Preview to the Passion

John 12:1-9 Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C April 7, 2019 Preview to the Passion Children’s time Exegetical Aim: Honoring Jesus. Props: A bottle of fine perfume and a piece of 8.5 x 11 paper. Lesson: How many of you have ever been to a party? (response) What kind of a party was it? (response) What did you do at the party? (response) Parties are a lot of fun, aren't they? (response) Have you ever been to a party where someone was being honored? (response) Maybe it was their party because they were 100 years old. Or maybe they had just had a baby. Or maybe they had done something really great. Have you ever been to a party because someone had done something really great? (response) You may not get a response, but give them just a moment to think about it. What did they do that was great? (response) Jesus went to a party that was in his honor; he did something fantastic. Do you know what he did that was so great? He raised somebody from the dead! I mean, this guy -- his name was Lazarus -- this guy had been dead for four days and he had already been buried. And Jesus went to the place where he was buried and said, "Lazarus come out of that grave!" And guess what happened? (response) That's right. He came back to life. That's great, isn't it? (response) Now who do you think was throwing this party for Lazarus? (response) It was Lazarus' sister, Martha. She was so happy that Jesus had raised her brother from the dead that she threw a party for Jesus. Application: What do I have in my hand? (response) That is right. It is perfume. When Jesus was at this party, a lady named Mary came up to Jesus and she had a bottle of perfume in her hand. She knelt down in front of Jesus and put perfume on his feet. Splash a healthy amount of perfume onto the piece of paper so it wafts by the children. Then she began to dry his feet with her long hair. What a beautiful thing to do. Now, as you speak, pause a bit and move the paper around the inner circle of the children to produce a strong scent (verse 3b: And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume). You see, this was Jesus' party and Mary knew that Jesus had done a great thing, but as wonderful as that was -- raising Lazarus from the dead -- Jesus was going to do something even greater. What do you think he was going to do? (response) Jesus was going to die and he would be dead and buried for three days and then God would raise him from the dead. And, the great things is, he will never, never die again. And he promises that you and I will be with him. In fact, we are all going to this big party. We call this great party heaven. You will be there and I will be there and your mom and dad will be there. How great that will be! Let's Pray: Lord, we honor you this morning and look forward to a great party one day when we shall all be together. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Children's Sermons A to Z, by Brett Blair John 12:1-9 Common English Bible (CEB) Mary anoints Jesus’ feet 12 Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. 3 Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound,[a] of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. 4 Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, 5 “This perfume was worth a year’s wages![b] Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (6 He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) 7 Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” 9 Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Footnotes: a. John 12:3 Or a litra, a Roman pound, approximately twelve ounces b. John 12:5 Or three hundred denaria Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I am just curious. What is the most that you would ever spend on a bottle of perfume that you loved? Some would say $5 – some would say $40, some might even ay $100 to 200 dollars. I don’t think that there is anyone who would say – 12,000 for one bottle. And I would think that if we ever did buy something that extravagant. We would be very frugal with it. A dab here and a dab there for only the most important occasion. And that would most definitely not be the perfume that lend to a friend. That is what makes this today’s story so special. Mary takes a perfume that is worth a years wages, and she pours the bottle on a friends feet and wipes it with her hair. I actually have not preached on this story very often, maybe once. But I think it is an important story for the last Sunday of lent. It is a preparation for the events to come. There is no dialogue as to why Mary felt the need to do this. Did she know in her spirit what was in store? She anoints his feet – preparing him to be a king and a martyr in death. Next week Jesus will choose to do the same for his disciples as he washes their feet. I would imagine that a 12,000 dollar perfume must have had some type of fragrance. A frangance that would have permeated the whole house, and made it smell good. Smells have a lasting effect on us Aroma: Bringing Back an Emotion Taste is 95 percent smell. What happens when you get a cold? Can't taste anything? In talking with others about their smells, what I have discovered is that there are regional differences to our favorite smells that often depend either on our food habits or on our outdoor customs. East Coast people prefer floral scents and Northerners the smell of the seasons. Southerners seem to prefer hearty snorts of pine. Midwesterners like the whiff of hay and farm animals. Westerners like the aroma of barbecuing meat. Whatever our pet smell, huge histories of time are relived within the microseconds of a sniff. Nothing can bring back a time, a place, or an emotion better than an aroma. Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Like lavender, eucalyptist, to bring a mood of calmness and peace in the house. What does love, kindesss, peace really smell like? If we looked back in or memory bank could come up with a collection of smells that remind us of a special time, or a special person – as sat watched this going on – definite smell to costly ointment. Remember that moment forever. John gives an important detail, that is not told in the other versions of this story. Jesus in in the house of friends. He was close to the whole family, and hear about them in several stories. I think we visited this village in Isreal. He has bought Lazarus back to life. Been to dinner at this house , several stories of best friends Mary, Martha and Lazurus. Martha cooks and prepares the meal, Mary anoints his feet. No accident that John makes this a story about frineds and enemies. Judas is also in the room. Plays his role in preparation. Betrayal. But now working to gain trust, no one questions his motives. Could have fed to poor with the money – wasting it . Always have the poor – not original in Deauteronomy 15. But doing a favor to me. Third: The most radical thing we can do is to try to find the face of Christ in others, and not only those we find it easy to be with but those who make us nervous, frighten us, alarm us, or even terrify us. “Those who cannot see the face of Christ in the poor,” Dorothy used to say, “are atheists indeed.” Dorothy was an orthodox Catholic. This means she believed that Christ has left himself with us both in the Eucharist and in those in need. “What you did to the least person, you did to me.” Her searching of faces for Christ’s presence extended to those who were her “enemies.” They were, she always tried to remember, victims of the very structures they were in charge of. She sometimes recalled the advice she had been given by a fellow prisoner named Mary Ann, a prostitute, when she was in jail in Chicago in the early 1920s: “You must hold up your head high and give them no clue that you’re afraid of them or ready to beg them for anything, any favors whatsoever. But you must see them for what they are—never forget that they’re in jail too.” Fourth, I learned that beauty is not just for the affluent. Tom Cornell tells the story of a donor coming into the Catholic Worker and giving Dorothy a diamond ring. Dorothy thanked her for it and put it in her pocket. Later a rather demented lady came in, one of the more irritating regulars at the house. Dorothy took the diamond ring out of her pocket and gave it to the woman. Someone on the staff said to Dorothy, “Wouldn’t it have been better if we took the ring to the diamond exchange, sold it, and paid that woman’s rent for a year?” Dorothy replied that the woman had her dignity and could do what she liked with the ring. She could sell it for rent money or take a trip to the Bahamas. Or she could enjoy wearing a diamond ring on her hand like the woman who gave it away. “Do you suppose,” Dorothy asked, “that God created diamonds only for the rich?” Profound story, profound challenge for us this Lenten season. Helping the poor. Jesus was poor, no place to sleep at night. – truly appreciated the extravagant gift given to him. How are we helping the poor. Making a sacrifice, or complaining. Bill Gates is congregationalist, wife is catholic. Wife goes to church every Sunday - Bill not so much. Not not a believer, not the best use of his time to go to church. More effective way of living our faith. Story lesson, not efficient, but loving. Following Jesus means being extravagant with our time, our energy, our money. Giving our best to God. Not counting the sacrifice, but remembering the love. What does love, kindness, peace smell like? What would we do to have that smell in our lives on a daily basis. Prepare for the coming days – remember the sacrifice of Mary – to show her love and care. Mary’s gift of extravagant perfume given to Jesus, Jesus died on the cross to give each of us that gift of love and salvation. Are we ready to receive the wonderful gift in our lives? Let us pray……Amen. Additional illustrations……… Intentional Acts of True Devotion IATDs - that's what this passage is all about. People were becoming more and more devoted to Jesus and they were expressing it openly in ever increasing ways. They even started doing IATDs - Intentional Acts of True Devotion. Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave and he came out struggling in the bondage of his grave clothing. But he came out, he had new life! Jesus had power even over death! The result was IATDs! People started following Jesus. Not only did they start following him, they become devoted to him, and their devotion was radical! Those who saw this resurrection put their faith in Jesus. The sense of the Greek in verse 45 is that people without reservation, without growing into it, at this one miracle put all their faith in him. And it showed in IATDs. At one time the Jews had been devoted to the Pharisees and the law. Now in wholesale crowds they were turning to Jesus, becoming devoted to him, radically devoted to him with the kind of devotion that is dangerous: "He'll upset the applecart! We can't have that around here! We'll lose our place and our power!" That was the thinking of the Pharisees, so they plotted to take Jesus life. We often think it was Jesus who got himself in trouble with the Pharisees, but the Pharisees wouldn't have cared a bit if he didn't have these followers with their IATDs. Their IATDs got him in trouble, too. Intentional Acts of True Devotion - they're powerful, they're dangerous, and they mark the lives of those who put their faith in Jesus. Bill Versteeg, Intentional Acts of True Devotion The Power of Fragrance Isn’t it amazing that John could remember this fragrance so many years after Christ’s ascension? That, when his mind drifted back to that last week of Christ’s life, it was the fragrance of Mary’s offering that framed his memory. What once was an oasis for Jesus, that helped comfort him so he could go forward, was now an oasis in John’s memory that helped him deal with the rigors of his trials. Still today, two thousand years later, Mary’s gift brings fragrance to our lives and while Mary was condemned by the apostle’s that day for her extravagance, she provided a gift that has been remembered for thousands of years. Her fragrance still fills our lives with the presence of Christ. Jerry Goebel, The House Was Filled With the Fragrance of the Perfume