What does it mean to put Jesus first?
John
12:1-8
Philippians
3:4b-13
What does it mean to put Jesus first? I ask this because as always I try to find a link between the two lectionary readings and as I was thinking about the readings the thing that I recognized across both these passages was the thought that both Mary and Paul are putting Jesus first.
In John, we have this wonderful account of Mary anointing Jesus. It’s a passage we think we know reasonably well. It’s not the only account of Jesus being anointed, and most Biblical scholars agree that this account is the same as the accounts found in Luke and Matthew. Details vary but essentially it is the same account.
In the account we see Jesus reclining at a table and then Mary prostrates herself at Jesus’ feet and empty’s a whole jar of nard on Jesus. And then wipes Jesus feet with her hair. Two things strike me here.
Firstly Nard was not cheap. John notes that is was the equivalent of a year’s worth of wages. The oil Mary used was from the leaves and stems of the Spikenard plant and originates in the Himalayas. Truly exotic and rare.
Secondly was the fact that Mary used her hair to wipe Jesus' feet. This was possibly more costly to Mary than the nard for a number of reasons. Material sacrifice is one thing but what Mary was doing here was sacrificing her reputation. In much the same way as it would be unheard off for Muslim woman to let down her hair in today’s culture what Mary did by letting down her hair and then wiping the feet of a man she was either betrothed or married to was socially unacceptable but her devotion to Jesus meant that she was willing to make herself an outcast for Jesus. Are we willing to pay that price for Jesus? Are we willing to socially unacceptable?
And when we consider the Philippians passage we see a similar message from Paul about how he has chosen to put Jesus first.
This particular passage is a part of a longer passage in Philippians about not having confidence in the flesh. Our western view of the term flesh is one of sinfulness and debauchery. But Paul puts an interesting slant on it because in the passage he not only describes the physical but also the religious.
Paul states that all his religiosity could not save him. It was not the fact that he was in many respects the perfect Pharisee that saved him. It was Jesus. And for Paul, Jesus, and knowing Jesus was everything.
He writes in verse 10: I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Here is a verse that gives us an understanding of the focus of Paul and his ministry. He wanted to know Jesus fully, right down to his suffering and crucifixion. And we know that Paul was willing to go to any extreme to do this.
In 2 Corinthians Paul writes this:
‘I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.’
That’s quite a list of things to go through. Why? Again Paul writes in Philippians: ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’
So I come back to my initial question what does it mean to put Jesus before all others?
Jesus describes in Luke how a person who builds a tower or a king who fights a war first counts the cost. Both Mary and Paul were deliberate in what they did and I’m fairly sure that they counted the cost of their actions. They knew what they were doing.
What does it mean to put Jesus before others? And are you willing to pay the price of being a follower of Jesus? Even if means sacrificing your financial wellbeing and personal reputation? Even if it means putting yourself in harm's way or coming into conflict with others because of what society deems to be socially acceptable?
The fact is that is the cost of commitment. That is the cost of true discipleship. All the heroes of faith that we hold up, Corrie Ten Boom who was sent to a concentration camp for hiding Jews, David Wilkinson who preached to the violent gangs of New York, Hudson Taylor the missionary to China, John Wycliffe who was the one of the first people to translate the Bible in English and was declared a heretic, Martin Luther, John Wesley, The Old Testament prophets, the Apostles, John the Baptist, all of them placed their love for God and their love for Jesus first. All of these at some point in their lives made the choice to put Jesus above all.
And that is my challenge to you today. Are you willing to put Jesus above all? Above our own comforts and needs. Above our own desires. Above our own reputation. Are you willing to put Jesus above all? Does his love mean that much to you that you would be willing to sacrifice it all for him?
Because that is what he asks.
Amen
