A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: Mary realized Jesus was coming to die on the cross and she wanted to do something for Him to show her love.

Dave: Mary demonstrated her love for Jesus in an extravagant way. Many were surprised, but Pastor Greg Laurie says she actually set a good example.

Greg Laurie: The more we discover about what Jesus has done for us will cause us to want to do more for Him. The Bible says, "We love Him because He first loved us."

Dave: If the gift someone gives you is modest, your expression of thanks can likewise be modest. When the gift is extraordinary, a modern etiquette expert says keep the level of the thank you near the level of the kindness you received.

Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to a memorable moment in Jesus' ministry, where gratitude was extended to Him at such a generous level it drew attention and even criticism from the disciples. But Pastor Greg explains Jesus commended Mary.

Greg Laurie: Let's pick up where we last left off in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is headed to the cross. He has plainly declared that to his disciples at a place called Caesarea Philippi. He told them he was going to be betrayed, he was going to be crucified, and he would rise again on the third day.

This came as bad news to his boys because his popularity was at its total peak. The name of Jesus was on everyone's lips. He was trending on social media. Well, he would have been if this happened today. Matthew 12:12 said large crowds gathered to him, and he got into a boat, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. Then Luke 12:1 says thousands of people had gathered together, and they were stepping on one another.

Everybody wanted to get close to Jesus, and so he was very popular. But ironically, these same people that were expressing their interest in him would soon turn against him when he made his way to the cross. Even his own handpicked disciples did not fully understand what he was about to do. He had come to die on the cross. This was always the plan from the very beginning. Even though he spoke about it in great detail, his disciples missed it with one exception.

It wasn't John, known for his spiritual perception. It wasn't Peter, normally known for his outspokenness. It wasn't Andrew, it wasn't Matthew, it wasn't one of the apostles. It wasn't a man; it was a woman. She was not one of the apostles, but she understood what Jesus had come to do, and her name was Mary.

Now, there's a lot of Marys in the Bible, so sometimes we get confused. First of all, there's Mary, the mother of Jesus. Then there's Mary Magdalene, and then there's Mary and Martha. Okay, so this is Mary of Mary and Martha fame. It's worth noting that every time we read of Mary, she is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Maybe that's why she had this great insight.

We remember one occasion when Jesus came over to her home where she lived with her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus. Martha went into the kitchen to make a great feast for Jesus, and Mary was just sitting at his feet. This frustrated Martha because it's a lot of work to prepare a meal. She comes out demanding that Mary join her in the kitchen.

Jesus made an amazing statement to Martha. He said, "Martha, Martha, you're worried and upset about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it won't be taken from her." Think about that. Mary chose what is better. We have that same choice to do the right thing, to not do the wrong thing. We can be like manic Marthas flitting here and there, going about our business, or we can be like Mary and take the time to sit at his feet and hear what he has to say.

When you choose what is better, as Jesus said Mary did, you're making the best choice. That's where she discovered this essential truth. Mary realized Jesus was coming to die on the cross. I know it seems obvious to us now, but no one else got this. She knew he was coming to die on the cross, and she also understood that's where he was now headed. She thought, "I've got to do something profound. I have to do something significant that will show my thankfulness to him, my love for him, my devotion to him." So she brings this great gift, and Jesus said this will now be a memorial to her wherever the Gospel is preached.

What exactly did Mary do? What was this profound gift that so moved Jesus he wanted to memorialize it? Let's read about it now. Mark chapter 14, starting in verse 1. "Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 'But not during the festival,' they said, 'or the people may riot.' While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those who were present said, 'This is worth more than a year's wages. Why this waste of perfume? This could have been sold and the money could have been given to the poor.' And they rebuked her harshly. Now look at the response of Jesus. He said, 'Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? The poor you always have with you, and you can help them any time you want, but you don't always have me with you. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand in preparation for my burial. And I say to you, wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.'"

Now just stop and think about this. This is a meal. This is a dinner. What a collection of people. We've got the Lord himself there. But you know who else was there? Lazarus. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, who had just been raised from the dead. Man, I would have wanted to ask Lazarus a few questions. What happened? What was it like to die and go to the other side? What did you see there? Incredible.

So they're all gathered around, probably talking to Lazarus and a lot of questions for Jesus. He had just delivered what we call the Olivet Discourse, recorded in Matthew 24. Basically, that's where Jesus talked about the end times, and they probably had more questions about that. What did you mean when you said the abomination of desolation? Explain this all to us. So this was quite the night that they were having together.

Everything was coming to a head in the life and ministry of Jesus. Now Mary, watching all of this, is so moved. She knows what Jesus is about to do, so she does this. Verse 3: "A woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head."

Now, this probably was a family heirloom. As it's been pointed out, it was worth a year's wages, so it was worth thousands and thousands of dollars. Under normal circumstances, just a few drops from a bottle like this would be sufficient. She pours the whole bottle on him and then wipes his feet with her hair.

But Judas is very critical. Maybe he had his little calculator out. He knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. He calculated it and said, "This is a waste." And it did seem like a waste, but it actually wasn't a waste at all.

I read that one of the most expensive perfumes that you can buy is called Clive Christian Number One Imperial Majesty. Oh my, that's a very impressive title, isn't it? It's a combination of mandarin orange, Indian jasmine, white peach, lemon, and more. It costs you $200,000 a bottle. Oh, but wait, they deliver it in a Bentley. So that's a lot of money to spend on perfume.

But it even gets crazier. The most expensive perfume you can buy today is called... Here you go, sucker. No, I made that up. It's actually called Shamukh. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing that right and frankly, I don't even care. But it comes in a crystal bottle covered in diamonds, pearls, and gold. How much does it cost? Are you ready for this? $1,295,000.

Then again, you can go over to Amazon and order some Jades for around $22, or Hi Karate for $56, or Old Spice for about $13. There's Brut, don't forget that. But the idea here is not how much this cost. It's how much it cost her. It cost her a lot. She was giving the most precious thing she owned to Jesus.

Dave: Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a Harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash: Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more. So go and download the Harvest Plus app.

Well, Pastor Greg is pointing out that Mary, Martha's sister, gave the most precious thing she had to the Lord. It was a surprising gesture, but the Lord commended her. Let's listen.

Greg Laurie: What is the most precious thing that you own? What is more valuable to you than anything else? Now, question: would you be willing to give that to Jesus? That's what this is all about.

We remember the story of that young man we call the rich young ruler. He came to Jesus in his super-cool, tricked-out chariot, lowered, drinking a latte. Probably not. But he comes up to Jesus and he says, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus reminds him of some of the commandments, and this rich young ruler says, "Well, all these I've kept from my youth up." Jesus probably laughed out loud. The Bible doesn't say, but no one's kept the commandments from his youth up.

Here's what I find fascinating. After this brash and arrogant young man said he had kept the commandments, we read this statement: Jesus looked at the man and felt genuine love for him. Then Jesus made this statement: "There's one thing you haven't done. Go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me."

Listen to this. Then the man's face fell, and he went away sad because he had great wealth. Understand, this was never about the man's stuff. Jesus didn't want his stuff. He just saw that in the heart of this young man, those things were more important to him than anything else, including God. He says, "There's one thing you need to do."

See, that young ruler missed the one thing, and he walked away sad. He wasn't willing to let it go. But Mary, she got that one thing. One thing is essential, Jesus said of Mary, and she has chosen it.

Well, Judas did not get it, and so he criticized it. Judas is typical of so many people today. Like dutiful Pharisees, they want to give the bare minimum to God. They'll lamely ask questions like, "Can you do this and still technically go to heaven? Can I get away with this and still call myself a Christian?" Those are the wrong questions.

We'll give our leftovers to God, if you will. We'll pray briefly if we think of it. We'll read the Bible if we can make time in our busy schedules for it. And then what's even worse is we will criticize others that are more committed to the Lord than we are.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why the early church changed their world. Maybe that's why the early church turned their world upside down because they had a sense of abandon. God would tell Philip, "Go to the desert," and he went in obedience to the Lord. God would tell Peter, "Reach down and take the man by the hand and pull him to his feet," and he would do it. They took risks, and they left their comfort zone. Why? Because the scripture says they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:13 says the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John because they were ordinary men. They had no special training, but they recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. Can someone tell you've been with Jesus? Can they see it reflected in your life? Does the fragrance of your life fill the room, as it did with Mary and her gift to the Lord? It's a wonderful thing when people see that and ask us why we are the way that we are. They want to know more about us, and then we can share the Gospel.

Now, again, I want to emphasize Mary did not have the same privileges as the disciples. They spent pretty much every waking hour in the presence of Jesus for some three years. She was with him sporadically, but she was going to take advantage of this opportunity. She's going to listen to him. She's going to learn from him, and she's going to bring a great gift to him because she could see the lines etching his face and read right the problems reflected in his eyes. She understood he had said what he meant, and he meant what he said. He was going to die on a cross, and that broke her heart. So she was going to bring her tribute to Jesus now.

She would not wait until he was gone. And I want to remind you right now there might be someone that you know and love, and I want to ask you, when's the last time you told them you loved them? "Well, I'll say something nice at their funeral service." Well, they won't be around to hear that, will they? So bring your flowers now. If there's someone you love and appreciate, tell them now. If you have regrets, deal with that now and make the appropriate changes. If there's someone you need to forgive, do it now.

Why should you forgive someone? You say, "Well, they don't deserve my forgiveness." My response is, do you deserve to be forgiven by God? The answer is no. So the Bible says forgive as God in Christ has forgiven you. See, forgiving a person isn't letting them off the hook. It's a way for you to get free of your bitterness. Because the one that's being hurt more by your lack of forgiveness is not the person that hurt you; it's you. As I've said so many times, when you forgive a person, you set a prisoner free: yourself.

So this woman said, "I'm going to do it now." Listen, now is the time to share that Gospel with the person. Now is the time to make that change in your life. Seize the moment. Carpe diem is the expression. That's exactly what Mary did.

But of course, Judas thought it was a waste, and he criticized her for it. But then John gives us an interesting little detail about Judas. He said Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. Basically, Judas was hanging onto the money for the disciples, and he was pocketing it. So this had nothing to do with his concern for the poor.

That reminds me of a very important point about critical people. Sometimes the people that complain the most actually do the very least. And sometimes the people who are aiming accusations at you are revealing something about themselves. The thing they're accusing you of is actually what they are personally guilty of. After all, it was Judas who sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. So be careful if you're always harping on a certain sin over and over again; you may be telling us more about yourself than you want to reveal.

Things are not always as they seem. From the outside, Judas looked thrifty and careful and spiritual, and the woman looked frivolous and wasteful and silly. But the very opposite was true. Judas was evil and greedy and wicked, and she was thoughtful and godly and committed. So things are not always as they appear.

You know, we always think Judas would have been the easiest guy to identify. All the other disciples wore white robes, and he wore a black robe. A black leather robe with the collar turned up, right? No, of course not. In fact, Judas was such a good actor, such an effective faker, that when Jesus said one of you is going to betray me, no one suspected Judas. You would have thought that someone would have said, "I bet it's Matthew. He used to work for Rome. It's him, isn't it?" No. They said, "Is it me?" No one thought Judas. If he was as obvious as people thought he might have been, they would have all pointed in unison and said, "It's Judas, isn't it? The guy who wears the black robe." No, no one suspected Judas because he was such a good actor, but he was a liar.

It's interesting because Judas accused her of being wasteful, yet Jesus would say of Judas, he was the son of waste. Jesus called Judas the son of perdition, which means the son of waste. He was the very thing he accused her of being.

Now Jesus commends her as an example to us. Look at verse 8. "She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial." She did what she could because she understood that he would do what he did. In the same way, the more we discover about what Jesus has done for us will cause us to want to do more for him. The Bible says we love him because he first loved us. She saw this love that was driving him. She saw this concern for her and the others and all of humanity, and so she wanted to do something for him to show her love.

Dave: Good inspiration for us today here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie pointing out Mary's extravagant love and gratitude for the Lord. And there's more to come from this message. Mary's heart was filled with thanks for what Jesus had done, and our hearts are filled with thankfulness as well. Jesus gave His life for our sins. He paid a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay. Have you ever come to the Lord to accept the debt He paid on your behalf? Have you ever come to Him and accepted His offer of forgiveness and eternal life?

Greg Laurie: Jesus did all the heavy lifting. He carried the cross for you. He died on that cross that he carried. This isn't about what you do; it's about what he's done. But here's what the Bible says: whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

So let's just say that you're caught in a rip tide out in the ocean, and you need help, and there's a lifeguard at the stand, and they see you. You've got to call out to them and let them know you need saving. The same is true when it comes to eternal life. Jesus is ready to save you. Will you call out to him?

You say, "Well, okay, how do I do that?" You do it through prayer. Prayer is just talking to God. So listen, I'd like to lead you in a simple prayer. If you pray this prayer after me, I believe God will hear it and answer it, and Christ will come to live inside of you. Thousands of people have prayed a prayer like this over the years that we've been doing this radio broadcast and have seen their life change. There's no power or magic in a prayer. It's all about your commitment to Christ, but this is a way to call on the name of the Lord in this prayer.

So if you want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want to fill that big hole in your heart, just pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like, pray it in the quietness of your heart, but pray these words if you would:

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I am sorry for my sin and I turn from it now. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thanks for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, I want you to know that God has heard you and has answered it. The Bible says, "These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." That you may know! It's yours now. God has given it to you because it's the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Congratulations and welcome to the family of God.

Dave: Yeah, that's right. And we want to help you begin your new relationship with the Lord on the right foot. Would you let us send you a free gift? It's Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. Scores of people have read this edition of God's Word. New believers love the study helps written just for them, and they appreciate that it's in an easy-to-understand translation. We'll be glad to send it to you today. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. You can call any time, 1-800-821-3300, or go online to harvest.org.

Well Pastor Greg, we get a lot of joy out of opening the mailbag here at Harvest. And I have a letter here I wanted to read to you. It says, "I began to listen to Harvest programming early after I returned from being a prodigal. I then found your daily message and listened each day to your recorded radio show. Each day growing a bit more. One of the areas that I grew in was an understanding of being generous in my heart. I'm proud that after a few years of only being able to make a token donation occasionally, God has allowed me to become a Harvest Partner. Although I know it's the Holy Spirit that led me there, I can see you cheering me on to build that relationship. And it is such an encouraging thing for us to hear not only of the spiritual transformation that somebody will go through having listened to your teaching on a regular basis, but to see that play out in real life as their heart does become more generous."

Greg Laurie: You know, I think that's a very insightful letter because you can see that their faith is impacted every area of their life, including their giving. I think it was Martin Luther who said there are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the mind, the conversion of the heart, and the conversion of the pocketbook. Or we might use the word wallet today.

By the way, there's a digital version of the wallet called the Apple Wallet, so you can give in that way. You know, it's a funny thing. I was noticing what the most popular gift for wives is to give to their husband, and it was wallets, slim wallets. Because so many guys carry fat wallets around, right? Well, why don't you share a little bit of that? It's usually not money that they're filled with though, it's just junk that we collect as guys, right? Because we don't schlep purses around. Some do; they call them man-bags, but they're just purses.

Most of us don't do it. But anyway, I'm going to ask you to be generous and let that third conversion take place in your heart, as it did for that very insightful writer of that last letter that Dave you just read to us, where they understood that their faith should affect their giving. Jesus said where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. I think you can tell a lot about a person's spirituality when you look at their generosity.

So I encourage you: be generous when you think of Harvest ministries and invest in our mission to fulfill the Great Commission. And what is that? It's to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, making disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that we've heard from the Lord. So help us do that, and thank you for your interest in this. And Dave, there's a great opportunity for people to become Harvest Partners as the person who wrote that letter mentioned. Tell them what it means to be a Harvest Partner.

Dave: Yeah, Harvest Partners are part of our inner circle of friends who feel so strongly about the importance of evangelism and discipleship that they invest in this ministry each month. The amount is up to them, and we have some creative ways of saying thank you. So why not become a Harvest Partner today? You can call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300, or just go online to harvest.org.

Next time, more insight on the wise choice Mary made, contrasted with the choice of her chief critic, Judas Iscariot. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.