Sermon Tone Analysis

In the middle of what Jesus is going to do is the glimpse into the truth and value of who He is.

We are prone to look for the benefit that we receive from Him, and in doing so we miss who He is.

In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus tells a parable about His kingdom and His second coming.

In this parable Jesus contrasts His followers with those of the world.

His followers are portrayed as sheep and those in the world are portrayed as goats.

In the last parable of Matthew 25 Jesus clarifies that those who belong to Him live and act toward others with the same heart and attitude that He deserves.

Jesus credits the actions of the sheep toward the least of these as an action toward Him.

Jesus credits the lack of action by the goats toward the least of these as a lack of action toward Him.

Jesus places the focus of the parable squarely on Himself, and then clarifies that those who belong to Him live their lives for Him.

Likewise, those who don’t belong to Him live their lives for themselves.

Those who serve the least of these demonstrate their unity with Christ.

Why?

Because as we see here in Matthew 26 Jesus has come to sacrifice Himself for the least of these.

In fact, we find out that Jesus dies for more than just the least of these, Jesus dies for the worst of these.

I’d like for a moment to focus on Jesus through the lens of Mary.

Now, Matthew doesn’t call her Mary.

But, we know in the gospel of John that the woman in our passage today is none other than Mary, the sister of Lazarus.

Matthew is setting the stage for the betrayal, arrest, and the crucifixion of Jesus in chapter 26.

In the first few verses Jesus predicts the timing of His betrayal that precedes His crucifixion.

Just like when Jesus predicted the fall of the temple and the city of Jerusalem in Matthew 24, Jesus is now giving them a sign of His eventual death by crucifixion.

Matthew confirms the impending betrayal and crucifixion in Matthew 26:3-5 with the news that the Jewish leaders are conspiring to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and then kill him.

If you haven’t read this before you might begin to ask, how will they do this?

What does it mean to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way?

Well, Matthew backs up a little bit in the life of Jesus to give so history into the plan to arrest and kill Jesus.

This moment is a flashback of sorts that provides some context or background to the plan unfolding in the gospel.

Matthew 26:6-15 shows us the events of a few days before to show us who is going to carry out this treacherous plan against Jesus.

There it is, the moment that led Judas to take action and go to the chief priests with his plan to betray Jesus.

Verse 14 says clearly that Judas initiated the meeting, he went to those who were against Jesus and brokered a deal to betray Him.

The same moment in Matthew 26 is recorded in John 12:1–8

Is there anything more treacherous than the betrayal of one of those closest to Jesus?

The way John records it reveals the heart and motive of Judas’ actions.

It’s no surprise that Matthew inserts this story here in his gospel, right after Jesus contrasts the sheep and the goats by their motivations and hearts.

Through the contrast between Judas and Mary we see the fine line between wasting your life and worshipping Jesus.

Remember the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25.

Matthew has been telling us of the difference between those who belong to the kingdom of God and those who don’t.

In the end, the line between those who stand on the right and those who stand on the left has everything to do with Jesus.

Matthew 25:31–34

We mentioned in the sermon on that passage that at first glance there was no difference between those in the kingdom and those outside the kingdom.

Again we see in the life of Judas and Mary that at first glance its difficult to see the difference.

But, in the same way that the heart of the sheep was demonstrated in caring for the least of these, Mary’s heart is demonstrated in her extravagant worship.

Likewise, the heart of the goats was demonstrated in the parable by a lack of concern for the least of these, and Judas’ heart is revealed in his feigned concern for the poor over the worship of Christ.

As John points in his gospel, Judas didn’t object to Mary’s expensive act of worship because he truly cared for the poor, but as it says in John 12:6, “6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.

He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.”

This moment in Matthew’s gospel has moved to the foreground all throughout the week for me.

I started my sermon preparation with a focus on the Passover meal.

I had every intention of teaching through all the ways that Jesus is the better passover lamb who has come to redeem His people from the slavery of sin.

But, as I was writing the sermon I began to wonder if that might allow some of us to miss the significance of the moment with Mary and Jesus.

I began to think about how practical and prideful we can be in todays church.

I couldn’t help but think of the times in my life and ministry when the most Jesus focused thing a church could do was the least popular and most opposed.

I couldn’t help but think of the simplicity of the moment with Mary.

It’s not just that her sacrifice of the perfume was expensive, it’s also genuine and completely focused on Jesus.

In that moment Mary wasn’t worried about anyone or anything else but Jesus.

I will admit that I want to be in that place.

With one act of selfless and sacrificial devotion Mary exposes the hearts and minds of everyone in the room.

With one risky and seemingly out of place act of worship Mary shows each one of us where are hearts and our focus should be.

Mary reminds us that Jesus is at the center of His kingdom, and as a result He should be at the center of our worship and our lives.

Mary gives Jesus what He deserves when she worships Him.

Don’t lose that, Mary worshipped Jesus.

She didn’t view this as an investment.

She wasn’t thinking about the best way to make the most of what she had.

She looked at Jesus and then took what she had and gave it to Him… and Jesus said it was a noble thing, a beautiful thing.

In fact, Jesus said what she had done was so good that it would be told in memory of her everywhere the gospel is proclaimed.

But why?

Why would Mary’s sacrifice accompany the gospel as it makes way around the world?

Because Jesus is at the center of the gospel, and everywhere people believe the Gospel Jesus is at the center of their lives and worship.

The disciples around Mary immediately thought of all the things that Mary could have done with the value of the perfume.

They quickly pointed out how much it could have done for the poor.

It’s true that we will always have the poor among us.

Jesus doesn’t say this to keep them from caring for the least of these.

Why would he mean that when He just told them that those who care for the least of these are His sheep?

He wouldn’t.

The reason we have this moment in Scripture is to remind us that we do all the things for others because we are doing it for Jesus.

This is the point of the parable right?

The king said whatever you did for the least of these you have done for him… but this doesn’t mean that you don’t do for the King.

In fact, what good is it do for the poor if you don’t ever do for the King.

That was the confusion in the story that Jesus told.

The people in the story could not fathom of seeing the king in need and not ministering to him.

The same is true for Mary.

Mary saw Jesus, she thought of the fact that He was telling them over and over that his death was coming soon, and she took advantage of the moment and worshipped Him.

But she didn’t just offer a few hallelujahs in his direction, she emptied herself of what she had and poured it out on Him.

She literally gave it to Him in a way that was of no benefit to her.

It was purely an act of Jesus centered worship.

I couldn’t help but think about the parable Jesus told right before this moment in Matthew’s gospel.

That parable revealing the significance of the heart and motive behind what we do.

That parable that rolls right into the contrast between the heart and motive of Mary and Judas.

And I know that Matthew is setting us up for the betrayal that follows the Passover.

I know that Matthew is prepping us to make the connection between the death of Jesus and the sacrifice of the Passover lamb in Egypt.

I know all of that.

But, I also know that in the world of cultural Christianity… this world of Tupelo, MS, where we believe that everyone is a Christian… this world where criticisms and complaints abound in the world of Christianity… this world where extravagant and seemingly wasteful worship has been replaced with convenience and practicality.

This world where people worry about their own reputations and the opinions of others instead of the name and value of Jesus Christ.

I can’t help but see this woman, a wretched woman who had experienced the grace and love of Jesus pouring out her affection and gratitude on her Savior.

When I look into this passage of Scripture I find myself asking where are the Mary’s today?

Where are the sinners who have been saved to sacrifice and worship Jesus?

Where are the saints who consider everything else a loss to gain the grace and love of Jesus?

Where are the Christians who have counted the cost and decided that Jesus is worth more than anything and anyone else?

Where is the church that demonstrates the worth of Jesus with its sacrificial worship?

Take a look at Jesus with me…

Jesus is our great God and Savior

Jesus is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega

Jesus is the creator of the universe