INTRODUCTION:

Fourteen men are enjoying a meal together and engaging in conversation with one another when something unexpected and unusual takes place.  It captures the attention of everyone.  One of the hostesses walks over to Jesus with a beautiful jar in her hands.  She opens the jar, pours a small amount of the strong-smelling perfume on His head, and gently massages it into His hair.  Then she gets down on her knees, unties her hair, pours the rest of the perfume on His feet, and uses her hair as a washcloth and towel.  The eyes of everyone are upon her and Jesus makes no comment.  There is a beautiful silence as these men watch and try to comprehend this act of devotion.

I.  THE WORDS OF JUDAS  (verses 4-5)

The silence is about to be broken by someone, however, and the apostle John describes that person before he quotes his words.  In verse 4, he says, “But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said . . . “.  John didn’t know that information at the time it was happening, but he wants his readers to know some helpful information about Judas.  He has told us something about Judas that helps explain the words that Judas is about to say.  Judas is the treasurer for the group, appointed to the position by Jesus Himself.  At the moment, Judas is making some financial calculations in his mind:  “Let’s see; that bottle of nard ointment must have cost about 300 denarii.  Based on a six-day workweek and time-off for feast days, that’s a whole year’s wages for a common laborer.  What a waste of money!  Jesus needs to be made aware of this.”

In verse 5, Judas puts his thoughts into words when he says, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to poor people?”  I think he said it loudly enough for everyone to hear, and he was expecting to get a response from Jesus and the other disciples, agreeing with him and his objection.

Before we hear from Jesus, the apostle John gives us some additional information about Judas so that we might better understand his motives for asking that question.  Verse 6 reads, “Now he [Judas] said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put in it.”  Judas was only concerned about one poor person – himself.  He took advantage of his position as treasurer in order to benefit himself.

!!.  JESUS’ RESPONSE TO JUDAS (verses 7-8)

(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  A Work-In-Progress

Thank you for visiting this newly-opened construction site:  John 12:4-8.  I place my sermon projects on this site so that you can see the work progress and study this passage of scripture along with me.  Nothing is “set in concrete yet” so you’ll see changes made and illustrations added as we progress.  That’s part of the challenge and the exhilaration that come as you immerse yourself in a passage of scripture and start putting the pieces together.  Hopefully, the rough edges in this construction project will be smoothed out by the time we reach the final stages of construction.  Please come back and visit this sermon, as well as over 150 completed sermons on this site.  May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus be with you always.