We are moving towards the event of the Cross. This was the Passion week. John used about 1/2 of the gospel to record this, showing its importance. It was six days before the Passover and Jesus came to Bethany at the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
(A similar incidence was recorded in Mat 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9 at Bethany in the House of Simon, the unnamed lady anointed Jesus from His head. Some think that this lady was Mary and some think not).
Q1 What did Mary do and why did she do it? What was the meaning?
Martha served, Lazarus was sitting with Jesus as the table (John 12:2). Mary was preparing the perfume to anoint Jesus. The perfume cost about 1 year wage (John 12:5). She anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. We can only guess at Mary's intention for the act. It certainly honored Jesus (we use water to watch feet and towels to dry them) and show the love the respect that Mary had for her Lord Jesus. Jesus stated the act was for his burial.
Q2 What did learn about the character of Judah? Do you agree with his proposal of helping the poor? What can you learn from this?
John was very explicit in stating that Judas was a thief and his stealing from the money bag of offering. He also said that giving to the poor was just a plot for him to steal the money so that we need not have any doubts about his lack of intention of helping the poor.
Assuming the proposal did come from Judas, the motive is pure in helping the poor, do you agree that it was a waste of anointing Jesus with 1 year worth of wages perfume ?
Mary had the right to use the money she had saved for whatever she desired. The Holy Spirit had led Mary to it in honor for Jesus. Jesus, the Lord and Savor, deserved all our worship. This was a sign given to show forth the identity of Jesus. This money was set aside for this very purpose. Money for poor can come from other sources.
We need to discern the motivation behind the statements made by people. They are many who did evil in the name of good and even of God. Ten commandments have a specific one prohibiting us to use the Name of the Lord in vain but we had heard often from preachers who boldly preached that God told him to do this or that where in fact it could be just their own desire talking, like Judas. May we be always on our guard, listening to the Holy Spirit, to wisely discern the true intentions behind the seemingly good proposal.
Q3 Would you like to be Lazarus?
Do you wish to be Lazarus, the dead was raised by Jesus, and became the center of attraction? Will you be comfortable to be a testimony for Jesus and at the same time be the death target of the Pharisees? (John 12:10-11). The Bible recorded no spoken word from Lazarus.
Q4 Describe the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Read Mat 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-10 to have more information about this event.
Jesus rode the older donkey out of Jerusalem to Mount Olive. He then rode on the younger colt back into Jerusalem to meet the cheering crowd. This incidence it to fulfill the prophecy and to tell all that Jesus was indeed the Messiah they were waiting and looking for. See (Zech 9:9) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The raising of Lazarus had contributed much to the popularity of Jesus (12:17-18).
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
The increased popularity of Jesus had also increased the anxiety of the Pharisees.
We can compare the common people vs the Pharisees. When there is conflict of interests, truth could be ignored, covered up and distorted. Personal interests tend to override truth. We see it in the Judas incidence above as well. This is the greed and evil of man that we need to be delivered from.
What a contrast.
Contrasting Behaviors of People - Mary's love vs Judas' greed. Common People's honoring Jesus vs Authorities' anxiety and doing away with Him.
1 comment:
As you noted: The Bible recorded no spoken word from Lazarus
And you also noted that: Lazarus was sitting with Jesus as the table
That was also the last time that Lazarus was said to be present at any event. He is mentioned after this, but that meal was the last time he was said to be present.
So where did Lazarus go after he was given that one-of-a-kind gift of being raised from the dead?
LazarusComeForth.com has a free Bible study that simply compares scripture with scripture in order to highlight some facts about Lazarus, the "friend" who "Jesus loved", that are often overlooked. It may be worth your time to consider the presentation of biblical evidence that it offers.
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