Service That Honors The Savior | John 12:1-11 | 9-13-26 | Sunday AM

Pastor Andrew Montoro (0:00)

Let's turn on our Bibles to John chapter 12 And if you're in your daily Bible reading, this is actually the text that we read this morning.

The John chapter 12, verse number one.

If you already read this this morning, I hope this will be a help and a review. Or if you have not had that opportunity, as you go back and read your Bible, that it would be helpful to open your understanding. So the Gospel of John, John, the same John who wrote the Epistle of 1st John, is the one who wrote the Gospel of John. And so we'll set some of the context as we get into it. But verse number one of John chapter 12, this is a more one of the stories, one of the events in the ministry of Jesus. This takes place just a couple of weeks before literally the week of the triumphal entry and then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This took place right within that days leading up to that. The Bible says six days before the Passover, then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany. It was the day after the Passover when Jesus was crucified. So within a week of his crucifixion, days of his entry into Jerusalem, the Bible says he came to Bethany, where Lazarus, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's brother, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear that was put in. John didn't know that at that moment. Okay. But looking back, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he understood the spirit with which Judas asked that question.

Then said Jesus, verse number seven, Let her alone. Against the day of my burying, hath she kept this. For the poor always have ye with me with you, but me ye have not always. Much people of the Jews, therefore, knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death because that by reason of him, many Jews went away and believed on Jesus. So there were people turning and believing on Jesus because of the miracles that he had done, because of the words which he had spoken. But we're going to focus on Mary this morning.

Obviously, this is not the mother of Jesus. This is Mary, the sister of Martha, the sister of Lazarus, who lived there, and Bethany. And here's going to be our title this morning. Service that honors the Savior. Service that honors the Savior. Let's pray and ask the Lord's help. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, as we get into just your word, I pray that as we consider, Lord, what you have told us, what has been recorded for us to learn, I ask for your help now in just communicating truth. I pray, Lord, that you would open our hearts, that you would encourage us this morning, at the same time that you would challenge us, give us understanding and perception. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

There's a huge difference between someone who's trying to be a help and someone who's being a help.

Amy loves trying to help mama in the kitchen because she wants to be a big girl. She wants to be a part of what the adults are doing. And Charis is getting into it. In fact, she helped me yesterday. Actually, in a good way. We had a load of laundry in, and I come back and she says she wanted to put all of it in the dryer. She did. I come back a couple hours later. They were outside playing, and she's, Daddy, I put it all in the basket for you. Every piece was in the basket. It was dried. It was great. Now, a few years ago, Amy tried to help Mama with laundry, and she took everything out of the washer and brought it back upstairs before it went in the dryer.

Now, her intentions were great, but not everything that is trying to be a help is a help. In fact, the scariest words in the English language is, I'm here from the government, and I'm here to help you.