Jesus’ Presence Reveals Our Heart

It is a mystery how two people who lived with the same Christ, walked the same steps, heard the same message, experienced His same great love and all of His miracles, can out of that same experience have such a pronounced, extreme difference, such as a Judas and a Mary.

Extravagant Love in Martha, the Servant

John 12:2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

Martha was a servant; she had a built-in hospitality. She just really put herself out for other people. She loved Jesus Christ, and she was practical. So naturally, her love took a practical bent and she moved to serve Christ.

Two things give service its worth: It’s done in love. It’s for the glory of Christ.

That’s the kind that God honors—simple service. We are supposed to be of God. We’re not celebrities, or show offs. We are just to be servants.

Extravagant Love in Mary, the Giver

John 12:3 Then Mary took a 3/4 pd 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 odor of the ointment.

Mary was the one that wept most over Lazarus’ death and had to be comforted, and here she gave Jesus something valuable and extravagant. The truth is that when you love someone that is what you do.

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

David said, ‘I will not give the Lord that which costs me nothing.’ 2 Samuel 24:24b “…neither will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God of that which costs me nothing.”

Love is measured in the burst that pours everything out. Often, we miss that. We want to calculate our love to God. We calculate how much time for church, working for Jesus, and try to often to get by with doing as little as possible.

She gave a years worth of wages in that gift.

Exorbitant Greed of Judas

John 12:4-5 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son who was to betray Him, said, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?”

The contrast between the love of Mary and the selfishness of Judas is shattering. What a difference in such a small group! It is the equivalent of having a dedicated preacher and an atheist within the same family.

A man like Judas only blooms in a sphere of Christianity. He’d be lost in the world because there are a million Judases, who would betray Christ for anything.

John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money bag and took what was put in it.

He lived three years of his life in proximity to truth like no other man in history, except the other disciples. His history is a warning to men and women who live in the proximity to truth, to be sure that they apprehend that truth.

Entertaining Curiosity of the Crowd

John 12:9 Many people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there. And they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead.

The Jesus watchers, thrill-seekers, sensation-seekers, are ultimately careless and indifferent. They did not really care about the person of Christ. They swung with the crowd, and the mood of the mob just carried them in whichever direction.

The Jesus watchers. The tragic comment on them is in Matthew 27:36, as they all gathered around the cross: “And sitting down they watched Him there.”

…still doing the same thing today.

Exorbitant Hate of the Religious Leaders

John12:10 But the chief priests consulted, that they might put Lazarus also to death.

These leaders were threatened in two ways. Theologically, they rejected the resurrection and here was a resurrected man roaming around gathering crowds to Jesus.

They were also threatened politically because all these people gathered around Jesus. He could at any point have successfully started an insurrection. Then the Romans would have come down, squashed it, and taken away their coveted control.

In these verses hatred and love reach a climax.

Where are we? We are living out one of these right now. We have already made some choices. Maybe we can still make another one, choose Christ, and always remember:

“He that is not with Me is against Me.” Matthew 12:30