{"id":1841,"date":"2025-12-07T20:06:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T19:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=1841"},"modified":"2025-12-07T20:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T19:06:26","slug":"over-the-top-for-jesus-john-121-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=1841","title":{"rendered":"Over The Top for Jesus John 12:1-8"},"content":{"rendered":"

The setting is a house in Bethany, where Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. At a dinner given in Jesus\u2019s honour, Mary anointed his feet with oil and dried them with her hair. Are you as shocked as I am at what Mary did? It was scandalous! I\u2019m not thinking so much of the waste of money \u2013 a whole jar of expensive ointment \u2013 a year\u2019s wages \u2013 poured away in one lavish gesture! That was bad enough! But it\u2019s not what Mary did with the perfume that was truly shocking. It was what she did with her hair! It was outrageous! Scandalous!
\nBecause, of course, a woman in those days would always keep her hair tied up and usually covered up! Remember the arguments the apostle Paul had with the Corinthians about women keeping their heads covered up! A respectable woman would only let down her hair when she was alone with her husband. Jewish law at that time allowed a man to divorce his wife on the sole grounds that she had let down her hair in front of another man! A respectable woman would never let down her hair in public! And then to touch a man\u2019s feet with her hair. That was a very intimate action. And in front of strangers! That would raise a few eyebrows even today here in England. But in those days, in the Middle East! It was a scandal! A disgrace!
\nIn today\u2019s liberal society it\u2019s hard to find a comparison that would shock us quite so much. It would probably take even more than a woman at a dinner party taking all her clothes off in front of a houseful of special guests to shock us as much as those guests in Bethany would have been astonished. It was so outrageous! So \u201cO.T.T.\u201d So \u201cOver The Top!\u201d
\nOf course, it was a gesture of love. Mary loved Jesus. For years, Jesus had been warning his disciples that it was part of his mission to go up to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed. But none of them had been listening, none of them understood it or believed it, except for Mary. She knew why Jesus was going to Jerusalem. Maybe she even put two and two together and realised that with Passover only a week away that Jesus had only a week left to live. So Mary wanted to take this opportunity, possibly the last opportunity she would ever have, to show Jesus just how great her love was. Not romantic love, not sexual love, but the true Christian devotion that all disciples should have for their Lord and Master. Mary loved Jesus so much! So she anointed Jesus with the most precious possession she owned, a whole bottle of expensive perfume. And Mary could have remembered to bring a towel to dry his feet. But instead she chose that most shocking and intimate gesture \u2013 she let down her hair and dried his feet with her hair.
\nIncredibly intimate! Shameful! Appalling! Indecent! Immoral! But that\u2019s how deep Mary\u2019s love for Jesus was. She probably hadn\u2019t even thought about how other people would interpret her actions. She didn\u2019t care. She just wanted to show her Lord just how precious He was to her. So she went totally \u201cOver The Top.\u201d
\nOf course the critics came charging in!
\n4 One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”
\nGood point! Even if Judas was only interested in stealing the money rather than giving it to the poor and needy, it was a waste. The other disciples started saying the same thing. What would Jesus have to say about that?
\n7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. And Matthew and Mark continue the story like this. “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
\n\u201cA beautiful thing\u201d. No criticism. No condemnation. But appreciation. Was Jesus perhaps even grateful?
\nShe has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.
\nJesus saw a spiritual significance in what Mary had done, maybe even beyond Mary\u2019s intentions. This anointing looked ahead in prophetic symbolism to his death and his burial. There would be other opportunities to help the poor. But this was the one and only chance Mary would have to show her love for Jesus. We must always make sure that we are not so preoccupied with the demands of everyday service that we miss out on unique opportunities for special encounters with God.
\nAgain Matthew and Mark include an important an important element of the story. Listen to what Jesus said.
\n 13 I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
\nTold in memory of her. The spiritual significance of Mary\u2019s action was not the most important thing. What would be remembered everywhere and forever was Mary herself \u2013\u2013 her love, her devotion! This story is still told in memory of her.
\nBecause this is the most important point in the story. Jesus welcomed Mary\u2019s devotion, even though Mary went completely Over The Top. Even though she got totally carried away, and did something which everybody else found outrageous and shocking and scandalous for all kinds of reasons, Jesus\u2019s reaction is very different. \u201cShe has done a beautiful thing for me.\u201d Everybody else there was criticising what Mary had done. Instead Jesus says \u201cleave her alone, why are you bothering this woman\u201d?
\nWhat this story shows us very clearly above everything else is that it is ALRIGHT to go Over The Top in our devotion for Jesus. If we get carried away in our love for Jesus \u2013 that\u2019s OK! There were lots of people there at that dinner party just a week before Jesus died. But Mary was the one who actually did things right! Her devotion to Jesus was so great that she couldn\u2019t hold it in \u2013 and so she made an exhibition of herself. And that was OK! That was ALRIGHT! That was acceptable to God.
\nWhen did you last go \u201cOver The Top\u201d for Jesus? The big problem we have is that there is not much risk of us following in Mary\u2019s footsteps. We\u2019re English \u2013 always reserved, stiff upper lip and all that. We English are terrified of ever going \u201cover the top\u201d like Mary did. We\u2019re afraid of extremes. We act as if it is always wrong to have too much of anything, as if it\u2019s wrong to have too much enthusiasm, or too much zeal or too much love or too much joy or too much excitement or too much holiness. We insist on moderation in everything. So there\u2019s not much of a risk that any of us would love Jesus so much that we would get carried away like Mary did. To be so devoted to God that we get to the point of not caring what anybody else might think of us. We would never go \u201cOver The Top!\u201d Even for Jesus! But that\u2019s a problem!
\nSo what else can we learn from Mary going O.T.T. for Jesus? There are at least FOUR things.
\n1. EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY
\nMary used up a whole year\u2019s wages worth of perfume in one wild extravagant gesture of generosity. So generous she even smashed the jar so that every last drop could be used to anoint Jesus. The Bible has lots and lots to teach us about the use of wealth and possessions. Christians in this country tend to stick to the bits which talk about careful stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to us. We tend to gloss over the bits which talk about extravagant generosity.
\nBut remember that greedy tax collector Zaccheus. When he realised that the grace of God extended even to a miserable sinner like him, Zaccheus really went O.T.T in extravagant generosity, giving away half his possessions to the poor, and paying back everybody he had cheated four times over! When were you last outrageously extravagantly generous? \uf04a
\nYou can\u2019t take it with you! So why do we Christians so often cling on to what we\u2019ve got? When instead we could give it away in extravagant generosity. Take the \u201cRich Young ruler\u201d test. What would you do if Jesus said to YOU, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22.) What would YOU do?
\nExtravagant generosity and
\n2. JOYFUL CELEBRATION
\nWe English aren\u2019t very good at joyful celebration either. We don\u2019t really know how to have a really good time at a party! We don\u2019t have the temperament. We are too inhibited! Mary really did let her hair down! But usually we (us respectable Christians anyway) are too concerned about what other people will think. We don\u2019t like to let our feelings show!
\nRemember that Jailer at Philippi when he heard the gospel. Acts 16:33f
\nhe was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God- he and his whole family.
\nWhen were you last filled with joy in your Christian life. I have spent some time in churches in Uganda and in Zambia and I took part in services which lasted two or three hours and then led on to shared meals together which lasted most of the afternoon. Those African Christians had none of all the material possessions we take for granted. But they had joy! They really knew how to celebrate God\u2019s goodness to them.
\nSomebody once said, \u201cIf one-tenth of what you believe is true, you Christians ought to be ten times as excited as you are.\u201d A famous conductor once dislocated his shoulder while leading an orchestra. Very few Christians are at risk of dislocating anything in our enthusiasm for God! When did you last get completely carried away in \u201cOver the Top\u201d joyful celebration? \uf04a
\nExtravagant generosity, joyful celebration and
\n3. INTIMATE WORSHIP
\nHere was striking intimacy. A respectable woman would only normally let down her hair in the presence of her husband. Yet this is what Mary does to express her lavish devotion for her Lord. Here is another thing that many of us have big problems in doing. We simply don\u2019t know how to let go of our inhibitions and tell God how much we love Him! Many of us struggle with intimacy with God.
\nSometimes some people do go Over the Top in worship. They say things and do things in their worship and adoration of God which I find uncomfortable and embarrassing because they seem too intimate. But this story tells me not to judge others! Because Jesus did not criticise the intimacy of Mary\u2019s love and adoration. Instead he says, “Leave her alone\u201d. \u201cShe has done a beautiful thing to me.\u201d
\nWe need to learn that it\u2019s OK for Christians to go O.T.T. for Jesus. On the day of Pentecost the first Christians were so exuberant praising God that the crowds thought they were drunk. Lots of very O.T.T. things have been happening in churches around the world when the Holy Spirit is at work even in the years that I have been a minister. The charismatic movement in the 1970s brought the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues into mainstream churches. There was John Wimber and the Signs and Wonders movement in the 1980s and \u201cthe Toronto Blessing \u201d in the 1990s. When we hear about other Christians getting carried away in their worship, we need to make sure that we don\u2019t rush in to condemn them.
\nA short lived revival broke out in 2008 in Ignited Church at Lakeland in Florida. My wife and I happened to be on holiday nearby and we went along to see the miracles of healing and deliverance God was working. I will never forget one thing the speaker said.
\n\u201cA fanatic is only a person who loves God more than you do.\u201d
\n\u201cA fanatic is only a person who loves God more than you do.\u201d
\nWe can so easily be like Judas \u2013 rushing in to criticise and complain, over-cautious and reserved, never taking any risks. But I\u2019m sure that God actually wants us all to be more like Mary sometimes. I\u2019m certain God would love to see some more heartfelt enthusiasm and sincere O.T.T. passion in US sometimes! I\u2019m sure that if we are loving God with ALL our heart and ALL our soul and ALL our strength and ALL our mind then we OUGHT TO find ourselves going Over The Top in intimate worship sometimes.
\nExtravagant generosity, joyful celebration, intimate worship, and to cap it all, everything was so
\n4. SHAMELESS and PUBLIC
\nWhen did you last show your love for God in such a shameless and public way? When did you last make an exhibition of yourself witnessing for Christ? I became a Christian at the age of 16 in the 1970s. Those were the days of the Jesus People, and evangelists like the American Baptist Arthur Blessitt, who died at the beginning of this year. Starting in 1968, over 56 years, Arthur Blessitt walked over 43,000 miles through 324 counties and territories carrying a wooden cross twelve feet long and six feet wide. His example influenced my own witnessing. When I was first saved at the age of 16 I went totally Over The Top in telling other people about Jesus. I wore a great big wooden cross around my neck on a leather strap at school and then through university to tell the world I believed in Jesus: my schoolmates and teachers and then the whole college and all the chemistry students and the lecturers and the university sports team I played for and even in tutorials with professors \u2013 everybody knew I was a Christian! Looking back, it was outrageous!
\nThe expression, \u201cgoing over the top\u201d comes from the first World War, when soldiers needed to climb over the top from the safety of the trenches to go into battle. For very many Christians in England today, faith has become a very private thing, something we don\u2019t even tell our friends. It is very sad how many Christians are afraid to go \u201cover the top\u201d in evangelism and witnessing. We HAVE TO tell people about Jesus. Jesus said, \u201cI am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me!\u201d We HAVE TO tell the world. If we love God and if we love our neighbours, the loving thing to do will never be to stay silent. The loving thing will always be to speak, to shout, to warn, to persuade, to pray so that our friends do not drift on to a lost eternity. Mary was shameless in revealing her devotion to Jesus in such a public way. We should be too!
\nIn Luke chapter 7 we read about another dinner party when a different woman went \u201cOver The Top\u201d in her love for Jesus. Jesus told a parable about two men who owed money to a money-lender, and here was the punchline. I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
\nAt Bethany, Mary\u2019s love for Jesus was so great that she got completely carried away! Her story is told in memory of her. But what about us? He who has been forgiven little loves little.
\nGod loves you and me SO much! But how much do we love Jesus? Where is our response of extravagant generosity? How about a bit of joyful celebration sometimes? Maybe even some truly intimate worship? And when did you last get into trouble for making an exhibition of yourself in public, shouting out your love for God so shamelessly. I think we could all afford to go Over The Top for Jesus a bit more. Don\u2019t you agree? After all \u2013 \u201cA fanatic is only a person who loves Jesus more than we do!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The setting is a house in Bethany, where Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. At a dinner given in Jesus\u2019s honour, Mary anointed…<\/span><\/p>\n

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