Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John 11. Continuing through this glorious
record that has been left to us by the Lord through those
eyewitnesses, ones that saw Him. You think about that. These men that the Spirit of
God, during these times of His humiliation, His incarnation
when He was here, they looked on Him. They knew Him. Hands
of handle of the Word of Life. This morning we see Him by faith
and by the grace of God. Soon shall see him by sight." John 11, verses 1 and 2. Now a certain man was sick named
Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment. and wiped his feet with her hair,
whose brother, Lazarus, was sick." Now, soon our Lord is going to
go to the cross, and it is going to be on the cross that He's
going to be glorified by the Father. That is, when I say that,
I mean that the Lord Jesus is going to be openly shown by the
Father to be God's Lamb, God's Christ, God's substitute, the
Savior of His people, Savior of sinners, those made sensitive
to their sin. Father, in John 17, verse 1,
the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may glorify thee. Lord, glorify me as the Lamb,
that I may glorify you as the electing God. The one who chose
and who owns those that you gave to me to redeem. Our Lord Jesus is going to be
shown and honored as the Lamb of God as He sheds His precious
blood in the redemption of His people. I just never tire, and
I know you that know Him, you never tire of hearing of God's
little act. God's people, His bride, His
church, His chosen. I mean, it's just He shed His
affection on me. He loved me with an everlasting
love. Before He ever formed me in the
belly, knew me, loved me, gave me to His Son, the surety, And
the Son, whoever He is, that's the one that Isaiah saw sitting
on the throne of God. In the year that King Uzziah
died, we pointed that out, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord Jesus
Christ just from the spelling of it. We know that. Capital
L, little o, little r, little d. I saw I saw the Lamb. It's back in the Old Testament. Isaiah said, I saw Him. There
He is, sitting on the throne of God. He's always been on the
throne of God. Where was He when He walked this
earth? When He walked this earth, where
was He? He was still sitting on the throne
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of
Himself as He who is in heaven. God Almighty. Father, glorify
Thy Son. He's going to go to the cross,
going to pay the debt of His people. Made sin. Made what they
are by nature. He's going to honor His Father
in obedience. Redeem His people. Save them
from their sins. But oh, the price that He's going
to pay. Let me just read this to you.
Isaiah 50. Now here's the prophet. Here's the prophet speaking. These holy men of God moved by
the Spirit of God to write the things that they wrote. Isaiah
50 verse 5 and 6 says this, I want you to listen to the tense
of it. What I mean is this past tense,
present tense, future tense, what is this? Listen to this.
Isaiah, this is the Lord Himself speaking. The Lord God hath opened
mine ear. I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters. and my cheeks to them that plucked
off the hairs. I hid not my face from shame
and spitting." This was written by one of the prophets before
the Lord Jesus Christ ever actually came into this world, made of
a woman, made under the law. And he said, this is what I did.
He has been slain in the eyes and the purpose and the will
of the Father from before the foundation of the world. This
salvation, as I have said before in many men that know and love
our Lord, this salvation is a done deal. This is a done deal. Who has saved us? and then called us in that order. Saved us and called us. Almighty
God has saved His people and He's saving His people and He
shall save His people. Call them in time. When Almighty God opens the heart
of one of His own, what He does is just tells them what He's
already done and gives them a heart to believe it. We've been saved by the grace
of God. And the Lord Himself reveals it under the preaching
of the Gospel. This is why we're not ashamed
of this Gospel. Our Lord obediently laid down
His life for His sheep, made sin that they might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. Now, before He goes to the cross,
He's going to be glorified through an event that we just started
to look at. Now, I'm not going to go any
farther than verse 2. We're going to stop. I've looked
at these Scriptures and I feel that this is where the Lord would
have me stop for this morning. A certain man was sick. named Lazarus of Bethany, the
town of Mary and her sister Martha." You know how wonderful it is
to read of those certain ones spoken of. It's just words that
a believer sees in Scripture, and that word just is precious
to him. Certain is one of them. certain ones that were objects
of our Lord's particular favor. Mark 5.25 says, a certain woman
which had an issue of blood twelve years. There were others I know,
I'm sure, that were sick too, but a certain one that had an
issue of blood. Mark 7.25, a certain woman whose
young daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came
and fell at his feet. Mark 12.42, and there came a
certain poor widow and she threw in two mites. Oh, how we thank
the Lord for His certain ones. Certain. Certain to Him. And
He's certain to them too. In time they shall be. There
was a certain man that was sick. And I'm going to deal, Lord willing,
next time or two, with this sickness concerning this man that was
sick and the reason that the Lord said he was sick. But suffice
it to say, I want to just focus this morning really on verse
2. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment. and wiped
his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick."
Now, the Spirit of God has specifically set forth the Mary that's being
spoken of. Here's what God's Spirit says. And I know if you have in your
Bible, you'll notice that the word, vap, is in italics. So you could take it out, but
it does not change the meaning at all. It says, it was that
Mary which anointed the Lord, or you could say, it was Mary
which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with
her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick. Now, John the Apostle
wrote, I looked, and to find the chronological order in which
these books were written. John the Apostle, everybody that
I read, everybody that could give any light whatsoever on
when these books were penned, John was the one that penned
this gospel last. And so therefore, we can deduct
with John writing last, John reflected under the inspiration
of God's Spirit an event that previously had happened and was
well known to the hearers of this gospel. Now there was five
records I found. concerning the Lord being anointed
by a woman. Now, these records often would
overlap, and one gospel would speak of it and give an account,
and it was the same event. But there were five times that
it's actually recorded. Now, though there were some different
points given in Revelation, meaning this, this writer may reveal
something that this writer didn't reveal. It wasn't a contradiction,
it's just one of them wrote something that all the Gospels didn't record,
that thief on the cross, didn't record that he was repentant.
Some of them recorded that he railed on the Lord and did not
say or tell what the Lord said to him. It wasn't a contradiction,
it just, not every point was given by every writer. But in
these writings, though there were some things that were listed
in one passage that wasn't listed in another, and I certainly don't
want to major on the differences, that's not my point here. I don't
want to say something to take away from God's Spirit. What I want to do is I want to
take the Spirit of John chapter 11 verse 2 and seek the Spirit
of the Gospel in it. The Spirit of God made mention
specifically for a reason. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick." Now, the key to that passage right
there is this, the one that wiped his feet with her hair. That
one right there is found, turn with me if you would, to Luke
7 verse 36. When the Spirit of God makes
a distinct statement, we would best look it up. It
was that Mary, meaning there were other Marys, but this Mary,
whose brother Lazarus was sick, this Mary that had a sister named
Martha, it was that Mary that wiped the Lord's feet with her
hair. Luke 7.36. One of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went to the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus set at meet in
the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash
his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Before I continue reading, I
want to stop just a minute. I thought on this as I was reading. You know, you begin to cry. And I mean, you know, tears can
flow. But do you realize what it would
take to weep enough to actually be washing the feet of our Lord? This woman was broken. She was
broken. Now when the Pharisee which had
bitten him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if
he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of
woman this is that toucheth him. She is a sinner. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. And
he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors, one owed 500 pence, the other 50. And
when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of
them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my
feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou
gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, But this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore,
I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she
loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth
little. And he said unto her, Thy sins
are forgiven. And they that said it meet with
him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins
also? And he said to the woman, has
saved them, go in peace. Now, in the other passages that
deal with the Lord being anointed, Matthew 26, Mark 14, the passage
that we deal with today, and then again, we'll find not this
same instance, but this is going to happen again in John 12.3. The only difference that I can
find, I can see, as far as the anointing, took place two days
before our Lord's crucifixion, and then six days before. Two times. Two times. If you want to look, turn back,
just turn over to John, when we get there, Lord willing, look
at John 12.3. We'll just read verse 1, John 12. Then Jesus,
six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus,
which was sick, had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
And there they made him a supper. Martha served. Lazarus was one
of them that sat at the table with him. Now, I want you to
notice something now. In chapter 11, this is where
it started. Martha and Mary called the Lord
to tell Him that Lazarus was sick. And you know from history,
we'll look at it again, the Lord wouldn't. Lazarus died in chapter
11. And the Lord is going to come
in a day or so, and He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Now this instance right here,
Lazarus has already been raised from the dead. So this is happening
after, okay? After. Verse 3, Then took Mary
a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the
feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house
was filled with the odor of the ointment. So here's what we're
seeing. Something happened six days before, and something happened
two days before. Our Lord's feet were wiped with
the hair of this woman right here. Two times. Two times. Therefore, as we look
at this woman broken, wiping the feet, washing his feet with
her hair, what I want us to consider in verse 2, John chapter 11,
first of all, Here was a sinner saved by the grace of God. This
woman was somebody that they all knew. She was a woman in
the city. This man, he's referring to the
Lord Jesus, if he were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman
this is. He would know, this woman is
a sinner. Now obviously, he didn't see
himself that way. He's like that Pharisee that
went up to the temple along with the publican. And that Pharisee
that stood and prayed just with himself. Lord, I thank Thee that I'm not as
other men are. Here was a woman A woman who
was a member of a family. I want you to look at verse 5
in chapter 11. John 11, 5. Now, Jesus loved
Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He loved them. Here was a woman that was a member
of this family in Bethany that was a member of a family that
the Lord Jesus loved. Two sisters and a brother lived
together. And this woman right here, the
one that the Spirit of God distinctly set forth in verse 2, was the
one that wiped his feet with her hair when she came in and
washed his feet with her tears and wiped his feet with her hair
and anointed him with that alabaster, that ointment, This Martha, right
here, was an object of God's mercy. This woman is a fit picture
of every object of God's mercy. You say, well, I've never been
like that. Yes, you have. Yes, you have. And I have too. Who do we think
we are? You say, well, I've never done
what she did. Yes, you have. Yes, you have. If a man looks
on a woman and thinks and lusts after her, he's already committed
adultery with her in his heart. If a man looks and thinks and
hates a brother, he killed him in his heart. He's a murderer.
Oh, we excuse ourselves. Years ago, as a little fellow,
I came up and a member or another persuasion years and years and
years ago. And I was taught that there were
two different kinds of sins. There were venial sins, I was
told, and mortal sins. And the venial sins, you know,
you could die with a venial sin on your soul. And if you died
with a venial sin on your soul, you had to go to purgatory. And
you could stay in purgatory for a while, and depending on how
long, you know, you could be prayed out. It costs you, but
you could get out of there. But if you died with a mortal
sin on your soul, no hope. No hope. Mortal sin. And I'm telling you, man by nature
thinks like that. You know, I'm just a venial sinner. I'm not that bad. Oh, when Almighty
God teaches a man or woman what they are. This woman came here
and the Lord said, since the time I got here, this woman has
not ceased to wash my feet with her tears and wipe my feet with
her hairs and to anoint me Here was a woman that God Almighty
had taught, this is my hope. This is the Lord of glory. This
is the one who shall die in my stead. He said, she's done this
toward my burial. She believed Him. She believed
that He was God's Lamb. And she knew without Him I have
no hope. This woman being regenerated
by the Spirit of God, made to see Christ, His death, burial,
resurrection was for her. Was for her. He is God's mercy
to me. This is God's grace. I will be
gracious to whom I'll be gracious. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. And Christ is the grace and mercy
and compassion of Almighty God. This woman came in and she took
that which was precious to her. An alabaster box. I was reading
that story again and I thought, That woman, there's no telling
how long. I mean, let's just be frank about
it. This woman worked. That was her
wealth. It was costly. That was costly ointment. Years
wages. That's what one of them said. That's 300 pence. They worked
for a penny a day. Almost a year's wages. what that ointment cost. And
that woman took her little nest egg. That's her security blanket. Man, I've got something set aside. And she came in and took that
alabaster box. That was a stone box. It was
a precious stone and it contained precious ointment. And that precious
box, that was a picture of the precious body of the Lord Jesus
Christ that was broken. And that precious ointment that
came out, you say, well, that was precious perfume. It pictured
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed when
His body was broken. When that box was broken and
poured that ointment on him, the whole room just filled with
the fragrance of that sweet nard is what it was. Spike nard. It
was made from the nard plant. So here we see all that glorious
picture of his body broken, his blood shed, that his people might
live and that they in him Be a sweet savor unto the Lord. Accept it in the Beloved. No
condemnation. Oh, and when that sweet ointment
filled the fragrance of that room, it just smelled of the
obedience of Christ. That's what the burnt offering
was. Remember the offerings we looked at? That burnt offering.
That burnt offering was only for the Lord. The priest, you
know, there were certain things that the priest could share in.
He could share in that meat offering, I think. The meat offering had
no meat to it. It was bread. A picture of the
perfect humanity of Christ. And that priest could enter into
that, but not the burnt offering. That burnt offering was for the
Lord. And it pictured the perfect obedience of Christ. That was
for God only. God Almighty. And it was a sweet
savor offering. And here she took that alabaster
box and broke it, anointed Him with it, washed His feet with
her tears, wiped His feet with her hair, washing His feet with
her tears. wiping his feet with her hair.
What she did, she just laid all of the glory that she had, the
dregs of it. You know, it speaks of a woman's
hair being her glory. I remember reading, remember
when John said, I'm not even worthy to just untie shoes. There's one coming that I'm not
worthy Unbuckle his latch, buckle back. Here was a woman, the glory
of that woman. She just laid it and wiped his
feet with her hair. Oh, the privilege of being able
to fall at his feet, to hear his Word, and the words of our
Lord to this woman. And here was a woman back in
Luke 50, when I read, I'll read it to you. Here was a woman that
God had revealed what she is in herself. She knew. She knew. And that woman came to the Lord,
and here was the Lord to her, thy faith, the object of your
faith. Her faith didn't do anything
for her. Her faith given that she might see the object of God's
mercy. Thy faith, the object of your
mercy, has saved thee. The Lord was saying, I saved
you. Go in peace. Oh, how that truth
surely rang to her heart and brought back to her memory time
after time. Not long. After that event in
Luke 7, the Lord's path crossed this woman again. I want you
to just look at Luke 10. Luke 10.38. It wasn't long. Here she came in. In Luke 7,
came into that Pharisee's house. Simon washed his feet with her
tears and wiped his feet with her hair and took anointed. Luke 10. Three chapters later
is what happened. Look at Luke 10, verse 38. It
came to pass, as they went, he entered into a certain village.
And a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
She had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet
and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about
much serving and came to Him and said, Does thou not care
that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore
that she help me.' And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but
one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which
shall not be taken away from her." Here was that same Mary
that not long before She came into that room. Can you imagine the humility
that it would take for that woman to walk into that place? As a
general rule, she'd just want to hide somewhere, just not come
out in the daytime, not let anybody see her. Not during the day. But here she comes in. into that
very room where the Lord was. Unashamed. Unashamed. She knew. She knew. I told you
this. This just came to my mind years
ago. I was at a place, at a funeral. And I was just talking to people. And there was a long line of
people and I was talking to them. And people were so patient, and
they were so kind, and everybody was just, you know, patient.
And we were trying to converse with people as they came to say
something to me. And just I'm looking at everybody,
and out of the corner of my eye, I see people moving, moving. There was people moving back
and forth. And just all of a sudden, you know, up through the midst
of all those folks that was being so kind, comes Amber. My little,
well Amber now, but Amber then, little granddaughter. She just
worked her way right on through everybody. Just came right up
here and just walked right up to me. You know the first thing
I did? I spoke to her. This is my little granddaughter.
This is my granddaughter. And she unashamed. It didn't
matter that everybody was standing there. What difference does that
make to her? Papa was up there. And I'm going
to go up there and I'm going to see Papa. That's what she
did. Here was this woman. She just came right in there. Came right up behind the Lord.
Cried. Weeped. Washed. Wiped. And the Lord said to her, your
sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. Thy faith
has made thee whole." And here's this woman now. We're looking
at that. He says, Martha, Mary has chosen
the better part. She's not going to be taken away
from her. These two sisters welcome the
Lord in heart and home. I want to deal, Lord willing,
with Martha being cumbered. It doesn't say Martha was an
unbeliever. It didn't say. She was distracted. And the Lord
told her that. But the Scripture says the Lord
loved her. He loved Martha and Mary. Here's this one that had
seen God's mercy and grace to her. And though those two ladies
had two different dispositions, they were different. One of them
was cumbered, much-serving, distracted, but for Mary. One thing was needful
for Mary. Tell me one more time. I know
I heard you say that my sins were forgiven. I heard you say
that you put away my guilt. That my faith has saved me. I just want to hear that one
more time. Tell me one more time how You've put away my sin by
Your precious blood. Tell me one more time that there's
no condemnation to me." This Mary, the one that the Lord had
forgiven much, there was one thing she wanted to do. I want
to hear Him. And that's the only thing that
matters to me. I want to hear Him. Lord, cause me to hear You
today afresh. Lord, as I've heard Your voice,
You said Your sheep hear Your voice. You know them. They follow You. Lord, tell me
afresh. Speak to me by Your Spirit that
You've everlastingly known me and loved me and put away my
guilt. For Christ's sake. Amen.