[Darris McNeely] We’re doing a series of BT Dailys about the question, “Could you deny Jesus Christ?” Last time we talked about John chapter 6, where Christ fed 5000 people, and He made the point there – a very important point – about His own body and His own life, where He said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” From that, we can learn a very important point as we did about not denying Jesus. Let’s look, in this episode, at another story in John 12:1, as Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem, toward the Passover, toward His death. It begins here in John 12:1 where He says, it says, “Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. And there they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.” This was in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha – a family with whom Christ was very close. He had been to this home before. He obviously raised Lazarus. But He felt very comfortable there. It was a large gathering of people. And as the meal progresses, at some point, something happens that now is a very instructive lesson for us.

In John 12:3 it says that Mary, one of the sisters, “took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” Now this, to understand, we should at least take a bit of a digression. This was a very costly step or act that she does. The oil was a very expensive perfume or oil. Some say that it came from Arabia or as far as India. It cost a lot of money – largely, a year’s wages at that time. Figure that up for you and I today, what a year’s wages would be. This was a costly expense. She was pouring all of it upon Christ. When she opened that jar, she had to use it all – she couldn’t close the lid and preserve any more – she was giving her all in worship to Christ, through this anointing of Christ, as that oil flowed down over Him, and the entire house was filled with the aroma. This was a very aromatic scent that worked its way into the clothing and the fabric of everyone involved here. And it was a very costly matter for this to happen. I like to imagine that even days later – six, seven days later – as some of these disciples would have been watching Jesus Christ die, they were still smelling the aroma of this night and the oil, which in itself speaks to the sacrifice not only of Christ, but that each of us make as we devote ourselves to God and to the worship of His Son and to a life as a disciple. And so, there’s a great deal of teaching here.

But there was one other person present in the story. If you look a little closely at John 12:4, John points out that “Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, the one who would betray Him,” was there, standing off at a corner. And he said in John 12:5, “‘Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’” John goes on to make a comment that Judas really didn’t care about the poor. Judas was the treasurer for the disciples and the travelling party, and he’d been dipping into it and stealing. They found that out later, after Judas had killed himself. And he was not really concerned. Jesus heard that, He saw Mary at His feet with her hair undone, wiping the oil from His feet. In Matthew’s account of this story, Jesus even says that wherever this gospel is preached, the story of that night – and of Mary anointing Christ with this oil – would be told as an object lesson of worship and affirmation of Jesus, His life, and His death, and His resurrection. And Mary came to understand that that night, as she no doubt had an inkling of what was awaiting Jesus in Jerusalem. And so Jesus said in John 12:7, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

Here’s a question for us to consider out of this story as we again consider the question whether or not we will deny Jesus in our own life today. Where would you find yourself in that room on that night? Would you have been with Mary, wiping the feet of Christ and the oil that had been poured, having given her all, sacrificing, actually, her financial future for that act that she did because of her belief in Jesus? Or would you have found yourself off in a corner of the room with Judas and others who were critical and examining with a critical, caustic, complaining eye what was taking place – not able to understand and to discern the moment, nor having the humility to express it in right terms? Where would you find yourself? Judas ultimately denied Jesus, and we know in the ultimate denial. Mary, she affirmed who He was and she stayed by His side. And so, it’s a lesson, it’s a story for us to consider and to ponder as we step along this way.

In our next episode, we’ll get a bit more specific with some other steps – three steps that we’ll go through – about how we might deny Christ if we’re not properly understanding all of the Scriptures.

That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.