Worth Ship = Worship

Judges 1; Judges 2; Judges 3; 1 Corinthians 12
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Scripture

I used my Sunday’s sermon text to journal on rather than one of the other passages.

John 12:1-19

Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. [2] A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with him. [3] Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance.

[4] But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples—the one who would betray him—said, [5] "That perfume was worth a small fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor." [6] Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief who was in charge of the disciples' funds, and he often took some for his own use.

[7] Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. She did it in preparation for my burial. [8] You will always have the poor among you, but I will not be here with you much longer."

[9] When all the people heard of Jesus' arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. [10] Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, [11] for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.

[12] The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A huge crowd of Passover visitors [13] took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

"Praise God!
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hail to the King of Israel!"

[14] Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

[15] "Don't be afraid, people of Israel.
Look, your King is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt."

[16] His disciples didn't realize at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered that these Scriptures had come true before their eyes.

[17] Those in the crowd who had seen Jesus call Lazarus back to life were telling others all about it. [18] That was the main reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this mighty miracle. [19] Then the Pharisees said to each other, "We've lost. Look, the whole world has gone after him!"

Observation

Two stories are found in these nineteen verses and both are filled with drama and emotion and both help us to understand true worship! You would think that what the Pharisees say at the end of this story is true if we didn’t have chapters 18 and 19 to show us differently. It would seem that the whole world had gone after Jesus but that was not the case, at least, not at that point in history

I can feel the excitement of the crowd when they are crying out, "Praise God! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!"

But we only have to read in Luke 19 to see that Jesus knew their hearts,

“But as they came closer to Jerusalem and he saw the city ahead, he began to cry. [42] "Eternal peace was within your reach and you turned it down," he wept, "and now it is too late. [43] Your enemies will pile up earth against your walls and encircle you and close in on you, [44] and crush you to the ground, and your children within you; your enemies will not leave one stone upon another--for you have rejected the opportunity God offered you." He knew that they didn’t know who He was! They were blinded to the truth.

Mary got it. She understood worship. She had the insight. She knew that Jesus was the Messiah and that He would die for her sins. She sacrificed something very costly.

Application

Worship is costly. It demands sacrifice. It is not about us. It is all about Him. I will worship Him today.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to understand Your word. I want to get it. I don’t want to miss it. Help me share this passage tomorrow with our people in a way that will help them to worship.

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