“An Anointing”
Matthew 26:1-16
June 22, 2014
Today we move into the final section of Matthew: Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and
resurrection. It is the most dramatic and the most significant part of the whole gospel.
Think about it: without the events in these verses, there is no good news. If Jesus was not
raised from the dead after his crucifixion, all the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven
and its power would be meaningless.
Yet, we believe and proclaim Jesus raised from death, victorious over the grave. As hard as
these verses are for us to read, as hard as it is for us to imagine events playing out like this,
as hard as it is for us to face the necessity for Christ’s suffering and sacrifice for us, it
remains good news. Because of these next three chapters, our plight is not hopeless. God
has not abandoned us; no, to the contrary, God has proven himself faithful and just. God is
loving and holy. The victory over death that Jesus won is a victory he has given those who
believe and receive him as Lord and Savior.
I hope that’s not a spoiler for you – I am hoping that the good news has gotten out long
before now. But, in the off chance this is the first time you have heard it – really heard it – it
bears repeating: if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your
heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. I believe it. I believe Jesus is Lord. I
believe in my heart God raised him from the dead. My hope and goal is for you to believe it,
too.
When I preach to you, I am basing it on the foundation that what the Bible teaches and
reveals is true. Because it is true, I preach with the expectation that God will use Scripture
and me to conform us to the image of his Son, consistent with the purpose for which he
created us. We are called to be witnesses to what God has done, testifying to the grace and
mercy we have received through Jesus Christ. That is good news.
Well, that is the big picture of this last section we are starting today. There are three parts
to our text today: the movement towards Jesus’ betrayal bookends an incredibly tender
scene. I want to spend most of our time today looking at the encounter between Jesus and
an unnamed woman, but a few words will be necessary about the pieces that surround it.
Read Matthew 26:1-16
The Narrative
Understanding what was happening in Israel during the Passover – this Passover, in
particular – is important to appreciating the significance of what takes place at this dinner.
Passover was one of the three main festivals of the year where people would come from all
over Israel to Jerusalem. Passover remembered God’s powerful, sovereign hand delivering
the people of Israel out of slavery and bondage to Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth
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at the time. Festivals like this were a security risk. Crowds are not predictable and
susceptible to getting out of control. Think about all the measures in place during a Super
Bowl week or during the World Cup going on in Brazil right now. Then, think about how
the Roman government was interested in preserving “peace” through military presence
even while allowing these festivals to take place.
As Americans, we do not have a real appreciation for the volatility involved in a setting like
Jerusalem. A look at modern-day Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and, yes, even Israel and Palestine
reveals a much more explosive cultural context than we have here. For us, we think of
people marching with signs as a big deal. Occasionally, like when the G-7 meets, there are
acts of vandalism and some violence. But none of that rises to the level of a national crisis
that is regularly experienced in the Middle East.
Jesus and the disciples were in the midst of that kind of volatility. Jesus was traveling back
and forth between Bethany and teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. Just a few days earlier,
he had arrived triumphantly to the cheers of the crowd crying out to him, “Hosanna,” Lord,
save us. It was a parade with imagery of the promised Messiah. Hosanna was a cry with a
political undertones. Laying palms down before him was a symbol of nationalism. In other
words, the crowd was overtly cheering for the Messiah to overthrow the Roman occupation
and restore Israel to a place of prominence in the Middle East. Jesus had raised those
messianic expectations through his teaching about the kingdom of heaven, through his
deeds of power, and through embracing the imagery he used as he approached Jerusalem.
For the Jewish people of Jesus’ day, the expectations for the Messiah were high. We see
those expectations growing through the gospel of Matthew and peaking with Jesus’ arrival
in Jerusalem. Even the disciples were asking, “What will be the signs of your coming and
the end of the age?” In other words, when is this age going to be over? When are we going
to be rid of the Romans?
The sense of disappointment and impatience was beginning to turn the people against
Jesus. The fervor of Palm Sunday was over. The feeling in the city was, “Well, what
happened? When is it going to happen? When is the Messiah going to save us?” If Jesus was
the Messiah – the new Moses as he was presenting himself to be – where was God? Why
wasn’t God wiping out the Romans like he had wiped out the Egyptians?
For the disciples, it had to be a confusing time, too. Jesus had cultivated their expectations,
too. He had affirmed Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ – the Messiah, the anointed one
– the Son of the Living God.” They had helped him in the preparations for the majestic
parade. Then, in the past few days, when they had asked him about what was going to
happen, Jesus talked about the end of days, including judgment. Then, he called for
disciples to act wisely during the interim. But what he was describing in his charge to them
looked a lot different than the power they anticipated. Last week, we covered Jesus’
explanation of judgment, where he used the illustration of separating sheep and goats on
the basis of their hearts. The important questions were, “when did we see you: hungry?
Thirsty? In a stranger? Naked? Sick? In prison?” These were radical expressions of priority
for someone who was claiming to be king, who was claiming the mantle of the Messiah,
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who was answering a question about bringing about a revolution – his concern was for the
poor, outcast, and rejected?
Jesus knew that the world that had cheered his arrival in Jerusalem would turn quickly
when it realized he was not going to do what they wanted or expected. He knew that their
expectations were different than his intentions, yet it had to be that way. So at this dinner,
Jesus told his disciples, “After two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be
handed over to be crucified.”
That had to have been a bit of a conversation-stopper, but Matthew does not dwell on it.
Instead, Matthew turns his readers’ attention to the mechanics of how it would happen.
The chief priests and elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest,
Caiaphas, to discuss how to arrest Jesus quietly and then have him killed. Their concern
was to not act too quickly or publicly because it would seem like they were thwarting God’s
prophetic revolution and the crowd could riot; however, they needed to act because the
Romans would crack down violently and aggressively to put down any kind of rebellion.
An Anointing
In all that swirling tension and energy and bewilderment, Jesus and his disciples are at
dinner. Simon the Leper must have been someone known in the early church community
because Matthew just drops the name; we, on the other hand, no nothing about him except
he lived in Bethany and was designated among those who had leprosy. He must have had
some wealth because he was hosting a rather large dinner party.
Without fanfare or extended introduction, a woman steps up. The action of the unnamed
woman in this text is simple, direct and short. “A woman came to him with an alabaster jar
of ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.” That’s it. That’s all we get
from her. The rest of the story is the analysis of what it meant.
I want to stop here for a moment because it is an incredibly tender thing she does. It was
not uncommon to anoint a guest at dinner. It was a sign of affection and respect. She was
expressing love and worship through this simple action. The cost of the ointment is
significant only to the extent of revealing the depth of her devotion to Jesus. Ointment, as
the disciples pointed out, was expensive. Ointment of the kind used by the woman was
often a family heirloom, passed on from mother to daughter. This was an act of incredible
devotion.
This, friends, is worship. It is not an intellectual affirmation of an idea. It is not adherence to
a doctrine or a dogma. She did not come to anoint Jesus for what she would take from it or
how she would grow or learn from the experience. She came as an act of love and devotion.
It was an outpouring of her a personal relationship with Jesus. Worship is more than going
through the motions and being present; worship is an investment of your best in loving
devotion to Jesus, personally.
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I do not want to discount the mind by suggesting doctrine is unimportant. It is very
important. We have seen the consequences of wrong teaching too many times not to
recognize how important it is. However, doctrine only informs faith, it is not the same as
faith.
Worship is personal. Worship is intimate. Worship is vulnerable. God designed us to
worship. And, the truth is, we all worship, whether we realize it or not. You give of yourself
to whatever you worship. If you were to chart your time, your energy, your resources
during a week or month, you would have a pretty good picture of what or whom you
actually worship. Here, without obligation, without any sense of reservation or inhibition,
this woman takes what is most valuable to her and offers it to the one who is most valuable
to her.
I am fully capable of losing sight of the personal nature of worship. I can get caught up in
the doctrinal disputes, the religious and political wranglings of the church, and other
distractions that make me angry and self-righteous. But at some point there is a comeuppance. I am convicted of my own sin – and the greatness of it – and realize my need –
NEED – for a savior. It is then I fall on my knees in prayer, seeking personally the mercy of
God through grace in Jesus Christ. Time and time again I am drawn back to the realization
of the depth and scope and greatness of the love of God. And that is the beginning of my
renewed desire to be faithful, obedient and loving to God.
Worship is personal. Worship is intimate. Worship is vulnerable. You give of yourself to
whatever you worship.
Don’t begrudge other Christians their devotion to Christ.
This woman’s devotion irked the disciples. After all Jesus had said and their sense of what
was happening in the city around them, the disciples were already tense. Their being angry
seems displaced because anointing was a generally accepted norm for the culture;
however, their anger makes sense given what Jesus had just finished teaching them. Jesus
had just told them to be wise, good stewards of all that God had given them, and to have
mercy on others with the blessings they could bestow. In other words, she did not have to
use the expensive ointment on him; that was a waste. Think of all the good that could have
been done if she had – like Jesus had told the rich young ruler – sold it and given the money
to the poor. Now, that, in the thinking of the disciples, that would have been consistent with
the kingdom of heaven Jesus had been proclaiming.
Jesus asks them, “Why are you troubling her?” In other words, he is asking them, “You are
worried about this?” Given the hostility and danger they had seen in Jesus’ encounters with
the religious authorities, given his predicted crucifixion, it is remarkable to Jesus that the
disciples gripe about a woman doing something nice for him. Further, Jesus gave a meaning
to her act that she may or may not have considered. Specifically, he told the disciples that
she was anointed his body beforehand for burial.
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Given the world’s rejection of him, it is remarkable how Jesus’ disciples spend so much of
time and energy competing and criticizing one another for how each other follow him.
It is amazing to think of how we still do this. Christians are notoriously harsh on other
Christians. We spend a lot of time and energy criticizing one another. This is true within
congregations and it is true among congregations. We often act like we are reality show
judges with the privilege and responsibility to weigh in on someone else’s worship
performance: it is too enthusiastic, it is not enthusiastic enough. That church demands too
much, it does not demand enough. They sing strange songs. They do strange things. They
do not do anything much at all. Instead of rejoicing with brothers and sisters in Christ in
their worship, we compare, compete, and criticize.
The church has grappled with the temptation to criticize and compete with each other from
the very early times. The disciples obviously were a competitive bunch. Remember earlier
in Matthew how James and John asked Jesus to sit on his right and left when he came into
glory? That did not sit well with the others. Later, in the book of Corinthians, Paul has to
chastise believers for claiming priority allegiance to Peter, to Apollos, or to Paul himself.
Paul’s question, “Is Christ divided?”
Instead of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we spend time comparing
ourselves with others to measure how much better than they we are loving God with all
our heart, soul, mind and strength. Oops.
In essence, Jesus was telling the disciples, “She is not the enemy. She is not the problem. She
is not opposed to me, so do not be opposed to her.” Actually, Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples is
both a warning to us and also a great word of encouragement. Jesus will stand up for those
who love him. Jesus honors those who love him. “Wherever the gospel is proclaimed, what
she has done will be told” – and so it is.
God blesses our worship
One last thought on this woman’s anointing Jesus: God blesses our worship. God blesses
our worship, often beyond what we could imagine or have intended. For example, the
woman thought she was making a grand, loving personal act towards Jesus; and she was.
But then, look at what God did with it. Jesus said that she was preparing his body ahead of
time for burial. It was that, too. On top of those things, she was anointing Jesus to be king.
In the Old Testament, there are a number of times when a prophet or priest is sent out to
anoint a king. The most widely remembered is Samuel being sent to Jesse to anoint one of
his sons; Samuel looked over a number of them until they brought in the ruddy one who
was out in the fields as a shepherd: that one, David, Samuel anointed as king.
Here, in the presence of his closest followers, the woman’s anointment with this precious
ointment serves to bless Jesus’ mission to be the Messiah. The coronation of his kingship
will be on the cross. The title “King of the Jews” will be nailed above his head. His crown
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will be made of thorns, fashioned by the Roman soldiers who will beat him. His royal robe
will be torn and lots will be cast for it. The woman’s anointing ends up so much more than
only an act of devotion. God uses it to declare Jesus king.
Think about it: we are remembering her act as we proclaim the gospel this morning. Was
that her purpose? No. She was simply loving Jesus. Was that God’s purpose? Yes.
So, today, as you go forward from this place, ask yourself this question: on whom or what
are you pouring out your most precious ointment?
When we worship, God blesses our worship in ways bigger and more wonderful than we
can imagine. “Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world,
what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” Paul writes in Romans, “O the depth
of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and
how inscrutable his ways! …For from him and through him and to him are all things. To
him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Amen.
8:45 prayer and offering
10:00 offering
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