Simply teaching the Bible, simply

This verse-by-verse study of Mark 14:1-11 was taught by Pastor Barry Forder at our family service on 11th November 2018.

In this study, we consider one of the most important acts of worship recorded, as Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus) poured some very expensive perfume over Jesus. Why is this so important?

Because it teaches us just how valuable worship is in God’s eyes. To worship God is greater than your most valuable and treasured possession. When you worship it breaks chains of oppression, it causes principalities and powers to bow. It conquers fear and comforts grief. It destroys doubt and invites God’s very presence into your midst. It banishes sin and crushes iniquity, it replaces sorrow with joy and lifts us to the very throne of God!

Whether Mary understood the significance of what she was doing we cannot say, but clearly, Jesus saw this as an anointing in preparation for His burial. A body would not normally be anointed before the death of the person, but this just goes to emphasise that, at this stage, Jesus was ‘as dead’ in as much as there was no way He was backing out now. He had come to do His Father’s will, and he would not fall at the last hurdle.

In both Matthew’s and Mark’s account, Jesus states:“Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her”. (Matt 26:13) Mary thus becomes an example of the way we should worship Jesus – i.e. without reservation. Yet that is not what common sense tells us, and to pour out the equivalent of £30,000 worth of perfume just seems an extravagant waste! No wonder the disciples murmured!