Mark 14:1-11

Big Idea: Jesus is worthy of our willingness to sacrifice much for Him

Read Mark 14:1-11

This section is very beautifully crafted by Mark. We see a great contrast here between 3 groups of people. The religious leaders have had enough. They are actively plotting the moment that they will capture Jesus and kill Him. We also see Judas, a money-hungry betrayer who Satan uses to hand Jesus over to the authorities. And in the middle of these 2 bookends, we have one of the most significant stories of the ministry of Jesus. 

The interesting thing about this is that in our first few verses, we see that it is “2 days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” If we use the correlating passage from John chapter 12, we actually see that the anointing of Jesus took place 6 days before Passover. Specifically it happened on Saturday, because John says that the next day was the Triumphal Entry. This is so significant as we’ll see in just a few minutes. Mark then seemingly jumps back ahead to Judas meeting with the religious leaders. 

I believe Mark uses this flashback in the midst of betrayal to illustrate just how beautiful the anointing with the perfume was. Let’s talk first about the religious leaders in verses 1 and 2. 

1.. Religious Leaders

Jesus has just finished His Olivet Discourse in which He cracked a window into the future End of the Age. He allowed His disciples just a glimpse of what was to come. Meanwhile, the religious leaders are still steaming from their interaction with Jesus in the temple. He had called out their hypocrisy and exposed the true nature of their religion. One in which they cared more about power and popularity than they did about obedience to the Lord. 

But, they have a problem. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, there could have been an estimated 2 million people in and out of the city during the Passover celebration. Jesus had gained quite the following, and if they tried to arrest Him publicly, the crowds might revolt. So they are conspiring together, and then Judas shows up ready to serve Jesus up on a silver platter. 

2.. Mary

Flashback now to a few days prior. Jesus and His disciples are having a meal with Simon the leper. This is most likely someone that Jesus had healed. They are in Bethany, a small village at the foot of the Mount of Olives, just outside of Jerusalem. In the correlating passage in John 12, we see that Mary, Martha and Lazarus were also there, and in fact Mary was the woman who anointed Jesus with the perfume. 

Let’s talk about that moment. So Mary has a very expensive translucent bottle that contains spikenard. This was derived from a root of a plant found in India in the Himalayan Mountains. One commentator even says that “Spikenard symbolized the very best in ancient cultures the way that “Tiffany diamond” or the “gold standard” does to us.” And we see proof of this in the fact that the disciples say it could have been sold for more than 300 denarii. This would be equivalent to about a year’s wage. 

Imagine, men, working hard for an entire year. The average individual income in Apex is all over the place. But let’s just say it’s $60k. Can you imagine buying your wife a bottle of perfume for $60,000?! That just sounds insane to us. And that puts us right into the minds of the disciples. 

So Mary takes this expensive perfume and pours it onto Jesus’ head. This was actually a customary thing to do for guests at traditional celebrations. In other accounts, we see that she also pours it onto His feet. And then she kneels down and wipes His feet with her hair. I don’t want to overlook the disciples’ response, but this moment is so incredibly significant that I want to make sure we pause to really understand.

1.. She was symbolically preparing Him for His burial (8)

It was customary at that time to prepare a body for burial by washing it with perfumes and ointments. After that they would wrap the body in different strips of cloth, and then would add spices to the tomb as well. This was all done to mask the smell of decomposition. When Mary poured the perfume over the head of Jesus, she was showing a deep understanding of what Jesus had been saying about the Messiah having to die. Perhaps more so than the other disciples, she knew that something was coming. Remember too that Jesus’ demeanor had changed as they walked to Jerusalem. 

Jesus Himself says this: “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.”

Jesus was on His way to His death, the next day entering into Jerusalem for the Triumphal Entry, and while the disciples were arguing about how much they could have sold the perfume for, Mary is humbling herself at the feet of Jesus. This is such a beautiful moment of submission and understanding. And what she shows us here is that Jesus is absolutely worthy of our greatest sacrifice.

2.. She illustrated for us that Jesus is worthy of complete sacrifice

Mary didn’t care how much that bottle of perfume cost. It didn’t matter because to her, Jesus was worthy of everything she had to offer. She was willing to give whatever she could to honor Jesus. This is why Jesus said, “she has done what she could.” She thought to herself, “what can I give to Jesus that will prove my love and devotion to Him?” And that is what she could give! For her, this could have been her greatest possession, but it was nothing in comparison to Jesus. “Jesus, I am willing to sacrifice much for you! I am willing to give up things of great cost to me so that people will see my love for you!” 

And this question really stirred in my heart this week, and I hope it will in yours as well. “What am I willing to give up so that people will see my love for you?!”

I had an example of this in my life growing up. I talked with my Dad this week to get the full details of this story, just to make sure what I remember is accurate to what really happened:

Right before he turned 50, he had been considering taking a year off of work. He had a really great job that allowed for a lot of great experiences for us growing up. The idea was kind of like the year of Jubilee that the Israelites were commanded to take in Leviticus 25. After 7 rotations of 7 years, they were to take a yearlong Sabbath in the 50th year. So while he is considering this, he is at a Bible study and the leader is teaching on the year of Jubilee. He asked everyone, “how many of you would quit your jobs, and take a year off to serve the Lord?” My Dad kind of mentally raised his hand, and the Lord sensed that willingness in his heart. 

In the meantime, his job was being relocated to Virginia, and he had to decide to stay in North Carolina, or move the family. He decided to stay, and accepted a severance package from his company. 2 days before his last day of work, the Senior Pastor of our church showed up at our house, told him that the worship pastor had just stepped down, and asked if he would be willing to fill in until they could find a full-time worship pastor. He accepted and served on staff for 15 months before they finally hired someone else. 

Here’s the point. There was a willingness in his heart to make a sacrifice to serve the Lord. He didn’t know what that would even look like, but He viewed service to the Lord as top priority. To a lot of people, it would have sounded crazy to quit the job that he had to work at a church. But honoring the Lord was more important than anyone’s perception of him. And the example that set for me has impacted me to this day, probably more than he knows. 

And again, it causes me to think, “what would I be willing to give up to serve the Lord? What would I be willing to forfeit in my life so that I could show the world my love for Jesus?” Would I give up my comfortable life to become a missionary? Would I sacrifice my vacation this year and serve locally with my family instead? Would I sacrifice my vacation and take my family on a mission trip internationally? Would I pass up that “thing” I’ve been saving up for to give financially to furthering the kingdom of God?” 

Mary was willing to sacrifice much to honor the Lord. And the disciples were not happy about it. In the spirit of religious piety, they started complaining to one another about the money they could have made off the sale of the perfume. They were in fact indignant, which carries the idea of grumbling. The Greek word actually refers to the snorting of a horse. So you can just picture the sounds of frustration these men were making. Jesus senses it, and aligns their perspective with what matters most. The tragic part of this is that by their grumbling they were in essence saying that Jesus was not worthy of the cost of that perfume!

“You guys have no idea what she has just done for me. I’m not saying that serving the poor is not important, but you need to understand that the poor will always be with you. I on the other hand will not. Your focus right now should be on learning from me and being with me as the events of this week unfold. Mary understands, and I need you all to understand as well. In fact, what she has just done is so significant that it will be talked about wherever the gospel is preached.” And here we are 2,000 years later still talking about what Mary did. 

3.. Judas Iscariot

Now Judas, Judas took this act as the final straw for him. He was the treasurer for the ministry of Jesus, and in John 12:6 we see that he was stealing from the money bags. He didn’t care about the poor. He cared about the money that he could skim from the profits. Driven by greed, and influenced by Satan himself, he sets up a meeting with the religious leaders. One commentator said of Judas, “that he was now totally disenchanted with the Lord's methods and decides to salvage what profit he can from his poor investment of the past three years.”

In Luke’s account he tells us that “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, and he went to meet with the chief priests.” The events are officially set into motion. In just a few short hours He would be handed over to the authorities and enter into the most difficult day of His life.

Big Question: What are you willing to sacrifice to further the kingdom of God? What is Jesus worth to you? 

This may be a difficult question, and may take some time for each of us, but I do think that Paul gives us a great place to start in Romans 12:1-2:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

We worship the Lord by offering our lives as a sacrifice. We put to death the desires that we have and replace them with the desires that the Lord has for us. And we do this by allowing His Word and His Spirit to transform our hearts and minds to think and feel like Jesus. Our lives are marked by that which is good, which is acceptable, and that which is perfect. This is our spiritual worship. 

You may not quit your job. You may not uproot your family and pursue full-time missions, but the Lord desires a willing heart. A heart that says, “Jesus, you are worth it all. Jesus you are worth the offering.”