"The Cover-up”
In a perfect world, upon learning Jesus of Nazareth had raised Lazarus from the grave in nearby Bethany, the chief priests and the Pharisees would have stopped in their tracks and reconsidered Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God. His latest miracle was undeniable and it took place just down the hill from Jerusalem, not in some remote location out of sight and out of mind. And far too many Jews that had witnessed it with their own eyes. It was front-page news!
Sadly, the reality is we live in a fallen world, so even after hearing about Lazarus the priests and Pharisees just doubled down in their opposition. They didn’t deny Jesus’ miracle; there were too many witnesses among the Jews to deny it! The priests and Pharisees simply decided to cover up the evidence - to sweep it under a rug! They weren’t interested in the truth. They had a political agenda focused on keeping their own power over the religious order in Judaism and also keeping the Romans (at least for the time being) as an unholy ally for the Jewish nation.
As ugly as their behavior seems, it shouldn’t surprise us. We know there are examples throughout history of those “in power” constructing false narratives that will keep them in power. That often includes lies, cover-ups and suppressing the truth. The chief priests and Pharisees knew Jesus was working great miracles, but they decided to cover up the truth by eliminating the evidence! A living Lazarus was the power of God personified; living proof that Jesus was a miracle worker sent from God. The priests and Pharisees couldn’t deal with that. According to John 12:10, they began plotting to kill Lazarus because on account of him, many Jews believed in Jesus!
As far as we know, the Jews never did succeed in their plans to assassinate Lazarus, but within one week’s time that same spirit of darkness motivated a large crowd to gather before their Roman governor and cry out for the death of the miracle worker himself. The priests and Pharisees believed at first they had succeeded, but their belief was shattered three days later when they learned the miracle worker himself had also risen from the grave!
One great lesson from this story is that truth will surface in the end. In spite of evil efforts to cover up the truth, God’s word declares “Nothing is hidden…that will not be known and come to light.” (Lk. 8:17)
Pastor Dave Korinek
Leave Her Alone!
I have a little dog. She is a kind of chihuahua that is between 15 and 18 pounds and has bug eyes and a curled tail. Sometimes, when walking her in the park, dog owners that have normal full size dogs will walk by and say, “Leave it!” to their pets. What they mean is, leave that dog alone. Ignore that one. That is not your toy or your snack, keep walking. I appreciate when other pet owners take responsibility for their pets and don’t let them abuse smaller pets just because they could.
Jesus spoke up to protect Lazarus’ sister Mary from a bigger dog that barked at her while she prepared Jesus’ feet for the week of trails and torture ahead. It was Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. In just five nights, that same big dog would bite Jesus’ back and then lick him on the cheek.
Before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, and before all the commotion of that week, Mary tended to Jesus’ feet in an act of love and preparation for death.
Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. John 12:3-7.
Jesus defends Mary from the wolf’s attack and in that process, explains that Mary was the one paying the closest attention. In the preceding chapters of the book of John, Jesus explained that he would die:
John 2:19, 21 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 7:33-34 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
John 8:21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
John 8:28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:15 “just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:17 “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.”
Jesus’ other disciples didn’t seem to notice what was coming the way Mary noticed. She kept that perfume to prepare his body for death and burial. The Greek word for keep, téreó, means she guarded it and protected it and she saved it for that special time. I’ve never imagined Jesus’ feet and body smelling nice during his torture and crucifixion, but Mary annointed him so they would.
Jesus spoke up to protect Mary because she was keenly aware of what was coming even when Jesus’ other disciples didn’t see. Believers’ lives look like that because they see and treat the people, events, and their time, talent, and treasures differently than the world does. Are you currently doing anything that some say is a waste, but you know has eternal meaning?
Pastor John Riley
“M & M’s” and the Glory of God
The multi-colored candy-coated chocolate pieces called ‘m & m’s” are a favorite of mine. I am not a fan of the peanut or caramel varieties; I am a purist when it comes to that candy. The reason I bring them up in this devotional is because a dear friend of mine once used them in a devotional she taught decades ago to a woman’s Bible Study group. She handed them out because “they melt in your mouth, not in your hand.” She was teaching about Mary and Martha, thus “m & m.” It continues to remind me of this first story from Luke 10: 38-42 in which Martha “distracted by all the preparations to be made” was upset that her sister was not helping and Mary was just sitting at Jesus’ feet listening. She complained about it to Him, and, in His gentle response, He reminded her that her many distractions caused her to miss the one important thing, being with Him.
In John 12:1-7, there is a similar scene in the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus, who had recently been raised from the dead. This dinner, being in honor of Jesus, was being served by Martha and it looks as if Mary is not helping again. However, Martha says nothing about it, and sees her sister worshiping Jesus as she poured the fragrant oil on his feet and wiped them with her hair. As the perfume filled the air, I believe Martha loved seeing Mary worship the Lord in this extravagant gift. Why is this so different? Because the focus, the one important thing, was the worship and love for the Lord.
People have often categorized themselves as a Martha type, a doer, or a Mary type, a contemplative. They are both ways of worshiping and loving the Lord, but we can be both. I think Brother Lawrence in the Christian classic, Practicing the Presence of God, helps us understand how to live being both! This barefooted Carmelite lay brother began working as a cook in the monastery in Paris in about 1666. He continued for the next 30 plus years to work among the pots and pans, determined to live each day that “he might perform all his actions for the love of God.” This humble, uneducated doer was also a contemplative. “The time of business,” he said, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several people are at the same time calling different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”
The verse that comes to mind as this devotional comes to a close is:
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
I Corinthians 10:31
Reflection: Take a few moments to slowly repeat I Corinthians 10:31 and emphasize the words ‘whatever’ and ‘to the glory of God.’ How would your day differ if this is the way the Lord wants you to love Him? (And perhaps get some ‘m & m’s’ as a reminder! 😊)
Francie Overstreet
What Do You Treasure?
Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3-4
Jesus was invited to a dinner in his honor at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. We know Martha was busy making a special dinner, but we see Mary welcoming Jesus by washing his feet, not with soap and water, but with a pound of Nard a very expensive perfume or essential oil made from spikenard. Considering how much spikenard cost, this was an enormous amount for Mary to use to anoint Jesus’ feet. In fact, Judas Iscariot indignantly asked Jesus, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” (spoiler alert: Judas didn’t care about the poor). The Greek word for a “pence” is denarius. In that day, a Roman denarius was one day’s salary. So when Judas announced that the spikenard could have been sold for three hundred pence, he was saying that Mary’s perfume was worth three hundred days of salary. That is why I say it was an extremely expensive gift! It was worth almost an entire year’s income!
You see, no other feet in the entire world were more beautiful to Mary than the feet of Jesus. Jesus had changed her life. Jesus brought her brother back from the dead Jesus brought new meaning into her family. To Mary, every step Jesus took was precious, honored, and greatly valued. In the days of the New Testament, a woman’s hair represented her glory and honor. So not only did she annoint his feet with very expensive perfumed oil, but she also dried his feet with her own glory–her beautiful hair. She surrendered two things of value to her–she surrendered her glory for his.
Remember, Jesus taught, “…Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34). Mary’s actions revealed her heart as she poured her most valuable treasure onto the feet of Jesus and then used her hair to dry them. She deeply loved Jesus, and she showed it with the gift that she brought to Him. She honored him extravagantly! 1 Peter 5:4 tells us that when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. So, while we are called to bring him glory and honor and praise, we are also promised a crown of glory when Jesus returns that will never tarnish or fade away. Wow! What a promise to look forward to besides the majesty of his triumphant return. In this day when the news is mostly sad or bad, the hope that we have in Jesus can fill our hearts with gratitude and joyful praise. Reflect on these … How is your heart feeling today? Where is your treasure?
Blessings to you,
Deb Hill
Genuine Worship is Weird
Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
John 12:3
If we hadn’t heard this story before and were actually there partaking in the meal with them, we might feel tense at the abnormal display. So much of our comfort is rooted in what we find familiar. Sure, we appreciate some variety in controlled scenarios, but we love the familiar. While foot washing was customary for the time, using such a scented ointment and anointing his feet as dramatically as Mary did was weird and probably made some onlookers squirm uncomfortably. Judas potentially was the least engaged in the meaning of the events transpiring, so he was the one prodded into protesting.
In precious moments of private worship, we simply respond to some fantastic aspect of God. Just a person to his Maker. The thought of others observing us is immaterial. I, myself, sing to the Lord. Trust me, I can’t sing. But sometimes only a song will do! It comes out of me like water from a fountain. I’m only aware of him and him receiving me. Having an audience would shatter that for me. I am terrified of people hearing me. Mary, on the other hand, wants people to witness this lavish demonstration of costly adoration.
King David dances in his underwear in front of his people without context; that one will always be weird. David danced because of his joy in God's goodness to him and to celebrate God's presence with him. This leaves us with an expansive precedent about what worship truly is. In a word, it’s dynamic! It changes from person to person. It’s an expression of who a person is, but it’s also an expression of who God is to receive it.
You can worship effectively without taking off your clothes :) It’s just kinda weird. I’m sure it was just perfect for King David to do at the time before God. God received it though right? Worship has consequences… Mary no longer had 300 denarii and King David was chewed out by his wife.
Corporate worship is beautiful and grand, but individual worship is weird and awesome. So worship your God, dear reader. Worship in a nuanced way that fits your walk with God and it might be a little weird for those who don’t get it. Who cares! We’re worshiping God, not man. Jesus accepted and even defended Mary’s worship, He’ll do the same for us.
Jonathan Duncan
Practicing Lament
The account of the death and resurrection of Lazurus presents many hidden treasures, not the least of which is that grief is a natural and healthy process. Don’t get me wrong - grief is hard, it takes time and it can be very painful. After all, we were not designed for death, but for life. Our souls long for the wholeness that our Creator purposed for us to experience. So what if there is something to be gained through grief?
A few years after my dad died I remember hearing my mom say, “You don’t get over it - you just get used to it… grief has taught me the practice of lament.” Yes, lamenting is a practice. It doesn’t come naturally, but as we take our complaints, anger, sufferings, frustrations, and heartaches to God, we rediscover a loving Father, our Abba, who cares deeply and can be fully trusted. Ann Voskamp says, “Lament is a cry of belief in a good God, a God who has His ear to our hearts, a God who transfigures the ugly into beauty.”
65 of the 150 chapters in the book of Psalms are titled “Psalm of Lament”. Lament was practiced centuries ago so let’s learn from this ancient practice. Following are some steps to help you engage in the Practice of Lament:
Pray aloud a Psalm of Lament: Pray these prayers as your own, channeling your frustrations, disappointments, and sorrows into a posture of self-abandonment to God. Try replacing “I” with your own name.
Individual: 3-5, 10, 13, 17, 22, 25, 28, 31, 39, 42, 43, 52-57, 59, 61, 64, 70, 77, 86, 142
Communal: 12, 44, 58, 60, 74, 79, 80, 85, 90, 94
(Plus many more…)
Follow these Steps in the Practice of Lament:
Turn to God: Lament talks to God even if it’s messy.
Complaint: Biblical complaint vocalizes circumstances that do not seem to fit with God’s character or purposes. When it seems injustice rules, lament invites us to talk to God.
Ask: Asking in lament seeks more than relief; it yearns for the deliverance that fits with God’s character. Repeated requests become hopeful reminders of what God can do. Asking boldly serves to strengthen our resolve to not give up, and encourages us to embrace the destination of all lament: a renewal of trust.
Trust: Laments help us through suffering by directing our hearts to make the choice to trust in God’s purposes hidden behind the pain. They lead us through the sorrow towards trust and praise.
Write your own Prayer of Lament:
Address God: Name his attributes, his relation to you (Father, Abba, Savior, etc.), and recall his promises or past deeds on your behalf.
Complaint: Write out a heartfelt complaint that describes the suffering you are seeing or experiencing in honest and vivid terms.
Confession: Confess your trust in God even if you don’t feel it.
Pray for Deliverance: Plead the merits of Christ, appeal to his honor, cry out for deliverance, and ask God to intervene.
Thanksgiving: Express to God your thankfulness that he hears you.
Practicing lament can be a healing balm to our souls. Then as God invites us to a place of deeper trust and dependence, he allows our pain to bring hope and healing to others, which eventually resurrects sincere contentment and joy. It is here that God often reveals a way forward that we never thought possible. This gift can only come from a truly good God.
Lynette Fuson
Care & Counseling Director
A Brother's Only Hope
Let’s keep our creative thoughts focused on Lazarus for a moment longer. What kind of sick person was he? Was he an Ecclesiastes 1:2 kind of man quoting “everything is meaningless” while his sister’s spoon fed him quail noodle soup? Or did he reach to the Psalms for encouragement, meditating with great passion “I love you, Lord, my strength” (Psalm 18:1) as his own strength began to fade. Regardless of how he spent those last moments, he was a man whom death came for. Think about that. Lazarus was dead. What did he see and experience in his days apart from his body? The Bible stays silent on this issue, so let’s focus on what it does say.
We know that those who believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11: 25) will never die and that “He will wipe every tear from their eyes and that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4). There will be a new order of endless love, joy and perfect communion with God. Was that what Lazarus was drawn away from when Jesus called his name and brought him back to life? What a bummer of a miracle to leave such a wonderful place! Though I’ve got more questions than answers, I think the sight of the Son, when the grave clothes were stripped from his face, was breathtaking as he saw the light of men and the glory of God giving light and life.
Jessica Klootwyk
Groups and Women’s Discipleship Director
“God Grief”
John 11:35 reveals that “Jesus wept” as he was about to head to the grave of his beloved friend, Lazarus. Since the earliest centuries of the Church Age, Christian doctrine affirmed the incarnate Son of God had both a divine nature and a human nature. Jesus will always be “fully God and fully man”. Over the years, whenever I’ve thought about the scene of Jesus weeping, I’ve tended to assume he was grieved in his human nature and not the divine. But is that a valid assumption?
An intriguing window into the heart of God appears in Genesis 6:6 which discloses that when the LORD saw all the wickedness of mankind upon the earth in the days before the Flood, “He was grieved in His heart.” Based on this passage we see the heart of God can truly be grieved. He is not an “unmoved mover”, who simply created the cosmos and left us to find our own way forward, as once envisioned by Aristotle.. Rather, God’s heart can be moved as He observes our journey. In fact, we see in scripture that God experiences a wide range of emotions including anger, grief, love and joy. And the Bible tells us that as human beings we are created in His image. This includes the ability to experience a wide range of emotions. God truly understands the emotions we feel.
We may be left to ponder whether Jesus was grieved in just his human nature or his divine nature as well, but what we do know is that Jesus himself walked in sorrow and he understands a broken heart. He personally experienced the outright betrayal by one apostle (Judas) as well as a three-fold denial by another apostle (Peter) during his path to the Cross. The betrayal and denial by those two apostles must have deeply grieved Jesus’ heart. Likewise, he understands our grief and he sees into your heart. As our eternal High Priest, Jesus sympathizes with us in all our troubles. His arms are always open to us. We can always approach him when we need his grace and strength in times of need (Heb. 4:15-16).
So if your heart is broken, if you are aching with grief, invite Jesus into your brokenness. Allow him to share your tears and, in return, bring healing to your heart and soul.
Pastor Dave Korinek
No Cookie Cutter Approach Here
For those who are fans of the NFL, you may know that some teams script their first 15 offensive plays. This means, regardless of the situations and circumstances, they are going to run the ones they’ve designed and called. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Having a plan and running with it regardless of external circumstances can be a good thing, but it can also have its downside. One area where it doesn’t work to have a rigid plan is when dealing with grief, and no one teaches us this better than Jesus.
As the Lord approaches the two women In John 11, He encounters two very different personalities and approaches to grief (this is because we grieve in ways that are consistent with our personalities). Martha seems to be very much a woman of action. She wants a result: the resurrection of Lazarus. So she goes to Jesus with a request. And the Lord meets her in her grief with a promise (v. 23, “Your brother will rise again.”) What Martha needed was a word. Jesus gave that to her.
But then there’s Mary. She didn’t go with Martha. She stayed back at the house until Martha went and got her and brought her to Him. And immediately upon seeing Him, she breaks down in tears. What is Jesus’ response? No words. No promises. Instead, He grieves with her. While Martha needed a word, Mary needed a touch. And Jesus knew that. And Jesus did not have the first 15 plays of how to deal with grief scripted out. Don’t you love that about Him?
We will all deal with grief in life. It’s inevitable. The encouraging thing here is that Jesus will meet us where we are with what we need. The challenging thing here is that we should be thinking about the same kinds of things as we encounter friends and family in their grief. Figuring out what people need, and then being there for them, is the way of the Master.
Scott Smith
Care Pastor
Perfect Timing
It’s too late, they thought. When Jesus finally showed up, Martha and Mary thought He was too late. The two sisters expected Jesus to come immediately, but He decided to wait instead. When He finally came, the sisters said to Him, “Lord, if you had been here on time, our brother Lazarus would not have died (John 11:21; 32).” Martha and Mary didn’t know that Jesus was never late to any of His divine appointments. Jesus was always on time, and He was never in a rush. The fact that Lazarus was already dead didn’t mean that Jesus came too late; it only meant that the timing He followed was different. Jesus' earthly life and ministry were shaped by God the Father's presence, love, power, and purpose. In other words, Jesus always moved in sync with His Father’s perfect timing. You see, Jesus always followed His Father’s agenda and moved according to His timing to show His works and display His glory. In John 6:38, Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was sick, He had the power to heal him just by saying it, as He did in the past (John 4:50), but instead, Jesus waited. He waited not because He wanted Lazarus and his sisters to suffer but because the Father had a greater plan for them. As Jesus called Lazarus into life, the suffering, the pain, and the mourning of this family turned into a powerful witness of the mighty works of God through Jesus Christ in their lives (John 12:1-11).
Jesus was committed to following His Father’s directives, and I would suggest that as followers of Jesus, we should do the same. Throughout Scripture, God constantly invites us to surrender the control of our lives to Him, but unfortunately, most of us struggle to do so. Getting our desire for control out of the way to follow God’s plan and timing with our lives is not easy, but doing so is crucial for walking with Christ. Most of us will agree that having total and complete control over everything in our lives and around us is appealing. But we cannot ignore that God is always persuading us to trust Him and to patiently wait for His perfect timing. My hope and prayer is that this devo will encourage you to do so.
Today, God is still on the move, doing mighty things in His perfect timing on behalf of His people. So, let’s be reminded that yielding control of our lives to God, as Jesus did, enables us to be used for the glory of His Name.
Esteban Tapia
Teaching Pastor
