Before we leave John 11, verse 21 deserves some discussion. “Martha therefore said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
We often say to God similar statements. We may say something like, “Lord, if you had only acted sooner or answered my prayer, this event would not have happened.” We say this as if somehow we are able to see more than the Lord sees and know more than the Lord knows.
Elsewhere in the gospels, we know that Christ healed without being present. In John 11, Christ raised Lazarus from the dead four days after he died. Is there anything impossible to the Lord?
In the verses following, Martha expresses surrender to the Lord and seems to have accepted that Lazarus has died and that is that.
The Lord has His own timing and His own reasons for when He answers our prayers. Our task is to accept that His timing is right, His answer is complete, and His grace and strength are sufficient for the day. We may not always have what we want, but the Lord gives us what we need. With Lazarus, there was a greater purpose behind it that the Lord was accomplishing.
Turning now to chapter 12, the opening account in verses 1 through 11 marks a transition. Christ will from now on teach and foretell His death, and John will portray the significance of Christ’s death.
Mary’s anointing of Christ could be taken in two ways, in one sense preparing Christ’s body for burial or in another sense consecrating Christ. An interesting cross-reference is Exodus 29:36, “Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it.”
In Exodus 29, both the priest and the altar were to be anointed before offering sacrifices. There is reference to both consecration and preparation. In this sense, Mary was anointing Christ in preparation for His offering Himself as a sacrifice.
The parallel account of John 12:1-8 is found in Matthew 26:6-13. In Matthew, the woman is unnamed. John identifies her as Mary. In Matthew, the point is made that the anointing was to prepare Christ’s body for burial.
In either sense we interpret this scene – anointing the altar before killing the sacrifice for a sin offering or anointing Christ’s body to prepare it for burial – both meanings carry great significance. Christ was permitting the anointing because He was about to die for the sins of the world. Mary acted the only way she knew, not holding anything back. No cost was too great. Mary was living in the moment, and her decision to anoint Christ seems to have recognized that there would scarce be another opportunity to pour out her costly perfume.
We also see the anointing of David as king and of the Psalmist in the time of trouble (Psalm 23:5). Anointing carries multiple meanings, including signifying that the mercy and joy of the Lord rested upon the individual. This seems to be the case in Psalm 23:5. Kings were also anointed to signify consecration and setting apart for the Lord’s work. The anointing of Christ was far more significant than this.
Judas’ complaint about wasting the value of Mary’s perfume is disengenuous, and John explains why. The perfume was costly, however, Judas had no concern for the poor. John explains that Judas had his hand in the money box. Judas was quite unaware and blind to the fact that Christ already knew the condition of his heart. His actions, though hid from human eye, had already been noticed by Christ. Judas would do anything for money, even to the point of betraying Christ.
There is a certain reality in the statement by Christ in verse 8, “For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.” There is a parallel verse in Deuteronomy 15:11, “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”
Judas’ remarks that the money could have been used to bless the poor is certainly not wrong. If this statement were made from a pure motive, Judas convicts us when we spend money to purchase luxuries that others cannot afford. In that moment, we cannot relate to the poor. Are our hearts rich toward God?
Throughout Scripture, we have commands to consider and look after the poor.
Proverbs 29:7: The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor, The wicked does not understand such concern.
1 John 3:17-18: But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
Isaiah 1:16-17: Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. [Notice the exhortation to do good is placed with ceasing to do evil when we are cleansed from sin. Neglecting the poor may be a sin of omission.]
Isaiah 58:4b-8: You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Matthew 25:34-40: Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
Notice the parallels between the Matthew and Isaiah passages. If you did not see the similarities, go back and read them again.
In a sense, Judas is not wrong to advocate for the poor. We can see that caring for the poor is near to God’s heart. Our righteousness is closely connected to the generosity of our hearts and wallets. We cannot profess righteousness before God if we are overlooking the needs of the poor. I admire people who get by with basic necessities just so that they can have more money for missions and the poor. This was a notable hallmark of the early church in Acts 4:32-35. As Christ said in Matthew 6:19-21, they are investing in an extravagant life in the eternal. When we live extravagantly here on earth, we risk living poorly in the eternal.
At the same time, the desire to be thought of by others as generous, such as with Judas or Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11, is a temptation lurking at the door. Our actions and motives will be our judge and will speak against us on the day of judgment. Though motives were hidden in the moment, Judas, Ananias, and Sapphira represent having their sin exposed and reaping judgment upon themselves for their sin. We must not rest in a notion that, because all is well in the moment, we are safe. Judgment awaits the one with an ulterior motive against God’s will.
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