Extravagant Devotion: Challenging Societal Norms

This week we continue in our series Follow The Son from the Gospel of Mark. This sermon preached by Pastor Thomas Terry is from Mark 14:1-11.
This text places the story of the woman anointing Jesus with costly perfume between the story of Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed the Lord Jesus. The betrayal story is split in order to show the great devotion and faithfulness of the woman contrasted with Judas and his betrayal. Jesus not only defends her when she is rebuked but calls to our attention to the beauty of her gift and its significance that helped to point to Jesus’s coming death. Similarly, we never know how our gifts might be used by God, this should compel our devotion to Jesus as we realize he alone is our Passover Lamb who died to forgive us and make us right with God. If we are honest, we must admit we all have a price or a thing for which we might betray Jesus, this must guide us to pray, trust, and seek the Lord to help us avoid ever betraying him.