Jesus' passion through the eyes of john bethany
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Bethany has been described as Jesus' Judean home. He was welcomed into the house of Lazarus and became friends with Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. Jesus final destination before the beginning of His Passion Week was a visit to Bethany. In Bethany we find the greatest act of extravagant devotion, as well as the seeds of betrayal. We also find several very different personalities and get the opportunity to see how each demonstrates his faith and bears testimony to Jesus.
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Jesus' passion through the eyes of john bethany
- 1. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John
- 3. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John
- 4. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Luke 9 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
- 5. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Mark 10 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
- 6. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Mark 10 37“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
- 7. Jesus in Bethany John 12:1-11
- 8. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Bethany 2 miles east of Jerusalem
- 10. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Act 1 The Dinner
- 11. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
- 12. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
- 13. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Mark 14 3a And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper…
- 14. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Act 2 The Anointing
- 15. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 3 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.
- 17. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John 1 Corinthians 4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
- 18. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Act 3 The Reaction
- 19. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
- 20. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 6 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.
- 21. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
- 23. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John 1 John 2 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
- 24. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
- 25. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Act 4 The Plot
- 26. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
- 27. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John John 12 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
- 28. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John “The first reaction to truth is hatred.” Tertullian
- 29. Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John Jesus’ Passion Through the Eyes of John
Editor's Notes
- In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, vowed that if God spared them from the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus. The death rate among adults rose from one person per 1000 per year in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they had been spared and they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. The play is now performed repeatedly over the course of five months during every year ending in zero. 102 performances took place from May 15 until October 3rd 2010 and is next scheduled for 2020. The production involves over 2,000 performers, musicians and stage technicians, all residents of the village. It is a powerful tradition that preserves the true meaning of the Easter Season. But I want to make sure we are all clear on something. When we refer to a “Passion Play” we all know what that means… sort of. Passion is one of those words that has diverged greatly from its original meaning. It is a word with Latin origins. The word comes from the Latin passio, which does not mean intense longing or deep enthusiasm. Passio meant suffering. I imagine, in time the idea of painful longing took this word down a different track. But when we speak of the passion of Jesus we refer to that final week of his ministry… a time of dread culminating in the worst imaginable suffering.
- For the next few weeks we are going to immerse ourselves in the passion of Jesus. The gospels provide us with four complementary glimpses into the week of Jesus’ suffering. Each gospel author hits the key events… Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Arrest and Trial, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. But each shares some unique details and reflects his personal perspective. For the next several weeks we are going to see Jesus’ Passion through the eyes of John. Let’s take a few moments and get a real picture of John. Given the fact that John writes Revelation around 95 A.D., around 60 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, it is likely that he was the youngest of Jesus’ disciples. Most of the biblical movies portray him as the gentle boy disciple. Perhaps his self-given title of “the disciple whom Jesus’ loved” adds to this image of the young boy awed by Jesus. However, the gospels paint a different picture. John may have been young, but he was also full of fire. John and his brother James were sons of Zebedee and Jesus gave them the nickname “sons of Thunder.” We see why on a few occasions. In Luke 9 a Samaritan village was not responsive to Jesus because he was headed towards Jerusalem. Look at how James and John respond to this slap in Jesus’ face:
- Luke 9:54 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” We see the sons of Thunder in action again shortly before Jesus’ Passion week. Jesus tells His disciples that he is about to be handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked, spit upon, scourged and ultimately killed. James and John’s reaction…
- Mark 10 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Let’s jump forward to verse 37:
- 37“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Greg Laurie provides a great insight. He compares this moment to a person who tells their best friend that they have a week to live, and the friend says, “Can I have your car?” These moments show us the rough edges of the sons of Zebedee… there was a lot of fire in their belly. But Jesus refined these brothers greatly. James became the first martyr from amongst the band of Apostles. And John became known as the the Apostle of Love. So as we view Jesus’ Passion through the eyes of John we view these events from the perspective of a transformed man, once filled with hate, but now filled with God’s love and a deep appreciation for what Jesus did for him.
- This week we are going to look at the last event before Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. These are the events that set the stage for Jesus’ Passion Week. So, this week we will look at Jesus’ in Bethany.
- Bethany is located on the south-eastern slope of the Mount of Olives just 2 miles east of Jerusalem. It got its Hebrew name Beth-te-ay-nah which means, house of dates, from the date palm trees that grew there. This small suburb of Jerusalem was the location of the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. Jesus seems to have stayed with them frequently and some refer to this home as Jesus’ Judean home. In the process of staying with this family, Jesus comes to have a very special bond with all three.
- In John 11 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. It is remarkable that his is a story that only John tells us. We will discuss why the other gospel authors omit this miracle in a few minutes. But, for now, let’s focus on the miracle itself. Jesus has intentionally delayed coming. Lazarus is dead and rotting for 4 days before Jesus shows up. Lazarus’ sisters have probably been hearing news of Jesus’ whereabouts. They are confused, hurt and Martha is probably angry about Jesus’ delay. You remember the story, how Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus, even though he was about to raise him from the dead! I think he was weeping for us… the many who would die and not be immediately restored to life. But Lazarus was raised. Jesus shouts “Come forth” and Lazarus obeys the Lord of Life. He is released from his grave clothes and now, Jesus is fellowshipping with Lazarus and his family. This morning, I don’t want to create “main points.” I think that these would break up the flow of the narrative. So, in order to preserve the story, we are going to focus on 4 Acts, like the acts of a play. Let’s pick up the story in John 12.
- Act 1 The Dinner
- John 12 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
- 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. We find ourselves at a dinner. And we make many natural assumptions… most of which are wrong. We picture Jesus at a table with Lazarus, because that’s how we eat when we’re not in front of a T.V.! But we see in our text that Jesus was reclining. That’s how the Jews of Jesus’ day enjoyed a meal, reclining around a low table. The meal was an event and they were settled in for a long repast. We picture ourselves in the house of Lazarus because we’re in Bethany and Martha is in her usual busy role of serving. But, once again, we are wrong. Mark describes the very same events, but provides us with an additional detail which John omits:
- 3a And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper… From Mark, we learn that Lazarus and Jesus are actually guests of a man named Simon the leper. Think about the guests at this meal for a moment. Without Jesus’ intervention, this would be the Jewish meal from Hell. The Passover is in a couple of days. What can’t a good practicing Jew do before the Passover? He or she can’t touch anything unclean or dead. Take Jesus out of the equation and what do you have? A leper and a dead man. Add Jesus to the table and you have a cleansed leper and a resurrected dead man. Here is a great life lesson for each of us. Take Jesus out of your marriage, and what is left? Remove Jesus from your life, and what does your life look like? All of us were dead in sin and unclean before God. But Jesus came and brought life and cleansing to us!
- Act 2 The Anointing
- This is one of the most beautiful acts of devotion in the entirety of the Bible. It is easy to conflate this anointing with a separate event recorded earlier in Luke’s gospel. In Luke 7 Jesus is reclining at the house of Simon the Pharisee when a sinful woman enters and anoints Jesus feet. However, beyond the two hosts being named Simon, a very common name, and the fact that Jesus is anointed, the similarities stop. In the Luke passage, no mention is made of Mary, or Lazarus. The issue is not that the ointment was valuable and wasted. Rather, Simon is upset that Jesus permits a sinful woman to touch Him in this way. No reference is made to Jesus’ imminent death and a preparation for burial. It is an entirely different event. In our text, we see a great act of devotion on Mary’s part. Clearly, she is grateful for Jesus having raised her brother. The oil she uses was spikenard. It was extremely valuable, as we will see in a moment. This is also a very humble act on Mary’s part. Hers is a family of means. She is the lady of a house. An appropriate act would be to apply a small dab of oil or perfume to a guest’s forehead. But Mary has assumed the posture of a slave, tending to the feet of a guest. Her using her hair as a rag is unheard of for a Jewish woman. The custom in ancient Israel was for women to wear their hair long, but to gather it in a knot and cover it with a veil or scarf. This was a sign for chastity or modesty. Unveiling a women’s hair was considered a humiliation or a punishment. In Jewish tradition it was said, “a woman’s hair is her nakedness.” So, Mary’s uncovering of her hair and wiping Jesus’ feet was a bold and difficult act of devotion that exposed her to criticism. The Apostle Paul confronted the Corinthian church about being all in vs. holding back. What can we learn from her? Clearly the lesson that Mary teaches is the lesson of humble service. When it came to serving Jesus, Martha was busy… but Mary was all in. She spared no expense. She assumed risk of criticism. She put her reputation on the line. Mary was sold out.
- In 1 Corinthians 4:10 Paul said: We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. Mary is acting foolishly. She is ignoring custom. She is assuming a weak posture and dishonoring her position as the lady of a house of means. We are faced with the same choice all the time. Are we more concerned about appearances or substance? Professing faith in an age of skepticism will earn you the reputation of a fool. Believing in God may gain you a reputation of being weak-minded… a believer in fairy tales and fantasies. At some point you have to decide whose opinion matters most in your life. If Jesus is first and foremost for you then you are going to wind up making some choices that make you look weak and foolish to others. There is just no way around this. I love Mary, because Mary didn’t care what others thought. She was too busy focusing on Jesus. She was about to get bit. Which brings us to…
- Act 3 The Reaction
- 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
- 6 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.
- 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
- The reaction of Judas paints one of the sharpest contrasts in all the Bible. This criticism stands in contradistinction to the extravagant love of Mary. Judas criticizes her for being wasteful. The crazy thing is I could imagine Judas’ criticism gaining real ground in a church business meeting. 300 denarii was almost a full year’s wages for a day-laborer. I suspect that if the gathering were larger, there would have been a lot of people nodding in agreement with Judas. In seeing this account through the eyes of John we learn details not presented by any of the other gospel authors. It is only John who tells us that Judas was the treasurer for the apostles. It is only John who tells us that Judas cared nothing for the poor and that he was a thief. It’s hard to say why the others do not mention these things. I can’t imagine that Judas’ character was not known by the others. I suspect that we are seeing a bit of the fire in the eyes of John, the son of thunder. He wants us to know what was in Judas’ heart so that we can appreciate the evil that already was deeply rooted in Judas’ spirit. I think that there is an important lesson we can learn from Judas. There is always a Judas. In every community… in every church… there is almost always a Judas. And the thing about Judases is that they often make sense. They say things that appeal to us. They appear to be one of us. In his first epistle John describes some later Judases that he encountered. He said of them:
- 1 John 2 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Perhaps it was because Judas made such a compelling case that Jesus set the record straight. Look again at John 14 verses 7-8:
- 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” I think that at first glance, Jesus seems dismissive of the poor. “The poor you always have with you.” If this were the only comment Jesus made concerning the poor, we could easily conclude that meeting the needs of the poor was a low priority for Jesus. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus ascribed blessing to those who loved and showed compassion for the poor. He extolled the virtue of a poor widow whose paltry gift of a coin worth less than a penny was an extravagant gift because it was all she had. Jesus point was not to dismiss the poor, but rather to highlight his impending week of Passion and death. It is a lesson on priorities. Mary understood that Jesus was priority number one. And in other gospels Jesus said that her act of devotion was a preparation for his burial. Which leads to our final act before we enter the week of Jesus’ suffering.
- When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
- John 12 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. Every time I read these verses I have to remind myself that these “chief priests” were men who truly believed that they were the servants of God. How do you explain the perceived need to kill a man raised from the dead? Who, but God, can raise a dead man back to life? They don’t dispute that Lazarus wasn’t dead. After 4 days it was rather indisputable in this small community of Bethany. There were too many witnesses of both his death and his resurrection. Nevertheless, these chief priests think that killing Lazarus is God’s work. The more I think about it, the more I come to one conclusion. There is nothing with a greater capacity to strip us of our judgment and discernment than hatred. Hatred gouges out the eyes of faith.
- I came across an interesting quote by the early church father, Tertullian. He said: “The first reaction to truth is hatred.” The resurrection of Lazarus was more than an “inconvenient truth for the Pharisees.” It was a devastating truth. The witness of Lazarus was going viral. Many were believing in Jesus because of the sheer fact of his presence. Isn’t it interesting that Lazarus never speaks. We hear a lot from Martha. She voices her concerns and her complaints. We hear a little from Mary, who speaks more through her actions than her words. Her only spoken words are “Master, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” But Lazarus never talks. Yet everyone is talking about him. His testimony is unstoppable.