Jesus is why I’m still a Christian.
By: Joel Piedt
Part 2
Last week we talked about how there has never been anyone who has ever walked the face of the earth like Jesus. He confounds our expectations, and flips things on their heads. Which warrants a troubling question. If this is true, shouldn’t we also live in such a way that also confuses and confounds those around us?
Honestly, I think if I lived in the Bible times as a disciple, I’d be kicked off the Jesus team for being so stupid or asking too many questions. I don’t think I would get it. Actually there are quite a few characters in the gospel stories who didn’t; that is, at least not before the resurrection of Jesus. But there a few characters who did get what Jesus was doing, even before he died and was resurrected. They did things that people didn’t understand—because they understood something profound about the character of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. These few characters absolutely inspire me. I want to talk about two of them.
First off, there’s John the Baptist. This guy was out of his mind, and I love it. One day, a few of his disciples came to him, and they were upset because people were going to Jesus to be baptized instead of him. They weren’t the big deal anymore now that the main act had arrived. And John responds, “You don’t get it. I’m not the one getting married. I’m the best man that gets to call out to the bride when the groom is almost ready. And that gives me so much joy” (John 3, Joel’s scholastic paraphrase). And then he follows with my favorite line in all of Scripture: “He (Jesus) must become greater; I must become less.” In effect, he’s saying, “It’s not about me, and it never has been. My joy lies in pointing people in the direction of the one it is about—Jesus.”
Here’s another. In Mark 14, Jesus is at this celebration dinner party in honor of him having just raised Lazarus from the dead. At the party, Lazarus’ sister Mary comes up to him with a super expensive jar of perfume, and wastes it by dumping it out over Jesus and washing his feet with her hair. She is criticized for this of course, as the perfume, which was worth more than a year’s worth of wages, could have been sold and given to the poor. Pragmatically speaking, it does seem like a valid point. I mean, did she really need to pour the whole jar over Jesus? It seems a bit much to most of us, but maybe she understood something we don’t. Maybe she really got who Jesus was and what he was trying to do.
I want to draw a few comparisons between the two stories, and I think the implications will be quite obvious for our lives.
1. Both were emptied of themselves. For John, metaphorically so: “I must decrease.” But for Mary, the act of pouring herself out was quite literal. But the principle remains the same for both though—when we follow Christ, we no longer matter. Our desires, our skills, our plans. And both of these characters got that. It may sound kind of depressing. You mean I have to give up everything I care about? That sounds miserable! Well the second truth may offer some encouragement.
2. In giving up themselves, the two of them got something far greater: Jesus. John says “He must become greater…” And in wasting her perfume, Mary was actively honoring Jesus, who had become the most significant thing in her life. And I promise you it brought both of them joy. I know people who walk around all day thinking only of themselves, and making much of only themselves (I am one of these people, sadly), and they are miserable. And I know other people who walk around making much of Christ and thinking of others, and they are happy beyond comprehension. How is this? Because the way of Jesus is backwards. You want to be great? Serve. You want to be happy? Give yourself up. You gain Christ, which is greater by far.
3. Both characters were criticized by people who were more concerned with religion than God. John the Baptist’s followers were upset because not as many people were following them—their pride was injured. So they questioned John. In Mary’s case, she was considered foolish for wasting so much money on Jesus. How could she?
4. Lastly, and most interestingly, both Mary and John were directly commended by Jesus. In Matthew 11:11 he says, “…among women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…” Could you imagine that being said about you? And in Mark 14, Jesus, defends Mary, “Leave her alone…she has done a beautiful thing to me…I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” And here we are, 2,000 years later, halfway around the world—still talking about what she did.
She could have chosen herself over Jesus. She could have been frugal. But everyone does that—most the world go to the graves thinking only of themselves. Following someone so radically unique requires a radically unique lifestyle. How much more beautiful is it to waste our lives for Jesus—to pour out everything we have for his sake. Those are the lives that are remembered.
I want to love Jesus like that.
