It’s a bunch of black-robed priests who played a major part in the betrayal, arrest and murder of Jesus Christ, stating, “We’re doing it for the religious good of our constituency.”

Jordan says, “You ever see any priests that go along in long black robes and call each ‘Father.’ Well, you’ve got the descendants of the guys who murdered the Lord Jesus Christ, or at least played a big part in His arrest, and in a mock trial, and then His murder.

“I bear you record, that just isn’t me talking, that’s what the Bible says about it. Now, you can understand why some of those people don’t care so much about the Bible. They perceive, and rightly so, that it’s against them.

“You know, people, the Bible’s always negative toward man and positive toward God and what He’s doing. Man’s a sinner and he needs a Savior. But have you ever noticed how we’re always positive toward man and negative toward God? It’s, ‘Up with people, up with man; we’re going to get bigger and better in every way, and every day, and we’re going to go out through the sky out there as we achieve our full potentiality!’

*****

John 11: 47-48 reports, “Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.”

Jordan says about this passage, “You have to watch out for councils in the Bible. The religious councils in the Bible are bad business. It’s these religious councils that run around in the Bible and cause all the devilment. They kill the Lord, they persecute the apostles, they chase Paul all over creation.

“The council says, ‘Let’s don’t kill him on the feast day lest there be an uproar among the people.’ I mean, not because it’s wrong to kill Him! The thinking is, ‘We’re going to do that to save our position, but let’s don’t do it on the feast day, because if we do, that’ll be a politically inexpedient move where the people will get mad at us.’

“Why would the people get mad at them? Their religious ceremonies are going to be violated. We’ll study later on in John 18 how the (Pharisees) are up there lying about Christ and trying to get Him murdered by the Romans and they won’t even go into a building lest they be ‘ceremonially unclean.’ They’re a bunch of moral pygmies and perverts and yet they won’t go into a Gentile building lest they be ceremonially unclean.

“That’s what religion does! You see, it focuses on that outward and ceremonial exterior, but the inside . . . Jesus said, ‘You’re like a bunch of whited sepulchers—you got all this stuff fixed up on the outside and you’re just dead; just the old stench of dead, rotted, corrupted flesh inside, morally and spiritually.’

“That’s why I keep saying to you people that what God’s doing today—it’s inside first. You see it isn’t religious externalism. Anybody can do that kind of stuff with a little discipline. It’s the life that God puts inside that first is the issue.”

*****

Matthew 26 reports that just before Jesus’ death, when he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, “There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.”

The passage goes on, “But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
[9] For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
[10] When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
[11] For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
[12] For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
[13] Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.”

Jordan explains, “The stage has been set; Christ says, ‘I’m going to go die--two days from now they’re going to kill me and I’ll be betrayed and crucified,’ and then you have this little flashback to Bethany.

“It was Mary . . . it was that little woman who was used to sitting at His feet and listening to His words and being occupied just with Him. He says of her, ‘She did a good work on me.’

“She wasn’t looking around at everything else—she was looking at Him. She feels what affects Him and her love draws out of her the action that was fit for the occasion. What’d she do? Verse 12 says, ‘For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.’

“Luke 24 says, ‘Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.’

“You know what they did on the resurrection morning—they went to anoint His body with the ointments they made but did they get to do it? They were too late—He was gone!

“You know the only person who ever anointed the body of the Lord Jesus Christ for the burial is this little lady you’re reading about in Matthew 26 whose heart was in tune with His heart. She sensed what was on His mind, and what He was feeling, and she went and did it ahead of time, and she’s the only one who got to do it. That’s touching.

“And the old disciples, you know what they said? Look at verse 8—this one kills me: ‘But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?’ Bunch of old stuffed shirts got all blown up like a toad frog, saying, ‘To what purpose is this waste?! Why you could have took that ointment and sold it for $300 pence—a great sum of money—and given it to the poor. I mean, look at what we could have done for the work of the ministry with that money!’

“Did you let that word ‘waste’ hit you in the face there for a minute? You know what they’re saying? Here’s a little lady who comes with this expensive ointment, and she takes it and pours every bit of it out on the Lord Jesus Christ—she just pours every bit on His head and His feet and she uses it all on Him.

“And those guys looked at that and said, ‘When you just take something and spend it on Christ and Him alone, it’s a waste and you’re taking it away from the poor!’ That’s awful, isn’t it?!

“You know what the problem is? They were focusing on their ministry. They were focusing on getting results. They say results is all that matters—when you can get something useful and go use it and be practical.

“You every hear anybody always arguing, ‘Don’t talk about doctrine; just give me something useful, something practical.’ That’s who’s talking there in Matthew 26 when they say, ‘What is this waste?!’ Don’t ever be that way!

“Those disciples of our Lord were so focused on the ministry, and on getting results, and on doing what they were doing, and on themselves. That’s just the selfish, cold-hearted treachery that results from not being occupied with Christ, and there isn’t anywhere it shows up more obviously than in the ministry.

“There it was in the ministry of those who should have been the closest and known the best. You know there’s not one indication in the gospel accounts that they ever did ANYTHING comparable to what this woman did. They NEVER understood what she understood! They NEVER had their heart beat with His heart like she did!

“Why, it isn’t but just a few more verses down that you’ll find them arguing among themselves about who’s the greatest in the kingdom. You know who the greatest in the kingdom is? He is! And they don’t even take that into account! Focusing on themselves.

“The closer you get to the cross, people, the more it shows human nature and the more you begin to see it doesn’t make any difference what dispensation it’s in—it’s human nature.

“Mary’s love and her service of love brought out the traitor’s heart. You know who it was in verse 8 when it says ‘His disciples had indignation’? If you look at John 12, it’s Judas Iscariots who said it.

“Judas saw it and he first said, ‘What are they doing?!’ And then the disciples talk among themselves and he stirs up the whole the bunch of them to be all upset about this ‘wasteful extravagance’ and of just being occupied with Christ and entering into the thing that was on His heart.

“You know, my friend, there’s a lot of that going on today in God’s work in our age, just as it was back there.

“Verse 13 of Matthew 26 is a touching verse. Christ says, ‘Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.’

“He never said that about any of His apostles but He said it about her. Why’s it going to be mentioned? Folks, it’s a rebuke to those who are not occupied fully with Him, and it’s a memorial to someone who was—totally and completely.

“Out in the world they got a song, ‘I only have eyes for you, hoochee-doo, hoochee-doo.’ Well, that’s what she had. She just had eyes for the Lord Jesus Christ and it’s a memorial.

“Now that’s inserted there (in Matthew 26) to do two things—one to show you how this woman does something; Mary does something that is an encouragement and a balm to the heart of the Savior as He faces the Cross, but it also shows you the traitor’s heart, so verse 14 and following deals with that.

“It goes on, ‘Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.’

“You see, Judas got mad and he’s saying, ‘How much you pay me to betray him?’ John 12 says Judas ‘held the bag’—he was the treasurer. He’s counting the money.”

(Editor’s Note: To be continued . . . )