LIKE MARY AND LIKE JUDAS
Sermon Text, St. Mark 14:1-11. After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.” And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as [Jesus] sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Show us our sins, so we can be drawn to Your cross, where Your love will give us what we need. We are always sinners; make us saints by Your love. Amen.
Dear people loved by God in Christ:
It’s so beautiful and then it’s so ugly. We can see that clearly.
First, what this woman does for Jesus is beautiful. We know from John 12 that this is Mary – not Mary Magdalene, but Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus who lived in Bethany. We know Mary as the one who sit and listened to Jesus. Jesus had said of her, “One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
This scene in Mark 14 takes place in Bethany, but not at Martha’s and Mary’s home. It’s “at the house of Simon the leper” – a man Jesus had healed of leprosy. Now Simon is giving a “thank you” supper for Jesus. Martha and Mary came to help serve the meal. Lazarus is there. Where had he been recently? In the grave! Jesus had raised Lazarus only days before this. Jesus is with friends. It’s a few days after Palm Sunday.
Then Mary brings an “alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard,” some expensive perfume. The perfume cost more than the whole supper. She breaks the jar for one reason: to pour the whole thing on Jesus. It isn’t practical. But the worship of Jesus, the true faith, isn’t the religion of practicality and reasonableness. It’s the religion of grace.
She isn’t pouring out just perfume. She’s pouring out her love. We know where this love came from: from His love to her, His words that she sat and listened to. This love that comes out of Mary was put into her by Jesus. She refuses to limit it. It comes out as a sweet smell filling the room.
Then it turns ugly: “Some were indignant among themselves, and said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ ” John tells us “Judas Iscariot” said this. Here in Mark, it has a “dollar figure” – Judas says they could have “sold it for more than 300 denarii” – so there’s a money obsession.
We see where it leads: “Then Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.” That’s not all. It leads to the ugliness of all that Jesus endures. When He’s condemned, Judas will then be beside himself with guilt and regret, won’t rest until he kills himself, losing his place in heaven.
Is there anything uglier, darker, than this? Judas is empty of the love of Jesus – and its sweet smell produces only a bitter taste for him — not that Jesus didn’t give His love to him but Judas ultimately failed to receive it.
We aren’t just horrified observers of what Judas did. After years of hearing sermons on Jesus’ passion, we know: Judas represents us.
We are like Judas. We have this darkness, this ugliness. Not just if there’s depression, or belittling someone, or if a person looks at pornography or gossips about someone. We wonder: How could I have done that? We go on a self-improvement kick. It is right to crucify the flesh and practice self-control. But ultimately you can’t “improve” the darkness; you have to get rid of it. This ugliness is always there.
This is the sin in us, the sinful nature. We don’t only confess our sins – what we do – but also what we are — the sin in us that darkens our self.
But this is only part of the picture. We aren’t only like Judas. We’re also like Mary. Is this hard to believe? We hear Jesus praising Mary’s love. He says great things about her. But He isn’t praising the love she had inside herself, by her own power. He’s praising the love He put into her.
What’s the love she received from Him? Grace, His undeserved love. It’s the love of God in the Savior, who came down from heaven for her.
The message tonight is that God forgives you not because you’re so sorry but because of what Jesus did for you. He gives you the love Jesus won for you. These are the words you’ve sat and listened to before, that you sit and listen to again, they’re the words that never change: the good news, your sins are wiped out as if you never did them. This is how God loves you.
Yes, we’re always like Judas – always sinners. And yet we’re always like Mary – always forgiven, always “saints,” made holy and pure, by God’s grace, His forgiving love. Always sinners and saints at the same time.
Jesus shielded Mary by saying to Judas, “Let her alone.” In the words of the absolution, He is shielding you, He tells the devil and your guilty conscience, “Let him/her alone.” By listening to the absolution you learn to say to the devil, and your guilty conscience, “Let me alone. I have a Savior.”
As this is spoken and you believe it, God is pouring out His love in your heart so you’ll be able to pour out His love in your life with others, and make it a sweet smell that fills not just the room but the world. This sweet smell reaches to heaven. On the last day, Jesus will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And you’ll begin living the life you look forward to now: where we are no longer sinners and saints, but where all sin is gone and we each one of us live as saints triumphant. Amen!