MARK 14:3-9 DO A GOOD WORK FOR JESUS2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Mark 14:3-9 Do A Good Work For Jesus

You are listening to Fervent Word, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017.

This morning, as we look at Mark chapter 14, I want to encourage you to do a good work for Jesus. Do a good work for Jesus, because we see here in this account, this woman who does this, well, Jesus calls it a good work. And not only does he call it a good work,

but he says, this is such a good work. This is such an amazing thing that has been done that I want to attach this demi this act as a demonstration of the proper response. I want to attach that to the gospel message. And in verse 9, he says, like, everywhere the gospel goes,

I want this example to go also. What this woman has done is a good work. It's a good thing. And, and Jesus here presents it to us as a, as an example, as a model to follow that, that will forever be remembered and established in history, that this is the,

the appropriate response of a child of God to the work that God has done in our lives. It's a good work. And, and as I think about the word good work or the phrase good work, you know, a lot of times we think about like a good deed, you know, you kind of do your good deed for the day. And, and that's not really what is meant when Jesus says it's a good work.

There's a little bit more to it than that. In fact, uh, other translations like the NIV and the ESV translate it as a beautiful thing, because that word that's translated for a good work, uh, it, it does speak of that charm of there's a, there's a loveliness. It's, it's more than just something that's good or a good deed,

but, but this is a beautiful work for Jesus. And, and this is a great example and model for us. And so this morning, as we look at this example in this passage, I, I want to encourage you to be thinking about, to be praying about what can you do for Jesus that is like this?

What beautiful work can you do for the Lord in response to who he is in your life and all that he has done for you? And so as we walk through this passage, there's five points that we'll look at to learn from this woman's example about this beautiful work, this good work that we might be able to do for Jesus.

The first point is found in verse three, and that is your work may be very costly. As we talk about doing a good work for Jesus, doing something beautiful for Jesus, you need to knowright off the bat, there is going to be some sacrifice involved.

There's going to be some cost to you in order to give to the Lord, uh, according to the work that he has done in you. We, we pick it up again in verse three. It says, and being in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenerd.

Then she spoke, she broke the flask and poured it on his head. We're jumping into this time in Jesus's life where he is in that final week of ministry before the cross. We often call it the Passion Week. It really begins with the triumphal entry as he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.

And during that week, he is during the day in Jerusalem, but in the evenings he goes back to Bethany, which is on the Mount of Olives. He crosses back over the valley. He spends the evening there, and then he'll return to Jerusalem in the morning. And he basically did that every day for that week leading up to the cross. And so in this particular evening,

he's back in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper. And we don't really know much about this guy named Simon. It implies that he at one time was a leper, and it's likely that he was healed by Jesus. And that's why he's able to have people over and have this, uh, time together with Jesus and his disciples.

And so there's this special dinner that's happening. There's this meeting that's going on. There's this time in this gathering with Jesus and his followers. And there's this woman in the midst of them. And it tells us here in verse three that she has an alabaster flask of very costly oil. And the idea of the alabaster flask,

it was this flask that they would have. They would have this oil within it, but it was a one-time use type of thing. And what you would do is you would break the flask and then all of the contents of the oil. So not like your perfume, you know, you kind of spray it or your cologne or your aftershave or whatever you guys use, Axe, you know, you know, whatever, but, but use that over and over and over again.

You know, that was kind of normal, but, but this was a very special occasion type of perfume or oil. And so it was a one-time use type of thing. And so it would be broken. It would never be closed again or sealed again. It would be broken and then used entirely. Although it was a one-time,

one-time use type of oil, it points out in verse three that it was very costly oil. It was not cheap. It was very expensive.

In fact, we learn from those who are complaining later on in verse five that this oil could have been sold for more than 300 denari. Now, a denari was one day's wage.

So it could be sold for 300 days' wages, or you could also think of it, it could be sold for one year's salary. This little vial, this little flask of oil. I did some quick looking around into, uh, some statistics,

and in the Corona area, the median income for an individual is $37,000 a year. So an individual worker, kind of average middle, uh, is $37,000 for the area of Corona. And that's a little bit higher than the U.S.

as a whole. The U.S. nationally has an average of 30,000 a year. And so that seems like a pretty accurate number, I think, that we could, uh, consider and understand this little flask of oil. You know, if we're looking at it in today's terms, it would be worth about $30,000.

And this woman here has this, this valuable oil, this costly oil. Because of the value of it, it has been suggested by commentators. We don't know for sure, but it has been suggested that perhaps it was a family heirloom that it was exceedingly valuable. And so probably more valuable than,

than she could have on her own. And so it was probably passed down from generation to generation to generation. And that may be, it doesn't say, so we don't know for sure. Others have suggested that this was probably her dowry. Now, in their culture, the dowry was really important because, uh, it was different in their culture than our culture.

Now, our culture is kind of, we do whatever we want anyways, but traditionally in our culture, the, the father of the bride, the family of the bride pays for the wedding,right? Uh, in their culture, it was different. The fathers of the groom and, you know, they threw the party, they hosted the wedding,

but the bride's side would give this dowry. It was a significant amount of money that would be given in part of the marriage process. And, and it was also kind of a backup if the guy was a bum and decided, you know, this isn't working out, that, that the dowry belonged to the bride and that would,

would be what she would live off of if he decided not to be with her anymore. So it was an important part of their culture. It was an important thing to her. So if it was her dowry, this was really important to her. Her marriage was really contingent upon this dowry, and she might not get married if she gave up the dowry and that kind of thing.

And so it was very costly, not just in the amount, but it was very costly in the sentiment. Emotionally, she was attached to this oil.

She, she had strong attachments, not just because it was expensive, but it was meaningful to her, whether it was a family heirloom passed down or whether it was a dowry that was attached to her future and possible marriage and family and so on and so forth.

It was, it was something that was incredibly valuable to her, probably more valuable than just the money itself for the oil. And so as she gives this, she breaks open this very costly oil and pours it out on Jesus. There, it's often referred to as an act of worship.

It's a $30,000 act of worship. Pretty incredible. And I would ask you to consider this morning, what is the most expensive thing you've ever done for Jesus? Now, already, I, you know, I want to make sure, and you guys know me, I always like to try to make sure we're not taking a second offering. This is not a ploy for money.

This is not trying to, you know, although I can give you the correct spelling of my name if you need it, so you can write a check. No, I'm just kidding. No, it's not, it's not anything like that at all, because ultimately it, what, what God may be asking us to do as a good work for Jesus may not have anything to do with money at all, but might be something different altogether.

But, but just looking at the example and understanding there was great cost, there was significant expense in this act of worship. What, what's the most expensive thing, the most costly thing that you have done in your worship of the Lord, in your serving of God?

She broke the flask and poured out this $30,000 worth of oil. It's used up. It's gone in this act of worship. She gave what she had, but she served along with this gift. And again, this morning, as we look at this example, I want to encourage us to,

well, to follow the example and do a good work for Jesus. You know, for us as believers in Jesus, there is the daily walk.

There is the day-to-day walk with God and the need to spend time with God and his word and the need for us to gather together on a regular basis and worship the Lord together and be taught the word of God together.

There is the need for the ongoing and kind of the routine in our relationship with God and walk with God and giving to God and serving God. But what I want you to consider this morning is that there's also those times where it's appropriate for us to give in an extravagant way,

to give in a lavish way. It's kind of like, you know, we have the day-to-day, today, today, today, but we also have our special occasions throughout the year and special holidays. And it breaks the monotony for one thing, but, but it's those times where we just express even more appreciation or love for one another or, you know,

whatever the special occasion might be prompting us to do it. And in a similar way, there needs to be these kinds of events in our lives. It's not that she gave this kind of gift every day, you know, it's not that she could or she would if she even had that much to give, that this was just a special occasion. It was a one-time type of thing.

And the Lord had stirred her heart and she did this good work for the Lord, even though it was very costly. She did what she could with this oil that she had.

Pastor Dave Guzik says, God expects no more from us than what we can do. But beware of setting your sights so low that you believe that doing nothing is doing what you can. This is, this is something for us to consider because we have the day-to-day things and we walk with the Lord and we serve the Lord.

And, and it can be very easy for us to just kind of keep ourselves in a place where there's no opportunity to give extravagantly or serve the Lord in some special way that is, well, significant and costly because, well, we don't have anything to give.

Now, it's not that God would expect you to go loan or get a loan for $30,000 to buy some oil to, you know, carry out this type of, that's not, no, she had the oil, it was hers already, and she gave it unto the Lord.

In a similar way, what God would be challenging you to consider this morning is what he has already given to you. And maybe there's ways that you, you ought to just as an act of love and worship of God, give that back to God. But of course, it's easy to look at our bank accounts,right?

And think, well, there's money there, but even though the money's there, it's already spent. This much is going to that thing and this much is going to that thing and this much is planned for that. And we look at our schedules and the dates are there, the time is there, but this much time is going here and this much time is going there. And it's easy for us to say, well, I don't have anything to give. I don't have any extra time to give.

I don't have any extra money to give. I don't have any. But I would ask you to consider again her gift unto the Lord here.

It was already spoken for. It did have purpose. It did have meaning already, perhaps for her marriage, perhaps for her daughter to pass on to. It did. It was allotted towards something specific. It wasn't just,

well, I don't have anything else to do, so I might as well give it to the Lord. No, it had reason. It had purpose. But, but she reassigned that purpose and said, you know what? That was for that. But today I need to express my worship to God. And so I'm going to give this to the Lord as an offering to him.

It's costly again, not just in the amount, not just in the dollar signs, but in what it meant to her and what it was meant for. There was a sacrifice that was involved. But let me remind you, it's not just about the total dollar amount.

It's really about the cost that it, that it is for us to give. You might remember in Luke chapter 21, Jesus is watching people give into the temple treasury. And as he's watching these people blow trumpets and announce how much they're giving and how amazing they are because they gave such large sums,

Jesus calls his disciples over and points out a widow. She put two mites, that's like two pennies, into the treasury. And Jesus says in Luke chapter 21, verse 3 and 4, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all, for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,

but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood she had." Jesus here in Luke 21 calls our attention to another woman, this widow who she was surrounded by people who were giving great abundance of monies,

but she puts in two pennies. And Jesus says, "She gave more than everybody." You see, it's not about the dollar amount and it's not about whether people would be impressed if they knew how much what you gave to God was worth, but it's about what's it costing you? What kind of sacrifice is it for you to give unto the Lord in the way that you do,

to serve the Lord in the capacity that you do? And as we talk about doing a good work for Jesus, you need to understand it's a sacrificial work. It's giving up of ourselves. It's giving up and laying down our perhaps plans or dreams or hopes and reassigning some of those resources,

reassigning some of those things that we had planned for something else. But, but saying this is, it's more important for this to go to the Lord at this time. It's his. Again, it's not necessarily about the money. It's about loving Jesus and worshiping him sacrificially.

This valuable oil was worth an annual salary, but maybe God's not asking you to give an annual salary. Maybe he's asking you to give a year of your time and to commit to something for a special season, a special work for a season. Maybe he's calling you to use your vacation time this year and instead of going on some vacation,

going on some mission trip and using that as an opportunity to serve God and express your love to God and not just go and enjoy yourself, which God doesn't mind. He gives you things, all things for you to enjoy.

But to do a good work for Jesus, you need to understand there's going to be some cost and there is a need for us. There are those occasions where we have the opportunity to give in these special times, in these special ways, and to do a beautiful work for Jesus.

Now, as we continue on in verse 4 through 6, we have point number two, and we need to know as we do this good work for Jesus and as it is sacrificial and costly, you need to know going in that there may be some criticism. Point number two is your work may be criticized, your work for Jesus,

your gift unto the Lord, and what you do for him. Not everybody around you is going to agree with that necessarily. Verse 4 says, "But there were some who were indignant among themselves and said, 'Why this, or why was this fragrant oil wasted?

For it might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.'" And they criticized her sharply.

This is a pretty incredible scene as you think about it, as you play through it in your mind. I mean, here Jesus and his disciples are there and this woman comes in and she breaks this incredibly valuable oil over his head and it just runs down. And it doesn't sound like a beautiful thing for us, or at least for me anyways.

You know, if you break a thing of oil over my head, you know, I might smack you. But in their culture and for them, this was like such a beautiful and a bestowing of honor upon Jesus.

And as she is just giving her all, laying down perhaps her future and the family that she's thinking about and the marriage that she has in mind, laying down that family heirloom and laying it, she's just, she's just surrendering. She's sacrificing. She's giving her all to Jesus. Meanwhile, there's people standing around, some of them,

some of Jesus's own disciples, and it describes them as becoming indignant. There were some who were indignant among themselves and said, "Why was this oil wasted?" This word indignant is a pretty strong word. It means to be very displeased,

very displeased. That's how the disciples are responding to this situation. It's not that they're a little bit just wondering like, "Wow, I wonder, I wonder if that was a good move." I mean, she just broke that oil and it's worth $30,000. It's pretty expensive oil. And, you know, you only get to use it once. And she used itright now and poured it on Jesus.

And he's probably going to wash his hair tonight anyways. And so, I mean, really, was that worth it? I don't know. That's not what it's describing here. They are indignant. They're very displeased. They're upset. They're, they're, they're somewhat angry even. And they're like, they're saying, "This is ridiculous. This is the wrong thing to do.

What, what is she doing?" There's this great displeasure amongst the group as this beautiful act of worship is going on.

And the statement that they're saying, the question they're asking is, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?" What a waste they were saying for this oil to be used on Jesus like that. What a waste.

Here she is giving her all and worshiping Jesus. And they're saying, "What a waste." They're saying, "Basically, you just took that bottle of oil and you poured it down the toilet. What a waste." Except she didn't. She poured it on Jesus.

It had incredible value, this act that she did. And we'll see that more. But again, Jesus highlights it at the end. Hey, I want everybody to know throughout all history, what this woman did was a good thing. It was a beautiful work for Jesus. But here the disciples are displeased.

They're unhappy. They're talking amongst themselves. They're murmuring. They're complaining. What a waste. In verse 5, again, it says, "It might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor." And they criticized her sharply. Here they are criticizing her again,

not just like, "I don't know if that was such a good idea." You know, not just kind of casually wondering, but, but they're sharply criticizing her. "You're, you're dumb for doing that. Why would you waste it like that?

That's a ridiculous thing to do." That's their opinion of her gift to God, of her act of worship. You need to know as God stirs your heart and as you respond and give to him, there are going to be people around who disagree.

And these are Jesus's disciples,right? These aren't the religious leaders, the wicked, you know, the godless. These are Jesus's disciples and they're disagreeing.

They're saying, "This is a ridiculous thing to do." They're displeased, but they were wrong. And Jesus will correct them in just a moment. Charles Spurgeon says, "You should rise above such idle dependence upon man's opinion.

What matters it to you what your fellow servant thinks?"

Because people disagree, sometimes we can put too much value. It's important for us to receive from people and we need people to correct us and bring wisdom and counsel into our lives.

But at the same time, when God has called us to something, we need to rise above that dependence upon the approval of the people around us,

rise above that need to be accepted and approved by the people around us and be focused instead on, "Well,

what does the Lord say about this work that I am doing?" In verse 6, "But Jesus said, 'Let her alone. Why do you trouble her?

She has done a good work for me.'" Jesus steps in as the disciples are really trying to ruin this beautiful moment. He steps in and says, "Leave her alone." I like this, this picture of Jesus stepping in to protect her, to defend her. And Jesus is saying,

"What you call a waste, I say to you, it's a good work for me. Stop troubling her." You see, what matters is not what other people think about our acts of worship, but what really matters is what does Jesus think about your acts of worship,

your good work for Jesus? What does he say? What does he think? It might be criticized by others, but what does the Lord say? That's what matters. That's what those acts of worship are for. And here's something else you need to understand about this complaint. We learned some insight from John chapter 12.

You know who started this complaint? You probably do because we, well, we know these stories well. It was Judas, Judas Iscariot, who was in a few moments about to make an agreement to betray Jesus.

He's the one who's actually doing the math, saying, "Hey, this fragrant oil could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor." In John chapter 12, verse 6, it gives us a little insight into the heart of Judas. After he says this,

it tells us in verse 6, "This he said, not that he cared for the poor,

but because he was a thief and had the money box and he used to take what was put in it." Here's something interesting to consider about those complaints.

All the disciples joined in, but it was Judas who started it. And you know why Judas started those complaints? Not because he cared about the poor. It was a solid argument. "Hey, we could give that to the poor." Yeah, that makes sense. We could give that to the poor. We could have fed a lot of hungry people with $30,000.

What a waste to give it to, you know, this occasion and just use it all upright here. Solid argument. But Judas didn't mean it one bit.

His motivations, his intentions were completely different. He said that because he was a thief. He had charge of the money box. And if that money had been given to them, he would have had a piece of it. He would have been able to have access to that.

And so it was his own selfish motivation and selfish heart that caused him to present this great argument. And again, the rest of the guys joined in. But here's what you need to know. Sometimes the best sounding arguments are given by people who don't mean them at all. And I would say this is kind of a side note,

but just generally speaking, hey, there's a lot of stuff that happens in our society and a lot of movements. And there are spokespeople who present really great sounding arguments, but it doesn't necessarily mean that their motivations are in theright place. And perhaps there are other agendas that are being sought in the midst of that.

And we need to be careful when we jump on other people's complaints, other people's bandwagons, not knowing the motivations that are really happening within. It really doesn't matter what these disciples thought. What mattered most is what Jesus had to say about this woman's act of worship.

Your work may be criticized, but whether people agree or not is not the point. And whether or not people are impressed with your act of worship, it's not the point. Some will call your act of worship a waste. Some will call your great sacrifice ridiculous.

And you should have never done it that way. Some will claim to know a better way. Here, let me tell you what you can do. You can invest that money, and then you can give the interest to Jesus for a long time to come and not just, you know, blow it all in one shot. There's always going to be those criticisms, those other opinions.

But as God moves in your heart to do some beautiful work for Jesus, rise above the fray, love and serve Jesus the way that he stirred up in your heart.

Moving on now to point number three, it's found in verse 7, and that is your time is limited. As we think about doing a good work for Jesus, first of all, understanding that it will be costly, understanding it will not necessarily agree with everybody around us.

But we also need to know and recognize as we prepare our hearts to give and to do a good work for Jesus, that many times there is a window of time in which we have that opportunity, and then we will never have that opportunity again. In verse 7, Jesus says, "For you have the poor with you always,

and whenever you wish, you may do them good.

But me you do not have always." Jesus, as he points out, this woman did a good work. He says, "Look, you always have the poor with you. There's always going to be poor people around that you can give to, that you can help,

that you can

bless in some way." Now, as they're talking about the poor people, this was especially appropriate for the context in which this is happening because they were there in Jerusalem for the Passover. And for them, the Passover was a time of special giving for those who were in need.

It's kind of similar to in our culture. We have, you know, the Christmas season. And in the Christmas season, that's when, you know, Salvation Army is out in forest. And, you know, there's this great emphasis and everybody knows it's a time to give to the poor and to charities and to those who are in need. And it's, you know, part of our cultural thing. In the same way for them,

as the Jews came back to Jerusalem for the Passover, it was part of their normal culture and their normal expectation that there was going to be offerings that they would be giving and those who were in need and to help people and bless them. And it was part of their, you know, coming back to spend this Passover season as they usually would.

And so it was always on their minds at this time. It was always on their minds to give to the poor.

And Jesus says, "Look, you have the poor with you always, but you don't always have me. You can do them good whenever you want, but there is a limited window of time for some things. Some things are just always going to have opportunity.

There's always going to be a need for people to serve in children's ministry. There's always going to be a need for people to clean the toilets and vacuum and usher. You know, there's always going to be a need for the normal needs.

But there's also those special times, those special opportunities to serve God and to express our love to God in unique ways that are appropriate to a very specific point in time. You always have opportunity to serve. As long as you have breath,

you have opportunity to turn back and getright with God. You always have opportunity, except always is not exactly theright word because, well, we are limited by this life.

We'll talk about in just a couple of moments that there's reward that is promised as we serve the Lord.

But the way that God has set it up, it's kind of like when you go to the arcade and you get your awesome high score at ski ball and you get the 400 tickets that come out of the machine, and then you go to the counter and you exchange those 400 tickets for a $0.10 eraser. Right? It's like amazing.

And hey, when you're young, it's like that's the most exciting thing in the world,right? Look at what you won because you won. Right now, much more valuable, but a similar way. God has set it up so that there are rewards in eternity. But those rewards are earned here in this life. And we have a limited time in this life.

Oh, sure, in eternity, we're going to serve the Lord forever.

But he has set it up so that the things that we do in this life have eternal reward, have an impact for eternity. And so we are limited by this life. There are things that you can only do in this life that you won't be able to do for the rest of eternity.

There are opportunities that you have now that you'll never have in the rest of eternity or perhaps never again in the rest of your life. Jesus himself said in John chapter 9, verse 4, "I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.

The night is coming when no one can work." He went on from there to say, "As long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world." There's this limitation of time. I'm here for this amount of time, and I need to make the most of this time that I have because I'm only here for this amount of time. And we do have that limitation as well,

that there is this space of time, which is our life, that we have to serve the Lord.

This space of time, which is our life, which we don't know how long it is.

But on top of that, I would also say there's even a narrower time slot for some opportunities to serve that you won't have that opportunity ever again. Jesus said here in verse 7, "Me you do not have always." If you think about this particular example,

this woman, as she breaks this vial of perfume and anoints the body of Jesus, it says it's specifically done in preparation for his burial. This event could only take place. This gift unto the Lord could only take place in a very short window.

If she had come back a week later

to say, "Allright, I'm ready to offer my oil to prepare you for burial," it would have been too late. A week later, Jesus had already been buried and resurrected.

So she had a very limited time. It had to be this time that this gift was offered. And that's important to understand that your time is limited because, well, going back to point number one, there's sacrifice involved. And you know what that means?

That means you need to be prepared ahead of time to give to the Lord, to serve the Lord, to do a good work for Jesus, because you're going to have to go through the five stages of grief to let go of that thing that's valuable for you.

If she had started that at that time, she would have been bargaining already. Right? Okay, well, wait, this is worth $30,000. Can I just give you $20,000 worth of oil, Lord? I mean, like, do I really have, you know, like it would have been there's this process of letting go for ourselves that those things. Yeah, it's money set aside for that certain thing or this time that's devoted to that or these things.

We had these plans and this agenda and these dreams.

And if that opportunity is there and then you start the process of trying to let go of those things so that you can give it unto the Lord in a beautiful work, well, you may well miss that opportunity while you process mentally and

emotionally the sacrifice of giving this unto the Lord.

And so really, the time is now to begin to prepare your heart and to recognize that you desire to worship God at all costs, to begin to let go of things in your heart now, not that they can't be used for the things that you're intending,

not that they can't, you know, go as you planned, but that you're willing. And the heart preparation begins now. It didn't startright now for this woman, but there's been a work that's been happening, and this is the culmination of it. You know, it's easy to put off serving or giving or,

you know, some special act for another time, thinking that there's going to be a better time or an easier time. Well, I would, you know, give to the Lord. I would serve the Lord in this way, but things are so hardright now, and so I can't. And so I'm going to do it another time. And it's easy to postpone, but you need to understand your time is limited.

Your time on this earth is limited, and your time for some of those opportunities.

God may give you some incredible opportunities where you can impact eternity for a multitude of people, and you can be part of his work and have great reward.

But there are some limitations in the time, and you need to be ready to respond as God presents those opportunities to you and gives you,

stirring up your heart, the opportunity to love him and serve him in this way.

Moving on to verse 8, we have point number four. Your work is unique to you. As we talk about doing a good work for Jesus, you need to know this isn't something that someone else can tell you about. What is the good work that you can do,

should do, will do for Jesus? Well, that's not something anybody else can tell you. In verse 8, we see it says, "She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial." Notice first that Jesus says, "She has done what she could.

She has done what she could." This was very particular to her. She did a good work, Jesus says, and she did what she could, preparing my body for burial. She did what she could with what she had. Now, she has some insight into the life and ministry of Jesus.

She recognizes he's going to be put to death,

but she couldn't stop that. She could not protect Jesus from crucifixion. She didn't have the means. She didn't have the capacity. She didn't have the resources to do that. She didn't have a tomb to give Jesus.

That was going to be someone else who had their unique opportunity to serve the Lord and provide a tomb. She didn't have a tomb to give Jesus. What did she have? She had this flask of very valuable oil. She did what she could with what she already had.

That was what she came up with in order to prepare for the burial of Jesus.

Jesus says, "She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial." And so we understand if she had just given Jesus a pile of money, here's a stack of $30,000, it would not have been as valuable. That was the value of the oil if you were to sell it in the marketplace.

But the value of this act of worship was that she knew he's going to die. And so I'm going to prepare. I'm going to participate. I'm going to prepare and give so that he's ready for the burial. Now, the interesting question about this is, how did she know this? You know, Jesus has been telling his disciples and warning them,

"Hey, guys, things are not going to go the way that you think as we hit Jerusalem, and I'm going to be crucified and buried, and then on the third day I'll rise again." He told them that several times. But all throughout the Gospels, you see the disciples didn't get it. And it's not till after Jesus is resurrected, and you see it over and over in the Scriptures,

then the disciples understood what Jesus meant when he said he was going to be crucified and buried and resurrected.

Jesus had been telling the disciples, but they all missed it. But here is this woman, and she got it. She understood, and she then used that in her act of worship.

We learn from John's Gospel in John chapter 12, as John gives the account of the same event. This woman who does this beautiful act of worship towards Jesus, her name is Mary.

Mary, as in the sister of Martha. Her brother also is Lazarus, who was dead. And then Jesus rose, resurrected him from the dead.

This is the famous Mary, as in Mary and Martha. You remember what Mary was known for?

In Luke chapter 10, verse 39, we see verse 39 says, "And she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus's feet and heard his word." Remember, while Martha was busy preparing the feast and getting everything ready and running around and frantic and stressed out and yelling at Jesus,

"Tell my sister to get up and help me." And Mary is there sitting at the feet of Jesus. How did she know about his death? How did she know how she could do some good work, some beautiful thing to prepare him for his death and for his burial? How did she know?

Well, she knew because she sat at the feet of Jesus.

Your work is unique to you.

And the beautiful things that you can do for Jesus, you can only find that out by sitting at the feet of Jesus. The great sacrifices that you can do that have eternal impact and are so meaningful.

You will discover those things as you sit at the feet of Jesus. Pastor Dave Guzik says it this way.

He says, "With her simple love and devotion to Jesus, Mary understood what the disciples did not, that Jesus was about to die, and she intended this gift as preparation for his burial."

She loved Jesus. She was devoted to Jesus. And so she understood what others did not. And that's why she gave while others criticized, because she sat at the feet of Jesus. Her heart had been stirred. There was a work that was going on within her,

and she gives this great sacrifice. And it's incredibly meaningful because it came from this place of walking with Jesus. You know, sometimes we try to use sacrifices as a way to make up for a lack of walking with Jesus. You know, we mess up, we fail, we fall short. And so, you know,

let me just offer some big sacrifice and try to compensate God for that and make up for my failures and my lack of a walk with God. But that's never encouraged in the Scriptures. That's never described as a method for dealing with our failures.

The Lord says, "Obedience is better than sacrifice." Not, okay, you disobeyed, so offer some great sacrifice. No, no, you work on obedience. It's better than sacrifice.

But real sacrifice comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus and having a relationship with him, having understanding of what he's doing and what he desires, and then us giving sacrificially, us giving it at a great expense to the things that,

well, he's been speaking to us and responding to that work that he's doing within our hearts. And so nobody else can tell you how to do a good work for Jesus. Oh, there's regular things that, well,

we can encourage all believers to do: spending time with God in his Word, spending time in prayer, gathering together for fellowship, for teaching, for worship together. All of these things are important and generally true.

But those specific ways that you can extravagantly, sacrificially, beautifully serve Jesus and give to Jesus, those are things that only you and the Lord can work out as you sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary did.

I like how Charles Spurgeon puts it. He says there's a tendency within all of us to look at this story and to say, "I love Jesus also. Tell me what I should do to show it." But part of the woman's great love was displayed in the fact that she came up with the idea to express her love for Jesus in this way.

As I encourage you this morning to do a good work for Jesus, that's an important part of this. You need to spend time with the Lord, and you come up with a way as a response to your relationship with him, as a response to what he's speaking to you. You come up with a way to do something beautiful for Jesus.

It needs to flow out of your relationship with God. And so it's going to be unique to you. It's not going to be the same across the board. It's not that everybody is supposed to have a vial of oil that's worth, you know, this amount of money and use it in this. That's not the same for everybody. It's the example of what she did because that's what she had.

That's where she was. It was theright time.

And so this was a great act of worship for you. Maybe it's not your annual salary that you're going to give. But again, maybe it's a year of your time, or maybe using your vacation time as a mission trip, or maybe giving up an afternoon to serve somebody in need, or maybe going to Bible college before going to university,

or maybe sending Bibles to China, or some special commitment to a work, or, well, I could go on and on and list all kinds of things, but it doesn't really matter because the reality is you need to connect with the Lord and sit at the feet of Jesus and find out, "Jesus, how can I want to express my love to you?

I want to do some beautiful work for you. I want to do something that has eternal value and let him stir up and show you." Now, going back to these points, it will be costly, and you may be criticized. You have a limited time to do these things,

but there is a special work that God has for you, and you can contribute and be part of the work of the kingdom of God. And finally, point number five found in verse number nine, your work will be rewarded. Verse nine says, "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this Gospel is preached in the whole world,

what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." Here, Jesus again says, "This is so important, guys. I want everybody to take notice. And anybody who ever believes in me for the rest of time, I want them to know this story. I want them to hear what she did.

I want them to see this example, to have this pattern, because this is the example of someone who has been touched by God and who is responding to the Lord in a way appropriate to his work in their life." And so wherever the Gospel goes,

where does Jesus want the Gospel to go?

To the ends of the earth, everywhere, every nation where the Gospel goes, every person who hears the Gospel, Jesus wants this story to go along with it as a memorial to her. This is to honor her for what she has done in her service of the Lord.

It's amazing the way that God has designed things, that number one, we don't deserve to serve God. We don't have any rights serving God. We don't deserve to be used in any capacity. We don't have any rights or deserve to be part of the work of the kingdom of God or the things of eternity. We're so unqualified.

But God enables us and equips us to serve him, and he invites us to be part of his work, to be part of the eternity in the lives of others, which that's privilege enough.

And if there was no reward, that would still be an honor to serve God and to give to God sacrificially at great expense because of what he has done for us.

But then on top of that, he also promises reward and glory for those who serve him and give for those who express their love in these ways.

He says, "I will reward you these things that you do in this life." Again, like the arcade, you're cashing in tickets that will have eternal reward, eternal value. And that's the promise of God. I would ask you to consider the account of the rich young ruler.

We just read it not too long ago back in Mark chapter 10. It was this young rich guy who came to Jesus and says, "Hey, what good thing must I do to inherit the kingdom of God? You know, I already keep all the commandments, and you know, I keep all the feasts, and I do all the things that I'm supposed to do. And what am I lacking?

What do I need to make sure or do to make sure that I enter into heaven?" And it tells us in Mark chapter 10, verse 21, that Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "One thing you lack: go your way, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come,

take up the cross,

and follow me." Jesus tells this young man because he loved him, not because he hated him and he wanted him to go away, but because he loved him. He says, "Here's what you need to do." He pinpointed the issue of that man's heart. He says, "You need to get rid of everything you have.

You're very wealthy, and it's keeping you back. It's holding you back from really following me." It was unique to him. Similar to this woman, giving that vial of perfume was unique to her. For him,

the call was,

"Sell everything that you have and give it to the poor." Not a call for everybody, not a call for everybody, but for him, he pinpointed, "This is what you need to do.

And then come and follow me." But notice what he says there in verse 21 of Mark chapter 10, "And you will have treasure in heaven." When you do this, you respond to the Lord in that way, and you serve the Lord in that way, and you sell what you have, young rich ruler, and give it to the poor.

You may not have much on this life, but you will have reward in heaven.

This woman that we read about in Mark chapter 14, she has great reward in heaven. And we see that all throughout the Scriptures when we're serving God and faithful to God. God promises reward. There's great value, and we don't even know fully what that means.

What are those rewards going to look like? Because eternity is already far greater than our minds can fully comprehend. But we know it's promised. God says there's rewards, and it may cost greatly. There may be great sacrifice involvedright now, but you know what? It's going to be worth it.

In eternity, there will be great rewards for what you did for Jesus.

I want to invite the worship team. I think is Lena still around? Yeah. Hi, Lena. Come on up. Allright. So they're going to come up and close us. And can you guys do that song? All I am? Take these hands. I know they're empty. You know that one? I'm not going to sing it because everybody will leave.

But as they get ready, I just want to encourage you one last time to do a good work for Jesus. And as we spend this time in this song, worshiping him and just, you know, expressing these things to the Lord, I would encourage you to be seeking and beginning that preparation in your heartright now. What can you do for the Lord?

Again, there's the day-to-day, there's the ongoing, there's the regular. But maybe it's been a long time since you did something special for Jesus.

Maybe it's about time that you did something extravagant, lavish, kind of crazy, ridiculously big for the Lord, and just to do it in a way to say, "I love you, Lord, and I'm thankful for what you've done in my life, and I want to serve you,

and I give this back to you in that way." It's going to be unique to you, but it will be costly. It may be criticized. It might have a short window of time. So don't delay. Don't dilly-dally. If there's something on your heart, then jump on it and get involved in what God is stirring up within you. It's a work that's unique to you,

and God promises you great reward as you serve him. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.