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John 12:1–11; Exodus 12; Matthew 6:9–11
What is Jesus worth to you? Most of us would answer quickly, but the real answer shows up in how we live. Heading toward Easter, Pastor Max Lyons unpacks Mary anointing Jesus' feet in John 12, contrasting her with Martha, who worked for Jesus; Judas, who calculated the cost; and the crowd, who came for what He had done. Mary alone saw His true value and laid her glory at His feet.
Key takeaways
- Even the greatest miracles, including the Easter story itself, can become familiar and common if we lose sight of their value.
- Martha worked for Jesus while Mary worshiped Him; the goal is a transformed heart, and right behavior is the byproduct, not the other way around.
- Judas calculated the cost while Mary had already counted it; do not calculate, surrender.
- The crowd followed Jesus for what He did, but Mary followed Him for who He is; if we only seek God's hand, we will never know His face.
- Mary wiped Jesus' feet with her hair, laying her own glory down for His; ask whether you follow Jesus for what you can get or for what you can give.
Message notes
God turns setbacks into testimonies
Pastor Max Lyons opens with the story of Brexit wiping out his and Juliet’s honeymoon budget while they were planning a wedding in Italy from London. With $500 left, he prayed for an all-inclusive beach honeymoon and searched a deals website for weeks with no results, until the day after an attempted coup in Turkey made a Mediterranean resort suddenly affordable. God works all things together for good, and the Easter story is the ultimate example: the most horrific event in human history became the greatest story ever told. As the church heads into Palm Sunday and Holy Week, he warns that even miracles can become familiar.
A rug worth $500,000
Pastor Max recalls a clip from Antiques Roadshow in which a man’s ordinary-looking rug turned out to be a Navajo weaving worth half a million dollars. He had no idea what he was holding. We do the same with the Easter story, with church, with Scripture, and with prayer, letting them become common until they lose their power. The prayer for the morning is that the church would catch a fresh revelation of how valuable Jesus is. The church stands to read John 12:1–11, the last event in John’s gospel before Jesus rides into Jerusalem.
Jesus, our Passover Lamb
The dinner takes place six days before Passover, and Pastor Max traces the parallels from Exodus 12. The lamb had to be spotless, examined on the tenth day, killed at twilight with no bones broken, fully eaten, and continually remembered, and Jesus fulfills every detail. The Israelites were saved by the blood, not by their conduct, and they ate ready to run. Two applications follow: those who give their lives to Jesus should be ready to move for His kingdom, and the blood has to be applied. It is not enough that Jesus died; His death must be applied to each life.
Martha worked, Mary worshiped
Martha served at the dinner, and Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. John does not tell us Martha’s motive, but the scene invites us to examine our own: are we trying to earn approval, or responding to Jesus in love? Pastor Max tells how his kids pretended to clean a room only when they thought he was watching. We can treat church attendance, Bible reading, and prayer the same way, as if they earn favor with God. The goal of pastoring is not behavior but a heart so in love with Jesus that it cannot stay away from His house. “The goal is a transformed heart out of a relationship with Jesus, and the behavior is the byproduct.”
Judas calculated, Mary surrendered
Judas objected that the perfume could have been sold for 300 denarii, not out of care for the poor but because he was a thief. Pastor Max shares his own calculating: leaving a strategy consulting career in New York, with its 401k and stock options, for Bible college, and later looking back from a church staff salary at where his peers’ careers were heading. God’s only answer was, “You heard what I said.” Judas was still calculating the cost; Mary had already counted it. Surrendering to Jesus never leaves us worse off.
The crowd came for what He did
The crowd came to see Lazarus, the man Jesus raised, drawn by the spectacle. There is a difference between seeking God’s hand and seeking His face. God made His ways known to Moses but only His acts to Israel, and people who only see what God does have no confidence He will act again, because they do not know who He is. Pastor Max challenges the church to take an inventory of their prayers this week: the Lord’s Prayer begins with “Our Father,” not with our needs.
Laying down your glory
Why did Mary use her hair? Paul writes that a woman’s long hair is her glory, so Mary was taking her glory and laying it at Jesus’ feet, pouring out a year’s wages without regard for her reputation. Mary’s costly act invites us to examine whether we are seeking our own recognition or honoring Jesus. Pastor Max tells of a man who joined church to find a spouse and quit serving once he had. The closing question is whether we follow Jesus for what we can get or for what we can give. Seek first His kingdom and everything else will be added. And just as the first rug story prompted another man to discover a rug worth $1.5 million, catching this revelation can set off a chain reaction of invitations as Easter approaches.
