- John 12:1-5
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- John 12:1 (KJB)
- Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus
was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
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- Jesus had now left the town of Ephraim after taking a respite from all
the confrontation. Jesus now re-enters Judaea and goes to Bethany. At this
point He is about a week from the cross. Jesus knew full what was ahead this
coming week and He walked toward Jerusalem with that full knowledge. This
verse connects Lazarus with Bethany by straightly stating that Lazarus was
dead but Jesus raised him from the dead. God is emphasizing the fact that
Lazarus was dead and was raised from that state of death.
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- John 12:2 (KJB)
- There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of
them that sat at the table with him.
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- As we can see that things were basically back to normal where they
served Jesus supper and it was Martha who did the serving. A principle in
this verse teaches us that when Jesus is involved in the lives of His
children or in a situation, then stability comes into their lives. As we can
see that Lazarus was at the table with Jesus and Martha served, just like
she probably did before the death of Lazarus. Now this was at the home of
Simon the Leper according to Matthew.
(Mat 26:6 KJV) Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the
leper, So Simon may have invited them to his home
and Martha probably volunteered to cook the dinner. No doubt Simon wanted to
see Lazarus for himself and invited the whole family.
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- John 12:3 (KJB)
- 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 odour of the ointment.
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- Mary had taken a pound of spikenard and anointed the head and feet of
Jesus according to the other accounts.
(Mat 26:7 KJV) There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very
precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
(Mark 14:3 KJV) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he
sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of
spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his
head. Spikenard was a very expensive ointment as
it came from east India. Since this was a very expensive ointment, it showed
that Lazarus and the two sisters may have been well off financially. The
cost of that spikenard would have been about 11 month's salary for a worker.
Mary was showing that she loved Jesus and especially for what He had done
for Lazarus by raising him from the dead. When Mary had wiped the feet of
Jesus with her hair, she was showing an act of submission to the Lord Jesus.
For what she did, only a slave would do for the guests which would be
invited to a dinner or other types of gatherings. Washing the feet was
normally done to clean the dust of travel off the feet. Then the house was
filled with the fragrance of the spikenard.
(Song 1:3 KJV) Because of the savour of thy
good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the
virgins love thee. In Song of Solomon 1:3, we read
about the love that this woman had for King Solomon and it is recorded that
the scent of the good ointments, she equates with the name of Solomon and
then states that the virgins love him. This is a great spiritual teaching,
when we read that the house of Simon was filled with the fragrance of the
spikenard which we can equate with the wonderful aroma of Christ who brings
salvation. Notice in SS 1:3, it states that the virgins love him.
(2 Cor 11:2 KJV) For I am jealous over you with
godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ. For that
is what the body of believers is spoken of as, we are espoused as a chaste
virgin to only one husband and that is Christ.
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- John 12:4 (KJB)
- Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
which should betray him,
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- After Mary did this lovely act for the Lord Jesus Christ, then on the
heels of that fine act always comes some type of opposition. This time it
comes from one of the disciples, namely Judas Iscariot. A modern expression
would be, “No good deed ever goes unpunished.” It has happened to all of us.
We do some type of good deed and immediately we are criticized for it.
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- John 12:5 (KJB)
- Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the
poor?
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- One pence was the normal days’ wage for a worker, so the ointment would
have been equal to about 10 months (300 days) wages according to Judas. It
was a windfall that Judas would have loved to get his hands on. This verse
gives a warning that there are those who think they are Christians or put on
the face of a Christian, and yet are not. Judas was the only one of the band
of 12 disciples that did not become saved. Judas was sounding real good here
by stating that the ointment should have been sold and the money given to
the poor but his real motive is found in the next verse.
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