John 12:1 Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. 3 Therefore Mary took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed Jesus’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 4 Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said, 5 “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?” 6 Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it. 7 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.”
In the starkest of contrasts, the religious leaders, seeking to secure their lives of ease and power, were seeking to murder the creator of life. Simultaneously, Mary and Martha were hosting a dinner to honor Jesus for raising their brother Lazarus from the dead. Sparing no cost, during the dinner, Mary worshiped Jesus with an extravagant gift. She anointed Jesus’ feet with a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious. True worship recalibrates and centers our lives on what is really important keeping our priorities straight.
Seeing Mary and calculating the value of the ointment to be three hundred denarii, the equivalent of a year’s wages, Judas protested. Pretending to be a humanitarian, he argued that the value of the ointment could have been better used to help the poor. But, just like the Pharisees who were out to serve themselves, Judas only protested because he was a thief in the habit of stealing from the money box. Though he appeared to be a disciple, he did not follow Jesus out of devotion. He didn’t care for the poor or anyone else. He followed Jesus for what he could get out of it, namely cash. This will become evident when, in a few days, he was willing to sell out Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
Jesus reprimanded Judas saying, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.”
Even today the poor are a great source of wealth for both governments and so-called humanitarians. Taking advantage of the compassion that people often naturally feel toward the poor and downtrodden, promoters and politicians arrange for relief drives, concerts, go-fund-me pages, NGO’s and other such fundraisers, knowing that people will buy concert tickets or donate to worthy causes to help the poor. But the scam is that these promoters, fraudsters, and politicians frequently pocket the money for themselves instead of distributing it to the needy.
But before we are too hard on the Pharisees or, for that matter on Judas, the truth is that every time we make a decision to sin, we are seeking to secure our lives of ease, living life as we want, rather than living life as God designed and graciously commanded.
John 12:9 A large crowd therefore of the Jews learned 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 conspired to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
Many of the people gathered outside the dinner party were looking for a chance to see Jesus and see Lazarus, the man who had actually been raised from the dead. Perhaps they were hoping that Lazarus had stories to tell about the experience of being dead.
Seeing the large crowd flock to Lazarus, the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also. Again, sadly, they believed that maintaining their grip on power, even if it meant subordination to Rome, was better than believing in Jesus, the giver of life. Just like Jesus, Lazarus must be silenced.
For all of the people in the world today who have rejected Jesus because they have had bad experiences with ill-equipped, misguided, or false religious leaders, and with the followers of those leaders, remember this, Jesus, the Creator of the world, had bad experiences with false religious leaders. And more just bad experiences, because they actually plotted and murdered the Son of God.
Don’t reject Jesus because of the lies and terrible things taught and done in his name by those who falsely claim to be his followers. Rather, go to directly to the source, Jesus himself, and consider his promises, his works, and his life giving words of truth.