emails. We used them this week in our— in my devotional time with the boys. I have kids 9 and 7, and it was awesome. Helped think about the lesson. There was even an activity provided, which I think is so cool. So check out those parent emails.
Second thing I just want to encourage our church with is I just wanted to thank you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you. If you showed up to the Morales on Friday night for Brian Morales— for the memorial for Brian Morales, rather. That, that was amazing. We filled this room up with people who love Brian and Dyed and their family. And I believe it was a tremendous, tremendous encouragement to that family in a difficult moment. And, you know, one of the things I think that we should be taking away from COVID and from that time of being separated is that being a member of a church family is not just a nice thing or an optional thing. It really is an essential thing for the Christian life. And I think we should hold it much more precious. And at moments like that, you see, you know, 30 years of shared history by God's grace with that family and many others here. God uses ordinary members to walk beside one another in an extraordinary way. So if you're not a member of a church, you don't have to join this one. We love you. But we want you to join one. We want you to find a family of faith that you could walk alongside. Amen.
Well, would you— let's do this. Please stand with me for the reading of God's Word. We're going to be in Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. This is God's Word. It was now 2 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. For they said, not during the feast, let there be— let 'lest there be an uproar from the people.' 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. There were some who had said to themselves indignantly, 'Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.' And they scolded her. But Jesus said, leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 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. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 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. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. This is God's word.
Father, I pray you give us ears to hear and eyes to see. I pray especially, God, that you would bring encouragement to those who need encouragement. And challenge to those who need challenge through the power of your word in Jesus' name, amen.
Well, it's hard to quantify how much a relationship is worth, isn't it? We often say, you know, the closest relationships in our lives are priceless. But in the holiday season, I'm sure all of you are trying to figure out, you know, is my brother-in-law a pair of socks brother-in-law or is he a pair of new Beats headphones brother-in-law? Right? Not that we're trying to quantify their value, but there are differences.
And I remember one time very specifically in my life where I had to quantify the value of a particular relationship. I began dating a girl who lived in the Washington, D.C. area, and I lived here in El Paso. I was going to school. I was working part-time, working kind of part-time through college, and I had a very meager savings account. That very slowly was accruing, 'cause I was super cheap, and so I didn't do anything, and I saved a little bit more every month, and I loved that savings account. I was very proud of my tiny savings account, and I began to realize that if I really wanted to date this girl in D.C., I was gonna need to decrease that savings account. And so as we began dating, I would buy flights out to Maryland, or I think bought her a flight here, and as I'm doing that, I'm starting to see my savings account go up but go down. And so with every month, every month or two where I would buy a ticket to Maryland, I would get a gut check for, is this relationship worth $300? Is this relationship worth another $300? Is this relationship worth another, another? And you start to, it starts to climb, the cost escalates, but at the same time, my affection for this girl began to grow with it. And so as my savings account went down, my affection went up. And at some point— now, and I will say, I wish I could say just, you know, I was just all in on this. Okay, at one point, I did have a conversation with her where I said essentially, look, I am running out of money. And so I'm really wondering whether you think this is gonna work out or not, which— is an endearing thing for your boyfriend to say, right? You're like, and you say, you know, try to preface it, I'm not saying you're not, you know, this relationship isn't worth everything to me, et cetera, et cetera, but like, what do you think? Like, is this trending good or bad here? And at a certain point, I really stopped caring. At a certain point, those thoughts stopped and I was just all in, and by God's grace, Jen said yes, she was the girl, And it worked because we've been married for 13 years this week, which is awesome. Yeah. So in the end, it was a worthwhile investment, right? Like my meager group of Southwest points and monies next to Jen, I would take Jen every time, right?
6 · The pastor transitions from his personal illustration to the sermon's central question—what is Jesus worth to you?—and previews the sermon's structure of examining a shocking act through multiple perspectives
Well, in this passage, in this passage, we see something unusual where people have to quantify the value of a relationship, and it's their relationship to Jesus. And the question we're gonna be exploring today is, what is Jesus worth to you? If you had to put a price tag on your relationship with Jesus, what would it be? Now, I know you guys are in church, and so you're gonna say something like, "Oh, it's priceless, it's invaluable." You know, no, I want your real answer. Like your Monday morning answer, okay? You're doing the budget answer, you're planning your life answer. What is Jesus worth to you? We're gonna do two things today. We're gonna look at this shocking act and then we're gonna look at it through the perspective of the different people involved, okay?
7 · The pastor explains Mark's literary technique of the "Markan sandwich" where two bracketing stories sharpen the point of the central story, identifying the anointing as the central shocking act Mark wants to emphasize
First, the shocking act. Now, Mark, I love Mark. I cannot wait to get to heaven to meet Mark because I was a creative writing major, I love writing. The way Mark writes, is unlike anyone else in the New Testament. He has a sense of pacing and setting and putting stories together to make a point. There's a famous construct in the Markan Gospel called the Markan sandwich, which is the best term theologians could come up with, I guess, you know, let's call it a sandwich. And so this is what happens. There's a short story and then a longer, more substantive story or teaching, and then another story. And the stories bracket the middle story, and in a sense, almost sharpen the point of the middle story. Those two stories on the outside are pushing the same message forward that's being driven home in the middle story. In the middle of this story, the thing being driven home, the thing that Mark is underlining and he's putting in bold and he's putting in italics and he's blowing up in his Microsoft Word to be as big as the page is this shocking act.
8 · The pastor reconstructs the scene at Simon the leper's house, explaining that this was a celebratory gathering of people Jesus had healed or helped, setting the emotional context for what follows
Now, imagine the setting of this shocking act. Jesus is at Simon's house, right? But we don't know a lot about him, but we know one thing, which is that he was a leper. Now, we know he's also not a leper because you don't go to an active leper's house, okay? In other words, this is a guy who'd been healed from leprosy. And we also see in another gospel that Lazarus is there. And so this was something of a party, something of a family reunion. For people that had been healed or helped by Jesus. And so you can imagine the stories that people are sharing. Oh my gosh, I used to not be able to walk and then Jesus healed me. You know, I was possessed by a demon and he freed me. And so these people are swapping stories and it's the week of the Passover. So many are making their way into the city of Jerusalem.
9 · The pastor describes the cultural context of gender separation at meals and introduces Mary's entrance carrying something in her hand, building narrative tension about what she will do
But in the middle of this party, at the moment where things had separated and the men, as traditional, would eat in one area, together, a woman approaches. Now, this woman is known to many. She's Mary, the sister of Martha, if you remember that story, and the sister of Lazarus, the person that Jesus raised from the dead. And so it wasn't unusual that she would be there, but what she does is unusual. So you imagine all the men are sitting in a circle, maybe post-dinner, laughing and joking, but she enters the room, and there would be a little bit of a discomfort, like, well, why is Why is Mary coming over here? And she's carrying something in her hand.
10 · The pastor unpacks the monetary and cultural value of the alabaster flask and nard perfume, explaining through commentary and modern analogies that this was likely a family heirloom worth $30,000-$50,000 in today's currency
Now what she's carrying was, according to the commentators I read this week, probably a family heirloom. Probably the most valuable thing that she or her family owned. This nard, this ointment, this perfume, as it were, was not found in Judea, it was actually from India. So you can imagine how expensive and valuable this would be, that it would be imported to Judea through some family kind kind of connection, they have this, and it's in an alabaster flask. And so the outside of this flask would communicate whatever's inside is expensive, right? Like there are sometimes those gifts. I'm a big, like, I've become again, a big Apple fan. And if you ever open like an app, an iPhone thing, other companies just throw the computer in a box with some like tissue paper, like you can pull it out. But Apple, you have to like remove the thing. And then the phone is sitting there gleaming, and it says, "Designed by Apple in California." You're like, "Ooh, California," right? How exciting, you know? But when you see the package, you're like, "Okay, this thing's expensive," right? Or if you've ever bought a really expensive watch, it's set right there. Like, this is what would have been communicated. People know as she's walking in that this thing, whatever it is, whatever is in that flask is expensive. And Mark says, he understates it a little when he says, very costly. Okay, what does that mean? Well, it means from later in the story that it would be an entire day's work from a kind of somebody who's not a servant, but somebody who's not making tons of money, right? So it represents a big thing. Maybe you think poverty line in America or something like that. So this would have been worth $30,000 to $50,000, okay? So if you ever have an heirloom in your house that you're worried your kids are gonna bump and it's gonna fall, like this is one of those. Like you don't bring that thing out. You don't bring out the $30,000 flask to a party.
11 · The pastor narrates the shocking moment when Mary breaks the flask and pours all the perfume on Jesus, describing the range of reactions in the room and emphasizing the extravagance and humility of her act
And so Mary has this flask, she's approaching Jesus, and people would have expected that one of two things was gonna happen. Perhaps some expected that, oh, this is gonna be a great sign of honor because she's gonna take the flask and maybe take one or two drops and anoint Jesus' head as a sign of, you know, just, you know, gratefulness or honor. Or more commonly, that week of Passover, sometimes the Jews would give gifts to the poor. And so maybe people are thinking this gift is gonna be given to Jesus so he can help the poor. Oh my gosh, this is amazing. This is unexpected. I can't believe that she would give up this heirloom, but, you know, maybe Jesus helping the poor is worth it. But instead, so people may be quiet as this flask is brought in, but instead, Everybody in the room, if there's any conversations going on at the edges of the room, will stop in an instant because she takes the flask, this is what would happen in the ancient world, takes the flask and breaks the top of it off, signaling that all of it is about to be used, that not a drop will remain. And she takes it and pours it on Jesus. And the room just is silent. And as she's doing this, and she's probably crying tears of gratefulness and joy and love, She pours it over Jesus and even on his feet. And one gospel suggests that she's wiping his feet with her hair, which is kind of the most, not debasing is not the right word, but the most humbling action you could take toward somebody. And in a moment, you see what everybody's reaction is. Some people are speechless, some people are shocked, some people are, as we'll see, angry, some people are just utterly confused. Like, what did I just see? Like, what was that?
12 · The pastor signals a structural shift to examining the anointing through the perspectives of different characters present
So let's look at this action through the lens of the people, the characters in the story, and what it reveals about their view of Jesus.
13 · The pastor explains that the chief priests and scribes—representing different factions of Jewish leadership—were unified in their opposition to Jesus, comparing this unusual unity to American political divisions to emphasize its significance
Well, first is what the religious leaders say about Jesus. Now, we're gonna do the first bracket right up above this story. This is meant to point to the same point as the story of the anointing oil. Now, you find that the chief priests and the scribes are against Jesus. So what that means is the two kind of chambers, as it were, of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the political, religious group that leads the Jewish people. Think about it as the Senate and the House of Representatives. It says they, all of them, even among the different parties, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, all the different groups that were probably represented in that group, they all agree on one thing: we've got to get rid of Jesus. Now, I don't know if you've noticed this, if this has been your experience in America, but it tends to be unusual for everyone in the House of Representatives and the Senate to agree on anything, right? I mean, if that ever happened, I think the news would just like stop. Like, we don't know what to do now, right? This is— it would be so unusual. And yet all of them are united against Jesus.
14 · The pastor interprets the religious leaders' unity as revealing that they viewed Jesus as a threat to their individual goals and ambitions, making him an obstacle to be removed
Oftentimes the only times you see political unity is when you face an enemy so great that it causes you to unite together. And that's what they see in Jesus. Now they all want different things. The Sadducees want power and glory, and they're collaborators with the Roman government. The Pharisees want kind of religious respect and popular teaching authority. But with all of their goals, Jesus is standing in their way. Here's them, here's where they wanna go, Jesus is in their way. They view Jesus as an obstacle to them.
15 · The pastor tells a personal story about being forced as a child to spend time with his grandfather when he wanted to play with toys, illustrating the feeling of viewing someone as standing in the way of what you want
Now a few years ago, actually not a few years ago, when I was a kid, I should say, That was not a few years ago. As a kid, my mom would often make me go do things with my granddad, her dad. He was a great guy, he was full of character, he was from the South but loved being in the Southwest. He's from Mississippi originally. And so she would say, "You're going to your granddad's house today." And you know, as a kid, you're like, "I guess I am." You know, you don't have a lot of authority or ability to drive yourself anywhere else, and so you'd go. And I remember one of the things my granddad loved to do is he would love to, take his truck, an old tan F-150, and he loved to drive the roads between here and like in southern New Mexico farm country. 'Cause his wife, my grandmother, was from the Hatch area and had family out there. So he'd drive those roads, sometimes he'd go shoot in the desert, sometimes he'd just go to Kilburn Hole, sometimes he'd go to Hatch and come back. And so my mom would say, "You're going with your granddad to Hatch today." And I thought, I guess I am. But I wasn't happy about it because what I felt is that, listen, I've got a day of Legos lined up, I got computer games, I've got this stuff, I've got stuff to play with, and you're making me give up all that. And now what's standing in the way between me and Lego time is this 3-hour ride in the back of my granddad's F-150.
16 · The pastor applies the religious leaders' perspective to the congregation, suggesting that we sometimes view Jesus as an obstacle standing in the way of what we want, especially in areas like relationships
And some days, if we're really honest, we feel that way about Jesus. Some days we're like, this is what I wanna do, and Jesus stands in the way. I mean, I've known this, where people will get into a relationship and friends will bring up, you know, I don't think this relationship really honors Christ, or the person you're pursuing honors Christ, and it just seems clear in God's word. And yet, I've seen people kind of walk away from Jesus because they feel like, listen, what I really want is over here and Jesus is standing in my way. Maybe for you, you feel that today. That's what the religious leaders think.
17 · The pastor exposes Judas's secret identity as a thief who had been stealing from the disciples' treasury, and connects this to his willingness to betray Jesus for money
What about Judas? What does Judas' action here say about Judas? Jesus. Now remember, Judas was one of the 12 disciples. He would have looked very similar to all of the other disciples, doing the same stuff, listening to Jesus, following him around. But Judas had a secret. John 12:6, John reveals that Judas was the treasurer and took, stole, from the offerings given to Jesus for his own gain. Judas was a thief. Now we don't understand everything about Judas' motives in what happens in the events of Jesus' ministry and death. But we do know this, that Judas was a thief. And in this moment, he volunteers to betray Jesus for what? For money.
18 · The pastor interprets Judas's pattern of theft and betrayal to reveal that Judas viewed Jesus merely as a means to get wealth, not as someone worth following for his own sake
So what we can surmise is that Judas followed Jesus. We don't know what exactly his motives were, but Judas following Jesus got him richer, okay? Every day that Judas followed Jesus and people brought offerings to Jesus, Judas would take them as the treasurer and steal a little bit for himself. That's what Judas did. So what does it tell us about his relationship to Jesus? Well, for Judas, Jesus was only a means to an end. Judas wasn't following Jesus, it appears, for Jesus' sake. He was following Jesus for what Jesus could bring him.
19 · The pastor extends his grandfather illustration to show how his grandfather incentivized him with treats, but this revealed that the pastor was going for the treats, not for relationship with his grandfather—illustrating the Judas-like heart of using someone for benefits
And very much, we can do the same thing today. Eventually my granddad realized, okay, if I offer this kid something that he can't get elsewhere, then he'll be happy about coming with me. And so he did something amazing, in my view, as a kid. My parents were one of those parent sets that they didn't let their kids have soda. Some of you maybe are that. We love you, but. It scarred me for my life, but just, you know, it's fine. Do what the Lord leads you to do. And so he'd say, listen, if you come with me, I'll let you get whatever soda you want out of the big refrigerator at the gas station and whatever candy you wanted. And all of a sudden I'm like, all right, I'm in. I'm in, let's do this, right? And the other thing he would do is somewhere along the way, he would let me buy, 'cause he would, you know, put up some targets and shoot in the desert, and when I was too young, to do that, he would buy me a cap gun. I don't even know if people know what cap guns are. If you're like 12, you know, 15, you're like, what's a cap gun? You can Google it, okay? And it was a cap gun, it was just like the hammer would hit and it would go pop, pop, right? I thought that was the coolest thing 'cause my parents didn't want me to have guns either. So I'm getting soda, I'm getting candy, I'm getting weapons, like this is awesome, this is a great, great time, you know? But there were some times that my heart, my little heart got revealed where my granddad said, oh, we're not gonna get a cap gun today. I already got you one last week. And then all of a sudden my heart would be, you know, and it's like, oh, we go to the gas station and they don't have my favorite soda I wanted. So I began to be grumbly and grumpy. And you could tell, I could tell looking back, there were many days I got in that F-150, not because I wanted to spend time with my granddad, but because I wanted a cap gun or a soda.
20 · The pastor applies Judas's means-to-an-end relationship with Jesus to contemporary Christians who follow Jesus primarily for benefits like marriage, prosperity, fixed families, or material success, and urges listeners to seek churches that present Jesus as the prize, not just the means
And in the same way, that's how sometimes we can relate to Christians. I mean, to Jesus as Christians. That's the way Judas is relating to Jesus. It goes that deep where we say, you know what? I'm gonna go with Jesus. I'll get in and follow him if I can get a spouse out of it. I'm in with Jesus and I'll follow him as long as I get a better life out of it. I'm in with Jesus as long as he can fix my kids. I'm in with Jesus if he'll, help me reconcile with an estranged spouse or friend. I'll be with Jesus as long as he gives me material success. And let me just say, I know we have a number of folks that may be here for a season, then go on, and they're gonna have to find another local church. And let me just urge you, brothers and sisters, if the Lord moves you from this place, look for a particular thing in the teaching of the church you go to. Ask yourself this, in the teaching and life of the church here, Is Jesus the prize, or is Jesus a means to get the stuff? Right? Is Jesus the thing you want most, or is Jesus the thing that gets you to the thing you want most? Sadly, I think that's many of us, many times.
21 · The pastor introduces the disciples' perspective, acknowledging their genuine sacrifices to follow Jesus while noting that their reaction to Mary's anointing revealed a problematic view of Jesus' worth
All right, third group then, what the disciples say about Jesus. Now, before we go into this, you got to remember, they're the good guys, okay? 'Cause this isn't their finest moment. I know we've said that a lot in the Gospel of Mark, but this yet again is not their finest moment. These were the guys that valued Jesus. These were the guys that left things behind to follow Jesus. They wanted to listen to Jesus. They did sacrifice much to be with Jesus. But in this moment where the woman does this, they say, their first reaction is, "What are you doing?" This, the Gospel of Mark doesn't make it explicit, but there's other gospels that help us see it was the disciples who were among those aghast and frustrated that this was being wasted on Jesus.
22 · The pastor identifies the disciples' first misunderstanding as underestimating Jesus' worth—they believed Jesus was valuable but placed a cap on that value, thinking $30,000-$50,000 was too much to spend on him
And the disciples misunderstood two key things. First, they misunderstood Jesus' true worth. Look at that phrase. They say, "Why was the ointment wasted?" Why was it wasted? To them in that moment, it felt like they had taken this ointment and poured it down the drain, taken this ointment and just poured it out on the grass, like no use at all. Why was it wasted? These disciples believed that Jesus was worth sacrificing for. They believed that Jesus was valuable. But what this story reveals is there is a cap on how valuable they think Jesus is. Maybe he's worth leaving a job or transferring this or moving some stuff around in my life, but is he worth $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 being gone in the blink of an eye? No, not that, not that.
23 · The pastor tells a story about his father purchasing an expensive painting to reconcile with an estranged friend, illustrating how costly gifts communicate the value we place on a relationship
I think their first reaction is telling. You know, years ago, I remember my dad telling a story about— he was trying to encourage me to persevere with my friends and how important friendship is, and so he told me this story. Of how he'd had a good friend that in their adult life, they were friends, and yet because of a series of circumstances, they ended up kind of alienated from each other, and there was a coldness to that relationship, and maybe even a bit of distrust between them. But the friend he knew was still in the El Paso area. And so one day, my parents were at an art gallery, and my mom likes to look at art sometimes, and so they're there, and my dad sees this particular painting, and it reminds him of his friend. It reminds him of his friend and he realizes how much he misses this friend. So my dad, in an unexpected moment, did not walk into that gallery expecting to purchase anything, but he walked out of that gallery with a painting. And he took the painting and sent it to his friend with a note that basically said, "I would love to reconnect. I'm so sorry for what we've lost in our friendship." And that painting actually really did, opened the door to relationship with that friend. Because what does that painting communicate? The painting in and of itself, it's, you know, if you add up the actual value of it, what is it? It's some wood framing, a canvas thing, some color paints. It's not, in a sense, you could say, why would my dad take money and throw it away on a bunch of canvas and paint colors? Because in that moment, he was communicating to his friend, you are this valuable to me. You matter to me. What matters to me more than my money is my friendship with you. It was— the value of it was set and seen in the giver and the gift.
24 · The pastor applies the disciples' capped valuation of Jesus to contemporary Christians, asking where we place upper limits on what Jesus is worth to us in areas like repentance, reconciliation, finances, and family
And in this way, the disciples' struggle here also challenges us. What does our life say about how much we value Jesus? Where are those spots in our lives where there is kind of an upper limit on how much we're gonna value Jesus. Maybe you ask the question, is Jesus worth repenting of a hidden pattern of sin and going through discomfort and shame to get help? Or is it easier to just keep it hidden? Is Jesus worth reconciling with somebody you don't want to reconcile with, with all your heart, but Jesus calls you to it? Is it worth that? Is it worth changing your finances and/or career and/or family life? Scripture says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where is your treasure? What are those things that you are holding on to that you think, "That's too high a price. I believe Jesus is valuable, but it's too much. It's just too much." That's what the disciples misunderstand Jesus' worth.
25 · The pastor identifies the disciples' second misunderstanding as viewing Jesus' mission as primarily temporal and political rather than eternal and redemptive, missing that Jesus came to address eternal spiritual poverty through the cross
But second, they also misunderstand Jesus' mission. Now, what they say here is not bad. They say, well, this could have been sold and used to help the poor. Now, does Jesus care about the poor? Absolutely. Does he care about the outsider? Absolutely, far more than any other person who's ever lived. But here's what the disciples did not understand. They still saw Jesus as bringing a temporal reign in Jerusalem, possibly leading an army against the Romans, And they are thinking like, okay, you know, a year ahead of themselves, 10 years maybe at the most. They didn't see too far ahead. They saw Jesus' mission as being tied up to the very specific material change in their circumstances. They missed that their view of Jesus' mission was far too small. They missed that Jesus does care about the poor and the poor in spirit. But what he's going to do by going to the cross is not just to alleviate temporary material poverty, but eternal spiritual poverty, right? His mission is far bigger than they understand. And sometimes we misunderstand Jesus in the same way. We think, hey man, what's going on doesn't make sense. Jesus leading doesn't make sense. What Jesus is allowing to happen in my life does not make sense. But we're thinking what, a year ahead, 10 years ahead? Jesus is thinking eternity. His mission is pointed at eternity.
26 · The pastor transitions to examining Mary's perspective, previewing that her understanding of both Jesus' worth and mission was correct
So now we arrive at the final character, Mary. Now we know this is Mary from the other gospels. What does Mary say about Jesus? What does this action say about Jesus? What does she truly think about Jesus? Look at what she says about Jesus' worth and Jesus' mission.
27 · The pastor unpacks what Mary's extravagant act reveals about her valuation of Jesus—that she considered him worth more than her dignity, reputation, prosperity, and security, all of which she risked or spent in this moment
Look at what she says about his worth. She's saying in this moment that Jesus is worth more than her dignity, right? What she, you know, her own sense of self, like, oh, I don't wanna do that, that's too uncomfortable. What she does is unusual, strange, even offensive for a woman in her day. She humbles herself all the way to wiping Jesus' feet with her hair, like the most humbling action you could take in the ancient world. But she says, you know what? Jesus is worth more than my dignity. Jesus is worth more than Mary's reputation. She knew that by doing this, some people will just roll their eyes and call her crazy Mary, you know, that there would be people that would whisper about how foolish and shortsighted she was. She's saying that Jesus is worth more than her reputation. She's saying Jesus is worth more than her prosperity. Now listen, this would have been the equivalent of, her or maybe her family's savings account and retirement, right? This is what made them of a certain status, one of the things. And so if you look at your investment portfolio and all your assets, this is like a huge portion of it. With this out of the equation, maybe they're worth far less. Maybe she's worth far less, but she doesn't care. Jesus, she thinks, is worth more. And she thinks Jesus is worth more than her security. Remember that in first century Judea, there were no social safety nets. There was no Medicare, there was no unemployment, there was no help, there was nothing between your family and the street other than your few meager possessions guarded jealously. And in this moment she says, no, no, no, no, this isn't what keeps us safe, Jesus is. This isn't what makes life worth living, Jesus is. This isn't our security, Jesus is. That's what she's saying in that moment.
28 · The pastor explains that Mary, unlike the disciples, understood something of Jesus' mission—that he was heading toward death—and seized this moment to express her love before his burial
She also says something different about Jesus' mission. Now, Watts, one of the commentators, says this: "Perhaps in her extravagant devotion, this woman was one of the first to sense something of who Jesus really was." These disciples, man, they've been with Jesus for 3 years and they still don't get it. But somehow, either through Mary's reason or through the Holy Spirit's leading, Mary, it seems, does get it, right? Because Jesus says, "What she's doing is anointing me for burial." Now remember, Jesus has been telling everyone repeatedly, and they're not listening, that he's gonna die and he's gonna rise again. He's gonna be delivered over, he's gonna die, he's gonna rise again. Over and over he repeats this. And the disciples are just kinda like, "La, la, la, la." And Mary's listening. And she's beginning to piece things together, it appears. She's beginning to sense that his, Death is drawing near. And in this moment, she thinks, on this side of his death, this may be the last moment I have the opportunity to communicate this to Jesus, that my love for Jesus and how much he's worth to me. So she takes this because she understands something of Jesus' mission.
29 · The pastor argues that Mary understood the theological depth of Jesus' mission—connecting Jesus' words about resurrection and life, the Passover lamb imagery, and the need for a substitute to bear judgment—seeing Jesus as heading to the cross for eternal redemption
Now look, this is deep. These are deep waters. But I do believe that what Mary is beginning to see is the shape of Jesus' word, okay? In John 11, when her brother Lazarus dies, Jesus goes to the family and he says this to her family, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She's beginning to put these things together. She's beginning to see Jesus is predicting his death and his resurrection. And yet Jesus is saying, "Whoever believes in me, though he die, will live." What she's beginning to sense, perhaps, perhaps on the road in from Jerusalem, into Jerusalem, she sees the Passover lamb walking by and she begins to sense the shape of what is about to take place. That just as the Passover lamb was slaughtered for the sins of God's people so that they could live, Just as sin always brings death and every single person who sins must face the judgment of God, she sees there's only one way to get out of that, and that's a substitute. And perhaps she's beginning to put the pieces together and see he's the Lamb. And it's only by his death that he can say that everyone that believes in me, yet he dies, will live, that we will be buried with Christ and raised with Christ. Does she get all that? Does she read Isaiah 53? We do not know. No, but we know one thing. She saw Jesus' mission as far deeper than a temporal bandaid. She saw Jesus' mission as far deeper than helping some poor people for a short amount of time. She saw Jesus heading to the cross, heading to his death for an eternal mission, that all those who believe in him would live.
30 · The pastor explains that Mary's understanding of Jesus' mission—that he would die so she could live—completely changed her calculus of what Jesus was worth, making her costliest possession a small gift compared to what Jesus was giving her
And every day in her household, when she saw her brother Lazarus at the table, the one that she had buried now alive, and Jesus' words ringing in her ears, "Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" For her, the answer was, yes, I believe it. You see, because she understands Jesus' mission, something happens in Mary's equations, right, of what should happen in life. Mary is giving her costliest possession imaginable to the Savior. But the Savior will give far more. She understands the Savior is on a path that he will not turn back from, where he will go and die that she might live. And in light of that mission, in light of that, the calculus for what Jesus is worth changes forever.
31 · The pastor makes the core theological claim that if we don't think Jesus is worth much, it's because we don't understand what he's done—that Jesus humbled himself to death on the cross for us, making any sacrifice we make in return comparatively small
Look, here's the truth, Christian. If you do not think Jesus is worth much you don't understand what he has done for you. If Jesus, the Lord of all, in Philippians 2, humbles himself, taking on the form of a servant and a human, and humbles himself even further to the point of death on the cross, if he humbles himself there for Mary, she's like, for me to be on the floor wiping his feet with my hair and to pour out the costliest possession I have, for me to do that is nothing compared to what he's done. It's done. The calculus is all different. For everyone else, what everyone else saw is Mary's giving something of almost inestimable value to Jesus for no reason. Mary's the only one in the room that sees, I've been given, I am being given something of inestimable value, life.
32 · The pastor connects Mary's response to Paul's words in Philippians 3, explaining that understanding what Jesus has done opens our hands to give everything we have because we're gaining something of surpassing worth
And in light of that, she gives all that she has. Guys, if we understand that, it changes our calculus for every decision we make in life, every action we take in life. I think Mary would say with Paul in Philippians chapter 3, whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing, because of the surpassing joy surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. What she does in that moment is say, I have something, I am gaining something of surpassing worth that opens my hands to give everything else I have.
33 · The pastor explains that Mary found her dignity, reputation, prosperity, and security in Jesus rather than in other people's opinions or material possessions, which is what enabled her extravagant act
Look at who Jesus is to Mary. Look at what she understands about Jesus. Jesus is Mary's dignity and reputation, not other people. There's only one person in that room that Mary really cares about what they think of her, and that is Jesus. And what he is saying is, listen, Mary, I love you. I am committed to you. I will let no one snatch you out of our hands. I'm going to bring you eternal life. And she had a relationship with Jesus. And so the, man, Mary is saying, okay, look, these people are whispering, these people are snickering, I don't care. I really don't, because that's worth far more to me. Think about her prosperity and what her family, I mean, I also, one of the things I wonder about this story is if Martha and Lazarus were in on it, or if there was like a smile, smile, smile, like, Uh-oh, oh no, Mary. And Martha's going, Lazarus, is she going to do what I think she's going to do? And Lazarus is like, I don't know, you know, like, go up and stop your sister. And they're thinking, that's our family heirloom, that's our financial security, man, that's what's going to keep us safe. And Mary says, no, no, no, no, this isn't what keeps us safe, Jesus is. This isn't what makes life worth living, Jesus is. This isn't our security, Jesus is. That's what she's saying in that moment.
34 · The pastor emphasizes that Mary loved Jesus himself, not just the benefits he provided—Jesus was the prize, not merely a means to other good things
More than the benefits that come from Jesus, Jesus, Mary loves Jesus. Mary wants Jesus as the prize. The man who raised her brother from the dead, the man who promised eternal life, the man at whose feet she sat, right? Jesus is the prize. And relationship with him brings glorious secondary benefits. But to Mary, the prize was relationship with Christ.
35 · The pastor completes his grandfather illustration by describing how his perspective shifted from wanting his grandfather for benefits to wanting his grandfather for himself, culminating in the realization after his grandfather's death that no possession compared to time with him
You know, I, as I look back on my childhood and I think about those long drives in the desert with my granddad, and how at first I didn't wanna go, and how at first, and how second, I just went for the soda and the cap guns, as I got older, I began to get something a little bit. I began to stop asking about the cap guns and the free soda. And when my mom said, "Do you want to go ride in the desert with your granddad?" I just said yes. Because it didn't matter if we got a cap gun or a soda, I just wanted him. I wanted time with him. And so leaving behind my Legos and whatever else was not It was not a sacrifice. What was a sacrifice was listening to Garth Brooks repeatedly down those roads. And even that— I wasn't a Garth Brooks fan at age 10— even that was not a sacrifice. And my granddad would kind of turn on Garth Brooks, they'd be silent, and he would just start singing songs on the way. You know, a lot of Elvis Presley songs, lines from other stuff that he knew. And I would only get these half-finished songs, but he would sing them as we're driving. Down the road, and though the years have gone by, I see something else. I know that as a kid, if somebody had said, "Hey, do you want to go to X person's house and play video games, or do you want to spend time with your granddad?" I honestly would have probably picked the video games many days. My granddad passed away a few years ago. And as the time drew closer to him passing away, I had a totally different perspective on those drives through the desert. And I began to realize that if I could, I would give anything for another drive through the desert with my grandfather. There is no thing you could have offered me in life, I don't think, that I would have picked over a drive through the desert with my grandfather, because I finally, finally got that my grandfather was precious not because of what he brought me and not because I didn't have anything better going on. He was precious because of who he was.
36 · The pastor describes singing to his dying grandfather despite his own embarrassment about his poor singing voice, illustrating how love for someone makes sacrifice and humiliation worthwhile
And I, as he passed away, I at one point was in his room and I just began to sing the songs that he sang in the truck back to him. And I don't know if he heard it. And listen, man, that is a sacrifice for me because I cannot sing. Like, despite the fact that my last name is Alcántar, I cannot do it. The thing that— the one thing I'm supposed to be able to do as an Alcántar, yeah, right? And so, you know, I'm— and he had a great voice in many ways. And I'm warbling all over the place. And in that moment, I don't care. I don't care what other people think about me. I don't care what it— what this makes me sound like. I don't care because in that moment, the thing I wanted to do was say, "This is how precious you are to me."
37 · The pastor connects his illustration to Mary's act, emphasizing that Mary's extravagant worship flows from understanding what Jesus has already done for her, not from trying to earn something from him
That is what Mary is doing. She is going before Jesus and saying, "This is how precious you are to me." She does not know what will happen next. She knows he's likely on the road to his death, and she wants to say, "This is how precious you are to me." And notice this. This is so important, guys. Mary does not do this so Jesus will go to the cross and save her. Mary does this because she knows he's going to the cross. Mary does this because she knows that somehow what he's going to do is gonna purchase for her eternal life. So it's done out of an overflow of what Jesus has done for her. It's not, "I'm gonna do this, Jesus, and maybe you'll be kinder to me." It's, "Look at what you've done to me, for me." This is what Mary is communicating.
38 · The pastor applies Mary's example using a Danny Akin quotation about radical devotion being viewed as imbalanced, arguing that when we understand Jesus' worth, the imbalance is on those who hold back, not those who give extravagantly, and challenges listeners to give what they can
Let me just say, if we get this, our calculus changes. I want to read a quote from Danny Akin, one of the commentators on this passage, and he challenges us with this. He says this, "The world, and sadly many in the church, will never have a problem with moderate, measured devotion to Christ. They will have little to no problem with too many possessions and a pursuit of a comfortable, convenient Christianity, but Walk away from a quote, real career, and you will be marked as foolish, living a wasted life. Walk away from mom and dad to serve the Lord in an inner city in America among the poor and hurting, you will be deemed silly and impractical. Walk away from family and friends to head out to the mission field among an unreached people group, taking your small children with you, and you will be chided as reckless, radical, even imbalanced. And here's what I love about that word imbalance, because I think if you get where Mary is, if you are there and you see the worth of Jesus and everything else you may have to give up for him, you see, no, no, no, you're the ones who are imbalanced, right? The balance is all that Jesus has done, and this is what I can do. So that phrase is, she has done what she could. Jesus is not asking for more than Mary can do. Like Jesus is offering this, he's not asking Mary for that. Mary can't give him that. Instead, he's asking, what can you do? She has done what she could do. He similarly commends the woman, the old woman who gives the last of her copper coins to the temple. He says, this is what I'm talking about. They're willing to give what they can do, but there's also a challenge there. Are we giving what we can?
39 · The pastor applies the sermon by contrasting the compartmentalized Christianity where Jesus gets a limited portion of life with Mary's total surrender, urging listeners to identify areas where Jesus is calling them to give up something and not delay
And if you're like me, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you have in your, the big scope of your life, you have carved out a religious part of your life, right? And you're like, Jesus, listen, man, sky's the limit, you can have anything in here, right? It's like when you go to Peter Piper and you have like 100 tickets. And so, you know, there's all these prizes and then the person, you know, counts up your tickets and says, see all these prizes? You can have anything in here, right? And you're like, could I have the paper airplane? No, I said anything from here to here, little buddy. And you're like, but what about— no, right here, right? Sometimes that's what we do with the Lord. We say, OK, Lord, you can have literally anything in here, right? What Mary is doing is she's saying, Jesus, You can have anything, period. So let me just ask you, friend, is there an area of your life where you're— Jesus is calling you to give it up for something better? Don't delay.
40 · The pastor addresses non-Christians by explaining why early Christians chose martyrdom—they understood Jesus' surpassing worth—and invites listeners to respond to Jesus' call
And if you don't know Jesus, let me encourage you. Let me encourage you with the words of Paul that Jesus is of surpassing worth. Look, in the first century, Christians made no sense to the Romans because the Roman religion was all about, like, the here and now. And the afterlife was kind of like, yeah, whatever, we'll go down to Hades and hang out, I don't know. The Roman religion was all about the here and now, all about the here and now. So when Christians died in Rome and refused to recant their faith, it made absolutely no sense to the Romans because they're like, why wouldn't you extend your life by 10 years? Why wouldn't you go free? Why would you give that up? And the Christian after Christian after Christian said, like Mary, he is of surpassing worth. What areas would Christ call you to live that way?
41 · The pastor transitions to communion by connecting it to the sermon's theme of what Jesus has given us
Now, we're going to take communion, so I want to encourage you to go ahead and take the elements that are near you. And if you are a Christian, you believed in Christ, we would love to have you participate in this family meal with us. But I love in God's providence that we're taking communion today because We have a tangible illustration and reminder of what Jesus has given us.
42 · The pastor previews the upcoming sermon series through Mark's passion narrative, framing it around what Jesus has done and given for sinners
Look, this part of Mark that we're about to head into, we're going to head into it for a couple weeks and then we'll finish it in the new year. This part of Mark we're going to head into is all about what Jesus has done to save sinners like us. What Jesus has given for sinners like us.
43 · The pastor instructs the congregation to take the bread and explains it represents Christ's body and his humiliation, inviting them to thank God before partaking
And so I want to invite you to take the cup and the bread. And first, go ahead and take the bread in your hand. In communion, the bread represents the body of Christ. It represents him humbling himself to humanity and humbling himself even to the point of death on a cross, as Philippians 2 would say. Let's just take a quiet moment and thank the Lord for what he has given us. Let's do that and then you can take that bread when you're ready.
44 · The pastor prays thanking God for giving his body for us in communion
Lord, we are astounded by what you have given us. You've given us your very body. You say, "This is my body given for you." O Lord, may that fill our hearts. Amen.
45 · The pastor instructs the congregation to take the cup and explains it represents Christ's blood shed for us, noting a parallel between Mary's pouring and Jesus' pouring, and inviting them to thank God before partaking
Please take the cup in your hand, and the cup represents the blood of Jesus shed for us. There's even a similarity between in Scripture some of the language about what Mary pours out over Jesus and what Jesus pours out over his people. Take it in your hand and just take a quiet moment and thank the Lord for his blood shed for you. Please take the cup.
46 · The pastor prays thanksgiving for Christ's blood and asks God to help Christians identify areas where they can respond in love, and asks God to help non-Christians see Christ's surpassing worth and respond in faith
And Lord, we thank you for your blood shed for us. We thank you for the surpassing worth of Christ. God, you offer us security better than the world offers. You offer us prosperity better than the world offers. You offer us relationship better than the world offers us. So, Lord, I pray that this morning, as Christians, we would have the grace to identify those areas and be willing to say, Lord, what can we do as a love offering for what you've done for us? And I pray for anyone that doesn't know Christ, is not yet committed to follow Christ, I pray this would be the Sunday, God, you would put, you'd touch their hearts and you would Help them see the imbalance. Help them see the surpassing worth of Christ, that they would repent of sins, turn to trust in you, and join the followers of Jesus today. Amen.
47 · The pastor closes by preparing the congregation for the closing song, instructing them to declare that Jesus is better and to ask God to make their hearts believe it if they don't yet feel it, connecting back to his illustration about his wife and the sermon's theme of surpassing worth
Now, you may stand. We're going to sing a closing song. And as we sing, here's what I want to encourage you to do, okay? We sing this song a lot. And one of the things that happens when we sing songs a lot is that we just sing them, you know, they just kind of roll in our heads. But this song contains a truth that I think we tie to Mark 14. When we sing, "Jesus is better," we are declaring something. And so I want to encourage you, Christian, declare this And if you don't yet feel it, that's the next line: "Make my heart believe." Because like I said, if Jesus doesn't seem worth everything to you yet, it's because you don't fully know Jesus yet. Because if you knew Jesus, you would know it's worth it. Similarly, if I could go back 13 years ago where I was dating my wife Jen, and I'm sitting in my room wondering if buying the $300 ticket is worth it, I would go back in time and slap myself and say, "Dummy, buy the tickets," right? Surpassing worth. So as we sing, think of the surpassing worth of Christ.