The Story:
“Open or Closed"
John
12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
3 Mary therefore took a pound[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,
5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it[c] for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
Matthew :26 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,[a] 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.
8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”
10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.
12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
3 Major Influencers in story:
1. Lazarus
2. Mary (Lazarus Sister)
3. Judas
Lazarus influences Simon
Mary influences Un-named women
Judas Influences the other Disciples
Open or Closed…
Lazarus influences Simon to Open his home.
1.Invite God’s Presence into your Heart, your Life, You Home, Your family…
2.Prepare for Him.
3.Share Him w/others
Mary Influences the Unknown Women with extravagant worship…
1. Worship always Cost. She knew the cost….
2. The Heart of a Worshiper Always Moves the Heart of God….
3. Worship is contagious..
Judas Influenced the Disciples (Negatively)
1. Criticism stems from a hard heart.
2. Criticism always seeks to betray at some point.
3. Criticism is a transferable disease of the heart, so be careful...
