From Palm Sunday, when He triumphantly rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed to His cleansing of the Temple and the corruption of the religious leaders of Judaism at the time, to the attempt to entrap Him in His own words by those same leaders, Jesus had one mission in mind. Some of His words, from John Chapter 12, have intrigued me since reading them again on Palm Sunday, but to get to John 12:11, let us read about the anointing of His feet by Mary and what its significance is, according to the Lord. Start here:
JOHN CHAPTER 12 (FROM BIBLE GATEWAY)
12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
Verse 11 says "many Jews went away....and BELIEVED IN JESUS" and when we read down to verse 19, we see the same corrupt religious leaders double down on their evil, because they only knew one way. This way led them away from repentance and following the narrow way God had (and has prescribed) for all mankind.
John 12: 16-19 says:
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.
That last line from verse 19 has stuck with me for days ..."Look, the WORLD HAS GONE AFTER HIM"! Can this be said of you and I? Are we in constant pursuit, or even half-hearted pursuit to behold, and learn and love God this way? Are our spiritual hearts fixed on Him? Are we ALL IN?
On the Road to Good Friday, we MUST answer these questions before proceeding, in our own spirits, on to Resurrection Sunday. Let the inner reflection and spiritual self-examination begin now. Amen
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