The Gospel of JohnThe Day Of My Burying

John 12:1 “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.
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.
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.
9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.”

1. The Anointing
2. The Thief
3. The Day of The Burial
4. The Poor Are Always Here
5. Killing The Witnesses

1. The Anointing

Verse three: “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.”

Mary [in type] represents us all. She, as a sinner, represents us [as sinners] coming to Jesus Christ for salvation. She pictures that necessary position, and attitude, we as sinners need to have in order to see true salvation come [and to be made known] in our human hearts.

There is the ONE THING that is needful to bring us to this point.

Turn to the gospel of Luke chapter ten, verse forty-two, and see what Jesus Christ says in that book about Mary. Are you ready?

“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” [Luke 10:42]

Did you see that?  Mary chose [by her own volition] “that good part.”

Now, here is a question for you. Now here is the all important question for you.

What is "that good part” that Mary had?

In verse thirty-nine, the Holy Spirit identifies “that good part” as being Mary sitting at “at Jesus' feet” hearing “his word.” Amen!  Faith cometh by hearing! [Romans 10:17] “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Mary chose the most important thing on this earth to do. She chose to hear God’s word sitting at Jesus’ feet! Amen!

Someone who is willing to sit at another’s feet is showing true humility, and a broken spirit, and a broken heart, ready for the engrafted word of God. [Psalm 51:17] “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

She was ready to “receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” [James 1:21]

Mary, indeed, points the way for us all. Amen!

This is the only way to approach Jesus Christ!

This is the only ointment that is acceptable [a broken heart], and is truly fitting [meekness] for the anointment, the odour of, which rises up to God.

This is the effect of hearing the word of GOD at the feet of the SON of GOD.

2. The Thief

Verse five and six: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 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.”

Did you notice something here? Judas has a hidden agenda. Can you see the "smoke screen" put out by Judas?

Whenever someone wants to throw you “off track”  from seeing their true agenda, they will make an appeal for some perceived “worthy cause”.  In this case, it is for the “cause of the poor”.

This, by the way, is a favorite trick of the modern day liberal. They [the liberals] will attempt to make you feel guilty about something that is “yours”. [You earned it … by your hard work.] 

Here is the accusation they will make. “You are neglecting the good of the poor by consuming what you earned upon yourself.”

The is the “guilt trip” TRICK.

Yet all along, they [the thieves] could really care less about the “cause of the poor”. What they are really doing by this “sleight of hand” is trying to deceive you about their true motives!

The thief is trying to find a way to your money bag.

The THIEF is as sly as a fox.

In our text, Judas is just interested in the bags contents to consume it upon his own self. “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.”

3. The Day Of The Burial

Verse seven: “Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.”

The proper place for our body when our soul has departed is to be buried in the earth.

The Bible shows you this. The Scripture is replete with recorded instances of “burying” or “burial” as being the proper practice after the death of our bodies. Dust to dust! Amen!

Furthermore, our body ought to be prepared for the burial. And according to the book of Matthew, Mary poured the ointment to prepare [in advance] for Jesus Christ’s [future] burial. [Matthew 26:12] “For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.”

The DAY [“the day of my burying”] was to be that DAY [that was set] in human history … to be the DAY HE would die for the entire world’s SIN debt [our sins] on Calvary’s CROSS.

This was the DAY of HIS burying, and Mary had “that good part” in human history in showing us [by her example] how the believers in Jesus Christ should pour out the ointment of their lives for Jesus Christ.

This pouring out [ministering] by the true Christian points back to the day of Jesus Christ’s burying almost two thousand years ago.

4. The Poor Are Always Here

Verse eight: “For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”

This is a UNIVERSAL law that has been in place ever since sin came into this world six thousand years ago. This is again a law, and will never be changed by mankind. There will always be the poor among us.

Poverty will never be wiped off the face of this earth by any governmental program of man … no matter how big a program, and no matter how much money is spent on the eradication of it.

This has been tried over and over again, and without success. The only time poverty will ever get wiped out is when Jesus Christ shows up in THE SEVENTH DAY of this earth.

This seventh day is figurative, and points to the seventh MILLENIUM … soon to be here … when Jesus Christ shall reign visibly from Jerusalem [for a literal one thousand years - MILLENUIM] in the theocratic kingdom of Heaven.

5. Killing The Witnesses

Verse ten and eleven: “But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.”

If a man becomes a threat to the political-religious hierarchy, he must necessarily become a target MARKED for destruction [murder]. , This plan to murder includes a campaign to malign his being, and including his reputation.

Something else! You must, also, “take out” [or murder] his adherents, and all those who WITNESS in HIS favor. Thus, it is the case with Lazarus here. Why? Let me tell you why.

Lazarus witnessed, [and by his testimony], to all the Jews that this Jesus of Nazareth was truly the SON of GOD. In the eyes of the ruling political-religious hierarchy, Lazarus had to be stopped. Why did he have to be stopped? Lazarus had to be stopped because he was a threat to their power and authority. Lazarus was winning [by his testimony and witness] followers to the LORD.

What about the CHRISTIAN?
 
• A Christian leads people to CHRIST.

• A true believer [A Christian] reflects the light of His SAVIOR.
 
• A true believer [A Christian] represents his LORD [Jesus Christ].

• A true believer [A Christian] speaks boldly to the lost souls in this world pleading for them to get saved.

[Ephesians 6:20] “For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Now, it should be this way for the Christian. It follows: a Christian should be a witness and a testimony to this lost and dying world. [2 Corinthians 5:18-20]

According to Second Corinthians, chapter two, we have been “given” this “ministry of reconciliation” and our ambassadors pleading for sinners to be reconciled to GOD.

Satan knows that to shut down this operation of the Christian witnessing and testifying of Jesus Christ [this ministry of reconciliation] as being the SON of GOD, is to kill [martyrdom] as many Christians as he can, in order “to get” to his ultimate target, who is Jesus Christ.

You can see this evidence of this work of the DEVIL throughout history.

It is all documented in a book called: FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS is a history of the lives, sufferings and triumphant deaths of the Christian martyrs down through the years.

Now, my friend, are you an ambassador of Jesus Christ … no matter the cost to you?