Jesus – Page 20 – Three Minute Bible

March 16, 2019March 16, 2019

Pitch Perfect – John 12: 7-8

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ‘’It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

As we see in every case where Jesus is attacked, his response is pitch perfect. He does not respond out of anger or out of fear. His perspective on the situation remains perfectly balanced. He knows who Judas is and what he will eventually do. (John 6: 70) So how does he respond?

March 15, 2019March 13, 2019

Perfect Moment – John 12: 4-6

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ”Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Have you ever experienced a perfect moment? Was it in a novel, a movie, a television ad with two people running towards each other in a field of flowers? Maybe it was even in real life?

This moment that Jesus and Mary were sharing, as she wiped the nard from his feet with her hair, was perfect. Jesus, Creator of the Universe, Giver of Life reclined at the table. Mary, one whom Jesus had freed from the power of Satan, whose brother is saved by Jesus, humbly washing his feet.

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019

Fragrance – John 12: 3

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Jesus has been invited to be the guest of honor in Bethany. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are honoring their Lord. This would not have been a casual affair, at least not as I picture it. I see smiles and joy, but also a room full of awe. All the people in the house are in the presence of the one called Jesus, the one who raised Lazarus from the dead.

As the meal progressed, Mary comes and sits at Jesus’ feet. Luke 10: 38-42 records that this was not the first time Mary had sat at the feet of Jesus. The first time she sat in awe of what he said. This time she is in awe of who Jesus is.

In my mind’s eye, the room is full of people, and Jesus is the center of attention. The aroma of nard fills the room. Conversation stops, and now Mary is the center of attention. What is she doing?

March 13, 2019March 12, 2019

Celebration – John 12: 1-2

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

Our last post ended with the Pharisees and the chief priests plotting to kill Jesus. Jesus retreats to Ephriam, a village about ten miles north of Jerusalem and Bethany. There he stays for a while. Meanwhile, John mentions that it is getting close to the time of the Passover festival. People are asking about Jesus, wondering if he will be there.

Apart from all this activity, Jesus bides his time. Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus arrives in Bethany.

March 12, 2019March 11, 2019

The Picture – John 11: 53-57

So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, ”What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

Jesus knows the hearts of all men and he knows that the hearts of the Jewish leaders are intent on his death. Knowing what he does he leaves town. As the time for the Passover nears, the people are looking to see if Jesus will show up.

March 11, 2019March 10, 2019

Rare Flower – John 11: 49-52

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ”You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

It is interesting to me how our reasoning works when survival is at stake. The Pharisees were afraid. They were afraid that Jesus would trigger some event that would cause the Romans to “take away their temple and their nation.” They believed that their survival was on the line.

It is important to note here that their fears were only fears. They could not know what would happen. The future is always a blank page. We do not know what will happen until after the day has passed. Yet even though their fear is one possibility out of millions of things that could happen, it seems real to them. So real that it must be avoided at all cost. Even the cost of a man’s life.

March 10, 2019March 9, 2019

Projection – John 11: 46-48

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
”What are we accomplishing?” they asked. ”Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees got together, they were very concerned. They already had several confrontations with Jesus in the temple. And they were hearing reports of things Jesus had done. The result of these miracles was always the same: more people talking about how Jesus must be the Messiah.

In most of his gospel, John lets us speculate what the motives of the Pharisees are. Here he tells us. The leaders of the Jews fear that the Romans would take away their temple and the nation of Israel. Notice that they were not concerned about what God thought. They did not refer to it as “God’s temple,” but rather “our temple.”

March 9, 2019March 8, 2019

Seeing is Believing – John 11: 45

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

There is an old expression that goes, “Seeing is believing.” It means that people will believe what they see, even if they don’t believe what they are told. It is an interesting standard because sometimes we see things that we shouldn’t believe, like a magician’s tricks or a movie that presents something as real that is actually a deception.

However, in this case, Jesus left no room for doubt. Lazarus was dead; buried, and like the old joke about what Mozart and Beethoven are doing these days, he was decomposing. Jesus called him back to life and people saw it happen. Not just a few people, either. John tells us that “many” of the Jews believed in Jesus after seeing this demonstration of God’s power.

March 8, 2019March 7, 2019

Mega-Metaphor – John 11: 43-44

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘’Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, ‘’Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Please forgive me if I am reading too much into this passage, but I think that there might be a living metaphor here for us. Lazarus has gone where no man wants to go. He is dead and buried, decaying in the flesh. He has become a perfect symbol for the effects of sin on the human condition.

Into the darkness where his body lies, decaying, comes Jesus’ voice: “Lazarus, come out!” At the command of Jesus, the corrupted flesh of the dead becomes new again. The heart starts beating again, the brain functions again, and the body moves. In coming back to life, Lazarus becomes the symbol or metaphor of what Jesus wants for all people: to come back to life in Him.

March 7, 2019March 5, 2019

Jesus wants you! – John 11: 40-42

Then Jesus said, ”Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ”Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

During WWII there was an Army recruitment poster that had a picture of Uncle Sam with his finger pointed at you, the reader. The caption read, “Uncle Sam Wants You!” The idea was that you, too, had a place waiting for you in the service of the country.

Jesus wants you, too. But not because he needs you or that there is anything you can do for him. Jesus wants you because he is your Maker, and he loves you. He wants you to know him and believe in him, and he is willing to go to the ends of the earth to earn your trust.