COLERAINE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 7 JULY 2024 – JASON CRUISE
JOHN 12 VERSES 1 – 11
Here in John 12
we see that Jesus has arrived at Bethany.
In chapter 11 he travelled 13 miles north to Jerusalem and Ephraim. He makes his way to Bethany, the last stop before
he re-enters into Jerusalem in what we call Palm Sunday. Many people make the assumption that this
event happened in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus but we are not actually
told whose home it was. We do know from Luke
10 that he did visit their home many times.
Theologians and bible scholars believe this time the home was that of
Simon the Leper. Verse 9. This was 6 days before the Passover, in a few
days Jesus would be on the cross to lay down his life as an atoning sacrifice
for all humanity, for your life and mine.
There are a few people I want to think about in this story.
Firstly, Lazarus
– verse 1. It is only a short time
before this in the previous chapter that we read Lazarus had been dead and in the
tomb. He was in that tomb for 4 days,
cold in death. Jesus came along and in a
moment of time he received life again.
Jesus came and asked them to take away the stone. Then Jesus cried “Lazarus
come forth.” He receives life from the
only one who could give him life.
Lazarus has been born a second time.
That is the same for you.
Although you cannot look back to a time when we were physically dead but
spiritually we were dead in our trespasses and sin. We can look back to a time when we came in
repentance to the Lord and received spiritual rest. When we experienced that second birth. There is only one who could give us life. John 11 verse 25 “I am the resurrection and the
life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live.” We can look back to that time when we were spiritually
dead. If you know the Lord as your
personal Lord and Saviour you have experienced re-birth. What an experience for Lazarus and what an
experience for us. A work of grace. A demonstration of love. What is the result of him being raised from
the dead? Verse 2 Lazarus is seated at the table with the
Lord. Lazarus – a life in communion with
the Lord. Whenever he was in the tomb
and dead he couldn’t have fellowship or communion with the Lord. Now he is seated at the table with the Lord
and enjoying communion with him. What a blessing that must have been for him in
Bethany. Revelation 3 verse 20 “Behold I
stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door I will
come in and sup with him and he with me.”
Because we know the Lord as our personal Saviour we are in communion,
fellowship with him. We can come and
talk to the Lord. To come each and every
day, to bring all our cares and worries to him.
I trust that as you go through life you tell the Lord everything. Of how thankful you are for saving you. But I hope you also come in the difficult
times. That you tell him about your
cares and worries. What a great blessing
it is to speak to the Lord. Lazarus was
able to come that day in Bethany and eat with Jesus.
Secondly, Martha
– verse 2. A life of service for
the Lord. They made him a supper and
Martha served. We are not saved to sit
but saved to serve. I wonder this
morning are we as busy for the Lord as we should be or even as could be. Are we doing all we can in the Lord’s work? There was a man called James Kraft born in
1874 in Ontario Canada. He was born into
a diary farm. As a young man he began to
sell his own milk and cheese. His business
began to grow and expand and James became a wealthy man. He came to know the Lord as a young man. His company developed into what is known
today as the Kraft Food Company. As an
older man his pastor came to visit him one day in his own home. His pastor said to him “James you are so busy
in your business, are so involved in many things, maybe you should step back
from the things in the church.” James was involved in the church Sunday School
and helped with tidying up, painting and doing other jobs around the
church. James told his pastor “I would
rather be a layman in church than the head of a company in America. My first job is to serve Jesus.” Is that the mindset we have today? You may not be up front in the pulpit but can
be working away for the Lord behind the scenes.
We are not working for a denomination or a group of people but we are
serving the Lord. Paul writing to the Romans in chapter 16 verse 12 said “salute
Tryphen and Tryphos who labour in the
Lord” then went on “salute the beloved Persis
which laboured much in the Lord.”
I often wonder what calibre of service must those women have been
involved in to have been recorded on the pages of scripture, for Paul to mention
them here in our bibles. They may
possibly have been sisters. They did a
great work for the Lord. They must have been putting in a great work for
God. Are you and I doing all we
can? Are we doing all we should? We might never be in the pulpit or at the front
of the church. We might be like Joash in
1 Chronicles 27. There we read of many
working for king David. Some laboured in
the field and others in the vineyards.
Some worked among the herds and flocks in the open where everyone could
see them. Joash however was over the cellars
of oil. No-one could see him. I am sure there were days when he thought “I
am doing a service for the king.” As we
labour for the Lord are we doing it for him?
Paul encourages the believers in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58 “therefore my
beloved brethren be ye stedfast, unmoveable always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain.” In whatever service you are doing for the
Lord can you make sure it is unmoveable, always abounding in love? That we might see a work done for him and for
his kingdom. Lazarus is a life of
communion. Martha is a life of service.
Finally, Mary
– verse 3. A life of devotion to the
Lord. This ointment that Mary poured
out on the feet of the Lord - John records it as being “very costly”. Spikenard was something purchased and kept as
an investment. It was passed down from
one generation to another. It
accumulated in value. Judas’ words “why
wasn’t it sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?” Judas was not concerned about the poor but
more about the money. He loved the
temporal. Judas had an eternal blessing
in heaven but he exchanged it for eternal damnation in hell. In biblical times when the Lord walked this earth
a man’s wage was one penny a day or one denari.
This ointment was worth 300 denaris.
A full years wages. Mary was
willing to pour it out, to give it to the Lord.
Have you something you wouldn’t want to part with? Something you hold too close? You would not be willing to give it up for
the Lord? I trust we will be willing to
part with that which is costly and give it to the Lord. There was nothing she wouldn’t give to the
Lord. She also wiped the Lord’s feet
with her hair. 1 Corinthians reminds us
that a womans hair is a glory to her.
She has brought that glory to the feet of Jesus. I trust that our actions here on earth would
one day be brought to the feet of the Saviour in humility and devotion to
him. As I think of how she poured out
the ointment that day I am reminded that in a few days time the Lord would pour
out something much more costly, something precious on Golgotha’s hill. He poured out his life’s blood for you and I
and for all humanity. What a
demonstration of love. We are redeemed
not with corruptible things such as silver and gold but we are redeemed by the precious
blood of the Christ as a lamb without blemish.
If I visited your home today and saw something and you told me that was
costly, expensive but if I saw something that had been handed down from
generation to generation I would say that looks expensive. You would reply “Oh no not expensive it is
precious.” Why? Because you cannot put a price on it. It can never be replaced. That is just like the blood of Jesus. He was very precious. He was willing to pour it out for you and
I. The writer tells us in verse 3 that
the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. I wonder several days later when Jesus had
left the home did the smell still linger?
Are our families, friends, relations smelling the odour of our ointment? What type of memories will you leave behind
here on earth to your sons and daughters, to your grandchildren? Will they be able to recall all you did for
the Saviour? That you lived a life of
consecration? That you sought to glorify
God in all that you did for him? This
was not the only time that Mary was at the feet of Jesus. John 11 verses 31 and 32. Here we are back when Lazarus was in the
grave. The Lord makes his way to the
grave of Lazarus. Martha tells Mary “the
Master is come and calleth for thee.”
Mary makes her way to where Jesus is and falls down at his feet. Imagine that home. Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. The Jews were there bringing comfort in their
sorrow and distress. Despite all that she
leaves the home and falls at the feet of Jesus.
We go through times of sorrow.
Others cannot step into our situation.
We can only come and fall at the feet of Jesus. That is where Mary was that day. She had to come simply to the feet of Jesus
and cry out. Maybe you have gone through
a situation similar to that one. Luke 10
verses 38 and 39. Here we find Mary not
pouring ointment nor falling at the feet of Jesus but she is now sitting at the
feet of Jesus. Why? To hear his word. When we know the Lord as our personal Saviour,
when we come into a relationship with him we should have the desire to come and
spend time with him in his word. So that
we might grow in our walk. I trust you
have that desire every day – to hear a word from God. We think of the demonic of Gehanna in Luke
8. After the Lord cast out the demons where
do we find this man? The people came out
and where did they find him? Verse
35. When you come to know Christ you enter
into a living relationship with him. We
should have that desire in our hearts to come to him, to hear a word from
him. The Psalmist said in Psalm 119
verse 140 “thy word is pure therefore thy servant loveth it.” Do you have a desire for that word that
brings you to meet him each day? Are you
eager to come and hear his word every day?
To grow in your Christian walk and in the image of Christ?
Lazarus – a life
of communion with the Lord
Martha – a life
of service for the Lord
Mary – a life
of devotion to the Lord
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