WE come now to John’s account of the last week of Jesus’ life, leading up to his crucifixion. Like all the Gospel writers, John spends far more time and space on the passion and death of Jesus than on the rest of his life. This reveals to us that it is the passion and death of Jesus, followed by his resurrection, which is key to the mission of Jesus, and at the heart of his saving work.

At the beginning of this account we find Jesus at the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, attending a dinner given in his honour. Martha is serving the meal, Lazarus is reclining at the table, but Mary is doing a great act of love towards Jesus. Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with a large quantity of very expensive perfume, and then wipes his feet with her hair. This act was criticized by Judas Iscariot, but commended by Jesus.

We learn from this history firstly the important truth that we cannot love Jesus too much, and nothing is too great or too costly to do or give for him. It also tells us that love for Jesus is the great motivation for service for Jesus. Love for Jesus is that which causes us to live for Jesus, and the greater our love, the more ready we will be to give our lives for him. If the motivation for our service for Jesus is duty or seeking to gain the approval of God, then our service will be done for the wrong reason, and our service will be given relatively sparingly. It is only when we love Jesus that we will give for him with joy and without sparing ourselves in any way.

Mary’s love for Jesus was very great, and it raises the question as to why she loved Jesus so much. There is no doubt that her love was enhanced greatly by the raising of Lazarus from the dead, but there was great love for Jesus in the heart of Mary before this. Mary loved Jesus for who she perceived him to be and for the love Jesus had poured out on her. No doubt her perception of who Jesus was and her experience of his love was not as great as it could be, and not as great as it became later after Jesus had risen, ascended and poured out the Holy Spirit on her, but it was her experience of the great love of Jesus for her that gave her such love in her heart for him.

The people who love Jesus most are those who experience his love for them most. Love for Jesus comes from a deep perception of the wonder of the person of Jesus as our God and creator, and from the perception of the greatness of our sin and need, and the greatness of the sacrifice Jesus made for us in dying for us on the cross to purchase our forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. This is an ever deepening perception as we see more clearly the dark corruption of our sinful hearts, and see more clearly how we have been loved by Jesus in spite of all the sin and failure there is within us and in our lives.

The attitude of Judas Iscariot is in marked contrast to the love in Mary’s heart. Judas, we are told, loved money above all, and although he had lived with Jesus for so long, yet there was little if any real love for Jesus in his heart. Jesus said that it is by our fruit (the way we live and think) that we will be known (that is show what is true about our lives). In spite of the fine words which Judas uttered about giving to the poor, his actions and life would have revealed that he did not really care much about the poor. Outwardly Judas was a disciple, one of the close twelve disciples, and would have appeared to be so ‘Christian’ and good, yet in spite of the outward sound of his words, these were just a cloak to hide the real state of his heart. We see this so often in church life. When something is suggested to show Christ’s love to others, or to share the Gospel of Christ’s love with others, all sorts of very good arguments will be raised by some to show that such action or approach is inappropriate or unwise at that time. The reasons are hard, perhaps impossible to refute, but they are really a cloak for a lack of love for Jesus, which shrinks from the sacrifice such action for Jesus will call from them. In this way people without real love for Jesus will oppose things which will require giving of money and service.

In verse 7 we hear Jesus rebuke Judas Iscariot and commend the action of Mary. If we find others criticizing us for action which shows love for Jesus, let us not be discouraged, but instead not be ashamed to express our love for Jesus by our love for those Jesus came to save. Jesus also tells Judas that Mary’s action was prophetic. She was anointing him for burial, and so in her action the death of Jesus was being foretold. Even in this Jesus was loving Judas, because he was being reminded of the action of betrayal he was planning, and being given time to repent.

This passage ends with two sad expressions of human corruption. The first is that the people were running after Jesus, but not really for the right reasons. They had heard of the raising of Lazarus, and were interested more in this amazing act than the love and person of the performer of this act. The other evidence of human corruption is seen in the fact that the chief priests, far from affirming the good and greatness evidently witnessed in Jesus’ life and action, rather hated him the more and wanted to kill him, simply because they were jealous and afraid for their own position and privileges. The sin and corruption in the human heart is the seed bed of all the misery, pain and evil in the world.