Wednesday
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Intro
Intro
My name is Jamie Spry I’m the Discipleship Pastor at REVO Church!
REVO church is one church in three locations — Winston, Rural Hall, Walkertown
In my position I get to do a lot of cool things, but the thing I find the most joy in is getting to serve in our student ministry at Rural Hall
Let me throw out this disclaimer, if you don’t have a church that you regular attend, or a Youth Group that you are a part of we’d love to have you come and join!
But I’m so excited to be back! This is my second time being here at Salem!
They let me do a chapel last year and clearly they decided it was good enough to let me come back!
Today I want to talk about something I’m sure you’re aware of, but I want to dive into it
We are going to be looking at Holy Week
Pray
Pray
Lord guide us today as we dive into your Word
Show us something about this time that we can take hold of and use
Holy Week
Holy Week
As you may know we are in the midst of Holy Week
Holy Week is the time from Palm Sunday which was last Sunday to Easter Sunday which is this coming Sunday
It is the time Jesus died for our sins
And today I want to look at what was happening on the day we are on
I want to look at what was happening on Wednesday — and why that is so significant for us today
What is Jesus worth?
What is Jesus worth?
Wednesday of the Holy Week starts like this:
6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.
Mary
Mary
Jesus comes into the town of Bethany and is eating at the house of Simon who was a leper
While there we see that a women comes up to Jesus and starts putting ointment on his head
The ointment that she is putting onto His head is priceless
The Gospel of John tells us the identity of the women in question
She is Mary the sister of Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead
Mary has been following Jesus for a long time, and gotten to know Him well
Upon seeing Him right before the Passover she decides to take out a bottle of perfume and anoint His head and feet with it
The Bible tells us that this was to prepare Him for burial, something that Jesus had been talking about — that He must die
We also know that this bottle of perfume was expensive, it was worth over 300 denarii, which would equate to an entire years wages
Think about it, Mary saw Jesus, heard his message, and decided to take a $50,000 bottle of perfume and rub it on the Lord’s head and feet
She realized who Jesus was, and what He was about to do
That he was going to die and take away the sins of the world
She believed in Him and allowed her belief to follow in action
Judas
Judas
There was a third person in that story though besides Jesus and Mary
The other disciple, the one that complained, was named Judas Iscariot
He was concerned about the money that the bottle could be sold for and given to the poor
He didn’t fully know or understand all that Jesus was saying, so his actions weren’t based in obedience of Jesus, they were based in the idea of what Judas wanted or cared about
The poor...
Or so he says, listen to what John tells us about this moment
6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Judas was the one that kept the money for the disciples, and it tells us that he would often steal from the moneybox
So Judas looking at Jesus and being upset at the fact that Mary was using this $50,000 bottle of perfume wasn’t because he wanted to see poor people eat, he was worried about padding his own pockets
Judas wanted to look good following Jesus, but also wanted to hold onto the worldly things
He didn’t care what Mary was doing with the perfume, he’s just upset that he couldn’t get a little money off it
Listen to what Jesus says in response Mary’s faith, and Judas scorning
11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Jesus looks at Judas and at Mary and praises Mary for her belief in Him
Praises her for realizing that Jesus is King and worthy of every gift that we can give Him
He tells them that the poor will always be, but He is with them now
Translation to today: There is always something “good” you can use your time with, but Jesus is the thing that is worthy of all your time
Jesus is undoubtedly looking at Judas like “how do you not realize this truth?”
Judas was with Jesus every day, and yet he didn’t recognize Jesus for who He was, but Mary knew and gave everything for Jesus
Mary saw Jesus and bowed down at Jesus, while Judas was worried about lining his pockets with money
But listen to how the story continues
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Judas leaves this account with Jesus and immediately goes to the chief priests
He immediately goes to the people that are trying to capture and kill Jesus, and offers to sell Jesus to them
After bartering with the chief priests they come to a sum of money they are going to pay him for Jesus
30 pieces of silver
Listen to what 30 pieces of silver was worth
32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
30 pieces of silver is what they paid someone if an ox killed their slave
30 pieces of silver was what a slave was worth in that time
And that is how much Judas accepted to betray Jesus, the man he had followed for 3 years
Judas saw Jesus as nothing more worthy to him than a slave.
30 pieces of silver was all he accepted for the head of the man he had followed for years
Students here’s our first takeaway from Spy Wednesday
What is Jesus worth to you?
If you claim to believe in Jesus what is He worth?
What are you willing to sacrifice for Jesus?
Mary looked and realized who Jesus was, that He was King, and about to die for their sins, and she said He is worth everything
He is worth this very expensive bottle of perfume
He is worth all that I have
Judas looked at the same man, heard the same messages, saw the same miracles, and said He is only worth 30 pieces of silver
He isn’t worth anything to me
Students I want you to think about this
What is Jesus worth to you?
You are blessed! You go to a Christian school
You get to take classes on the Bible, be around Christian teachers and faculty
But that doesn’t mean you are exempt from this question
So what is Jesus worth to you?
Is he worth giving up things to follow Him?
Is he worth leaving the boy or that girl?
Is he worth giving up that sin?
What is Jesus worth to you?
Because for Mary, Jesus was worth everything
For Judas, Jesus was worth nothing
Mary gave up a $50,000 bottle of perfume
Judas gained the amount you would spend for slave
Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair, the most important part of a females body was their hair, and she’s wiping her saviors feet
Judas was stealing money for the one who he saw feed 5,000 people with some fish sticks and hush puppies
Students I ask you, what is He worth to you?
Do you realize what Jesus did for you?
Do you realize that Jesus died and is offering you forgiveness?
Do you realize how much He loves you?
If you do, what are you willing to give up?
What is He worth?
If you trust in the name of Jesus are you willing to give up things in your life and make Him a priority?
Are you willing to fight sin?
Not only does Wednesday make us ask what is Jesus worth, it also causes us to ask this:
What will you do?
What will you do?
What will you do?
Wednesday on Holy Week causes us to ask the question what will you do?
When Mary realize who Jesus was she bowed and worshipped Him
She anointed Him with oil and surrendered her life to Him as King and Lord
She surrendered her life
Judas saw Jesus and sold Him for the price of a slave
He willingly gave up the Lord to die
Mary’s actions show that she believed and trusted in Jesus
Judas’ actions show that he didn’t care and didn’t believe
Students what will you do?
It doesn’t matter that you go to a Christian school
It doesn’t matter if your parents are Christian
It doesn’t matter if you attend church every Sunday
What are you doing with it?
Judas did all of those things — he was a disciple of Jesus and he offered Him up to die
Mary heard Jesus on occasion, yet she bowed down and worshipped
What will you do?
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
James the brother of Jesus writes this telling us that our actions must line up with our beliefs
Judas was saying the right things, following Jesus, but his actions didn’t show it
Mary believed and her actions backed up her words
It doesn’t matter if you believe if your actions aren’t there
James tells us that the demons believe there is a God, and they shudder
They know that God exists and is real, and yet they don’t go to Him
What about you?
Do you believe that Jesus is real?
Do your actions prove it?
Are you willing to go to Him?
Conclusion
Conclusion
On Wednesday of Holy Week we see an amazing dichotomy that I believe so many of us are facing right now
We see Mary who saw Jesus and gave up everything, bowing to following Him
And we see Judas, who though he was with Jesus didn’t follow or accept Him
And here’s the reality students I believe many of us right now are faced with this reality
What is He worth? What will I give up?
You know Jesus is real, you have heard the stories, you know the reality, so what are you going to do?
Will you be like Mary and surrender to Him
Will you be like Judas and betray Him running from Him?
What will you do with the reality of who Jesus is?