Transcription downloaded from https://listen.trinitycambridge.com/sermons/98226/preparation-for-burial/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] If you guys don't know me, my name is Ed, one of the pastors here.! Oh, Heavenly Father, Lord, where would we be without you?

[0:41] Where would we be without you, oh God? We know that what we're about to do, what we're about to hear, is to hear your very words, the words of life.

[0:55] There's so much noise in this world, so much chatter, so much yapping. We get distracted.

[1:07] We lose sight of what's most precious, what is the message that we need to hear most. So we pray by the power of your Holy Spirit, illuminate our hearts and our eyes once again today, so that we would understand, apply rightly, study rightly, solemnly, seriously.

[1:28] We'd pay attention to these words of life. That it would transform us from the inside out. And that we would be able to offer to you the little, these alabaster jars of our lives in continual sacrifice and worship of your name.

[1:49] Help us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. I invite you to stand if you are able to honor God's reading as we read aloud his word.

[2:04] Starting from verse 1. When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

[2:35] But they said, Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment.

[2:56] And she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste?

[3:08] For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman?

[3:20] For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

[3:35] Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, that what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?

[3:56] And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray him. This is God's holy and authoritative word.

[4:09] Please be seated. In a book on behavioral economics called Priceless, author William Poundstone has one central thesis.

[4:22] It's that we, as a human race, we are remarkably bad about knowing what something is actually worth. We think we're logical.

[4:34] We think we're good at numbers. We think we're rational. But in the end, we are terrible at knowing what something should actually be priced. And because of that, we're highly suggestible.

[4:46] And boy, do companies know that. For example, we naturally assume that the more expensive something is, it must be more valuable.

[4:57] In a blind taste test, participants were presented with two wines and simply asked, Which one do you like more, wine A or wine B? If the prices of the wines were released or revealed to them, almost always they will consistently rate the more expensive wine as better tasting.

[5:19] Even if the wines are exactly the same, identical. They even conduct brain scans. And they find in their brain that drinking the more expensive wine links to greater happiness, greater joy.

[5:33] Even completely arbitrary numbers can throw us off in thinking about what something is priced or what is valued. In another study, researchers, they asked participants to write down the last two digits of their social security number.

[5:52] And then, after that, they were asked to bid on random household products like computer products, groceries, clothing. Again, consistently, almost always, that those who wrote down those larger numbers from their social security number bid much higher than those who had lower numbers.

[6:13] Almost twice as high. Their social security number has nothing to do with the price of these items. We are that terrible at determining what something should be worth.

[6:26] But in the end, maybe we were just victims of capitalism and overpay for something. It's really not that big of a deal.

[6:38] Just overpay for something here and there. But there is something, or rather, someone whom we cannot afford to mis-evaluate.

[6:51] And his name is Jesus. Whether you know it or not, we have all put a price tag on him.

[7:04] We have all evaluated who he is and have appraised what he is worth. In this passage this morning, we see two groups of people who have done just that.

[7:16] And Matthew, he deliberately sets up this contrast between the many who get it egregiously wrong and the one who gets it breathtakingly right.

[7:31] Because evaluation, your evaluation, always turns into action, we must pay attention. So to follow the example of this remarkable woman who sees rightly who Jesus is and what he is worth, the main point of my sermon today is because Jesus is worth everything, pour out your alabaster jars in worship.

[8:00] The outline's simple. Highlight again this contrast. First, we're going to talk about a calculated killing. And as I do that, we're going to really see who is behind the calculation. And secondly, to see the remarkable woman.

[8:16] We're going to understand the uncalculated, quote-unquote, waste that she offers. Now that Jesus has finished the Olivet Discourse, which is the fifth and final discourse of the book of Matthew, we've turned the last corner.

[8:34] From the birth narratives to the Sermon of the Mount, from miraculous miracles to profound parables, we've come a long way, haven't we?

[8:46] Walking with Jesus week by week throughout the course of his life and ministry. And the word of God has made us fall in love with the word of God, has it not?

[8:59] Now we have finally arrived at the concluding scenes of Matthew. The last few days of Jesus' life before his tragic death. For quite a while now, Jesus has been predicting his death, right?

[9:16] But now we see that this prediction is starting to gain some steam. It's starting to come to fruition. By whose efforts, though?

[9:26] Who is driving this narrative that ultimately culminates to Jesus' death? From one angle, it's the cunning, calculating conspiracy of man.

[9:42] The insidious Jewish leaders, they hold a secret rendezvous in the palace of the high priest Caiaphas to plan the murder of Jesus.

[9:55] Caiaphas was a high priest, the highest position in all of the Jewish nation at the time, and he was for a record 18 years straight. It's far longer than any other high priest at that time.

[10:09] I think it goes to show that Caiaphas, he knew how to play the game, how to work the system, all so that he could stay in power. Probably by doing shady things like this.

[10:23] And hypocritical religious leaders, they hide in the darkness because they know that their conduct cannot stand in the light of public scrutiny. But if you followed us throughout Matthew, you know that, again, this conduct is not beneath them.

[10:39] It is well within their character. For quite some time now, they have been itching at the chance to remove Jesus from the picture. Matthew 12, 14, the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how to destroy him.

[10:54] Matthew 22, 15, the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. So, throughout Matthew, we've seen how they seethe with rage when they see that Jesus is more respected than him.

[11:09] And they tremble with fear when they see that his growing following threatens their place of power. So, Jesus, he's got to go.

[11:23] Ah, but that's not so easy when Jesus has won over the entire nation. Hence, what I call the Jesus problem.

[11:36] They need to get rid of somebody whom the whole nation loves all while doing it while making sure that everybody still likes them. It's a tricky problem.

[11:49] And for a while now, not a single person has been able to offer a viable solution. They tried debating him. They get thumped to the curb.

[12:02] They tried tricking him into breaking their man-made laws. That only makes people like them more. So, they finally come to their last resort.

[12:15] And they decide to abduct and murder him. That's how far they're willing to go. But even that is tricky because, number one, obviously this is completely illegal so they can't do it in broad daylight.

[12:33] And number two, they especially cannot do it during the Passover feast. Why? Because during the Passover, thousands and thousands of Jews pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

[12:45] It's like an intense pressure cooker. And if they kill them, kill him then. It's gonna pop. And a wild riot might break out.

[12:58] And then you know what happens? The Romans will come after their heads. So, there's no concrete plan, no concrete details, but they do agree on one constraint.

[13:11] We can't do it during the feast. We cannot do it during the feast. But as they're racking their brains, brainstorming, trying to figure out how to solve the Jesus problem, they get an unlikely, unexpected visitor.

[13:30] Someone that none, unexpected. And it's a familiar face. They've seen his face before. It's one of Jesus' own twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot.

[13:46] And he comes alone without his teacher, and he comes with a surprising proposition. He asks the chief priest, what will you give me if I sell him out to you?

[14:00] And consider that the Pharisees, they don't initiate any of this. Judas comes from his own heart, his own volition, with no backstory, no explanation.

[14:12] And really, because of that lack of backstory, much ink has been spilt trying to determine the exact motivation of Judas. What's exactly going on in his head?

[14:24] Some surmise that Iscariot means man of Kiriath, Kiriath being a city outside of the region of Galilee. That would mean that Judas is kind of the lone guy out, the odd man out.

[14:39] He's always an odd man out of the group of Galileans. Or the name Iscariot could link Judas to a group of political zealots who wanted the violent overthrow of the Roman government.

[14:54] And so perhaps he saw that over the course of Jesus' ministry that, hey, maybe this guy's not who I expected him to be. Or really, and it's sobering, it could simply be a love of money that corrupts him to the core.

[15:17] To his question of what he can get, the Pharisees appraised the life of Jesus, at 30 silver coins. Only 30 silver coins.

[15:31] Normally at that time, a piece of silver would be a denarius, which was just a day's labor or a day's wage for a common laborer. So this is a month's wage, 30 pieces of silver.

[15:43] Not an insignificant sum, but a shockingly low amount for the cost of a man's life. What is a man worth? worth? What is the Son of God worth?

[15:57] I don't know, but certainly more than this. When they appraise his life at the measly 30 pieces of silver, they insultingly devalue who Jesus is.

[16:10] In fact, we read in Exodus 22, 31, that Moses sets the price of a slave's life at 30 silver shekels. It's a clear literary connection, right?

[16:23] 30 pieces of silver in both places. But in the Old Testament, the shekel, that's their currency, it's actually four times as much than a Daenerys.

[16:35] So they're saying Jesus is worth a quarter of a slave. But do you know what's even worse than their evaluation? It's the fact that Judas takes it.

[16:49] In doing so, he commits the worst sin of all of human history by betraying and killing the Son of God.

[17:02] Friends, it's honestly easy to think about Jesus or Judas and other him. We who walked with Jesus so long would never do such a thing.

[17:16] lest you flippantly dismiss the warning of his life. Recall that Judas, he too walked and talked and laughed and cried with Jesus for years.

[17:30] For years! Before he decided to commit the worst thing ever. How could he do such a thing? Because in the end, at the very core of who he is, what he thought about Jesus, all that Jesus was to Judas was a mere stepping stone to get what he wanted.

[17:57] According to his calculations, killing Jesus was worth it. It was worth the measly silver coins because Jesus was just a means to an end.

[18:09] Power, prestige, possessions, pleasure, whatever it was, Jesus was a means to get these other things. And now that Jesus is no longer fulfilling the purpose that he seeks, he's more than willing to toss Jesus aside.

[18:29] Take heed that you do not fall into the same trap. We Christians do not use Jesus as a means primarily to give meaning to our lives, to make us good people, to reunite us with loved ones in heaven, or to even escape hell.

[18:49] Those are not the primary things of why we seek Jesus. Don't get me wrong, following Jesus comes with those benefits, but those are not the final ends that we seek.

[19:02] Jesus is not a vehicle for anything other than the enjoyment of his own perfection. And if we approach Jesus in that kind of utilitarian manner, if we use him for other means, you will sell out.

[19:24] You will sell out when the going gets tough. When you don't feel like you are getting the things that you expected out of Jesus, when you feel like following Jesus just costs a little too much, just like Judas, you will leave and you will pursue other means to find that thing that you're searching for.

[19:45] As Thomas Merton writes, if we love God for something less than himself, we run the risk of hating him if we don't get what we hope for. So is Jesus the final goal, the north star, the everything that you are searching for?

[20:03] or is he a means to other self-serving idolatrous ends? In the end, at the heart of their sin, both the priests and Judas, they believe that they're the ones who are in control.

[20:27] They think that if they play their cards just right, then they can get their desired outcome. But Matthew presents this very, very differently.

[20:40] Our passage doesn't start with the Pharisees first plotting or Judas selling out. Notice that Matthew begins with Jesus' prediction of his death in verses 1-2.

[20:53] Then it says in verse 3 that the Pharisees scheme amongst themselves. There's no dualistic tension. no cosmic battle between evil and good.

[21:06] There's no wondering who will live and who will die. The outcome has already been calculated. But not primarily by evil men, but by Jesus himself.

[21:22] Jesus will die, but he will die on his own terms. How do we know that? the timing of his death. This group of mobsters disguised as religious leaders, they want to kill Jesus nine days later, after the Passover, so that people go home and the tensions simmer down.

[21:50] But contrary to the priest's plan, Jesus says that he will die on Passover. This is Jesus' already fourth prediction of his death in the book of Matthew.

[22:03] But what's unique about this one in particular is that he explicitly links his death to Passover, one of the most important holidays in all of the Jewish tradition.

[22:16] Passover commemorates how God passed over all the Jewish homes and spared them from destruction during their bondage to Egypt. But to all the Egyptian homes, the destroyer takes the life of all of their firstborns.

[22:37] There's only one thing that set these homes apart. Just one. It's not that the Israelites were smarter, richer, stronger, better looking or even more righteous than the Egyptians.

[22:55] They were every bit as guilty and deserving of damnation. They could have been murderers, adulterers, stealers, liars, idolaters, just the same and they probably were.

[23:15] But what's the only difference that distinguished that night from the houses of Israel, the houses of Egypt? What's the one thing?

[23:27] It's the blood. It's the blood of the lamb. The blood on their doorposts was the only thing that God looked for.

[23:38] A spotless, pure lamb was slain so that they may live. So the timing is no mere coincidence. Don't get this wrong. the son will not die before, he will not die after, he will die on Passover to conclusively declare that Jesus is our Passover lamb.

[24:00] The spotless, blameless lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world was slain so that sinners like you and me can now have life.

[24:11] So the question is are you covered by the blood? There is a day when the destroyer will come knocking on your door.

[24:28] It doesn't matter what kind of life you lived. It doesn't matter who you once were. If you put that blood on your doorposts, if you believe with all of your heart that the blood of Christ will atone you and wash you completely clean from all of your sins, the wrath of God will pass over you.

[24:53] Though we are sinners by nature and practice, praise God there is no maybe in the mercy and the grace of our God. We sing this, that there is a fountain filled with blood and sinners who are plunged beneath that flood lose all of their guilty stains.

[25:19] So if Jesus is the Passover lamb, then the chief priests and Judas, they vastly undervalue what Jesus is worth.

[25:32] We've seen that. But in between these two passages, we read in the middle a rare, beautiful example of someone who gets it right, who knows what Jesus is worth.

[25:48] And you wouldn't be able to tell this from reading this passage itself, but it's actually not in strict chronological order. The opening verses date Jesus' prediction very clearly, right, you see in the passage, to two days before the Passover.

[26:06] But in chapter 12 in the gospel of John, he describes this same account with this woman with the alabaster flask six days before the Passover.

[26:18] This story happened even before Palm Sunday, which we covered what feels like ages ago in March. Why is that important? It shows how deliberate Matthew is inserting this story.

[26:34] He's a master at color contrast. Matthew is drawing attention to the bright radiance of this woman's uncalculating devotion by setting it against the dark background, the dark hues of these chief priests and Judas' calculated scheming.

[26:57] Let's note the setting. Jesus is in Bethany, the house of Simon the leper, whom we really don't know all that much about. apart from the fact that no leper could ever host a party like this, host Jesus and his disciples.

[27:14] We know that the Mosaic Law stipulates all lepers to live in complete quarantine. So while it's not recorded, I don't think it's far fetched to assume that Jesus is the one who miraculously healed this man, transforming him really from head to toe.

[27:35] And really, I just love that they're meeting at his house. Once empty, decrepit house is now teeming with life and love.

[27:46] That's the effect that Jesus can have. While Jesus is reclining, a woman approaches Jesus and as it says in Mark, breaks the neck of an alabaster jar.

[28:03] in ancient times, alabaster flasks were typically designed with a narrow opening and were typically sealed with a hardened wax, all so that it prevents any kind of air exposure.

[28:18] So that means to access its contents, the neck of the flask was typically broken. There's no resealing, there's no screw caps, there's no trying to save some for later.

[28:31] Once broken, this whole thing, the whole contents needed to be spent at once. It's really a beautiful picture of an all-or-nothing endeavor. The flask is a grenade of very expensive perfume with exotic scents of amber, myrrh, and spice.

[28:56] Once that pin is pulled, the aromatics immediately explode, flooding the room with its scents. Amid the bustle of a busy room, especially in a patriarchal society, I wonder perhaps that the woman was hardly noticed that evening, hardly seen.

[29:20] They undoubtedly see her now while she pours all of its contents on Jesus' head without reserving a single drop.

[29:33] But then here come the dissenters, right? Some of the more pragmatically minded disciples take offense at what this woman has done. They object, what a waste.

[29:46] This could have been sold and given to the poor. And while this might be a direct rebuke against this woman, it nonetheless is still an indirect rebuke against Jesus himself.

[30:00] And in John's account, he actually records the price, an estimated price for this expensive ointment. 300 denarii, or roughly an entire years of the wage of a common laborer.

[30:16] So a modern equivalent, let's just use a round number, would be $50,000. dollars. A flask that's worth a whole lot more than a lot of our own cars.

[30:29] From $50,000, just imagine how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you can make and hand out to the poor. How many months of rent you could cover, how many co-pays for medical visits that people need.

[30:44] It sounds holy, but we know that from John's account that this charge is led by money-grubbing Judas Iscariot, only really concerned with filling up the money bag because he's used to skimming off the top for himself.

[31:02] So Jesus, knowing the heart of Judas, sees right through his intentions. But interestingly, Matthew doesn't actually include this detail there.

[31:16] He doesn't give us an easy off-ramp. We have to wrestle with their argument on its own terms. And I don't know about you, but honestly, I can understand what they're saying.

[31:33] For the past couple weeks, I've been working hard on the church budget that we're going to present next week that Sean just mentioned at our members meeting. If you're a member, please do come to that. If you heard next week that we are planning on buying an ultra-expensive men's cologne for Sean.

[31:53] That costs $50,000. And I looked this up. There's one called Paco Rabanne Rabanne, one million luxe edition for retail price of $57,000.

[32:09] Notes of blood mandarin, cinnamon, and masculine leather. Apparently, leather can be masculine. And it comes in a briefcase with 18 carat solid gold crowned with a 0.3 carat diamond.

[32:28] And our plan that we're going to present next week is to douse Sean's head completely one go with that expensive perfume. If you are going to ask you, do you approve of that budget?

[32:43] I am sure that nearly all of you would submit on slack a big fat no. I would submit a big fat no. So I wonder if I and how many of us would be among the dissenters too.

[33:02] So why does Jesus see this act not as a waste, but as a beautiful thing? Is Jesus dismissing the needs of the poor here?

[33:12] Well, for one, we can immediately ride off that false notion that Jesus does not care about the poor. Throughout his ministry, at every chance that he got, he so compassionately cared for the poor and the needy.

[33:29] In just the last passage that Andrew just preached on, the faithful sheep are known by their care for the poor, the sick, the needy, the imprisoned. In fact, when Jesus says that you will always have the poor with you, he's quoting from scripture, he's quoting from Deuteronomy 15, 11.

[33:46] And the rest of that verse says, therefore I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. So when Jesus says that you will always have the poor with you, implicit in his response is his expectation that we do prioritize the needs of the poor today.

[34:06] But Jesus praises this woman for using this oil not for the poor but on him. Why? Because Jesus knows who he is.

[34:18] I'm 100% positive that if I knocked on Sean's door this week and I proposed this manly leather cologne idea asking that should we use this?

[34:31] Should we spend all this money to douse your head? He would very humbly put an immediate stop to this. God but Jesus he lets it happen because he knows who he is.

[34:48] C.S. Lewis once spoke of this trilemma that because Jesus made divine claims there only are three options of who he could be.

[34:59] He could either be a complete lunatic, he could be an insidious liar, or he could be who he says he is, the Lord. And he knows that he is the Lord that is dying soon.

[35:17] Whether she knew it or not, this woman sees a really once in a lifetime, once in human history opportunity. We couldn't even do this if we wanted to do this, right?

[35:29] No other person after the time of Jesus could have this very chance. take the most important person in your life right now.

[35:40] Imagine what they look like, whether it's your spouse, a best friend, a family member. Imagine, God forbid, they get this phone call from them, and they say that it's cancer.

[35:55] Stage four. They have one week to live. Would anyone else in the world take priority in that next week for you?

[36:08] So this short-lived occasion ought to take priority over all else. And she seizes this opportunity by breaking her alabaster jar and anointing Jesus' body for burial.

[36:25] Typically, ancient Jews, they used perfumes after a death to kind of mask some of the smells of a decaying carcass. But Jesus, he knows that he is a dead man walking, interprets this act as a means to prepare him for his crucifixion.

[36:46] And author Philip Keller beautifully captures this. The delicious fragrance ran down his shining hair and thick beard. It unfolded his body with its delightful aroma.

[37:00] aroma. Even his tunic and flowing undergarments were drenched with its enduring pungency. Wherever he moved, the perfume would go with him into the Passover, into the garden of Gethsemane, into the high priest's home, into Herod's hall, into Pilate's praetorium, into the crude hands of those who cast slots for his clothing at the foot of the cross.

[37:25] It was a significant moment momentous meaning. Honestly, I admit that the scent could have worn off quickly.

[37:36] The biblical authors don't comment on this. But I like to think that for the last week of Jesus' life, that whoever Jesus passed by, whoever Jesus talked to, whoever handled his body, they smelled the expression of this woman's extravagant, dedicated love for him.

[38:01] Against the backdrop of Judas treasuring 30 measly coins, this woman refuses to treasure anything else above Jesus. And she expresses that adoration, again, by this extravagant, over-the-top offering with this alabaster jar.

[38:23] Even when she knows that this perfume will only last temporarily. Confession time for me. I'm such a pragmatist that I sometimes really hate going to the supermarket.

[38:40] Because when I'm there, I inevitably will walk by the flower section. And I'll look at them and think to myself, gee, these are nice.

[38:53] these are pretty. They'd make Christine so happy. But these are $40. That's like three Chipotle bowls.

[39:08] And they're going to die in a week. If you ever see me in a supermarket just doing this in front of some flowers, you know exactly what's going on in my head. man. But when I'm thinking and loving rightly, even when I know that these fleeting flowers will fade fast, isn't it worth it to make my wife happy?

[39:36] That maybe on a hard day this week, she could look at these flowers and feel a spark of joy. isn't her happiness invaluable and weighty to me?

[39:50] That's the heart of true love. Love does not look for cheap bargains. Love does not try to squeak by with the bare minimum. Love gives the very best it can.

[40:06] In 2 Samuel 24, God commands David to build an altar, to offer sacrifices, and a man generously, graciously offers the field and animals so that David could do this all for free.

[40:19] But he knows he can't do this. It is not right for him to do this. He will not offer sacrifices that cost him nothing. What about you?

[40:32] Does your love for Jesus cost you something? Does Jesus receive the very best of your life? understanding the heart of love.

[40:47] This woman remarkably offers probably what is her most valuable possession as an expression of her worship. But how?

[40:57] How does she do this? Where does she find the wherewithal to do this? It's not a mystery. It's because she does this because she knows what Jesus is worth.

[41:12] For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the author of their every good, they should seek nothing beyond him.

[41:26] They will never yield him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.

[41:41] It's John Calvin. So by way of reminder, let me remind you, brothers and sisters, who Jesus is and how good he has been to us.

[41:54] When those closest, those who say that they love you, they leave, they abandon you, Jesus has promised you, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

[42:10] When you're exhausted and run ragged by this world, he invites you into his rest and to carry his easy yoke. When you're overlooked and invisible, when people forget who you are and forget your name, he never forgets your name, he sees you and knows you.

[42:34] When you felt ashamed and dirty from your sins, when you feel like you just couldn't scrub yourself clean enough, he scoops to wash your feet.

[42:45] When you feel like you're damaged goods, broken, fragile, good for nothing, he declares that he will never break a bruised reed. When tragedy strikes and you're prayerless in grief, he isn't.

[43:01] He intercedes for you day and night. When you sold him out yet again, again and again and again, his response is never, enough is enough, I'm out.

[43:16] But he speaks over and over and over again, child, you are forgiven and loved. Child, you are forgiven and loved. Child, you are forgiven and loved.

[43:30] And when you are ashamed of just how small your love is for Jesus, he reminds you it is not what you pour out in your alabaster jars that justifies you, but what Jesus has poured out in his blood, in his sacrifice, that justifies you.

[43:48] once we properly see the incalculable worth of Jesus, then truly from the very bottom of our hearts, our testimonies will be, Jesus, you are worthy of it all.

[44:03] All that I have is yours. All that I want to do is to please you, to serve you. Even this pathetic alabaster jar is not enough. Only then can we be consumed with this single-minded, wholehearted obsession.

[44:20] At times, it can feel like the Christian life is too complicated. Too many things we have to do. We have to pray more, evangelize more, read scripture more, memorize more, serve more, rejoice more, evangelize more, worship more, forgive more, repent more, disciple more, encourage more.

[44:47] The list goes on and on and on. There is a way to be consumed with the tasks and the do's of the Christian life that makes you miss out on the one thing that defines the Christian life.

[45:03] Here, this definition from J.C. Ryle, a zealous man in religion is preeminently a man of one thing. He only sees one thing.

[45:16] He cares for one thing. He lives for one thing. He is swallowed up by one thing and that one thing is to please God.

[45:28] Whether he lives or whether he dies, whether he is rich or whether he is poor, whether he pleases men or whether he gives offense, whether he is thought wise or whether he is thought foolish, whether he gets honor or whether he gets shame, for all of this, the zealous man cares nothing at all.

[45:49] He burns for one thing and that one thing is to please God and to advance God's glory. God's glory. So if others scoff at us for the intensity of our love, for wasting poor lives, let them.

[46:14] When we waste our time studying an ancient book written 2,000 years ago, let them scoff. When we waste our money by tithing faithfully to the church, let them scoff.

[46:29] When we waste our degrees by serving overseas, let them scoff. I paraphrase Pastor Kevin DeYoung, but he says there's a kind of tame Christianity that even the unbelieving world would approve of.

[46:47] A little sprinkle of religion there. A little dash of moralism here. That's all good. Going to church, a great way to meet friends and to feel supported.

[47:02] Praying to Jesus? Sure, that helps your mental health. A tame religion makes sense to them. But over the top, extravagant, radical devotion to Jesus will never make sense to them.

[47:20] So when you have the Judases rebuke you for how you are devoted endlessly to Jesus, then you know you're on the right path. For even when the world rebukes us, rejects us, spurns us, our precious and lovely Jesus will defend us.

[47:39] Just as he defended this woman. Not just defend her, but he proclaims that her story will be proclaimed throughout the whole world. Yes, Jesus knows that he will die.

[47:52] He is going to die in a very short time, but he doesn't anticipate this to conclude with a sad ending, with just merely his death. He knows that this gospel, this good news will go throughout the entire world.

[48:09] It is an unstoppable force that will go to every people and language and tongues. And when it does, this woman's story will be proclaimed.

[48:24] Do you understand what an incredible blessing this is? Can you just imagine what she might have felt after just being rebuked harshly by the disciples to hear this kind of response that her whole story will be proclaimed throughout the entire world?

[48:45] To no other person in all the gospels does Jesus make this promise. promise. So, maybe she didn't ace her exams.

[48:57] Maybe she never got married and never had children and had the happily ever after. Maybe she never got her dream internship or job and never made a whole lot of money.

[49:11] Maybe she wasn't all that popular and didn't have a lot of friends. maybe she never left a meaningful legacy in any of those other areas. But man, she got this one thing right.

[49:27] And now her legacy is cemented throughout all human history. There will be a day and it's coming soon where the musks and the bezoses and the gates of this world will be irrelevant, considered a relic of the past.

[49:50] But this woman's legacy will always be etched on our minds and in our hearts just like she is today, 2,000 years ago in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, of all places.

[50:02] And it will be for generation, for generation and generation until Jesus comes. So do you want to build a real legacy?

[50:15] Do you want to be remembered? As the kids used to say, you only live once, right? You only have one shot at this, one bullet in the chamber.

[50:33] With this one shot then, live for Jesus. Go all out for him. put all your chips in the middle, hold nothing back, break the neck of your alabaster jars, and pour it out on him.

[50:53] Because it will never be wasted on Jesus. He is worth it. So to conclude, here are a couple of stanzas from this poem by C.T.

[51:05] Studd. two little lines I heard one day, traveling along life's busy way, bringing conviction to my heart, and for my mind would not depart, only one life.

[51:20] will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Oh, let my love with fur burn, and from the world now let me turn, living for thee and thee alone, bringing thee pleasure on thy throne.

[51:40] Only one life, will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one.

[51:54] Now let me say thy will be done, and when at last I'll hear the call, I know, I know I'll say t'was worth it all.

[52:13] Brothers and sisters, only one life, t'will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

[52:25] Let's pray. So we offer, oh God, the little of our lives, the little of our talents and efforts and money and time, we know it's not enough.

[52:44] It's not enough. But we give it all. We surrender it all to you as living sacrifices, that you would be honored, that you would be glorified, and you would be treasured in our hearts.

[53:01]  It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.