Adoring the King - John 12:1-26 Adoring the King -

Read John 12:1-26

When I was in eighth grade, my mom bought me a bass guitar for my birthday. While I was glad to receive the gift, it cost significantly more than any gift I’d been given before. It cost so much, in fact, that I felt guilty that she bought it for me. When I protested about her spending that much money on me, she smiled and reassured me that she loved me enough to spend that much money on me.

This past Christmas, I bought my mom an expensive purse. Most parents feel bad when their kids splurge on them, so I made sure that the receipt wasn’t in the package when I mailed it to her. College students don’t have alot money, but I wanted to show my mom how much I appreciated her caring for me my entire life.

We can probably all think of similar stories; either receiving an expensive gift or giving an expensive gift. While almost no one likes to spend money for the sake of spending it, almost everyone is willing to spend money on someone they love. In John 12:1-26, we see Mary expressing her love for Jesus in such a way.

“Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume,” (John 12:3). While we are not told of how Mary acquired the perfume, she could have sold it for a lot of money and spend it on herself, or, as Judas pointed out, she could have sold it and given the money to the poor. However, she instead chose to honor Jesus.

Later in the chapter, we see others adoring Jesus in another way. “On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel,” (John 12:13). The crowd, being familiar with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming King of Israel, honored Jesus by publicly confessing his Lordship. They did this in spite of the fact that the Pharisees despised Jesus and were more than willing to punish those who worshipped Him.

Finally, in v. 21 a group of Greeks who were in Jerusalem for the Passover ask Jesus’ disciples for permission to see Him. His response is not what we might expect. After speaking of His death in verses 23 & 24, He makes a statement that seems like a paradox, but is actually precisely how we go about honoring Jesus and expressing our love for Him.

“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him,” (John 12: 25-26). If Mary had her loved her life, she would have kept the perfume or the money it could have sold for for herself. She, however, didn’t. She made the decision to anoint Jesus instead of herself.

Notice that it doesn’t say “he who enjoys his life will lose it”. Jesus is not telling us to be consumed in depression in order to honor Him. Instead, as we become willing to lay down our desires to honor and serve Him, we can truly enjoy life in its true purpose, adoring Jesus. In v. 26, Jesus tells us that we should follow Him and be near Him. Today we do this by praying, reading God’s word, and obeying Him. As we do these things, we will learn to lay down our interests and truly love Jesus.

Take a moment to read back over John 12:1-26. Now pray about how you might better love Jesus. Ask him to reveal to you areas in your life that are not honoring to him. Are you adoring God with your finances and material possessions? Are you adoring God with your time? Do you spend time with Him? Do you spend time doing things that express your love for Him? Meditate on these things.