This morning the worship team lead us in a song about the alabaster box that as full of costly perfume that was poured on Jesus. Early this morning the Lord put it in my heart to speak on this and other costly or priceless offerings from God’s word.
As I began to study the scriptures this morning, I found there appears to be at least 2 events recorded when Jesus was anointed with precious and costly perfume.
Turn with me in your bibles to the book of Luke and we will see the first recording of this offering of costly perfume given directly to Jesus.
In Luke Chapter 7 the bible tells us Jesus is in Capernaum which is around 105 miles away from Bethany where Jesus is later anointed by Mary with pure spikenard perfume. The offering in Luke 7 also takes place roughly a year before Jesus goes to Bethany and is anointed by Mary.
Of interest to me is that in the beginning of Luke 7 Jesus does some amazing miracles;
- Jesus heals the sick servant of the Roman Centurion who has faith in the authority of Jesus. Jesus comments “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel”.
- The next day Jesus then raises a Widow's Son from the dead when he meets the funeral precession underway in city called Nain.
Word begins to spread around Judea of what Jesus is doing and John sends two of his disciples to come and confirm Jesus is the Messiah….
20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
***I want to pause here for just a minute. This is a powerful statement that Jesus makes and it has taken me years to understand it. I did not fully understand it until I became pastor and began to see the way different people respond to the presence and power of God moving. You see what I have observed is when God’s presence and power manifest people generally respond three ways:
- Worship, rejoicing and praise
- Curiosity, interest, seeking the sign
- Annoyed, discontented, offended
***First Point of the Message: Your response to God’s presence and power indicates the condition of your heart.
Let me take this a step further. Your response to someone else’s response to the presence and power of God is even more telling. You see as we continue in Luke 7 we are going to see the power of the offering.
Luke 7:36-50
36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
(Sign seeker, Curious, Interested)
37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
****Point 2: Your label does not limit your worship and your offering to Jesus.
(Worship, rejoicing and praise)
39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
***Point 3: Do not expect people around you to understand your worship and offering to Jesus.
***Church listen to me this morning. Your friends are not going to understand your offering. Your family is not going to understand your offering. Your pastor is not going to understand your offering.
40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
***First Point of the Message: Your response to God’s presence and power indicates the condition of your heart.
****Point 2: Your label does not limit your worship and your offering to Jesus.
***Point 3: Do not expect people around you to understand your worship and offering to Jesus.
***It is about a year later that Jesus is in Bethany. He is just about 2 miles away from Jerusalem. This is where Mary, Martha and Lazarus all live. Jesus has been there for several days going back and forth between the Temple in Jerusalem and Bethany where he is staying with his disciples. Both Matthew and Mark gospels record the offering of perfume takes place just 2 days before Jesus’ crucifixion.
John 12:1-8
1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
3 Then took Mary a pound 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 odour of the ointment.
***First Point of the Message: Your response to God’s presence and power indicates the condition of your heart.
****Point 2: Your label does not limit your worship and your offering to Jesus.
4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
***Point 3: Do not expect people around you to understand your worship and offering to Jesus.
7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
The Cost: Judas Iscariot estimated its value at 300 denarii—roughly a worker's yearly wages. In today’s money that would be around $50,000.00
What is it: True nard a rare mountain herb native to the high Himalayas of India, Nepal, and China. This extracted essence was blended into a base of rich plant or olive oil to create a precious, long-lasting liquid ointment.
The Scent: The heavy, earthy, and aromatic fragrance filled the entire house.
****Messianic Prophecy of Jesus being anointed with perfume:
Psalm 45:7-8
7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
***The 4th point of the message today: Some offerings are too valuable, and they must be poured out.
2 Samuel 23:15-17
King James Version
15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.
17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
***David recognized the value of the water was not the water but the men’s lives that risk to get it. David said I cannot receive this. I will pour it out to the Lord as an offering. It is to valuable. It is not replaceable.
Mark 8:36-38
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Isaiah 53
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
***First Point of the Message: Your response to God’s presence and power indicates the condition of your heart.
****Point 2: Your label does not limit your worship and your offering to Jesus.
***Point 3: Do not expect people around you to understand your worship and offering to Jesus.
***The 4th point of the message today: Some offerings are too valuable, and they must be poured out.
*** In Closing I want you to turn with me to 2 Samuel Chapter 24. David does something foolish when we numbers the people. The Prophet Gad comes to him and says you have three choices:
3 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
God sends his angel to bring a plague on the land….seventy thousand men die from the plague.
**Not a main point of this message but write it down: Your sin has an impact on the lives of everyone around you……
2 Samuel 24:20-25
20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
**What kind of offering are you bringing to the Lord today?
My son, give me your heart ……Proverbs 23:26
Romans 12
King James Version
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.