John 12:20-50;
Matthew 26:1-16; Mark 14:1-11; Luke 22:1-6
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
John 12:24-25
This is not the first time we’ve heard such a thing from Jesus. Consider these other times:
And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 10:38-39
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matthew 16:24-26 (cf., Mark 8:34-37; Luke 9:23-25)
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
Luke 17:33
Do you think that maybe Jesus thinks this is something we need to hear? Do you think that maybe we each need to die in order to enter into real life? But note that Jesus does not ask of us anything that He Himself is unwilling to do. His own Cross is rapidly approaching!
See also:
- May 25 (2021) / John 12:20-50
- Bruce’s comment on May 26, 2021
- October 16 (2019) / Matt. 26:1-16
- May 27 (2021) / Mark 14:1-25
- October 18 (2019) / Luke 22:1-6
One more thing…
A few days ago I gave you all some homework. I explained that, in my opinion, John 12:2-8, Matthew 26:6-13, and Mark 14:3-9 all describe the same event while Luke 7:36-50 depicts a different, much earlier anointing, but I speculate that the cast of characters in these two different events is the same. Your homework was to consider that notion and fill in the blanks between Luke’s account and these later accounts. So, what did you come up with? Here are a few of my thoughts:
- In Luke, the host is “Simon the Pharisee”. In Matthew and Mark, the host is “Simon the Leper”. If this is the same “Simon”, then our arrogant Pharisee has fallen from his high position to one of outcast. Given that he is now the host, he must have been healed of that leprosy. Who might have healed him? How might Simon’s experience have changed his attitudes, both toward Jesus and toward others?
- In John, Martha serves the dinner, suggesting that she lives in the house. Is Martha then married to Simon (the host)? Or is she perhaps Simon’s daughter? (If she is Simon’s daughter, then that makes Mary his daughter, too — and Lazarus his son.)
- In Luke, “the woman” clearly has a bad reputation — certainly in the eyes of Simon the Pharisee. Now consider that this woman is Mary, Martha’s sister (and Simon’s sister-in-law or daughter?). Think about the family dynamics, with Mary as the (repentant) “black sheep” of the family. How might that play into the additional scene where Martha serves and Mary sits at Jesus’ feet in Luke 10:38-42?
- In Luke, “the woman”, grateful for forgiveness, uses some of the ointment from her alabaster flask to anoint Jesus. She is clearly dedicated to Jesus. Now Mary breaks that alabaster flask (Mark 14:3) and pours out all its contents. Her relationship with Jesus has gone from dedication to total devotion.
By the way, I want to re-emphasize that this is all pure speculation, so there is no basis for dogma here. We need to carefully distinguish between what Scripture actually says and what we imagine. The same goes for various artistic works like The Chosen. I highly recommend that video series, which provides an excellent portrayal of Jesus and His followers. But always keep in mind what bits are truly drawn from Scripture and which are artistic license — and don’t substitute the latter for the former.