Turn with me in your Bibles, please, to John chapter 12, and I would like us to read the first 11 verses. John 12, 1 to 11. John writes, Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there, and Martha was serving. but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him, said, why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to poor people? now he said this not because he was concerned about the poor but because he was a thief and as he had the money box he used to pilfer what was put into it therefore Jesus said let her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial for you always have the poor with you but you do not always have me the large crowd of the Jews then learned that he was there and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. Those of you who have been around for a while know that some time back, when I had the privilege of speaking in this pulpit, we worked our way through chapter 11 of John's Gospel, dealing with the miracle of Christ's resurrection of Lazarus. Tonight I want to continue on with what happened after that incredible miracle, and here we will see the climax of love and hate for Christ, and all of the effects that came about because of the resurrection of Lazarus. As we come to chapter 12, Jesus returns to the village of Bethany, where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. And upon His return, certain things take place that give us various categories of how people respond to Jesus. We can see by what happens at Bethany just how people reacted to Jesus then and how they still react to Him today. Now, as we come to this passage, we're standing in the shadow of the cross. Even though there are 21 chapters in John's Gospel, and this text is just over halfway through the book, in terms of the life of Christ before his crucifixion, there are only about seven days to go at the most. All of the events that John records from chapter 12 verse 1 through chapter 20 verse 25 occurred during the last week of our Lord's life. It is only beginning in chapter 20 verse 26 that we move on past a one-week period and all of that is post-resurrection. It's kind of sad to realize that when you analyze Jesus' life up to this point you find that for three years He has declared and proven His deity. He has manifested who He is, both in public and in private, and He has verified every claim that He ever made with a miracle. And the result of those three years has been that there is only a small group of genuine believers, those who truly understand who He is and trust in Him. But on the other hand, there is a steady hardening of unbelief within his enemies with increasing hostility toward him and that's what we see in this passage as you have the love which has been growing for those three years now it finally comes to full blossom and you have the hatred which has been festering for those three years now spewing out its poison and here in this little incident in Bethany we see the contrast of these two responses to Jesus We see love like we haven't seen before. We see love that is extravagant and unbounded, which knows no limits. And we see love that's totally self-sacrificing. And at the same time, we see the hatred of those who were his enemies. And it reaches its depths. It penetrates the inner circle of the twelve, and one of his own spews out venom on Jesus. So here in response to the miracle of the raising of Lazarus, Love blooms and the venom of hate brews its poison and the contrast is just as dissimilar as the two individuals involved. Mary on the one hand and Judas on the other. And that's a mystery. How you can take two people who lived with the same Jesus, walked the same steps, heard the same message, experienced the same love from Him, saw all of His miracles, and yet out of that experience have two characters as opposite as Judas and Mary. Beyond understanding that it was God's sovereign will and choice, it's a mystery. But they are not the only characters in this passage, although they are the most dominant representatives of the two extremes of response to Christ. There are others here and we want to see all of the reactions to Jesus, so we will see five responses to Jesus in this passage. Five different groups or individuals respond to what Jesus has done and we're going to see how it unfolds. Now, before we look at each individual or group and see how they react, I want you to look at the first verse, because it gives us the historical setting of what's going on. It says, Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Now, it's six days from the Passover, which means it's only six days until the day when Jesus will die. He arrives on the Sabbath, Now the distance someone could travel on the Sabbath was very limited, only a little over a half a mile. So Jesus was probably quite close to Bethany. the day before and just traveled the last short distance on Saturday or it may mean that he arrived on Friday night shortly after sundown which is when the Jews considered the Sabbath to have begun the next day was Palm Sunday the day of the triumphal entry but it is six days until Passover according to John and on the first of those six days he spends at the home of his dear friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. Now as you know it's Passover in Jerusalem and all the Jews have come to Passover to feast and offer Passover sacrifices in Jerusalem and Jesus is no different. He comes and before he gets there he stops for this one day in Bethany with his beloved friends and it turns out to be both a thrilling and a tragic experience for him. It's the last Sabbath day before he would be crucified and he chooses to spend that day with his friends in Bethany. I want you to notice how Bethany is designated. It says Bethany where Lazarus was. That little village will always be known because of that. That's the only claim to fame it ever had. That obscure little village less than two miles from Jerusalem will always be remembered throughout history because That's the town where Lazarus was. Bethany only has an identity because of its relationship to Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. The village is famous only because of that miracle. So Jesus arrives there, and here we encounter the first demonstration of love for the Lord, and we see it in Martha's heartfelt service. Look at verse 2. So they made him a supper there, and Martha was serving. But Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. Now the Sanhedrin had decreed that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report that information to him. But rather than turning him in like a common criminal, the Lord's friends in Bethany gave a supper in his honor. And the purpose of this event was to express their love for him and especially their gratitude for his raising of Lazarus. John doesn't record for us who or how many were there, but it most certainly was a large gathering, which at a minimum included Jesus, the 12 disciples, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon the leper. That's at least 17 people who were present and there were certainly more. I would expect that there were many additional guests from Bethany who were present because of the raising of Lazarus was really a big deal in their small village. Now, if you're wondering how I know that Simon the leper was present, it's because over in Mark 14, 3, in his parallel account of this incident, he tells us that the dinner was held in the home of Simon the leper. So it wasn't at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus' home, but at the home of a man who had apparently been known for having leprosy and Jesus had undoubtedly healed him so that he was forever indebted to Jesus for his gracious act of mercy. Now here we see the heartfelt service of Martha. The text simply says, and Martha was serving. Martha always did that, didn't she? Martha was always hustling around functioning as a hostess. She was always preoccupied with taking care of everyone's needs, cooking the food in the kitchen, serving it all, making sure everyone had plenty and was comfortable. She just continually served other people. That's the same picture that Luke gives us of her over in Luke 10. She was a woman who was committed to serving others and especially her Lord. Martha wasn't even at her own house, but she was busy serving. I'm sure that you know some women who are like that. Some of you ladies here tonight are like that. You get invited over to someone's house for dinner and the next thing you know you're in the kitchen helping the hostess get things ready. You spend time serving and helping them clean up and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Martha was a woman just like that. She was preoccupied with serving other people. She was a selfless kind of person and she saw that kind of service as the arena in which she could serve the Lord and she took advantage of it. And so they held a supper. The Greek word translated supper refers to the main meal of the day. It's the time at the end of the day when they all got around a low U-shaped table and just kind of lounged around as they leisurely ate and discussed things. There wasn't any place to go. No one was in a hurry. Nothing was happening. No activity. They just shared together. They weren't in a hurry to get anywhere. This meal would be a lengthy meal in which they would just share and talk and they were So they were gathered to enjoy this dinner, and Martha was serving in the house of Simon the leper. Now, why is Martha's service notable? Because it was a part of her character. She loved the Lord. She loved to serve Him. And it was just a part of her nature and character to serve. Sometimes she served too much, such as in Luke 10. where she's working in the kitchen while her sister Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to Him, and Martha complained about that. And Jesus' response was that Mary had chosen the better thing. But Martha's heart was in serving. Her love for Jesus had a very practical bent to it. And God was glorified by her service to Him. You know, Martha understood something a lot of people need to learn. And that is that we are all called to be his servants. God doesn't call any of us to be celebrities. He doesn't call any of us to be big shots. We're just servants. That's all we are. You remember what Jesus said? The greatest among you shall be your servant. That's where we all began. We are all in this to serve. When Jesus came, He said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. We're just servants. We're not in this to elevate ourselves as Christians. There's no place for that. There's no place for selfishness in Christianity. There's no place for self-love or self-glory or self-exaltation in the body of Christ. No place at all. We're just servants. If any Christian feels that he has Any other obligation than to serve his Lord and serve his fellow believers, he's wrong. That's all you have to do. We need to be preoccupied with serving one another. Can you imagine what Lakeside would be like then if we all did that? If we just served each other? Every one of us would have about 500 other people serving us. But instead, many of us spend our time serving ourselves or waiting for others to serve us. Well, you say, well, how am I to serve others? In Acts 20, Paul is bidding farewell to the Ephesian elders, and he says that he served them by serving the Lord with all humility and with tears. You serve the Lord with humility. You recognize that you're nothing but a servant. And you know what it means about serving with tears? That means you care for others. You show genuine compassion for them. And you not only serve the Lord, but you serve each other. Galatians 5.13 says, through love serve one another. We're only in the body of Christ to serve one another. How is that done practically? By visiting folks in the hospital, by taking meals to them when they're sick or physically unable to prepare a meal for them. for themselves by sitting with them over a cup of coffee as they pour out the pain they're feeling from the words or actions of an unbelieving spouse, or perhaps from a believing spouse who needs to grow in sanctification so they aren't such a pain in the neck. And there are countless other ways to serve one another. It's all about constant service to each other in love. But let me be very frank. Every time I serve myself, that is sin. Every time I do what I want for myself, that is sin. I only exist to serve Jesus Christ and to serve others in love. It's the only reason I exist. I'm a servant. I'm a servant of my Lord. I'm a servant of the rest of the body of Christ. And the most visible demonstration of my service to the Lord is how I serve others in the body of Christ. It also means that I can't make an idol out of my ministry. It's easy to do that. I know because I've done it. To make serving in ministry so important that I forget that I'm supposed to be serving others and the others that come first are our families. This has tremendous implications for our family life. We are to see our family, our parents, our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, as the primary ministry God has given us. Yes, we are to serve others in the church and even those outside of the church, but our first primary ministry to others is within our family. That's why Paul wrote so much about it in Ephesians 5 and 6. So men, Learn to say no to others and spend that time serving your wife and your children. I don't have to say this to the ladies because they generally get it. But many men are so task-oriented that they seem to think the Lord cannot accomplish His ministry and purposes without them, so they spend all of their time serving people other than their wives and families. Now let me also add here that every time you expect others to serve you, That is sin. If you're sitting back saying, well it's about time other people started serving me. After all I've been breaking my back serving them. It's time for them to do something for me. That's sin too. We are all to be serving one another in love. So getting back to Martha. She's a good illustration of a servant. She served humbly. She didn't have a big role. I'm sure it wasn't all that notable to most of those who were there that evening, but you see, service isn't measured by the deed, it's measured by the motive. She did it because she loved Jesus and she wanted Him to have the honor. So the Holy Spirit includes Martha in the passage. Every time you read about her, she's serving, and you might think that since Mary does something that's really big and fabulous in this passage, that Martha might have just been sort of shoved aside, but the Holy Spirit doesn't let that happen. He pulls Martha out of the woodwork and gives her a verse. Don't forget Martha. She served. So we see the heartfelt service of Martha Next we see Mary's humble sacrifice. Look at verse 3. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. In keeping with her portrayal elsewhere in the Gospels, Mary once again appears as a woman who is not very practical. But instead, she's pensive and reflective and emotional. She was the polar opposite of Martha. She was the one who wept the most over Lazarus' death and had to be comforted. She was much more emotional, whereas Martha appears to have been much more even-tempered, but with a take-charge personality. Now in our culture today, this act that Mary did would be a very strange thing to do. But in that culture, to anoint the head of an honored guest with oil was not unusual. It was a way of symbolizing your desire for God's blessings to be poured out on that individual. But in this case, Mary not only anointed Jesus' head, as recounted by Matthew and Mark, but she also anointed his feet. Now John tells us that it was a pound of very costly perfume. The Roman pound that was in use at that time was 12 ounces. And the word translated perfume is the Greek word from which we get the word myrrh, one of the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus after his birth. It was nard, which was very costly. Nard came from the spikenard plant, which grows in the Himalayas between China and India. And it had to be brought from there on the backs of camels all the way to Israel. So it was obviously a very costly operation for a 12-ounce jar of perfume. It was a very, very expensive commodity, a luxury possession. One of those things that only the wealthy can afford, and if you have it, you never want to use it. But Mary just couldn't resist. She loves her Lord so much and I'm sure that in her thinking the perfume was too good for her but not good enough for Jesus. So she just comes bursting out there and just pours it all over Him. Now picture the scene if you will. The men would have been reclining around the table. The women didn't sit down to eat with the men. They stood around the outside and waited on them. Mary's heart just overflowed with love for Jesus and all he'd done for her in raising her brother back to life, so she goes and she grabs her alabaster jar of this extremely expensive rare perfume and takes it out and just pours it all over him. It's not a calculated thing. It was total boundless love. Matthew and Mark tell us that she poured it on his head and it round down the back of his neck and across the shoulders, and then she went down his body and poured it on his feet. She didn't calculate the cost at all. She didn't measure it out. She just loved Jesus so much that she didn't ask Him anything. She just ran and grabbed the most precious commodity she had and just poured it out on Him. That was boundless love expressing itself. And it just ran down all over Him. Can you imagine, first of all, the shock that everyone else there would have experienced? But then the most shocking aspect of the whole event occurred. In shocking disregard for Jewish tradition, she knelt down at her feet and she let down her hair, which was a big no-no for a Jewish woman. No Jewish woman ever let her hair down in front of men other than her husband. To do so was considered borderline immoral. But that's what she did. And not only did she do that, but then she took her hair and she began to wipe off the perfume that was dripping off of his feet. Now the Jews considered the washing of the feet of another person to be very degrading. It was a necessary task to be done, but only by the most menial of slaves. None of the 12 disciples at the upcoming Passover meal in the upper room were willing to serve the others by washing their feet. So in a supreme act, an example of lowliness, Jesus did it. And here Mary is using her own hair to wipe off Jesus' feet. I mean, this is a demonstration of genuine love. You know, you don't give God something that doesn't cost you anything. David said, I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing. But also love doesn't calculate the worth of what we give to God. True love pours out everything. Our life, our possessions, our children's lives. But so often we calculate our love for God. How do we do that? Because in the back of our minds and Frankly, sometimes up front, we think, God is so demanding. No matter how much I give, He always seems to want more. If I'm not careful, He's going to want everything. I know that many years ago, from the time our daughter was 11 years old, she seriously considered being a foreign missionary. In fact, when she left for the Moody Bible Institute at 18 years old, she thought that was God's plan for her. And I remember how many people, including believers, would say to me, how can you consider letting your daughter go away to some foreign land? Don't you know how dangerous that can be? And I always gave the same answer. Don't you know how much more dangerous it would be for her to stay here at home if that isn't God's will for her life? As it turned out, God's plan for her was to be a pastor's wife, counseling young women, teaching children's ministry, supporting her husband in the ministry. But ask yourself this question, am I willing to give up my children to service for Him in some faraway, potentially hostile environment, if that's what God demands? The answer to that question will give you an indication of the depth of your love for Him. The measure of love is abandonment. Abandonment of anything and everything, regardless of what it is. True love for Jesus gives him everything and is disappointed when it doesn't have more to give. That's love. But it's funny how we calculate. I'm always amazed at how many Christians will put themselves in great debt to have all of the toys that our fast-paced, high-tech culture has to offer. Fancy cars, fancy houses, fancy boats, all the latest tech toys, and yet they will tell you that they just can't afford to give very much to the church. They balance the family bank account on God's back. Now two things stand out to me about Mary's love. First, it's extravagance. She spent her most precious commodity on Jesus and she did it with an overt expression of love. You can't calculate that. Love gives everything it has and then regrets that it doesn't have something else to give. Second, not only does her extravagance stand out to me, but also her humility. In 1 Corinthians 13, 5, Paul tells us that love does not seek its own. She fell at his feet and she didn't care what anyone else in that room thought about what she was doing or thought about her. The only person she cared about was Jesus. And she knew that he would understand the depths of her love for him. It didn't matter who said what about what she was doing. She couldn't have cared less. That's the measure of love. Well, her outward expression of love for Christ wasn't appreciated by everyone in the room. And that brings us to Judas' hypocritical self-interest. And let's read verses 4 through 8. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was intending to betray him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to poor people? Now he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. Therefore Jesus said, Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. The most tragic human who ever lived was Judas. He is the most despicable character in history. He is the betrayer of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the contrast between the love of Mary and the selfishness of Judas is incredible. Notice how John refers to Judas, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him. Here he was, one of the twelve, who had spent three years with Jesus, listening to him, watching him, witnessing all the miracles and yet he had grown to hate the very one who was God in flesh. It just shows us the depth of sin. Greed, avarice, ambition, worldliness, selfishness had taken over in his heart and driven him into a frenzy. He had cast his lot in with a cause that he thought was going to make it. He thought he was going to hook onto the coattails of the king and go into a kingdom and a messianic rule and he would be one of the bigwigs in the kingdom. And all of a sudden it was going sour and people hated Jesus. And Jesus was talking about dying, and there wasn't any money in the treasury, and the Jewish religious leaders hated Him and opposed Him, and things were not going well. Judas wasn't making it big like he thought he was going to make it, so he's trying to get out now, but he's not going to get out until he's got some loot. He needed some money to compensate for three wasted years. So when he sees the love of Mary, It activates his love of money. And he burst out and reveals his feelings by belittling the waste of money. And it's interesting that the other Gospels tell us that the other disciples joined in with him. Evidently he was a very persuasive person who was very sharp about managing money so they would listen to his opinion on such matters. That's probably why he got elected treasurer and he'd been embezzling the money all along. So when he, the financial expert, spoke up about this being a waste of money, the other disciples joined in with him. You see, he couldn't see any beauty in Jesus. He couldn't see any beauty in the expression of love by Mary. All he could see was money, money, money. And how she was wasting it. In fact, the first words ever recorded in the New Testament from his mouth are found in verse 5. Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to poor people? In other words, what a waste. That's expensive stuff. Now 300 denarii was a lot of money. That was 300 days wages. That was a full year's salary for a common man who was off every Sabbath and on all of the holy days through the year. In today's terms, in our American money, that perfume was worth about $17,400. He would have loved to have had that in the money bag. The 30 pieces of silver that he got for betraying Jesus would have been worth about $500 to $600 in today's terms. So he would have had a total of about $18,000 to abscond with had the perfume been sold. He lived with money on the brain. And so the first words of his that are recorded for us indicate the rottenness of his heart. Judas is sitting there and he thinks, oh what a waste. Look at her pouring that on his head. Oh, that's terrible. That's worth 300 denarii at least. She shouldn't do that. She should give that to me. I mean to the poor. So he makes his little announcement. And all the other disciples join in. They're all thinking how noble Judas is. He wants to help the poor. And Jesus had said a lot about caring for the poor. And it's right that we care for the poor. There's no question about that. But Judas didn't care about the poor. He was a fake. He was just looking for what he could get out of the deal. And so John, not knowing at the time what was happening, but writing in retrospect many years later under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has this to say about Judas' motive in verse 6. Now he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. And as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. So he didn't care about the poor, he was embezzling the funds. He wanted money in the bag because he was planning to bail out and he didn't want to leave empty-handed. He wanted compensation for those three years that he felt that he'd wasted. Now there have been some liberal commentators through the years who have tried to attribute noble motives to Judas. They argue that Judas was a misguided patriot who wanted to do good by trying to push Jesus into a position of having to exert his power. They say he was trying to force Jesus to bring in the kingdom. It's not true at all. If that was true, why did Jesus refer to call him a devil? Why would John say he's a thief? He didn't have any good motives. He had nothing but rotten motives from the beginning. He didn't care about the poor. He cared about the money. He was upset because he missed out on an opportunity to steal the equivalent of an average man's annual salary. He was without question the greatest tragic figure in human history and the reason he's a tragedy is because he lived for three years in proximity to truth like no other man ever has except the other eleven disciples. For three years that man lived every day with Jesus. His life is a warning to everyone who lives in proximity to the truth to be sure that they grasp that truth lest they spend an eternity in hell like Judas. Judas lived in the sunlight of the very Son of God, and his life ended in the blackest darkness of hell. You know, every week, there are individuals who come to our services who are unbelievers, who have rejected the truth of Jesus Christ, or who think that because they come to this church, that makes them okay with God. In fact, I recall once a few years ago watching a man who I know is not a believer walk in and take a seat. I knew that he lived a life of abusiveness towards his wife, a life of covetous greed, a life of extravagant self-centered consumption. But whenever he wanted to impress someone with how good and moral he was, he would show up at Lakeside. And when I saw him, I thought about the danger that he's in. to have all of the privilege and all of the light and life of Jesus right there in front of him being offered to him and yet he refuses it. Unless he repents he's going to be a tragedy like Judas because he has lived in the light and sadly he will die in the darkest darkness because he knows what the light is. And there are countless others like him. Judas is no solitary monster standing alone in the world. There have been billions of Judas's, those who would sell out Jesus. Some people sell out Jesus for money. They want to become a financial success and they don't want Jesus interfering with that. Others sell out Christ for sex. They want to live an immoral life and so that's the price for which they're selling Jesus. Still others will sell out Jesus for ambition and self-glory. Whatever it is that keeps a person from submitting to Christ is the price for which they have sold Him. It would have been bad enough if Jesus had only been kissed by one Judas, but He has been kissed millions of times in the same way. Now, as I already mentioned, John leaves out one detail that both Matthew and Mark record in their accounts of this event. Both of them tell us that it wasn't only Judas who said this. Apparently his feigned indignation was so persuasive the other disciples joined in and indignantly said the same thing to her. What a waste! We could have sold that perfume and given the money to the poor. And Mark adds that they were scolding her. Well, Jesus steps in and defends Mary. Verse 7, Therefore Jesus said, Let her alone. That's an imperative command in the Greek. Jesus orders Judas to shut up and stop his harassment of Mary. The verb there is a second person singular here, you leave her alone. So Jesus was specifically addressing Judas. And then he says, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. Now what does he mean by that statement? Well, it's really hard to tell. There are all kinds of interpretation of these words because it's somewhat confusing. How can Mary keep it for the day of Jesus burial when she's already poured it out on him? And after reading several different possibilities, I think it's best to interpret this verse in light of what Matthew records in his account. In Matthew 26, 12, it says that Jesus said, for when she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. So John's statement probably provides a contrast between Judas' desire to sell the perfume so that he could pilfer the money with Mary's desire to keep the perfume for use to anoint him in preparation for his burial. Perhaps Mary had heard Jesus when he kept telling the disciples that he was going to die and she believed him. And so she did this as a symbolic act. We don't know for certain. Jesus statements in Matthew 26 12 and Mark 14 8 may certainly indicate that Or it may have been that she was just expressing her love and gratitude To Jesus for all he'd done for her particularly in resurrecting her brother Lazarus and without realizing it. She's symbolically anointing him for burial after all it wasn't very long after that that he was going to be dead and buried and and the Jewish custom was to anoint the body of those who died with spices and perfumes. In fact, after Jesus died, John 19.39 tells us that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea anointed his body with about 100 pounds of spices, which is equal to 75 pounds in today's measure. Just as they used an excessive amount of spices on Jesus' body, So too, Mary anointed him with an excessive amount of perfume on this occasion. And then Jesus adds one more statement in verse 8. He says, For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. In other words, He says, can't you see what my priorities are? I'm not going to be around very long. Poor people are important. You should care for poor people, but I come first. His point is that the glorification of the Son of God is a higher priority than administering the local poverty program. They've only got six days left with him, but there will be poor people around as long as this world is here. You see, the hard truth is that there is no cure for poverty. Jesus said there will always be poor people around. It doesn't mean that it's okay to ignore them or to shrug our shoulders and give up helping them. But we shouldn't operate under some misguided illusion that we will wipe out poverty. The point of ministering to them physically is to gain the opportunity to minister to them spiritually. Any kind of social welfare program that is operated by Christians for the benefit of unbelievers, it is a failure if it does not end in the gospel going forth to those who receive those services. I get so tired of hearing Christian groups talk about digging water wells in impoverished nations, or telling about the hundreds of children they're able to provide a new pair of shoes, but never once reporting on sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with any of those people. In fact, it's clear that from what many of them say, that they actually don't hold any kind of evangelistic services or even share the gospel with those that they're helping. Folks, that's no different than a government-run welfare program. We must present the gospel to those we reach with social welfare programs or we have failed in our mission. Please understand, Jesus isn't depreciating the importance of ministering to poor people, not at all. What He is saying is, understand your priorities and get them straight. Jesus Christ demands first place in your allegiance. That's the priority. It's very important to work with poor people, but it's much more important to exalt Jesus Christ. Get your priorities right. Do you really love Him? Do you understand priorities? What do you spend your time doing? Worrying about politics or loving Jesus? Trying to achieve a greater position in your profession or setting that aside to obey and serve Jesus each day in your place of employment? It's a matter of priorities. So Judah stands at the crossroads. This is his decisive moment. Jesus has unmasked him as a hypocrite. Pretending to care for the poor while in reality, he's embezzling from the disciples' money bag. So Judas has a choice. He could either fall at Jesus' feet in humble repentance and confess his sin and seek forgiveness, or he could pridefully harden his heart, refuse to repent, surrender to Satan's influence and betray the Lord. And tragically and sinfully, he chose the latter. with full and sole culpability for its consequences, although it fulfilled the purpose of God for the sacrifice of his son. He chose not to repent, not to love Christ, not to confess his sin. The growing despair that had been festering in his heart turned to hatred, and so according to Mark 14, 10 and 11, he immediately left Bethany that night and walked the two miles to Jerusalem went to the Jewish religious leaders and conspired with them to betray Jesus for a price that same night. This incident was a decisive moment in the life of Judas. Jesus confronted him and gave him the options. He chose the one he wanted. He betrayed Christ. So the scene at Bethany is like so many others in John's gospel. A combination of blessing and cursing, love and hate, all reaching a climax. You have Mary's sacrificial, humble love demonstrated in her overflowing extravagance. You have Judas, bitter, greedy, murderous, betraying hate. And that's how it always is with Jesus. There is no neutrality. Now what did he say about that? He said, he who is not with me is against me. There's no neutrality with Jesus. So we see Martha's heartfelt service, Mary's humble sacrifice, Judah's hypocritical self-interest. Now quickly look at the people's hollow superficiality. Verse 9, The large crowd of the Jews then learned that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. This is one of the few times in the book of John where the apostle uses the term the Jews to refer to the common people, not the leaders. It was Passover, so Jewish pilgrims had come from all over the land to Jerusalem, and the news spread about Lazarus' resurrection. And so a large crowd of them headed over to Bethany to see both Jesus and Lazarus. They're obviously very curious, so here again we have the Jesus watchers. Back in verses 55 and 56 of chapter 11, they were doing the same thing. They were looking for Him, wondering if He was going to show up at the Passover, hoping for some kind of entertaining incident that they could watch. And now He has done it again. They hear the news that He has resurrected a dead guy named Lazarus, so they want to see both Jesus and Lazarus. They're curious thrill-seekers. They're looking for the sensational. But they couldn't care less about who Jesus is. They're indifferent to whether or not He is the Messiah. You know, there are many people today who are just like those Jews. The vast majority of people who attend church in the United States today are Jesus watchers and nothing else. They're spectators. They don't hate Him. They're not hostile toward Him like Judas. But they don't love Him either. They're not like Mary. They just sit in their pews or their cushioned chairs and watch Him. They're like an unbelieving friend I used to work with, who would periodically make a point of telling me about how he had been going to a certain church in our area. And when I asked him why, he would say, because it's like going to a show. They've got lights and smoke and great music. It's not like going to church. He was doing nothing but seeking entertainment. What is most saddening about that is that there are many churches who think that that is how to reach people for Christ. But it doesn't do that at all. All it does is entertain unbelievers and inoculate them against the true gospel message because in their minds they went to church and that's what good people do. My friend is just like this crowd. He's only a Jesus watcher who's looking for entertainment. That's what they were doing when they hiked down to Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus. And it's a sad thing because this same crowd that is looking for the spectacular doesn't just stay that way. In verses 12 and 13, as Jesus makes his triumphal entry into the city, they all say, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. And you might be tempted to say, wow, that's great, they really love him. But this crowd is fickle. And when you get to chapter 19, verse 15, It says, they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. They're hypocrites. They hated Caesar. But this is the same crowd that watched him, threw their coats at his feet, and waved palm branches in the air, and now they join with the chief priest in calling and demanding his crucifixion. These are the Jesus watchers. They don't think for themselves. They just go along with whichever way the theological winds are blowing, knowing nothing. It's nothing but hollow, superficial religiosity. Lastly, we come to the leaders' hostile scheming, verses 10 and 11. It says, but the chief priest planned to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. The leaders are really in trouble now. They've got a live man who used to be dead, living just outside of Jerusalem. And he's from a prominent family and the crowds are going out to see him. And you know that if they went to see Lazarus and talked to him, he's going to direct them to Jesus. And many of those people were believing on Jesus. Certainly not all of them, but some of them did believe. Now, this was a threat to the Jewish religious leaders in two ways. First, they were threatened politically because they figured that if all these people gathered around Jesus, they might start an insurrection and then the Romans would come down and squash it. If you remember, that's what they said back in chapter 11, verse 48. If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. They're afraid that Jesus might get a revolution going and Rome would crush it and throw them all out. But second, they're threatened theologically because the Sadducees had for years been teaching that there was no such thing as resurrection. And now, here they've got this guy walking around who's been resurrected. So their answer for when you're confronted with incontrovertible evidence is what? Destroy the evidence. Now that's really an objective way to attack a problem, isn't it? Support your position by destroying all of the contrary evidence. If you don't believe there's a resurrection and someone has been resurrected, just kill him. So their tangled web of deception was expanding. Caiaphas had said, it's expedient for you that one man die for the people. But one was not enough. Now it had to be two. You see, the point of all that we've been studying is that no one is neutral regarding Jesus Christ. We have seen in these verses both hatred and love reaching a climax. People can react like Martha and Mary and serve and love Him, or they can react like Judas and live for materialism. Simply take a look once in a while at religion and be a hypocrite. Or they can be indifferent. kind of stand in the back and look at it all, and end up rejecting Him in the end. Or some may even be like those false leaders, they may become a false teacher and teach lies and defend themselves by destroying the evidence. What about you? Which one of those is your response to Christ? Everyone makes a stand somewhere, everyone makes a choice. What That stand is determines each person's eternal destiny. Since there's salvation in no one else, for there's no other name under heaven's been given among men by which we must be saved. If you have not repented of your sin and placed your personal faith and trust in Jesus Christ, I call on you to do so tonight. You have no idea if you will have a tomorrow. Come to him tonight. If you do know Christ, Are you serving Him and others as you should be, with quiet grace and humility? Do you love Him with a love that is willing to sacrifice all you are and all you have, including your money, your possessions, and even your children, for Him? If not, why not? After all, He loved you so much, He sacrificed His life for you, and we can do no less for Him. Let's bow together in prayer. Father God, I pray that no one in this room tonight who has listened to this message will go away and say, that's nice, that was interesting, but I don't care. I don't want Jesus interfering with my life. Break their hardened heart of unbelief. Draw them to Christ in repentance and faith. Help them to see that Jesus is worth far more than all this world has to offer. May none of them be like Judas, claiming to love Christ, but kissing him in betrayal. And Lord, give us all hearts that desire to serve you as Martha did. With service that flows from a heart that loves you, and wants to honor You. And Father, we also want hearts like Mary's, hearts which willingly give up all that is ours in order to give it to You. Lord, it belongs to You anyway. You own it all. We're just Your stewards. Teach us to use that which You've given us for Your honor and glory. Help us to surrender any grasp that we might have on the things that we consider important in life, our money, our houses, our possessions, and yes, Lord, even our children. Make us to realize that your purpose and your will for them is far better than anything we might ever imagine. Help us to trust that you love them even more than we do. Grant to us hearts of thanksgiving and minds which focus on bringing glory to you and to your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.