Why you should waste your life on Jesus

Introduction

Imagine you’re in a control room with hundreds of dials. These dials control our world and our universe. One dial controls gravity, another the strong nuclear force, another the distance between the Earth and the Sun, and another the Earth’s atmospheric transparency. If just one of these dials was turned a very small amount, life on Earth could no longer exist. This is called the fine-tuning argument, often debated between atheists and theists. Atheists struggle to explain how these dials were set by chance or necessity, leaving design by God as a strong possibility. This picture gives us a handy tool as we enter into John 12.

Turning Up The Jesus Dial

The Control Room Of Your Life

Imagine the dials in front of you control your own life. They control the amount of effort you invest, the money you spend, the importance you place on things, and how you spend your time. There’s a dial for food, water, sleep, exercise, health, coffee, work, school, reading, video games, gardening, your car, groceries, each family member, each friend, your money, your home, and your dog. Because we’re limited by time and energy, changing one dial changes others. If you invest more time in your dog, your exercise dial goes up, but your coffee or reading dial might go down. There’s a dial for church, your Bible, prayer, and, of course, your relationship with Jesus. It’s the new year, a good time to think about making changes, tweaking some dials. John chapter 12 teaches us what Jesus wants from us: find your relationship with Jesus dial and start turning it up relentlessly, recklessly, until it’s maximum. Then, be overwhelmed by how much all the other dials have changed, and figure out how to do life with your relationship with Jesus at maximum. This is the lesson from John chapter 12, seen through Mary’s profound act of worship.

Mary’s Extravagant Worship

Jesus is sharing a meal with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Lazarus had recently been raised from the dead. Mary, recognizing the significance of this meal and the preciousness of Jesus, brings out a jar of expensive perfume, pours it over Jesus’s feet, and wipes them with her hair. This is striking because, in Jewish culture, women kept their hair covered. Letting her hair down in public would have raised eyebrows, let alone wiping a man’s feet. Judas points out the perfume cost a year’s wages, equivalent to a new car or a major home renovation. Mary’s worship is extravagant and uncalculated. She isn’t distracted by cultural expectations or smart budgeting; she’s focused solely on the beauty and value of Jesus. Her reputation and money are just “chaff” as she is drawn toward her Lord and Friend. Mary has found eternal life in Jesus and has seen Jesus’s power firsthand. Her brother came back to life. Mary has maxed out her Jesus dial, and her reputation and money dials have turned down. Who would cling to pieces of lint when presented with treasure of infinite value? Mary’s worship is extravagant and uncalculated.

Judas’s Perspective And Jesus’s Affirmation

Judas’s Criticism

Judas thinks Mary’s act of worship is a waste of money. This clash makes sense because Judas and Mary have opposite views of Jesus. Mary values Jesus above all else, while Judas values money. Judas has seen Jesus walk on water, read minds, heal diseases, and raise Lazarus from the dead, yet he still thinks it’s a good idea to steal the disciples’ money. Judas is a textbook example of Jesus’s words in Matthew chapter 6: “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” To Mary, Jesus is valuable; to Judas, money is valuable. To Judas, Mary’s worship appears unreasonable and offensive. It’s a waste to use something so valuable on someone who is not valuable, on Jesus. This is how it can be today. To our world, following Jesus appears unreasonable and offensive.

Jesus’s Defense Of Mary

Jesus replies, “Leave her alone,” and gives Judas three reasons. First, she did this in preparation for Jesus’s burial. Second, “You will always have the poor among you.” Third, “You will not always have me.” Jesus is saying that Mary understands just how valuable Jesus is, and in a few days, she will watch her precious Lord and friend be crucified and buried. So, leave her alone. Jesus isn’t giving an excuse for stinginess. He’s being sarcastic, rebuking Judas, who doesn’t care about the poor but uses their needs as a cover to steal money. Jesus knows Judas loves money and hates Jesus. Jesus says, “Don’t worry, Judas. There will be plenty of other opportunities for you to pretend to help the poor. Leave her alone.” Mary’s act was in preparation for Jesus’s burial. Jesus is talking about the joy, peace, hope, and gratitude overflowing in Mary’s heart. He’s saying, “Don’t take that away from her. Don’t ruin the moment. Don’t infect her heart with your snarky comments and with your greed.” Jesus is saying to Judas, “Don’t ruin this moment for Mary. Don’t poison her heart. Don’t attack her joy. Don’t obscure her peace.” Mary’s worship is extravagant and uncalculated; to Judas, it appears unreasonable and offensive, but to Jesus, it is encouraged and affirmed.

Implications And Call To Action

Don’t Listen To The Judas In Your Life

We all know a Judas, people who think following Jesus is dumb. Don’t listen to them. Jesus encouraged and affirmed Mary’s extravagance and uncalculation. Jesus encouraged and affirmed Mary turning her Jesus dial up to max. If any voice suggests you moderate your love for Jesus, temper your love, pick up a clashing commitment on a Sunday morning, tempts you to become money rich, tries to convince you that you can’t be forgiven, or tries to steer you away from the clear teachings of Jesus, don’t listen to them. Listen to Jesus’s voice. What is Jesus saying? Turn the dial all the way up. Compared to Jesus, the other stuff is just lint. Think of Philippians chapter 3, where Paul considers all things worthless compared to the infinite value of knowing Jesus as Lord. Jesus is everything. Turn his dial to Max and then stand back and let him decide how every other dial should look.

Extravagant, Uncalculated Examples

I’m not saying drive yourself into burnout, starvation, or poverty. I’m not saying serve at church every Sunday and teach five scripture classes and read the whole Bible three times a year and give all your savings away to church and missionaries and the poor. I’m not saying love Jesus in a way that becomes a massive burden to your family and your friends, your spouse, your children, your community. It’s easy for us to moderate our love for Jesus, to calculate, to compromise. I’m saying just let go of the steering wheel. You can trust Jesus. He’s proven that he is trustworthy, powerful, and loving. He died and rose for you. Turn the dial to Max and then just step back and let Jesus do whatever he wants with the rest. What if you worked one or two days less per week so that you could teach scripture in a public school? What if you gave up your precious lunchtime breaks to help run the Bible study or the Christian group? What if this year you gave up a week night every week to join a connect group or host one or lead one? What if this year you were committed to fully trust what Jesus teaches us about our lives? What if you doubled your giving to church and mission this year? Or what if you just gave a year’s wage away to church or mission or MTS or whatever it is? What if you studied some theology part-time or full-time so you’d be better equipped to teach people about Jesus and maybe even go into ministry or to go into mission work? If the world thinks that we’re unreasonable or offensive, then okay. Turn your Jesus dial all the way up just recklessly, just do it, and you watch all the warning lights flash and you just let Jesus do whatever you want. Your heart will overflow with the same kind of transcendent peace and joy and hope and gratitude that Mary had. And you will have life to the full, the good and satisfying life both now and forever.