But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him, asked,Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said,Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should betray him, saith,
3 sermons cite this verse
We'll be considering most of John 12 today, but I'll only read portions of it for the sake of time. So please join me as I read John chapter 12, verses 1 through 11, and then we'll skip down to verses 20 through 26. I'll be reading today from the New Living Translation. Join me now as I begin at John 12, verses 1 through 11. a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, That perfume was worth a year's wage. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Not that he cared for the poor. He was a thief. And since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. …
… Judas is the first to betray the silence with an ethical objection that clarifies his rightness in this matter. Why wasn't this perfume sold for a whole lot of money and given to the poor, he asks. John says he's a thief who uses the common purse for a common, for a personal expense account. He doesn't care about the poor, but he knows that Jesus does. So he says what he knows Jesus would have said if Jesus weren't so polite. What a waste. What an extravagance. Whatever you meant by it, Mary, this movement, it's not about us. It's about the less fortunate. Try to remember that from now on, huh? but Jesus can speak for himself he turns to Judas and says leave her alone to Judas and anyone else who might agree with him she was keeping it from my burial you always have the poor with you but you do not always have me it's an odd thing for him to say but Mary has broken more than a jar in that room she's also broken open the truth that Jesus is the first to see to speak to The poor are sturdy perennials in God's garden. …
He who has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear it. Let us pray. Father, open now to our understanding and to our instruction the words of this text that we have just heard. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. When I was in graduate school in the decade of the 60s, one of the books that troubled the theological world was a small book published by a Harvard professor entitled, The Secular City. It put Harvey Cox's name on the map at that time. And in that book, The Secular City, Harvey Cox gave a sociological and theological analysis for the decline of America into its present form of secularization, and he talked about the shape of the American culture. And he defined the shape of American culture as being determined by America's really only indigenous philosophical system called pragmatism. And pragmatism as a philosophical system is born in a certain skepticism towards our ability to understand ultimate truth. And so the philosophers and pioneers of pragmatism, who ironically belong to the metaphysical club at Harvard, disowned any hope of discovering metaphysical truth. …