Mark 13 records the Olivet Discourse in which Jesus predicts his Second Coming at the end of the age. Mark 14 abruptly shifts from triumph to suffering. The one who will return in glory will die for the sins of the world. By the end of chapter 15, Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, condemned, crucified, and buried. Mark begins his Passion Narrative in our text. It is a chiastic “sandwich story.” Mark often begins a story, interrupts himself to tell a seemingly unrelated story, and then returns to finish the original story. This is what we find in verses 1-11. 

• Verses 1-2 records the religious leaders’ plot to kill Jesus. 
• Verses 3-9 records an unnamed woman’s love for Jesus. 
• Verses 10-11 records Judas Iscariot’s plot to betray Jesus. 

In these “sandwich stories,” the middle is the meat of the matter. The surrounding narrative emphasizes the central story. Think through that text that way. On the one hand, sworn enemies plotted against Jesus. On the other hand, a fake friend plotted against Jesus. Between these evil acts, a nameless woman ministers extravagant devotion to Jesus. 

• It is like a beautiful star on a dark night. 
• It is like a work of art surrounded by junk. 
• It is like a sparking diamond on black velvet. 

Here is a story of humanity at its best between two stories of humanity at its worst. The message of the text is embedded in the structure of the text: Your relationship to Jesus is evidenced by your attitude toward his death. Either you sacrifice for him or conspire against him. Lawrence Richards said, “We must give Jesus all or be his enemy.” Are you a friend or foe of Jesus? Mark 14:1-11 depicts the friends and foes of Jesus in three scenes.

The Ones Who Brought Jesus Down 

Verses 1-2 record the plot to kill Jesus.

• Roman authorities crucified Jesus. 
• Religious authorities brought him down. 

God is not mentioned in this text. But his Jehovistic hand was at work behind the scenes. Verses 1-2 show us how God and man were at work in the death of Jesus. 

The Divine Calendar. Verse 1 says, “It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to set his people free. When Pharaoh refused, God sent plagues on Egypt. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn in Egypt. The Israelites were passed over by killing a lamb and smearing its blood on their doorposts. The Passover celebrated this redemptive act of divine intervention. It was Israel’s New Year’s Day!  The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a weeklong festival that followed Passover. It commemorated how the children of Israel ate unleavened bread in the haste of the exodus.

This is when Jesus was sacrificed at the cross for our sins. John 1:29 declares, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” Jesus is God’s Passover Lamb. God providentially orchestrated that and how and when Jesus would die for our redemption! Jesus did not die as a religious nonconformist to the Jews or a political nuisance to the Romans. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” 

The Human Conspiracy. Verse 1b says, “And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him.” The religious leaders sought to destroy Jesus since Mark 3:6. Now they determined to silence this upstart rabbi from Nazareth once and for all. Matthew 26:3 says the chief priests and elders of the people met in the palace of the high priest “to arrest him by stealth and kill him.”

• The murder of Jesus was the secondary matter. 
• The chief issue was how to arrest Jesus secretly. 

 Verse 2 explains: “For they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” The population of Jerusalem grew exponentially during the Passover. The city was a powder keg of messianic zeal. They wanted God to do to the Romans what he did to the Egyptians. Anything could provoke an insurrection. So, the religious leaders said, “Not during the feast,” fearing a riot. Yet Jesus was arrested and killed according to God’s timetable. God, not man, was in control of the story of Jesus. The same applies to you. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

The One Who Gave Jesus All 

As the religious authorities plotted his assassination, Jesus went to a party. There Jesus became the object of lavish love. 

Lavish Love Displayed. Verse 3 says, “And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.” Mark leaves this woman unnamed. Parallel passages tell us it was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

• Judas, one of the Twelve, proved to be an enemy of Jesus. 
• A nameless woman was a friend when Jesus needed it most. 

Mary came to the dinner with “an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard.” Nard was a rare and precious perfume extracted from Indian plants. The unmixed or adulterated nard was “very costly.” John 12:3 notes she had a pound of it in an “alabaster flask.” The only way to open it was to break the fragile neck of the bottle. Mary broke open the flask and poured it over the head of Jesus. John 12:3 adds that she “anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.” 

Samuel was confused about which of Jesse’s sons should be anointed king. Mary knew Jesus alone was worthy of this sacrificial act that she performed without calculation. Jesus had raised her brother for the dead. Nothing was too much for him! Has your love for Jesus cost you anything lately? 

Lavish Love Denounced. Verse 4 says “some” criticized the woman. Matthew 26:8 states it was “the disciples.” The Twelveknew Mary. Mary and Martha had often fed them. They knew Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Yet they were offended and outraged by Mary’s sacrificial act. John 12:4 tells us it was Judas who initially questioned the act: “Why was the ointment wasted like that?” “Waste” is used for eternal damnation. John 17:2 calls Judas “the son of destruction.”

• Judas called Mary’s gift a waste. 
• Jesus called Judas’ life a waste. 

Verse 5 says, “For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” They calculated the ointment was worth a year’s wages that could be donated to the poor. John 12:6 explains Judas’ arithmetic: “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.” The other disciples also responded indignantly. Verse 5 concludes: “And they scolded her.” “Scolded” means “to snort with anger.”

• It was not a statement about Mary. 
• It was a statement about Jesus. 

They acted as if Jesus was not worthy of the costly ointment. They deemed it a waste because they did not see the value of Jesus! Too many so-called friends of Jesus have mixed-up price tags. We commend sacrifices made for worldly pursuits as worth it. We criticize sacrifices made in spiritual devotion as a waste. Matthew 16:26 asks: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

Lavish Love Defended. Verses 3-9 is a pronouncement story. It is not about the act of the woman or the response of the onlookers. It is about what Jesus had to say about it. What did Jesus say?

Jesus corrected them. Verse 6 reads: “But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing for me.’” Two words are translated “good” in the New Testament. One refers to good by nature. The term used here is good in appearance. It is good for you and to you. Jesus says it was a beautiful thing “for me” – especially and exclusively for Jesus. We do things for others in the name of Jesus. We do things for ourselves in obedience to Christ. We do few things for him. This is why the Lord’s Supper is so significant. Luke 22:19 says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” What is the last thing you have done for Jesus?

 Verse 7 explains: “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.” “You always have the poor with you” does not cancel or contradict Jesus’ well-established bias toward the poor. It does not excuse us from our responsibility to care for the poor. The tension is not between Jesus and the poor. It is between “always” and “not always.”Christians should relieve the needs of the poor. But that is not what Christianity is about. Poverty will not be resolved until Jesus comes again. The key to determining what Christians should prioritize is by asking what we can do for Christ that we cannot do always. We must prioritize the spiritual over the physical.  

Jesus commended her. Verse 8 says, “She has done what she could.” Matthew 7:22-23 warns that many who do mighty works will be condemned in the end. This woman was commended because she did what she could. Don’t worry about doing great things for Jesus. Do what you can for Jesus! Verse 8 says, “She has anointed my body beforehand for burial.” The dead were anointed, not embalmed. The timing of Jesus’ crucifixion at Passover did not permit that to happen before he was buried. Mary’s act would be the only burial anointing Jesus would get. When the women arrived to anoint his body, the tomb was empty. 

Verse 9 states: “And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” With a solemn affirmation, Jesus makes two predictions. First, Jesus predicts that the gospel will be proclaimed in the whole world. What is the gospel? God created us and we are accountable to him. We are fallen in sin and need a Savior. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. He will one day restore all that sin has broken in the world. Do you believe the gospel?

Likewise, Jesus predicts wherever the gospel is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her. Mark does not record her name. Her act will be remembered forever. This sermon further fulfills this prophecy. Whatever you sacrifice for the Lord will not be forgotten. It will last!

The One Who Sold Jesus Out 

The text begins with the religious leaders plotting against Jesus. It ends with Judas inexplicably joining the conspiracy against Jesus. Mark does not address Judas’ motives. 

• Why he did it is not relevant to the story. 
• That he did it is the warning we are to heed. 

What did Judas do? 

Judas’ Voluntary Betrayal. Verse 10 says, “Then Judas Iscariot, who was on the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.” “Iscariot” probably means “man from Kerioth,” a reference to his hometown. More important than his name is his number: “one of the twelve.” In Mark 14:43, when Judas carries out his treacherous act, he is again identified as “one of the twelve.” Judas lived with Jesus for three years. He heard every sermon and saw every miracle. Yet he “went to the chief priests” to betray him to them. The religious leaders did not turn Judas against Jesus. He volunteered to sell Jesus out. Matthew 26:15 says he asked, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” What does it take to get you to sell Jesus out?

Judas’ Premeditated Betrayal. Verse 11 says, “And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money.” “They were glad” is a great understatement. They were at wits’ end about how to trap Jesus away from the crowd. In their wildest dreams, they did not imagine one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers would rat him out. They were overjoyed when they heard Judas’ offer and promised to give him money. Matthew 26:15 says, “And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.” In Judges 16:5, Samson’s enemies told Delilah, “We each will give you 1,1000 pieces of silver,” to discover the source of his strength. Judas sold Jesus out for the price of a slave. Verse 11 ends: “And he sought an opportunity to betray him.” Later in this chapter, when Judas joined Jesus and the disciples in the Upper Room, he was looking for a way to betray him.  

• Mary sought an opportunity to show her love for Jesus before it was too late.
• Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus into the hands of his enemies. 

Are you a friend or foe of Jesus? If you are a friend of Jesus, do what you can while you can for him! Your life is as fragile as the alabaster flask. You only have one life to live. Don’t waste it on things that cannot save, sustain, or satisfy. Jesus alone is worthy of your full devotion, greatest sacrifice, and highest praise.