Read John 12:1-8

Jesus is back in Bethany. Martha is serving dinner.

Lazarus is sitting at the table. Mary is about to do something incredible.

Just a few days earlier, Lazarus was dead. Now he’s sitting across the table from the Man who raised him from the dead. Imagine that dinner conversation.

In the midst of the table talk, Mary gets up, takes an expensive jar of perfume, and pours it over Jesus’ feet. Not a few drops. The whole thing! The perfume was worth roughly a year’s wages. Mary just poured a year’s salary on the feet of Jesus!! Wow!! Then she wipes His feet with her hair. A woman’s hair was considered her glory and so Mary is literally giving all glory to Jesus.

John tells us the fragrance filled the entire house.

What a picture of worship!

But Judas isn’t impressed. (v.5) “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” Sounds reasonable. Sounds responsible. Sounds spiritual. Except John tells us Judas didn’t care about the poor. He cared about the money. So what we see are two very different hearts.

Mary sees Jesus and thinks, “Nothing I have is too valuable to give Him.”

Judas sees Jesus and thinks, “What can I get out of this?” One worships. The other calculates. One gives extravagantly. The other steals secretly. One loves Jesus. The other loves money.

And here’s the uncomfortable question: Which one looks more like you?

We have a spectacular ability to justify spending money (and our lives) on the things we love.

Vacations. Vehicles. Hobbies. Homes. Experiences.

But when it comes to the work of Jesus Christ, suddenly we become financial advisors. “Is that really necessary. Couldn’t that money be used somewhere else?”

Please hear me. Jesus isn’t commending financial foolishness. Nor is He dismissing our responsibility to care for the poor. Jesus is exposing something much deeper: The value we place on Jesus determines what we’re willing to sacrifice for Him.

Mary had been greatly loved, and therefore thought she could never show too much love in return. That’s so good. Listen, Mary isn’t trying to earn Jesus’ affection. She’s responding to the affection she’s already received. Her brother is alive. Her sins are forgiven. Her Savior is sitting at her table. And she cannot imagine holding anything back.

But there’s something else. Jesus says Mary has anointed Him for His burial.

The cross is coming. Mary’s act of extravagant worship points toward the extravagant sacrifice Jesus is about to make.

Mary pours out costly perfume. Jesus will pour out His own life.

Suddenly, Mary’s gift doesn’t seem extravagant at all. It seems appropriate. Nothing given in love to Jesus is ever wasted.

When you understand what Jesus Christ has given for you, you stop asking how little you can give Him.

Question for you and me: Are we more like Mary, looking for ways to honor Jesus, or Judas, calculating what following Jesus might cost us?

What are you holding back from Jesus because you’ve decided it’s too much, it’s too valuable to surrender?