4] Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
[5] Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
[6] This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
[7] Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

[8] For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

“You see that rebuke in verse 7?” says Jordan. ‘It’s interesting in verse 8 you see it’s ‘ye’ and not ‘thee.’ ‘Ye’ is the plural. In verse 4, it’s just Judas talking, but you learn in Matthew and in Mark that it wasn’t just Judas; it was the whole bunch of them.

“John focuses on the source of the bad attitude. John is going to focus on the one who’s causing the poisoning of the disciples’ thinking and he traces the problem to its source, to the origin. ‘Evil communications corrupt good manners.’

“I’ve said to you before, and I wish I’d kept a listing of some of these verses, that everything comes to light in the Book of John. He brings it to the light and you see all these machinations back there. John reminds you it’s Judas causing the problem.

“What Matthew and Mark do is record the incident out of its chronological order so as to explain the role of Judas in betraying. Christ tells Judas, ‘Leave her alone,’ and then looks at the bunch of them and says, ‘The advice you’re getting from this bird is bad.’

"When He says, ‘The poor you have with you always and me you don’t have with you always,’ He’s saying, ‘You’ve got an opportunity right now with me here that you’re not going to have all the time. You can always help the poor.’

“Who is He embarrassing here? He’s rankling Judas. He’s rebuking all of them, but the source of the problem, the one He’s dressing down and putting in his place, is really Judas and it’s Judas who immediately goes out from here and begins to bargain with the priest.

“The first words recorded out of Judas’ mouth in the Scripture is in John 12:5. That’s the first thing Judas says. It’s, ‘I mean, think of what we could have done for unwed mothers and people downtrodden in life with this money.’ He’s a good utopian social worker. He had no heart for Christ at all. No heart for what Mary was doing.

“She takes this very costly spikenard and just wastes it, according to Judas. Mark 14:4-5 reads, [4] And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
[5] For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

“Judas looked at pouring that ointment out on Christ and anointing Him as a waste of good money. Useless sacrifice to no good end.

“That’s the first thing in Scripture that you read that he said. You know what the last thing you read that he said? Matthew 27: ‘I’ve betrayed innocent blood.’ Both the things he says, first and last, are indicative of the man.

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“Verse 5 tells you it was 300 pence worth. There’s a parable Jesus tells in Matthew 20 about a pence. Now, if you get paid a pence a day, how much would 300 pence equate to? About a year’s pay. You figure Mary has this box of ointment and you notice in John 12:7, Jesus says ‘she kept this.’

“This thing is a treasure to her. It’s something she’s kept; she’s gotten together, how I don’t know. An inheritance? Earned it? This is not just something that was laying around the house; this is something that was valuable to her.

“Do you just go blow a year’s pay? She takes that very costly spikenard (a spice used to embalm).

"In Mark 16, you’ll see that the women came to anoint his body AFTER His burial; Here Mary’s doing it before it.

“And she anointed the feet of Jesus. In Matthew, it says she poured it on His head. But you see Matthew is the gospel of the king, and when you think about the gospel of the king you think about anointing His head.

"In Mark it says she had the box of ointment and she broke the box. That’s sort of like the broken body and the broken bread. But the Book of John is ‘the Word became flesh.’ He’s coming and dwelling in our flesh, our dust.

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“She comes to His feet and that’s where you saw Mary back in John 10. She’s right there at His feet, worshipping. That’s what you do when you prostrate at someone’s feet. She wiped His feet with her hair.

“There’s a fascinating comment Paul makes about a woman’s hair. He writes in I Corinthians 11:15, [15] But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

“Mary takes that which she glories in and lays it at the Lord’s feet. She’s making a sacrifice, demonstrating how valuable Christ is. It’s a demonstration of devotion and affection and attachment and value. She treasures Him above her own glory. She treasures Him above all of the earthly things that you would treasure and she makes Him the most of everything.

“She wipes His feet with her hair. I love how those little details of devotion are noted in the Scripture. That’s an important thing to me.

"That thing back in Malachi 6 when it talks about how He has that ‘book of remembrance’: [16] Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

“In the Psalms it says He has the bottle for the tears of His saints. There’s nothing they or you do for the Lord, no sacrifice you make, no devotion, no just living for Him and nothing else, that He doesn’t take notice of.

"Others may not, others may not appreciate it . . . the disciples standing around in John 12, obviously there’s some of them who don’t, but the Lord does and He notes those things and He takes them into consideration.

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“John 12:3 says ‘the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.’ That’s like in Ephesians 5 where Paul writes, [2] And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

“That’s what Mary was doing. She was demonstrating how much she cherished and valued Christ. She was willing to sacrifice and give up everything for Him and the odor of that sacrifice has filled and permeated the house.

“Philippians 4:18 says, [18] But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.

“You see, that’s a picture of what God sees when He sees that kind of sacrifice.

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“It’s a fascinating thing that Mary realizes Christ’s going to die, because the apostles hadn’t got that yet. After He’s resurrected they don’t even remember. She’s actually ahead of the very men He’s training to be the leaders in the ministry!

“He’s been telling them since Matthew 16:21 and Luke 18:31-34 that He was going to go to Jerusalem and die and be raised again and they didn’t get it. Mary, seeing what’s going on, seeing the hatred, she’s got it and she’s got that heart to say, ‘I value you.’

“You hear people say, ‘Give a person their roses before they die, not at the funeral; it’s too late then.’ That’s kind of what she’s doing here.

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“You look at John 12:4 and you see Judas has no heart for Christ. He’s just a spiritual blockhead. She gave up 300 pence worth; Judas is going to sell Him for 30 pieces.

"She takes a box and breaks it; he’s got the bag. She’s worshipping; Judas is a thief. She’s pointing people to Christ; Judas is drawing people away from Christ, pointing them to the poor: ‘Don’t think about Christ; the poor are more important than He is.’

“And he’s infecting the other apostles. That’s why Christ tells Judas, ‘Let her alone,’ and then rebukes the whole bunch of them because they had all bought into the influence of Judas.

“You remember that verse back in Psalm 23: ‘Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head.’

“That’s literally what’s going on here and you see the devotion of a Mary, and a Martha, and a Lazarus, and a Simon, but you also see even among the apostles the inroads of the hatred, the questioning, the murmuring.

“Notice that statement from Christ about Judas: ‘Not that he cared for the poor.’ The criteria that Judas states about, ‘Let’s give it to the poor; look at all we could do for the poor with this,’ is saying, ‘Why waste this sacrifice on Jesus when it could it have been used for the felt needs of the poor?!’

“That’s really the criteria of a covetous soul. That verse in Mark, when he calls it ‘this waste,’ you understand love is never a waste? Sacrifice, generosity, is never a waste. It’s never a waste when it’s sacrificed for the Lord. That’s Judas’ attitude and the Holy Spirit’s commentary on Judas is that he didn’t really care for the poor.

“John 12:7 is a real clear rebuke and what Christ’s saying there is, ‘The opportunity to ministry to me isn’t going to be here that long. It’s fixing to be over with. In a week I’ll be gone. The poor are still going to be here.’

“That’s a great statement. What Jesus is saying is, ‘What you need to do, guys, is keep the first commandment FIRST: ‘Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and your neighbor like unto it as yourself.’

“While Judas is saying, ‘We should take that and give it to our neighbor,’ Mary’s saying, ‘He’s God! He’s more important than any neighbor we will ever have! We want to keep Him first!’

“That’s in essence what Christ is saying. That day of opportunity to honor Him isn’t going to be there forever.

“Mary anoints Him before He dies. What’s done in Mark 16:1 ([1] And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him) is after His burial. So Mary’s ahead of the game.

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“When He says there in Verse 8, ‘The poor you always have with you, but me ye have not always,’ this is just sort of as an aside.

“There’s two things in that verse that strike me. When He says, ‘But me ye have not always,’ that’s a death stake into the heart of the pagan doctrine of ‘transubstantiation.’

“That’s the Roman Catholic idea of the Mass that when they consecrate the wafer, the host, and the wine, that the literal real presence of Christ is there; that that bread ceases to be bread and becomes the real, literal body of Jesus Christ.

“Their idea is because the Mass is being performed somewhere on the planet at every moment of the day, there is this perpetual presence of Christ through the Mass with us and that He’s always here: ‘Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world.’ They say that means the Mass.

“Well, that verse in John says just the opposite: ‘You’re not always going to have me with you.’ You say, ‘Well, what does Matthew 28:20 (‘Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’) mean?’

“That’s talking about in the future in the Kingdom when He comes back and sets up His kingdom—THEN He’s always going to be there! This is the first coming, and between the first coming and the Second Coming, He isn’t always going to be there.”