Well, good morning, saints. We do thank the Lord for such glorious days and weather, with low humidity and cool temperatures. Praise the Lord for that.
And we thank the Lord. You know, I’m thankful that we could gather this morning, freely gather without intimidation or concern, to be able to honor our Lord Jesus at the table. I was greatly blessed this morning at His table, and I’m thankful for His presence with us to make it all real.
Lord Jesus, I’m so aware that the days are consummating toward the end of this age of grace, the age of the kingdom soon to come upon this earth, when You will reign and rule, Lord of lords and King of kings, over the whole earth.
Lord, we thank You that we look for a kingdom that is not of this world. We thank You, Lord, that we have found Christ—or, I should say, Lord, that You have found us and laid hold of us in such a way that we have this confidence through the Holy Spirit that indeed You are Lord and in control.
And in the coming days, our hearts need to be ready and prepared for Your soon return and the setting up of Your kingdom on this earth. We thank You.
We pray, Lord, that You will bless what is shared today. Lord, that You will prepare our hearts. Use it to prepare our hearts, that when we come to meet You, we will not meet a stranger, but we will meet our dearest, closest One who loves us—our Friend. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, let’s begin. I’ll read a few chapters to get us refreshed—not chapters, verses, to get us refreshed. All right, I’ll cut it down a little bit.
Revelation 21:1-3. These will be familiar. The last three messages I shared were on these verses.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them.
The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.
Now, let’s look at Matthew 18:20, a very familiar verse.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
Wow. Where two or three are gathered in My name, I am in the midst.
And then John 12:1. I can read the whole verse, I guess.
Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom He raised from the dead.
These are the three Scriptures this morning.
Recently, I’ve been sharing some messages, and my heart came out of a burden from a testimony that a sister gave at one of the open times that we have. And that was that the Lord is doing something for Himself, but we are included.
He is doing something that He greatly desires for Himself, but He has included us. How gracious of the Lord.
And with that thought, I was brought to Revelation 21:1-3. We see that the Lord makes this great announcement after it says that this heavenly Jerusalem is coming down as a bride prepared for her husband. He makes this great announcement—it is what trumpets sound, almost—that He is tabernacled and He will dwell among men.
A tabernacle for God, in which He will dwell among men, not only during the kingdom age but in the ages to come. Well, this something for Himself is what we are engaged in. It’s what we were born for, brothers and sisters. It’s what our lives are truly all about.
And we find, as I shared before—and I’ll try to summarize quickly—that when the Lord desired to dwell among the nation of Israel as they were going through the desert, He had them make a tabernacle. We remember that there were over forty chapters in the book of Exodus dedicated to the building of the tabernacle, how the priests were to serve, the clothing, and everything about it.
Everything about that tabernacle spoke of Christ and His work. It is amazing: once the tabernacle was completed exactly as God had desired, the glory of God came upon the tabernacle, and He dwelt there.
Why was it such a suitable place for God to dwell? It was because everything about that tabernacle spoke of His Son, Jesus Christ. And that is where He desires to dwell.
Later, we see the temple. The tabernacle was a traveling tent; it was not permanent. The temple in the Old Testament spoke of permanence, a permanent place. It was far more glorious than the tabernacle.
And yet, when you look at how the temple was built and the things in the temple, once again the temple spoke of Christ and all that Christ is and all of His work. Brothers and sisters, this was a suitable place for God to dwell, and He filled that temple.
He dwelt there because it was comfortable to Him, a place He desired to be. It was His Son in whom He dwelt. And as glorious as that temple was, brothers and sisters, it still was not suitable to reveal all the glories of Christ. Amazing.
But then we come to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, His incarnation, coming as a man upon this earth. It says that in His physical body all the fullness of the Godhead dwells.
He was the temple of God while He was on this earth, a place where the Father desired to dwell and be among men. It was in that physical body of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was suitable for His dwelling place, but not sufficient to show forth all the glories of Christ.
That body was suitable to do the work of redemption. That body was the one that suffered on Calvary’s cross, that suffered the stripes of men. In that body He took upon Himself the sins of the world. He took upon Himself your sin and my sin.
So that body was very suitable for the work of redemption, but not to show forth all the glory that resided within that body. He was limited. And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said that He was straitened until He would be baptized with the baptism that was to come. He was speaking of the cross, where He would finally be released.
Out of the work of Calvary, brothers and sisters, Pentecost followed: the birth of the church. Finally, God had the vessel that would not only be suitable for Him to dwell in but would be sufficient, brothers and sisters, to show forth all the glory of Christ.
That is what the church is involved in. We do know that we’ve done a very poor job of showing all the glory of Christ. For us, it is a work in transition. And when you come to Revelation, it is a church, a bride without spot or wrinkle.
Oh, brothers and sisters, the old self-life will be gone. No more sin—nothing. Everything is perfectly pure in that city. The gold is pure, without any flaws in it. It has been refined by the life and tribulations that we go through in this world, to bring forth all the beauty of Christ in your life and mine.
That is what we were born for. The church indeed is a work in progress today. She is not yet pure, not without spot or wrinkle, but the Lord, in all of His grace and mercy, is working through us.
We are to be living stones in the house of God—not just redeemed, not just having a personal relationship with the Lord. It is far greater than that. He says, “You have been designed to be a living stone in the house of God, to be built together with others.”
In that way, when all the Christians from all the centuries are finally built together, we will see the New Jerusalem. Then there is the temple in which our Lord, our Father God, can dwell among men.
One of the main points I made in those previous messages is that we need to be living stones in the house of God. Brothers and sisters, if you remember, both the tabernacle and the temple were built with freewill offerings.
The Lord would not accept anything that was given grudgingly. It had to be a willing, from-the-heart offering to be acceptable as a dwelling place for God.
Obviously, our Lord Jesus Christ was a fully willing self-sacrifice. He sacrificed everything. He was a freewill offering to the Father, that the Father might have what He so longed for and desired.
Brothers and sisters, we are to be freewill offerings. Offer ourselves freely to Him, that He might have what He wants in our lives; that the glories of Christ for which you were designed might be built into you and shown forth.
And in so doing, we might build up one another, becoming joints of supply to one another—a supply of the life of Christ. Brothers and sisters, that is what we have been designed for. That is what we were born for.
We know that at Pentecost the church was born. Then we have these great words from Matthew 18, prefiguring the church right before the church was born: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I will dwell in the midst.”
What an honor, brothers and sisters, to have just two or three gathered unto Him, and He says, “I’ll be in your midst.” Isn’t that quite an honor? Isn’t that quite a privilege, to know even this morning that He is gathered with us and He is in our midst?
We spoke of Bethany last time. Bethany was like the seed plot of the church. In other words, you could look at Bethany, see the Lord’s activities there and what went on there, and get a sense of what the Lord was after in the local assembly.
Because, brothers and sisters, this heavenly tabernacle for God is not just going to suddenly appear. It is being built today in local assemblies and has been through the centuries. The local assembly is important: two or three gathered in My name.
We found in our first connection with Bethany, when we first see Bethany, that it is at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We remember that agape love, the love of God, was in control of all the activities in Bethany.
And in so doing, remember Martha. He said, “Martha, Martha, you’ve been busy about many things, but there is one thing needful.” There is adjustment in the local assembly. There is adjustment at Bethany. The cross had to do its work in Martha’s life.
So, brothers and sisters, it is a work in progress. Thank the Lord, Martha responded positively. She was not offended at the Lord’s words to her. She could have said, “Look, You, I’ve been doing all this hard work, and my sister over here is just sitting at Your feet, and now You’re rebuking me. You’ll never come to my house again. You just don’t appreciate me.”
She didn’t do that. Thank the Lord, because she did love the Lord, and she responded to the Lord. She responded to the work of the cross, because the next time we see her, she is serving again, but there is no rebuke.
Bethany is also the place where He is honored, where He is worshiped, where He is desired in their midst. I spoke of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Resurrection life is what is preeminent in the local assembly. That is what the local assembly runs on: the resurrection life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
At the raising of Lazarus there were a couple of critical things. One, the Lord said, “Remove the stone.” We discovered that the stone in our life is the stone of unbelief. That is why there is a lack of resurrection life: because we just don’t believe. We just don’t take it in somehow.
All the work that Christ has done is available to us through faith, and yet we find the stone of unbelief in the Lazarus life. But the stone was taken away. Praise the Lord.
Then the Lord said, “Remove the grave clothes.” Even after we accept Christ, even after that stone has been rolled away and we enter into something of that life of the Lord, we can still have the old grave clothes hanging on to us, pulling us back to the world and worldly ways. The grave clothes have to be removed.
Then he came into the full glory of resurrection life. Well, that was Lazarus.
Now, finally, we come today to John 12:1. We find Him once again at Bethany. It is six days before the Passover, His last Passover meal before He is crucified. Six days. It is called Passion Week.
You might think that our Lord would have gone to the temple and just stayed there. After all, it was called His Father’s house. That is where the Father’s presence was supposed to be. But we do not find Him at the temple.
When He was eight days old, they brought Him to the temple to be circumcised. Immediately, when He was brought in, Simeon recognized Him. He said, “Here is the consolation of Israel. I’ve been praying and coming daily to the temple. The Lord has shown me I will not die until I see the coming King.” And he did.
He was welcomed there by Simeon, and then Anna, the widow. She had become a widow at a young age and had been in the temple for sixty years, praying day and night for the Lord to come, for the consolation of Israel. She saw Him and immediately recognized Him. She came and praised Him and offered prophetic words before the Lord.
And remember, when He was twelve, He came to the temple for the Passover with His family. As they were leaving, they left Jesus behind. He stayed behind. Finally, they discovered He was not with them in the group going back, so they returned. Where did they find Him? In the temple.
What was He doing? He was talking to the priests about the Word of God, and they were interchanging. It says they were amazed at His questions and at His knowledge. It was His Father’s house. When His parents questioned why He had done this, He said, “Don’t you know I have to be in My Father’s house? I have to be about My Father’s business.”
So the temple was a place that Jesus Himself had honored and been a part of. Yet now, brothers and sisters, it is six days before He goes to Calvary. He is no longer welcomed there, really. He is challenged, and they are even seeking how they might kill Him.
It is an unwelcome place for our Lord Jesus. He is no longer welcome there. So what does He do? He goes where He is welcome. He goes to Bethany, about two miles away from Jerusalem.
We find Him there at Bethany: a place of rest, a place where He is wanted.
The apostle John said of the Lord Jesus:
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
Brothers and sisters, at Bethany, in the local assembly, that is where He is received. That is where He is honored and cared for. He came unto His own, but His own received Him not; yet He found rest at Bethany.
Jesus Himself said, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” But at Bethany, He found His place of rest.
As He traveled to Jerusalem that Sunday, what He saw and experienced broke His heart. It is called the triumphal entry. It was prophesied by Zechariah 9:9 more than five hundred years previously: that He would come riding on a donkey.
We see Him riding on a donkey. He presents Himself as the King, and the crowds are cheering, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel. Hosanna to the highest. Hosanna, the Son of David.”
But, brothers and sisters, this did not cheer our Lord Jesus Christ. This did not bring comfort to Him, because He knew in a few days that same crowd would be shouting, “Away with Him! Crucify Him!” How fickle is man when they misunderstand, when they do not see what it is all about, and they turn on Him.
In Luke, as He was approaching Jerusalem, they came around the bend in the road and it overlooked Jerusalem. He stopped, and He wept. He wept over Jerusalem. His heart was broken, brothers and sisters.
He had been rejected. God’s will had been rejected. God’s offering of love through His Son Jesus was being rejected. It broke His heart. He wept for Jerusalem.
He went on to the temple. What did He see there? He was not comforted at all. His Father’s house was supposed to have been a house of prayer, but what He saw were money changers trying to make profit on the selling of animals. They were buying and selling.
He found no comfort there. He did not find His Father’s presence in the temple. In Mark 11:11, it says He looked around at everything. It was late, and He returned to Bethany—His place of rest and comfort.
The next day, Monday morning, He went out with the disciples and saw the fig tree. He was hungry and desired fruit, but He found only leaves—no fruit. So He cursed the fig tree. He went on to the temple and cleansed it, overthrowing the money changers. Then He went back to Bethany for comfort.
The next day, Tuesday morning, the disciples saw the withered fig tree and were astounded. The Lord gave them that teaching on faith. He said, “Have faith, and doubt not. You can say to the mountain, ‘Move into the sea,’ and it will, if you have faith.”
Brothers and sisters, we know that the fig tree represents the nation of Israel. What He saw was activity—a lot of religious activity, a lot of leaves, an outward show. But He did not find the life-giving fruit there. He did not find the fruit of the life that comes from God. There was nothing for Him. It was all an outward show.
But we need to understand: this makes the matter of Bethany even more significant. He could not find the fruit He desired, but He found it at Bethany.
There are two villages, one right next to the other. It is like passing from one district in the city into another; you can hardly tell the difference. One was called Bethphage, and the other Bethany.
Bethany means house of dates—fruit. Bethphage means house of figs. So you see, the Lord found the fruit He desired, the figs He desired, at Bethany. Brothers and sisters, that is what we are to be to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This reminds me of Revelation 2 and 3, where the Lord is walking among the candlesticks. He sees good things there, and He sees bad things, and He admonishes them. But, brothers and sisters, He is not merely trying to deal with good and bad things.
What He is looking for is Himself. He is looking for the fruit of His life in the assemblies. He is looking for it to be manifest.
He finds varying conditions among the churches, and He does rebuke them. But what He is really saying to them is, “I don’t see Myself as I should.” Every assembly is raised up with a special characteristic of the Lord.
No one assembly could possibly show forth all the glory and characteristics of Christ. So every assembly is different, and that is good. It is for a purpose: that it might manifest more of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As our brother Jeffrey said, He always begins with a description of Himself and then tells them to overcome, because they have fallen short of that description of Himself. That description was different in every assembly, so it was important.
As He walked through the assemblies, He was looking for Himself. He was looking for the fruit of His life. And, brothers and sisters, He said, “If I don’t find it, I’m going to take the candlestick away.” That is how serious it is.
Just like the temple that He went to that day and overthrew the money changers, seventy years later that temple would be destroyed. It no longer carried the testimony of Jesus. But Bethany is where He found His satisfaction.
Now, brothers and sisters, we all need to take the words of our Lord Jesus personally. When He looks at you and me—and I have to include me—does He find fruit there? Does He find the evidence of His life there?
That is what we were born for: to be a vessel of the testimony of Jesus. He is not just trying to deal with good things and bad things in our lives. He is looking for the fruit of His life in us.
And so He has given Himself as the Good Shepherd to lead us, that we might grow into fruitful vessels. Not only that individually, but what are we in the local assembly? What is the Lord looking for?
Does He not say that you are to be joints of supply? He does not say just a few joints of supply. He does not speak of just those who share the Word. He is speaking of every one of us.
To be a joint of supply of the life of Christ comes in many more forms than just speaking. It comes in prayer. It comes in fellowship. It comes in serving one another, assisting one another, helping one another, and just giving a brief word to a brother or sister: “How are you doing this morning? The Lord put you on my heart, and I just wanted you to know I was praying for you.”
These things are what bring life and make you a joint of supply. Well, thank the Lord, the Lord had His Bethany.
Next, we come to Mark 14:3. I’ll read it very briefly.
And while He was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly; and she brake the cruse, and poured it over His head.
This is Wednesday evening. He is at Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper.
That morning He had gone into Jerusalem. After He had looked at the temple again, the disciples said to Him, “Lord, look at the marvelous beauty of this temple,” kind of like a sightseeing tour. It is kind of amazing, in a way.
The Lord looked at it and said, “The day will come when not one stone will stand upon another,” speaking of its destruction in AD 70. The disciples asked Him, “When is this going to come about? When is the end?”
The Lord went out of the city, back to the Mount of Olives—not quite to Bethany, but there on the mountain. He spoke of the tribulation to come, nation rising against nation. He spoke of His second coming. He spoke of the days of Noah, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the judgment of the nations: the goat nations and the sheep nations.
This is called the Olivet Discourse. Then that evening, He went back to Bethany, and He was found at Simon the leper’s house.
Now this is important. Obviously, he was called Simon the leper because he had leprosy. If he still had leprosy, they would not have been meeting at his house. So obviously, he had been cured.
Most likely, once again, the Lord Jesus had been the One who cured him of his leprosy. Simon wanted to honor Jesus. This is what Bethany is about: he wanted to honor our Lord Jesus. He had been healed.
We find there, if you read the Gospels, that Martha served. There is no rebuke this time. She is serving the Lord because she just loves Him. There was no need to be thanked or anything else. She just loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him. That is spiritual service.
Mary is the one who took and broke the alabaster box. To get the full account, you need to read Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:2-8, and Mark 14:3-9. I have compiled those into this short Scripture so you will know what is happening there.
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the leper, a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.
Then Mary took an alabaster jar of expensive, precious ointment, perfume made of pure nard, and she anointed the head of Jesus. Then she anointed His feet and wiped His feet with her hair.
When the disciples saw this, Judas Iscariot was the main spokesman, but all the disciples wondered, “Why this waste? Why wasn’t the perfume sold and given to the poor?” It was valued at a year’s wages.
Jesus, aware of what was being said, said to them, “Why are you troubling this woman? She has done a good work upon Me. The poor ye have always with you, and whensoever ye will ye can do them good: but Me ye have not always. She has poured this ointment upon My body beforehand for My burial.”
“And I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”
That is how much the Lord valued what Mary had done.
As I meditated on these Scriptures, I could not help but think of the connection to the Lord’s table. Wednesday night is when they had this supper. Thursday night is when the Passover was served, and of course it ended with the Lord constituting the Lord’s table. This is within a twenty-four-hour period.
In instituting His table, the Lord said, “Take and eat this bread. It is My body broken for you.” How simple. “Do it in remembrance of Me,” He said. Then the cup: “Take and drink this. It is My blood of the new covenant. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
And in 1 Corinthians, Paul says:
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come.
Mary was anointing Him in view of the Lord’s death that was to come. This all took place within a twenty-four-hour period. At nine o’clock on Friday morning, our Lord was hung on Calvary’s cross. That is how close these events are. They are linked together spiritually.
He said of the Lord’s table, “Do it in remembrance of Me. You show forth My death until I come.” At Simon the leper’s house, in preparation for His death, Mary anoints the Lord’s body. And the Lord said, “You need to share this everywhere the gospel is shared.”
The Lord’s description of the table is so simple, but it is so powerful. It has just a few thoughts: “Do it in remembrance of Me. Remember Me. You do show forth My death till I come.”
I think what we see at Bethany, brothers and sisters, is the heart attitude that we need when we come to the table. You may think differently, and that is okay. But we see Mary’s heart, and certainly it is a heart concerned about our Lord Jesus Christ and what He is to do.
First of all, the dinner in Simon the leper’s house was given to honor the Lord. Isn’t that why we come to the table? To honor our Lord Jesus Christ.
We cannot come in a thoughtless way, brothers and sisters, or in a routine way. We come to honor Him. That is our heart’s desire. That is why we come on Sunday morning around this table. He is in our midst, and we want to honor Him.
It is interesting that it is Simon the leper’s house. We know that leprosy speaks of sin. Once leprosy takes hold, it destroys the body. You have seen pictures of lepers: how distorted, how tragic, how ugly it is. Eventually, it kills.
Brothers and sisters, that is our spiritual condition before we come to the Lord. We are like lepers. Sin has so distorted our souls, and it will eventually destroy our souls.
Jesus came, didn’t He? You gave your heart to Jesus, and He has restored your soul. Brothers and sisters, He paid the price of sins. Those sins were on His body. He has taken them. Thank the Lord, we now have His precious blood for cleansing.
Leprosy, brothers and sisters, has been done away in Jesus Christ. You need to know that the Lord has saved your soul from total, eternal destruction.
Now, by destruction I do not mean obliteration. Everyone, in a sense, has eternal existence. But in the Bible, there is a distinction: all those who receive Christ have eternal life; those who do not have eternal death. That is the difference. How tragic that leprosy can destroy the soul eternally.
Well, brothers and sisters, this is what the Lord has saved us from. Simon so appreciated what happened. He had leprosy, and it was gone. He was cured. He wanted to honor the Lord, and he brought all his friends to this meal so they could honor Him with him.
That is what we do when we gather around the Lord’s table. We gather together because we want to do it together unto Him.
Secondly, His presence was in their midst. He was the center and focus of that meal. He was the One being honored.
In Matthew 18, the Lord has made a tremendous promise that I read earlier: “Where two or three are gathered together, I am in your midst.” What a blessing that the Lord has committed Himself to us in such a way.
He is not looking for thousands or millions, just two or three who will willingly give themselves to Him and gather unto Him. It says gathering unto His name, which means that you have taken on His name. He is your Lord. He is your Head. He is your authority. He is the One you love. He is the center and focus of your life.
That is why He is the center and focus of this table.
They did not come to a meeting. They were gathered to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have mentioned this before: I do not go to meetings. You can have all the meetings you want, but I do not want to go to a meeting. I go to gather together with the saints around the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a tremendous difference. If you think you are just coming to a meeting, taking some elements, and listening to a message, then your heart needs to be adjusted. We are gathering unto Him. That is the difference.
We are gathering together unto Him, brothers and sisters. What a tremendous difference that is: our gathering unto Him rather than just having a meeting.
That is true not only of the Lord’s table, but also of our prayer meeting. The High Priest is in our midst when we gather for prayer. We gather unto our High Priest. He is the One who knows how to pray. He is the One who has the prayers, and He allows us to join with Him in prayer and to be about the Father’s business.
The same is true with Bible study and fellowship. Brothers and sisters, when we go to the Word of God, He says, “I am the light of the world.” Light only comes through Him. We can look at the Logos, the written Word, but He is the One who turns it into rhema, a living Word for each one of us.
That is why we gather to fellowship: not to become more educated, but to become more of a worshiper of our Lord Jesus.
Third, we see at Bethany the heart of worship—hearts full of worship. Not just attending the meal, but coming with Jesus as the center. The heart of worship overflows, and we see it in Mary.
Worship is not something you can just hold in your heart. It needs to be expressed.
I will say this to all of us, including Jerry Amon: it is not good enough just to love your husband or wife in your heart, which I think we do. Sometimes the Lord shows us how much more we should appreciate them. But it needs expression. It does need expression.
Here we see that full expression in Mary. The Lord Jesus had been at their house for four nights. He had been going daily to the temple, teaching, exhorting, and confronting the Pharisees. He would return to Bethany at night.
This would be His last night in Bethany. Twice during those days, when He had gone to Jerusalem, including that very Wednesday morning, He had said to the disciples, “Within two days, we will have the Passover, and I will be handed over to the Pharisees and be crucified.” He told them that twice.
Now, I do not know if Mary had been with Him when He went into Jerusalem. We do not know from the Bible descriptions. Most likely Lazarus probably went. But I think we can believe that even if she had not gone and heard these words, they had been reported to her by others—perhaps by Lazarus himself.
It is very obvious as you read these Gospels that the disciples had an extremely difficult time grasping what the Lord was saying when He said, “In two days I will be crucified.” They just could not grasp it.
Neither could Mary fully grasp it, but she seemed to have a sensing that even the disciples did not have. She was a very contemplative person, very spiritually sensitive.
She considered all of that. She saw in her heart this meal and what the Lord had been doing and saying as He went into Jerusalem. I think she observed the Lord’s countenance. He probably had a troubled brow from all He had been experiencing. He knew that they were already plotting to kill Him.
I think she sensed in His manner, His voice, and His movements that something ominous was about to take place. She could not hold back. She loved the Lord so much that she needed to express her love for Him.
Now was the time to express that love—not after the feast, not at a moment when they were all alone together. She had to express it then. There was no waiting. The Holy Spirit was speaking to her.
Her expression of love was prophetic. It was the anointing of His body for His burial. Brothers and sisters, remember, they put Him in the tomb before they could properly take care of Him.
She took some very expensive ointment, pure nard. A year’s wages. She was pouring out this costly ointment on the Lord. It represented her entire life, because she was pouring her life out on the Lord at this point—not just worshiping, not just singing a song.
She was pouring her life in love out on the Lord Jesus. She poured it on His head, then she took it and poured it on His feet, this expensive oil, and wiped His feet with her hair. A full expression of love.
Most say this was probably the dowry for her marriage, which she had been saving up. When she got ready to get married, she would sell it and use it as her dowry. So it was her life that she was giving to the Lord Jesus. She gave Him her most valued possession. It was herself.
She really gave. The disciples did not see it, did they? “Why this waste?” Judas was the one who spoke out openly, but when you read all the Gospels, you realize all the other disciples were questioning the same thing: “Why not sell it and give it to the poor? You’re wasting it.”
I want to say this: these disciples went through a lot, and they finally gave all of their lives as martyrs to the Lord. But here, they missed the spirit of what was going on. They were at that meeting, that gathering, but they missed the spirit.
Brothers and sisters, in Mary we see, I think, true worship. There is a difference at this point between Mary and the disciples that I think is so critical.
Her eyes had been opened to see the value of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her eyes had been opened to see how valuable He was. No price was too high, even her very own life, to pour out on the Lord Jesus Christ. She valued Him so much.
The disciples had not yet come to that same value of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, brothers and sisters, we are the same way. I am the same.
Thank the Lord, the more we go on in Christ, the more we respond to Him, the more we love Him, and the more He deals with us, the more we value Him. But it is not always an easy process.
One day our eyes are opened and we say, “Lord, I give it all to You. Everything I have, I give myself, my family—everything is Yours. I value You, Lord. And Lord, show me more of Your value, because I know I have not seen it all.” He is worthy.
That was Mary’s heart. They were not just words. They were expressed through her pouring out of this ointment upon Him. At Bethany, He is valued, brothers and sisters. He is worthy.
As that worthiness, that value, is seen through the saints, it is expressed in worship—true worship, worship in spirit and in truth.
Fourthly, we see that responsibility needs to be taken up and preparation made. It was a feast to honor the Lord, and it was necessary, brothers and sisters, that things be taken care of in order to have this feast and honor the Lord.
Those involved needed to be responsible and prepared—not just show up, but really be prepared in their hearts to meet the Lord. Both physical needs and the needs of soul and spirit had to be taken care of.
We see Lazarus, who was engaged in fellowship. Now, I honestly do not believe that Lazarus was talking about the football game or what had happened at work. The Lord was right there. They were fellowshipping with Him. It was about the Lord. He was the center.
If you want to learn what fellowship really is, read 1 John 1:3:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
That is true fellowship. There was fellowship there.
Martha was serving the meal, getting food ready, making preparations, and serving it. These preparations had to be made. This was spiritual service. She was not doing it just to get praise. She was doing it because she loved the Lord.
She wanted no adoration for what she had done in her hard work. It was satisfying enough to her just to be able to serve Him in this very simple matter of providing food and serving it. It is all a part of spiritual worship.
Then we see, of course, Mary and her worship. Fellowship, service, worship—there needs to be responsibility taken and preparation made.
He is present in our midst, brothers and sisters, and we should come responsibly and prepared as we come before Him.
I have mentioned this before, so I will not go into it a lot again, other than to say: when we come, there should not be any clouds between us and the Lord Jesus. We need to have our feet washed.
The Lord was very emphatic. He said, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.” Well, we are washed in the blood, aren’t we? That has never changed. That can never be undone. But the Lord said, “You do need to wash your feet.”
What is the matter here? It is the earth-touch. You are brothers and sisters of the Lord, but you walk in this world. It affects you. It affects your spirit. You get busy about many things, and you lose that spiritual sensitivity to the Lord.
That needs to be regained as we come. Sometimes it just takes a few moments of meditation before the Lord to have your feet washed beforehand. We need to think about that.
Then it says, “You need to wash one another’s feet.” If you have come to our gathering with washed feet, most likely the Lord will give you a prayer, a song, or something that will lift the saints’ hearts and wash their feet as well.
That is what we need to do: responsibility and preparation.
The last mention of Bethany we find in Luke 24:50-51 and Mark 16:19.
And He led them out until they were over against Bethany: and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.
Brothers and sisters, this is ascension—the ascension of our Lord Jesus. We find ascension life at Bethany.
Mark 16:19 says:
So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
This is the enthroned Lord Jesus Christ of Bethany. We know the enthroned Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. Not only is He King of kings and Lord of lords in heaven, but He needs to be King of kings and Lord of lords on the throne of our hearts, brothers and sisters.
Then, in Acts 1:11, Luke reports that two angels spoke at that time:
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.
They needed to be ready for the Lord’s return. Their heart was, “Lord Jesus, come. Come, Lord Jesus.” That is the spirit that is Bethany.
Not only, brothers and sisters, the ascended life and the enthroned life, but also in our hearts, out of love, we turn to the Lord and say, “Lord, You need to come back. We desire You to come.”
Let’s pray.
Lord, You have been looking for that something for Yourself, and You included us in it. Lord Jesus, we find the preview, so to speak, of what You are after in Bethany.
Lord, our heart is that we would be of Bethany to Thee; that, Lord Jesus, You could have that something for Yourself that You so long for and greatly desire; that You will have Your tabernacle, where You can truly dwell among men.
It will be a full manifestation of all the glory of Your Son, and it will be His bride—union life. Lord, we have been called into such wonderful things. It is hard to even consider, frankly. But Lord, that is what lies ahead.
Lord, so challenge our hearts that we will be willing to be faithful. We will be willing to be those poured-out ones like Mary. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.