John 12:1-20. It's the first week of April, just before Passover, in the town of Bethany. A dinner was given in Jesus' honor right after raising Lazarus from the dead. Martha was serving. Lazarus was there, at the table, hanging out with Jesus. Mary was at Jesus' feet again, using the best perfume money can buy to anoint His feet with her hair. The whole house was filled with the wonderful fragrance. This is Mary giving her best. How much better to honor people while they are living than when they are dead? Judas didn't really care about the poor, as he consistently helped himself to the donation bags.
This a great picture of following Jesus. In the scene, Jesus is being honored. Are we honoring our Savior? Martha (service), Mary (worship), and Lazarus (witness) are all present, representing a healthy balance of discipleship and honoring Him. We shouldn't lean too far into or out of any of those activities, outside of the Spirit's leading, lest we become imbalanced. Of course, evil (Judas) is still present in this world as we grow and walk this out.
Here we go with a huge crowd again. It still happens today, whether it's a mob mentality or a popular fad. "Everyone's doing it..." "If everyone told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?" More interested in drama, the crowd wanted to see this living miracle, Lazarus. The chief priests had to make room on their "people to kill" list to add Lazarus now. This same crowd wanted free of the political opression by the Romans, so they performed a ritual that started 200 years previous when Maccabees overthrew a brutal Syrian king. They celebrated Palm Sunday, laying out palm leaves, shouting Hosanna and praises to Jesus. They had a very specific, selfish agenda: to install Him as political king and bring them freedom. When they found out that wasn't Jesus' agenda, they were done. You won't see them at the cross. Are we obsessed with seeing our selfish agendas come to fruition? Or are we giving those up and adopting Jesus' agenda?
So the old Jewish rabbis philosophized that the Messiah would come on a white horse, unless the nation wasn't ready for a king, then He would come riding on a donkey. Jesus came on a donkey that Sunday. A week later, they would kill Him. Interesting, how the rabbis might have known about the reference to Revelation, where Jesus comes on the white horse. In Jerusalem, thousands of lambs were brought for inspection prior to the communal sacrifice at Passover. Their "baahs" would be filling the countryside. The priests would assure not one of them would have even a spot or blemish. Meanwhile, on this very day that was prophesied in Daniel 9 to the day, Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, rides into town on a donkey, to be inspected in the following days, to be found without fault, and to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind, and overcoming death, to provide us eternal life, all for the glory of God!
Verse 16 is critical. It has been a repeating theme in the past weeks. Only after Jesus was glorified did the disciples gain understanding about Him. It's the same of our own lives. Are you confused or feel lost without purpose and direction? Continue on. Do what you know to do. Be obedient to the Lord in what you know. Only when we choose to glorify Jesus with our daily lives will we gain more insight, wisdom, understanding, and the empowerment of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The battle wages on between us choosing to glorify ourselves or Him. It's tough because we are so selfish and weak. May we find the courage to be deliberate in denying ourselves so much devotion and energy in catering to our own comfort, pleasure, insulation, and appeasing. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace, for we know You sympathize with our weaknesses and shortcomings. You truly know us, yet still love us with a perfect love that restores and redeems us back to strength and courage, in right standing with You. May we honor Jesus with a healthy balance of worship, service, and witness. Next week, we will see plainly the secret to true life is denying one's self. So, let's not worry too much about our life. I can hear my Piglet echoing this truth by singing the song from Frozen, "Let it go!".
