By Pastor Chad
In John’s telling of Jesus’ anointing (John 12:1-8), there is a clear contrast between Mary and Judas. I think we have two pictures set before us: we have the picture of someone with true piety and a picture of someone with fake piety.
What do I mean by piety? Piety is the submissive devotion one has to a religious practice or leader. Mary displays true piety (that is, true devotion). Judas displays false piety. Let’s look at this a little closer.
In her piety, Mary anoints the feet of our Lord by wiping His feet with her hair. As I discussed in my message Sunday morning, Mary was so overcome by the grace and mercy of Christ, that she responded in humble adoration at His feet. The act of anointing Jesus’ feet was not done for sanitation or practical purposes, it was done out of a pure expression of worship and declaration of who Jesus is. Furthermore, Mary was not putting on a show; she was not simply acting humble. She was literally humiliated (in a good way). She was not feigning devotion. She was a living embodiment of devotion to Christ. She gave all Christians who followed her an example of what true piety looks like.
Judas, on the other hand, is a picture-perfect display of false piety. As John writes, Judas did not rebuke Mary because he cared about the poor, but because he cared about the cost of the perfume. He wanted to use the money for his own personal use. He was a prideful thief—a con-artist. I’m sure Judas was quite good at saying the right thing when the right people were within earshot. I bet he was really good at doing the right thing when the right people were looking. He may have even talked a good game. But Judas was a fake; he was only devoted to himself.
I have often wondered how Judas justified his actions in his own mind. For instance, did he have a specific excuse he used to ease his conscience? Maybe he thought that Jesus wouldn’t mind. Maybe he thought that he had a right to the money. Maybe he thought Jesus was a charlatan—a fraud. Either way, he was not a true follower of Christ. I’m sure he put on a great show for others, but it was all an act. He never truly loved Jesus.
The examples of both Mary and Judas should give us pause. How do we know if our piety is real or fake? James gives us some specific guidance in James 4. He says to “draw near to God and God will draw near to you” (verse 7). He commands the reader to “submit” to God and to humble oneself before the Lord (verses 8 and 10). But notice that James also commands that we “resist the devil,” “cleanse” our hands, and “purify” our hearts. To simplify what James is saying, He tells the follower of Christ to humble himself/herself before the Lord in repentance. It is impossible for someone that is repentant to have fake piety. True repentance means one humbly falls at Jesus’ feet and asks for mercy.
True piety begins and ends in humble repentance. It is a consent turning from our sinful flesh to Christ. Instead of sticking our noses in the air, we plant our faces on the ground. Instead of pridefully extolling our own accomplishments, we reverently acknowledge that we are not worthy.
To hear the full sermon, click here.