Mary Devoted Herself to Jesus Mark 14:3-9, NIV While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.”And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Hallelujah! I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Mary Devoted Herself to Jesus,” which is based on Mark 14:3-9. Please repeat after me: Mary Devoted Herself to Jesus. Mary Devoted Herself to Jesus. What is be the most gratifying thing Christians can do while living on earth? I think the most gratifying thing is to express our deepest love to Jesus our Savior. I pray that you will love the Lord with all your heart, confessing, “I want to give everything I have to You who died for me with torn flesh and shed blood.” What should we do to please the Lord? How can we express our love and gratitude to Him? The woman in today’s Scripture came to Jesus with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the precious perfume on Jesus’ head. She gave all that she had to Jesus. Through the example of this woman, I want to talk about how we can express our love to Jesus throughout our lives. First, let us think about the opportunity for devotion. Sometimes we may want to serve the Lord, but we are unable to do so. But those times when we can devote ourselves to the Lord we must seize the opportunity. Mark 14:3 says: “While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.” About 2,000 years ago, just a few days before His crucifixion, Jesus was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man named Simon the Leper. A woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume over His head. The perfume flowed from His head onto His feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. According to the Gospel of John that woman was Mary. John 12:3 says: “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Mary was a spiritual woman. Whenever Jesus came to Bethany, He visited Mary’s home, often stayed and preached His Word. Mary would sit at the feet of Jesus and very attentively listen to Him. Upon occasion Mary had heard Jesus foretell His suffering and death. When Mary heard that Jesus was coming to Simon’s house at Bethany, she must have spiritually sensed that this time could be Jesus’ last time. She thought, “I may not be able to serve the Lord any more. As He has predicted, He will suffer and soon die. What could I do to express my love to Him?” The love she had received from Jesus was like no other love. She knew that Jesus greatly loved her. She keenly remembered the day Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead and gave her back her brother. And so Mary took an alabaster jar of precious perfume to Jesus. Like any Israelite maiden of her age, Mary had filled her jar, drop by drop, from money she had earned over much time. Then when the jar was full it was sealed with wax and put in save keeping either to be brought out on the night her wedding was consummated; or if the family was poor, the jar would be broken and the perfume sold to deal with that family emergency. Mary was far from wealthy. Mary lived with her brother Lazarus, and her sister Martha as their parents had died a long time ago. It was most probable that the alabaster jar of perfume was the fullness of Mary’s earthly treasures; so I am sure, the jar’s contents were precious to Mary. Mary decided to give this most precious thing to her Lord Jesus. Her heart was overwhelmingly filled with gratitude for the grace and love her Lord had given to her. Mary wanted to show Jesus her love while He was still alive; so she took and broke her alabaster jar and lovingly poured the costly perfume on his head. Serve the Lord when you have the chance. I pray that you will not let go of the opportunity to serve Him. In Matthew 19, there is a story about a rich young man. He went to Jesus and asked Him the way to eternal life. Jesus knew that this man had kept the laws and commandments but that he loved his material wealth above all else. So Jesus said to him, “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he sadly walked away from Jesus because he had great wealth. He walked away from his opportunity to serve the Lord. On the other hand, there were two criminals who were crucified, one on each side of Jesus. Firstly as all three were awaiting their death by crucifixion, both criminals hurled insults at Jesus. Then one criminal turned his heart and came to realize that Jesus did not deserve to die ? that He was sinless. This criminal saw that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God. He repented of his sins and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This criminal was saved because he seized his last opportunity to acknowledge the Lord. When you are given an opportunity do not let it pass you by. Do your best and serve the Lord with joy and gratitude. The book The Life and Diary of David Brainerd has been widely read. This book inspired many people. David Brainerd died when he was only 29. He dedicated his whole life to the American North American Indian Mission. Brainerd’s diary has had such a great impact on its readers. It inspired Jonathan Edwards, whom God used to ignite the Great Awakening in America, John Wesley, the founder of Methodist churches, the great missionary, William Carey, and Jim Elliot who was martyred by the Auca Indians of South America in 1956. David Brainerd redeemed what little time he spent on this earth, and did his best to serve the Lord. God used Brainerd’s faithful attitude in serving Him to inspire many people to endeavor to do the same, and even more. While he was near death, suffering from the final stages of tuberculosis, Brainerd wrote the following in his diary: Saturday, Oct. 11. Towards night was seized with an ague, which was followed with a hard fever, and considerable pain: was treated with great kindness, and was ashamed to see so much concern about me so unworthy a creature. Was in a comfortable frame of mind, wholly submissive, with regard to life or death. It was indeed a peculiar satisfaction to me. I am now fully convinced of my being really weak, and unable to perform my work. Whereas at other times my mind was perplexed with fears, that I was a misimprover of time, by conceiting I was sick. And how guilty it makes me feel, when I think I might have neglected to fill up each part of it with duty, to the utmost of my ability and capacity! Even on his deathbed, Brainerd felt guilty before the Lord thinking that he was neglecting his duty and he was failing to do his best. Many people are wasting their time. I urge you to make the most of your time and opportunity to dedicate yourself to the Lord as David Brainerd did. Ephesians 5:16 says: “…making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Romans 12:11 says: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” We must do our best in serving the Lord. We must work hard at our jobs for the glory of God. You students should study hard for the glory of God. I pray that you will be a great servant of God in everything you do. We must serve the Lord with all our time, material wealth, or talents. If we fail to seize our opportunity to serve the Lord, there will be times when we will be unable to serve Him due to ill health. If we squander our wealth, we will not be able to serve Him. Therefore, I pray that you will dedicate yourself to the Lord when you have time and wealth so that at a later date you will not have to feel remorseful. Second, I want to speak about the course of devotion. Mark 14:4-5 says: “Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly. People harshly rebuked Mary when they saw her pour perfume on Jesus. The Gospel of John tells us that Judas Iscariot even calculated the value of the perfume when rebuking Mary. John 12:5 says: “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” Mary’s perfume was pure nard and it was valued as being the most expensive of those days. Pure perfume is very expensive today as well. Just how valuable was this perfume that Mary brought to Jesus. We are told it was worth 300 denarii. Since a denarius was a day’s wage, it was worth a year’s wages. It amounted to a year’s total earnings without any deductions. The disciples thought it was a monetary waste to pour this perfume out as Mary did on Jesus. They calculated its value and rebuked Mary for the waste of it. Many times when you serve the Lord and are criticized or blamed by others, you are like Mary. The disciples of the Lord rebuked Mary for her service to the Lord. Be aware that you will have to go through some trouble when you serve the Lord! There are some who will rebuke you since they do not understand your devotion to the Lord. When I was serving in Washington area, we were building a church. A deacon of the church was so touched by one sermon about Abraham’s sacrificing Isaac that he donated his house to our church building project. His mother, brothers and sisters severely criticized him saying: “Why should you be so peculiar in your faith?” These Christian people each had an important position in our church but they rebuked this man for his dedication to Jesus. He reminded me of Mary. She too was rebuked by the disciples and followers of Jesus for her dedication to the Lord by pouring perfume on His head. Recently I was listening to a sermon by a preacher and was deeply moved by the following testimony. His father was also a pastor. His mother often said to her son, “Since becoming a Christian, I have not ever held a grudge against God for anything, even when He took your father away while fasting and praying for 40 days.” However this preacher had as a child held a grudge against God and lamented: “Why should you take my father away from us? He was fasting and praying to You!” He held a grudge against God but his mother did not. True servants, no matter what happens, never hold a grudge against God. They never complain because they are serving the Lord with joy and gratitude. God saw the great faith of his mother and blessed this preacher abundantly. He ministered as a great and faithful servant to a large church. He was able to give us a precious testimony of giving glory to God. Sometimes we are left by God without understanding. While we serve the Lord, troubles, persecutions, problems, and difficulties may arise in our lives. Without knowing why bad things happen to us, we may get dismayed. Galatians 6:9 says: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” At the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, no matter what happens, let us not give up or become weary when we serve the Lord. Let us not be dismayed by problems that come pressing down on us. Let us not step backward but rather let us march forward with faith. Ironically, we may encounter more problems as we engage the more in church affairs. Fellow and senior church members may persecute us making our situation to become unbearable. Sometimes we cannot help wondering if should stop attending church at all. Other times we may fall in a God-ordained test. But if we endure all sufferings, our faith will grow. Mary was rebuked by the disciples for anointing Jesus with her expensive perfume but she did not give up. Likewise we should never step backward just because we encounter some problems. I urge you to march forward with faith. Hebrews 10:38 says: “And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” I pray that you will not give up but will march forward with faith in the name of the Lord. When you give thanks and praise to the Lord, enduring patiently in times of suffering, your faith will grow. God will bless you abundantly. Do not listen to the many depressing voices around you. Do not be shaken by negative thoughts. Praise the Lord! Focus on Him! Even though the disciples were indignant, rebuking Mary harshly, she boldly expressed her love to Jesus. When we truthfully serve the Lord, no matter what people may say or do; God will delight in our service and bless us. Matthew 5:11-12 says: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Do not be wounded or dismayed by any trouble that may arise in the process of your service to and for the Lord. Do not step backward. I pray that you will march forward with faith at all times. Third, I want to speak about the resolution for devotion. Mark 14: 3 says: “While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.” The Bible says that Mary broke the jar and poured the perfume on the head of Jesus. The perfume was in the alabaster jar, completely sealed with wax. It therefore could not be used unless the jar was broken. Although the alabaster jar was probably beautiful and expensive; its worth was really what was in it, not its external beauty. This jar, however beautiful it might have looked on the outside, had to be broken to release its true value within. What is the alabaster jar? The alabaster jar represents us. Unless we are broken, we cannot shed or spread the fragrance of the Lord Jesus. Our true attitude in showing our love to the Lord lies in our brokenness and humility. Only when we are completely broken before the Lord will God receive glory from us. Most certainly before believing in Jesus we lived self-centered lives. But even after becoming Christians we have found how difficult it is to turn our hearts away from habits of our old lives and have continued to insist on having our own way. For this reason problems in our homes, workplaces and in our relationships with others have haunted us. We continue to be stubborn and persistent. We keep fighting one another. We raise our voices. Our egos remain strong. Our old selves are so strong and stubborn. We are too much in love with ourselves. An alabaster jar will most probably be beautifully engraved with images. We also adorn ourselves in various ways. We pay a lot of attention to what we wear. We love to boast about what we have. We sometimes brag about our money, our social status, our talents, our family background, and so on. We are obsessed with pride of self, showing off to others. Jesus may be within us, inside the alabaster jar; but we give Him very little opportunity to come out of the jar. Jesus remains inside because we have closed and sealed the jar very tightly with our bragging and pride. The jar must be broken to let the perfume out. We must also be broken so that Jesus will spread His marvelous fragrance of love all over the world. When we are broken, we can have true freedom. Why is this? That is because God begins working in us, receiving glory from us when we are broken. Husbands and wives fight very often because they are not broken. They provoke each other to anger because they are not completely broken. We need to be broken. We need to be humble. We must pray, “Lord, I am nothing. May all glory be Yours!” Paul confessed in Galatia as follows. Galatians 2:20 says: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We should have a self image of brokenness. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. I am nothing. I am dead because I have been crucified. Since Christ lives in me, He will receive all the glory. We may shake our heads “No!” But it is true that we are stubborn. We are so stubborn and proud that we close the jar tightly and seal it with wax. We lock and seal Jesus inside a closed heart. We do not give Jesus a chance to come out of the jar. We may believe in Jesus but we still brag about ourselves instead of spreading the fragrance of Jesus. We constantly say, “I did this. I did that.” We mess up our human relations because we choose to only magnify ourselves. Let us not care too much about our outer appearances. Let us be broken before the Lord so that the fragrance of the Lord Jesus will spread from within us through out the whole world. David Livingstone, an explorer and a Christian missionary, is called the father of African Mission. He had a goat who accompanied him during his jungle explorations of Africa. This goat provided him with all the milk and nutrition he needed. Many times when it was difficult to find something to eat in the jungle, Livingstone’s goat nourished him. One day he met a village chief. They became close friends. The chief liked Livingstone and wanted to make a covenant with him. This covenant had to be sealed with an exchange. Livingstone hoped to keep his goat but the chief said he would give him his spear in exchange for Livingstone’s goat. Livingstone was hesitant at first, thinking it was not fair to exchange a goat for a spear. But he made the exchange, telling himself that he had to release all things in order to lead those people to the Lord with the gospel. Do you know what that spear meant? That spear symbolized the authority of the chief. Thereafter wherever Livingstone went with that spear people of every tribe would welcome him and not harm him. Livingstone carried a spear that belonged to the most powerful chief in that region. With the authority of that spear, Livingstone could then preach the gospel to all the people more effectively. The chief would have been disappointed if Livingstone would have said: “Could you take something else? I need this goat.” Their friendship would have been severed. Livingstone would have had problems in his missionary work. Since he gave the most important thing to the chief for the glory of God and for African Missions, God blessed Livingstone more than before. There must be something that you do not want to give up. There must be something that you will never sacrifice. I want you to first break that ‘one thing’ before the Lord. Then serve the Lord by giving your time, money, talents, and all of your heart. Then the Lord will cover you with His enormous grace and blessings. We must be willing to break the alabaster box if we truly love our Lord. We must give everything to the Lord. When we are broken, the Lord will take great delight in us. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says: “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Paul confessed. Colossians 1:29 says: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” What kind of alabaster jar do you have that needs to be broken? I urge you to break the alabaster jar of your ego and pride. I want you to break your bad habits and your self-centered life. Bow down before the Lord and confess, “Lord, take me. I want to give my time to You. I want to give my material wealth to You. I want to give my talents to You. If it pleases you, I want to willingly give my life to You.” I pray that you will make this confession of dedication to the Lord. Fourth, I want to speak about the fruit of devotion. Mary made a monumental achievement for the Lord Jesus. Mark 14:9 says, “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Mary’s beautiful dedication for Jesus has been told throughout the world. We have only one life to live. I pray that you will do something memorable, monumental, and meaningful that will have a great impact on many while you are living on earth. Jesus said that Mary poured perfume on His body to prepare for His burial. Mark 14:8 says: “She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” There should be nothing that we spare for the Lord Jesus whom we dearly love. We should be ready to give anything to the one whom we truly love. Nothing is too precious for the Lord. As parents, with hearts filled with love, are willing to sacrifice themselves for their children; if we love the Lord Jesus, we should be willing to give Him everything we possess. Jesus praised Mary. Mark 14:9 says: “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” What she has done, in memory of her, will also be told! Romans 14:18 says: “…because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” When Mary pleased the Lord, God blessed her so much that what she did, in memory of her, has been told. I pray that, as Mary did, you too will break your alabaster jar for the Lord. LeRoy Eims wrote the following in his book The Lost Art of Disciple Making. “Jesus returned to heaven after He had accomplished His mission on earth. He told of one of the angels who asked Him a question, “What plan do You have to continue the work You began on earth?” Without hesitation Jesus answered, “I left it in the hands of the apostles.” Another angel asked, “What if they fail?” Again there was no hesitation, “I have no other plan.” What do you think this story tries to tell us? The message is that God wants to do His work through the people of God. He wants to get His work done through us. We are the apostles of the Lord. We are His servants. He has given us a mission. Therefore we must do our part. We must be ready to break our alabaster jars to serve the Lord with all our hearts. God wants total devotion from us. Serving the Lord part-time, half-heartedly, cannot be called devotion. God wants, like a burnt offering, our complete devotion. He does not seek cheap labor but noble dedication from all believers. Jesus will receive glory from us when we give Him all things that we have. The entire house filled with the fragrance of the perfume Mary poured out. As the whole jar was emptied of its precious contents; the whole house was filled with its fragrance. In the natural there would have been much body odor because there were many people in the house. The body odor would have mingled with the smell of food cooking and other odors. However the pure, sweet fragrance of the perfume would have been strong enough to instantly remove all bad odors from the house. When we are broken, manifesting the Lord Jesus, all bad odors around us will immediately be driven away by His fragrance. All worry, pain, and suffering which causes bad odors in our life will be removed by His fragrance. All problems will be resolved in the Lord. All pain and problems in our homes, in our daily lives, in our physical bodies, and in our hearts will melt away by the love and the fragrance of Jesus. God’s marvelous work will be manifested through us when we are broken. I urge you to be broken before the Lord. I urge you to break your alabaster jar. When we are broken in humility; God will accept glory from us and fill us with His wonderful grace, blessings, and miracles. I pray that you will always pray to God with devotion, saying: “Heavenly Father, make me Your child who is willing to break the alabaster jar for the Lord Jesus.” It is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we want to dedicate ourselves to You by breaking our alabaster jar as Mary did. Even though we have to date lived in stubbornness, insisting on our own ways; we now want to live for the glory of God with true hearts of dedication. Pour Your grace upon us as we break our alabaster jar. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 10