Participants: Lonnie Melashenko
Series Code: VOPS
Program Code: VOPS000011
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00:31 Some people come into our lives
00:34 and they leave footprints on our hearts. 00:37 And we are never ever the same. 00:39 I'm forever indebted to Dr. Joe Barnes 00:42 for some of the insights 00:43 that I'm about to share with you this morning 00:44 from Luke 7 and Luke Chapter 8. 00:47 If you have your Bibles, 00:48 I hope you open them to that passage. 00:51 You know, there's something intriguing, 00:55 mysterious, but exciting about art. 01:00 Not just looking at it, 01:01 but getting into the act yourself, 01:03 in some sort of way by drawing 01:05 or painting, creating, designing. 01:08 There's a thrill, a sense of accomplishment 01:10 of creating something of your own. 01:14 Well, during the last century 01:16 a relatively new form of art was introduced 01:18 and it's captured the attention of many, many people 01:21 and it's called the collage. 01:23 I haven't really decided whether I like it or not yet 01:26 but many of you know it as the little bits 01:28 and pieces of paper, other things put together 01:31 either by glue or even by welding 01:33 to make some type of a picture or some kind of a statue. 01:36 Many of the times they are very wild 01:38 and weird contrivances and creations. 01:41 Way back at the turn of the century, 01:44 art was still very much idealistic and visionary. 01:48 Artists tend to deal with things with the way 01:51 they wish they were rather than as they really are. 01:55 Well, a gentleman came along by the name of Kurt Schwitters 01:57 and he suddenly turned away 01:59 from all this kind of idealistic art, 02:01 you know, painting things so prosy 02:03 and so perfect and so pretty. 02:05 And Schwitters began 02:06 what we call the humanization of art, 02:09 making it much more human, realistic. 02:13 And he turned to the scrap heaps 02:15 and the junk piles. 02:18 He picked up scraps of old iron and broken watch works 02:21 and bizarre and absurd materials 02:23 which even the junk man would have discarded 02:25 and he used them in the fabrication 02:27 of his masterpieces of art. 02:30 This then is what we call the collage. 02:33 From these scraps, these bits and pieces 02:35 rejected by everyone else, 02:37 Schwitters would fashion a collage. 02:39 And believe it or not, many of these sold for $10,000 02:43 or more even while the artist was still alive. 02:48 But, you know, the most skillful 02:49 and the most successful collage artist of all was Jesus. 02:54 Amen. 02:55 The one we call the Christ. 02:58 Because it was Jesus who took mankind 03:00 from the visionary and the idealistic 03:02 and He got down to the little real bits of life. 03:06 He didn't just take the best in man. 03:08 He took the worst in mankind, the refuse of society. 03:12 Individuals people had thrown away 03:14 and they'd cast off, they said, 03:15 they're no good, useless, valueless, 03:19 worse than that, they were evil. 03:22 But how many times Jesus reached out 03:25 and reclaimed from the scrap heaps of human life, 03:28 torn and twisted bits of flesh and spirit, 03:31 and He creatively put them together 03:33 into some of the most amazing designs. 03:36 And magnificent masterpieces of life were the result. 03:41 Jesus, the Artist. 03:43 He gave us the great art of living. 03:47 In just a moment I would like to unveil for you 03:50 one of Christ's amazing collage of masterpieces 03:54 composed of the sordid parts of a human life. 03:59 From the mutilated fragments, 04:01 we'll begin to see the delicate features 04:04 of a woman's face begin to appear. 04:07 And we'll watch the expression change on that face 04:11 as it's tenderly and skillfully fashioned 04:14 until at last it reflects the loving character 04:16 of the Master Artist Himself. 04:21 Now the name of this woman 04:23 was found in scriptures strangely enough, 04:25 is the same as Jesus' own mother, Mary. 04:30 But the fragments don't fit, you see, 04:32 because this is not the Mary of Nazareth 04:34 that we've heard so much about, 04:36 but this is Mary from the town of Magdala. 04:39 We often speak of her as Mary Magdalene. 04:43 The first scene we see, 04:46 the first little bit and piece of her life 04:51 is a haunted face at the feet of Jesus. 04:56 She is a woman of a very bad reputation. 04:59 To put it bluntly as the Bible says, 05:00 she was a mentally sick prostitute. 05:04 But she was so bad the Bible says 05:05 she was possessed of seven devils. 05:08 And you can't get much better than that 05:10 in the scriptures or worse as the case 05:12 may be because seven was the perfect number. 05:14 So she was perfectly bad, 05:17 engulfed in complete darkness of rejection and despair. 05:21 And we see her there with the hopelessness 05:23 and the emptiness in her face. 05:27 How did she get this way? 05:30 Whose breath blew out the light in this sensitive brain? 05:35 Well, from the scriptures and the Bible commentators, 05:38 the little bits and pieces of her life 05:40 can be glued together 05:41 with what we know of the culture 05:42 and the time in which she lived. 05:45 And we begin to see this woman start to take form 05:48 and how Jesus related to her. 05:52 You see, Mary Magdalene actually wasn't 05:54 from the town of Magdala at all. 05:57 Obviously, she lived there for a time 05:58 but this wasn't her real home. 06:00 Her real home was in Bethany. 06:04 She was a suburbanite. 06:05 She lived in this very fashionable Beverly Hills 06:08 community on the outskirts of Jerusalem 06:10 where many of the elders and leaders of the people, 06:13 they lived, and they commuted in every day a mile and a half. 06:16 She was one of three children 06:18 as far as we know and they all lived together. 06:20 She had an older brother named Lazarus 06:23 and an older sister by the name of Martha. 06:26 So evidently she was the youngest child, 06:28 very lovely, intelligent, and highly sensitive. 06:33 Now I don't know what Martha 06:36 or her brother actually did for a living 06:37 but we do know that there were times 06:39 that Martha apparently catered feasts. 06:43 In fact, we find her often cooking in the Bible. 06:46 And apparently, she would use her younger sister Mary 06:48 to help in the catering. 06:50 You know, when those dignitaries in Jerusalem 06:52 often put on a feast and this was quite regularly evident 06:55 that when you read the Bible, 06:56 no doubt Martha was the one who did the catering for it. 07:01 Probably at one of the feasts, a feast put on by Simon, 07:05 Mary became acquainted 07:06 with this sophisticated man of Israel. 07:09 A handsome man, a man who had position, 07:11 he had everything you'd want. 07:13 He was a scholar, he was a great teacher in Israel. 07:15 In fact, the Bible says he was a Pharisee. 07:20 And as this feast at Simon's progressed, 07:23 I can well see Simon kind of looking over there 07:25 and he discovered this beautiful, 07:27 young, sensitive girl. 07:30 He discovers in her one with a keen mind. 07:35 Now I'm sorry to say this but this is the way 07:36 it is outside of the western world 07:38 but back there in those days 07:40 only men were supposed to receive 07:42 an education in Jewish culture. 07:45 Rarely did a woman have the opportunity to learn. 07:48 But history tells us that occasionally 07:51 you'd find someone like Mary 07:53 in whom they would spot great talent 07:55 and they would be given a private education. 07:59 So I can almost see Simon at this feast looking, 08:01 "What a beautiful girl, what an intelligent girl, 08:06 you know, she needs an education." 08:09 Maybe he talked with her brother and her sister, 08:11 maybe even the parents, if they were still alive, 08:13 we don't know at this time. 08:14 But whatever the case, 08:15 I wouldn't be at all surprised 08:17 that Simon arranged to become kind of her private tutor. 08:21 And as time progressed, 08:23 Simon was very attracted to Mary, 08:26 apparently Mary was to him, too. 08:27 In fact, he said he loved her. 08:32 And there came a point where Simon became 08:33 so interested in Mary that the Bible says 08:36 he seduced her and soon it became a full-blown affair, 08:40 only they kept it hushed up between the two of them. 08:44 Now Mary was not this kind of a girl. 08:48 But she was a girl. 08:49 She had normal human responses. 08:51 And when a person of this particular position 08:53 took an interest in her, 08:55 well, it was kind of natural 08:56 for her to respond to an extent. 08:59 So as Simon continued to tutor her 09:01 or whatever else he may have done, 09:03 there came a point where he said, "Look, Mary. 09:08 Why not? Everybody does it. 09:11 They don't say much about it publicly, 09:13 but this is the way it is. 09:14 I love you. 09:16 Mary, how could anything so good be so bad? 09:19 In other words, if I love you 09:21 and nobody else is getting hurt, why not?" 09:25 Apparently, it sounded good to Mary, 09:28 and she became involved. 09:32 Now the scripture doesn't say exactly 09:34 what happened after that, 09:35 but the Bible gives us a little assistance 09:37 to help us read between the lines. 09:39 That in the Jewish culture this kind of activity 09:41 was not looked upon favorably as a rule. 09:44 If a young woman was involved 09:47 to the place where she became pregnant, 09:49 they found out who the man was and they stoned them both. 09:53 For God had told the Hebrew people, 09:55 "If you find two that are involved 09:56 in immorality, stone them." 09:59 So needless to say, this kept down immorality 10:02 to the bare minimum most of the time. 10:05 But in this particular case 10:07 it wasn't a Hebrew culture in the fullest sense. 10:11 Because the Romans were in charge. 10:13 Now the Romans did not look on immorality like the Jews. 10:18 Therefore, the Romans said, 10:19 "Oh, no, it's absolutely illegal to stone anybody 10:22 for something as simple as immorality, 10:25 that's a common practice in Rome." 10:27 So at this time there were more than 10:30 the average number of young ladies 10:32 who found themselves in this delicate position. 10:36 When a girl found herself 10:38 in this situation in their culture, 10:40 about the best thing that she could do to save her family 10:42 from utter disgrace by this terrible thing 10:44 was to just go away. 10:47 And one of my Bible commentaries indicates 10:49 that the fact that Mary of Bethany 10:52 became Mary of Magdala 10:55 was because she had to leave home. 10:58 I'm highly suspicious. 11:00 We have a pregnancy on our hands. 11:03 And as we continue with these bits and pieces, 11:05 you'll see that this fits together. 11:08 I can imagine, the day came 11:10 when she perhaps discovered that this was the case. 11:13 I can see her going over to Simon's house 11:15 and she has kind of mixed feelings there. 11:17 And it isn't good to be in this position, 11:19 not without being married, that's obvious. 11:22 But, you know, in a sense, 11:24 well, they had sort of been talking about marriage, 11:27 maybe this would just hurry things up a little bit. 11:30 Can't you see her going in and saying, 11:33 "Hi, honey, Simon. 11:36 Simon, I've got something to tell you. 11:38 I have some good news." "Oh, what's that?" 11:43 She says, "I'm gonna have a baby." 11:47 And he looks at her coldly, and says, 11:50 "So what else is new?" 11:52 And she says, "But Simon, I'm pregnant, it's your child." 11:58 "Drop dead. I'm a man in Israel. 12:02 Look at how they respect me. 12:04 Why should I be bothered with you? 12:06 You're just a girl. Get lost." 12:09 Let me tell you, Mary came alive and fast. 12:13 She suddenly learned there are people in this world 12:15 that love you for what they can get out of you and that's all. 12:19 "How can you say this?" she says to Simon. 12:21 "I love you with all my heart. 12:23 I've loved you with all my body 12:25 and you say, you don't love me? 12:28 You don't want me?" 12:30 "Well, honey, it's not a matter of not wanting, 12:32 how could I possibly take you? 12:34 I mean, people can still count, you know. 12:36 When they figure out what the problem is, 12:37 I'll lose my position in town. 12:40 Now look, girl, the best thing to do is to just get lost 12:43 so your family won't be embarrassed, 12:44 so you won't be embarrassed and so I won't be either." 12:48 And no doubt he was the one 12:49 who persuaded her that she ought to go away. 12:53 Go up to Magdala, go to a relative somewhere 12:55 till this is all over. 12:57 "What will I do with the baby?" she may have asked. 13:00 "That's not my worry, kid, that's yours." 13:03 And she learns another fact, that there are people 13:06 who will not only take advantage of you 13:09 and use you as a thing to an end 13:10 but there are people who after doing all this 13:12 and leaving you in tragedy, 13:14 they have no sympathy and they don't care. 13:19 She was possessed of seven devils, 13:22 the Bible clearly says. 13:24 That is her mind wasn't altogether there anymore. 13:27 Her thoughts, her attitudes had been destroyed. 13:30 The evil spirits were partly the thoughts 13:33 and the feelings that she now possessed. 13:35 That she had degenerated from that happy, 13:38 youthful, carefree, intelligent, innocent Mary 13:41 to a Mary dashed to pieces in ruin and despair. 13:45 Seven demons. 13:48 When I took a course in clinical psychiatry 13:50 for ministers at the California, 13:53 Lutheran hospital a number of years ago, 13:54 I learned about the stages of guilt 13:56 that lead a person to despair. 13:59 It began back there 14:01 when Simon first approached her. 14:04 The first demon, she rationalized first. 14:08 And that's where it all begins. 14:10 We permit our human minds by reasoning 14:14 to make the unreasonable, reasonable. 14:17 And it seemed so right to Mary. 14:19 It was just so good, it couldn't be bad. 14:23 But then came guilt, guilt. 14:27 That always follows when we rationalize. 14:29 Even though we don't admit it, guilt, 14:31 it rots away at the very core of your personality. 14:34 And any medical doctor will affirm 14:36 that the real problem with young people 14:38 and immorality is not VD or AIDS, 14:41 but the terrific negative impact 14:43 it has especially on the girl's emotional health of mind. 14:47 But, folks, when a person deviates from doing right, 14:51 it does something to them. 14:52 It affects, it warps, it destroys. 14:57 And so after Mary had been engaged 14:59 in these activities with Simon for a while, 15:01 the guilt came. 15:03 It began to eat away 15:04 at the very core of her personality. 15:06 And so the next feeling came, 15:08 worse than the former, fear. 15:12 What if somebody knows? What if this gets out? 15:15 Will he marry me, or won't he? 15:17 All of these terrible fears 15:19 seize an individual like cold, icy fingers. 15:21 And what do you do? 15:23 Well, Mary went to Simon 15:24 but when she heard his cold reproach, 15:27 her next instinct was escape. 15:30 Got to get away. Hide. 15:32 And she apparently ran off to Magdala 15:35 to find some place of privacy. 15:36 And people tend to do that with any type of sin, 15:40 think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, 15:41 hiding, they try to hide it at first. 15:45 But then Mary had to go through something else. 15:49 The tragedy. 15:51 What do I do with this child? What do you do? 15:55 Does she keep the child and in her society, 15:57 everybody in the neighborhood says, 15:58 "Oh, oh, oh, look at this young girl, 16:00 she's not married." 16:02 And what kind of an impact 16:04 would this have on the growing mind 16:05 of the child to hear all of the interesting terms 16:08 that the neighbors call him? 16:11 Or does she take that child to a fostered home 16:15 and act like she has no child, 16:17 but she sneaks out on the side 16:18 and she's looking over the fence of the walls 16:21 to see if sometime she might see that child 16:22 and when she does her heart breaks, 16:24 tears her apart because she wants it for her own, 16:26 she can't have it. 16:29 Or does she just give up the child, 16:32 let somebody else adopt it. 16:35 And down in the depths of her mind 16:37 for the rest of her life wonder, 16:39 is that child all right? 16:41 I wonder where it is? What does she do? 16:45 I imagine Mary took the course that many take today. 16:50 You know, I'm only 15, 16, whatever age she was, 16:55 I can't be a fit mother and the child needs a father. 16:59 Best thing to do is just give up the child. 17:03 Maybe she gives it up. 17:04 And all of a sudden there now 17:05 comes tremendous tensions inside her. 17:08 A terrible guilt now, worse than the adultery, 17:11 worse than the fornication. 17:13 The guilt of giving up the child she had produced. 17:18 Now a new feeling takes over. 17:21 As she thinks back on the way that Simon handled this, 17:25 there burns a hatred in her that she'd never known before. 17:28 Not just for Simon, but a hatred for men, period. 17:33 She's half insane and the fear and the shame and the tension 17:37 and the hatred intensifies her guilt 17:39 as this chain reaction mushrooms. 17:40 And at last she says, "I'm terrible, I admit it. 17:45 I'm bad. I'm the worst. 17:49 You know, if I'm this bad, nothing can help me. 17:52 I might as well keep right on going, 17:53 I might as well make a business of it. 17:55 At least I can eat." 17:58 So she became a prostitute. 18:01 Every last time she looked into the eyes of a man, 18:03 all of that horrible tragedy would come back to her mind 18:06 until she finally couldn't take it anymore. 18:08 The guilt had reached unbearable proportions 18:11 and she was possessed by seven devils, 18:13 perfectly hopeless despair. 18:16 There's no way out. 18:18 That spark of life grew so tense, 18:20 the stress so great, the worry and hatred and fear 18:23 so intense that her mind snaps 18:26 and the flickering flame at last goes out 18:29 in that sensitive mind. 18:32 Darkness settles in, 18:36 and the life merges into that halfway 18:39 haunted nightmare world of the mentally sick 18:42 where she's now more dead than she is alive. 18:47 And this is where we find her 18:48 in that first piece of the collage 18:51 with the emptiness in her face. 18:55 There she is. 18:57 When suddenly out of the darkness 19:00 of her mental disease, a voice, "Mary." 19:07 And she looks up... 19:09 and she can see the form of a man. 19:11 All of the nightmare starts all over again. 19:13 The Bible says six times Jesus tried to get through 19:16 and heal Mary but He couldn't. 19:18 He couldn't break through to her. 19:20 She would just see the face of another man 19:22 and back she would go. 19:24 Well, He could have said, "Just forget it." 19:26 But He never did. Oh, how He loved her. 19:31 Finally, the seventh time she heard it again, "Mary." 19:36 And she looks up 19:38 and now she focuses into the eyes of Jesus. 19:42 Amen. 19:44 There's no sensuality there. She can't believe it. 19:47 She hates men, but not this one. 19:52 And for the first time in her adult life 19:54 she looks into the face of a man 19:55 that loved her for herself, 19:57 not for what He could get out of her. 20:00 Who loved her as a person, not as a thing to play with. 20:04 And she found her sanity. 20:06 She found herself when she found her God. 20:10 And out of the depths of despair came a gratitude 20:13 so deep that there's never been another person 20:15 in scripture as far as we know that 20:17 ever loved like this woman loved. 20:20 She who had been the rejected one, 20:22 through Christ had the breakthrough. 20:24 I mean, He could have extinguished 20:26 every spark of hope in her soul, but He did not. 20:29 His fathomless love lifted her from despair and ruin 20:34 and this woman became Mary, the beloved. 20:39 Amen. 20:41 Scene 2. 20:43 The next piece in this collage 20:48 is now the face of interest. 20:52 The Bible tells us there in Luke 8:1- 3 20:56 that Mary and the other women 20:59 of similar reputation followed Jesus 21:02 wherever He went, administered to His personal needs 21:05 and to those of the disciples'. 21:07 Do you ever wonder who did His washing? 21:11 Who did His ironing? 21:13 So help me, folks, it wasn't Peter. 21:17 Who cooked His meals? It surely wasn't John. 21:20 He was always arguing with his brother, 21:21 who's going to be on the right hand 21:22 of Jesus' side in the kingdom. 21:24 Folks, the women did. 21:27 They administered to Jesus' personal needs. 21:30 You know, as Jesus came along, 21:32 we usually picture it this way, well, it would be first Jesus, 21:34 then Peter, James and John and the other disciples. 21:37 But no, no, no, that's not the way it was. 21:39 It was Jesus, the three disciples, 21:42 then the women, and the rest of the disciples. 21:46 And it says in your Bible 21:47 that the elders of the town would come out 21:50 when they heard that Jesus was coming by 21:52 and they would stand in the town gates 21:53 and they would cluck, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, 21:56 look at the Messiah. 21:58 Look at the kinds of people, 22:00 you know, birds of a feather flock together. 22:03 Prostitutes, mentally sick. 22:05 What kind of a Messiah is this?" 22:07 And they taunted Him at the gates with this. 22:10 Oh, but Jesus loved too much to care. 22:14 He would not separate Himself from those 22:16 which He had helped like this. 22:18 He knew that Mary could not have stood the separation. 22:22 But one day Jesus evidently said to her, "Mary." 22:25 "Yes, Lord." "Mary, it's time to go home." 22:31 "Bethany?" asked Mary. "Yes, back to Bethany. 22:35 It's time for you to meet your family again." 22:37 "Oh, I can't. I've disgraced them. 22:41 Well, surely the word has gotten out." 22:43 "Mary, it's time to go home." 22:47 "But, Lord, I can't. 22:49 Simon still lives there in that town." 22:51 "Mary, it's time to go home." 22:55 And home they went. 22:57 When they got there, 22:58 Martha fixed a nice meal, where is Mary? 23:03 Again at the feet of Jesus. Amen. 23:06 The face of interest, now. Amen. 23:09 In fact, Martha finally comes out and barks at Jesus, 23:12 "Lord, why don't You tell my sister 23:13 to come into the kitchen and help me fix the meal?" 23:15 And Jesus made something very clear to her. 23:17 Now let's stop right there, Martha. 23:19 Martha, you're a wonderful woman, 23:20 you're a terrific cook, 23:22 I love to eat pizza at your house. 23:24 But Martha, your sister Mary 23:26 has chosen something far more important 23:28 than all the food in the world. 23:30 Amen. 23:31 She is hanging onto every word 23:33 that I give her, My words of love to her. 23:37 It's the heart that comes first, Martha. 23:39 All of the activity, even in the church 23:41 isn't going to save you. 23:43 It's the love of the Father in heaven and this alone. 23:45 Amen. 23:46 And Martha, that's what Mary has chosen. 23:50 Let her alone. 23:53 The next picture, the next little bits and pieces, 23:58 the feast at Simon's house. 24:02 No doubt Martha is catering the feast. 24:05 Now as you know, having studied the Bible, 24:07 I'm sure you realize 24:08 they did not have tables and chairs 24:11 like we have in the western society. 24:12 They ate laying down at a very low little table, 24:14 reclining usually on their left elbow, 24:16 leaning up against the next person. 24:18 Mary apparently came over to help Martha 24:21 and she sees Jesus reclining there, 24:23 Simon on one side and Lazarus on the other. 24:26 Jesus, eating at the feast 24:28 with His feet sticking out towards her. 24:31 Now Mary had heard Jesus tell 24:34 that He was going to die very soon. 24:37 Not one single Apostle, not one of the disciples caught on, 24:42 but she had. 24:43 And she went down to prepare for the funeral 24:45 and had spent an entire year's salary 24:48 to buy the most expensive 24:49 embalming perfume that there was, 24:51 an alabaster box of spikenard 24:54 from the mountains of the Himalayas. 24:55 What's an average year's salary here in this area of the world? 24:59 $35, $40,000? $50,000? 25:02 She spent the whole thing 25:05 for what was for princes and kings. 25:08 She thought, as she saw those feet, 25:13 soon they won't be walking, 25:14 they won't be walking the highways of Palestine. 25:17 "Why should I wait to give that to Him at the funeral? 25:19 I'm gonna go and get it and give it to Him now." 25:22 And she ran back home, she got the alabaster box, 25:24 she came running back and she broke it open 25:26 and she slipped in and she began to pour it 25:28 right there on the feet of Jesus. 25:30 Amen. 25:31 Now evidently because of the way they were reclining, 25:34 she avoided being noticed, she wasn't even seen. 25:37 But Simon, wealthy Pharisee that he was, 25:40 he had a very good sense of smell. 25:44 He began to sniff this expensive embalming fragrance 25:47 and he wondered, who has died? 25:50 And he looked around and sure enough 25:52 here is this lady at the feet of Jesus. 25:54 Simon immediately recognized her. 25:56 Oh, there she was, Mary! 25:59 He was repulsed, he was shocked. 26:02 He had often wondered whatever that happened to her 26:04 since the time he had humiliated her 26:06 and over the years, well, they sort of kept track, 26:08 hearing little bits and pieces of stories. 26:10 But he had not heard about what Jesus had done for her. 26:14 He only knew her to be an immoral outcast. 26:17 And he was horrified to have her 26:19 at his house at his feast. 26:22 And the Bible says in Luke 7:39 that he said to himself, 26:26 in other words in his thoughts. 26:28 "Oh, this man, if he were a prophet, 26:32 would have known who and what manner of woman 26:34 this is that toucheth Him, for she is a sinner." 26:39 And in verse 40, I love it here, 26:41 it says Jesus understood his thoughts 26:44 and He turned over and He sat up. 26:48 "Simon, I have something to say to you." 26:51 By this time the poor woman is caught right in the act. 26:54 And she is weeping, half tears of joy 26:56 for what Jesus had done for her. 26:57 But now she's frightened because 26:59 well, she's weeping because she's been discovered. 27:01 And the tears are coming down to-- 27:03 On His feet, and what do you do? 27:04 She hadn't even brought a towel. 27:06 So half consciously she lets down her long hair 27:09 and begins to wipe His feet with it. 27:11 Well, this horrified Simon even more because 27:14 in their culture that was an utter disgrace 27:17 for a woman to let down her hair in public. 27:19 And Jesus says, "Simon, now let me ask you this. 27:25 If there were two men 27:27 and one had a bigger debt cancelled than the other, 27:30 which one would love the most?" 27:32 Oh, Simon said, "Lord, 27:34 the one that had the biggest debt cancelled." 27:37 And Jesus says in verses 44-46, "That's right, Simon. 27:42 You know what? 27:43 I came into this house 27:45 and according to the laws of our people, 27:47 you were to wash my feet or have a servant do it. 27:50 You did not, look, the dirt is still on My feet 27:55 except where she has wept her tears." 27:57 Amen. 27:59 "And when I came into your house 28:00 according to the laws and customs of our people, 28:02 you were to take and embrace Me and kiss Me with a holy kiss. 28:05 You never touched Me with your lips, 28:08 yet she has never ceased to kiss My feet." 28:10 Amen. 28:12 "And when I came here, 28:14 Simon, you were to give Me tonic 28:15 for My hair, all dusty and windblown 28:17 that I might be ready for the feast. 28:19 Did you do this? No." 28:22 By this time Mary is standing up and she is pouring 28:24 some of that ointment on His hair. 28:28 "Ah, Simon" says Jesus. 28:31 "Simon, she has been forgiven much 28:35 and she loves much more deeply than you can ever understand." 28:40 Amen. 28:41 And He turns to the woman and He says, 28:42 "Mary, your sins are forgiven, 28:46 your faith has saved you, go in peace." 28:51 Amen. 28:53 The next scene in the collage... 29:02 is the face of sorrow, grief. 29:07 We have Mary again at the feet of Jesus, 29:12 but there's wood between them. 29:14 The cross. He's dead. 29:18 John has taken Mother Mary and gone. 29:20 And the other disciples, well, they were hiding up 29:22 in the last place they saw Jesus in peace, the upper room. 29:25 And the door is locked. 29:26 "Come on fellows, get the bolts on. 29:27 We don't want anyone to find us here. 29:29 They might kill us, too." 29:30 Everybody has left Jesus, uh-uh, not Mary. 29:36 She is weeping at His feet 29:39 and her tears again are running down on His feet 29:41 just like at the feast, 29:43 only this time they're not mingled with perfume 29:45 but with the blood from the nails 29:47 hammered through them. 29:49 But she would never leave Him. She loved Him too much. 29:52 "They can kill me, I don't care, 29:54 I'll never leave Him." 29:55 And the Bible says, then came 29:57 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. 29:59 And together with her they take the body down 30:02 and she helps them and quickly 30:03 put some embalming materials around it 30:05 and get it into the grave 30:06 because the Sabbath is coming on. 30:08 And then she watches as the stone is rolled across. 30:13 Sunday morning. It's dark out there. 30:18 "Peter, Peter?" "Shh, quiet. 30:23 I'm over here. 30:24 Don't talk too loud, they might find out we're up here. 30:27 Is that bar on the door?" "Yes." 30:29 "Well, keep it there. Mary? Mary?" 30:35 "She's not here." 30:36 "Where is Mary?" "I don't know." 30:38 Here in the early morning dusk all by herself, 30:41 walking down to finish the job is Mary. 30:46 And she is saying to herself, 30:47 "I wonder who will roll away the stone 30:48 because I'm gonna give Him a decent burial." 30:53 They were scared, not Mary. 30:56 You know the story. She arrives at the tomb. 30:58 Oh, the stone, it's gone. 31:02 So is the body, oh, someone stole away His body. 31:05 And she runs back to the disciples. 31:07 They scarcely will let her in. 31:09 She tells them. They don't believe it. 31:10 Finally, Peter and John, they dare it, 31:13 the Bible says and they run to the tomb. 31:15 Sure enough, it's true. And she races up behind them. 31:18 "Peter, Peter, how could they've done a thing like this? 31:21 Robbing His very grave! 31:22 I mean, they gave Him no peace in life 31:24 and they don't even give Him any peace in death." 31:27 John looks this way and then he puts his arm around Mary 31:29 and he says, "Mary, come, 31:30 come back with us to the upper room 31:32 where we last saw Him in peace." 31:35 "No," she says, "I want to be here 31:37 where I last saw Him, right here." 31:40 And they left, they bided. 31:43 And as she lingers there, she thinks 31:46 how horribly they have desecrated Him even in death 31:48 and she bursts into tears again. 31:51 And she is kneeling, weeping 31:55 and she hears the sound of feet on gravel. 31:58 And she looks through her tears 31:59 and sees the feet, it's the gardener. 32:05 "Oh," she says, "Sir, please, 32:08 would you just tell me where they have put him. 32:10 And I will go and I will take Him away." 32:14 That little woman take away 32:16 the great big carpenter of Nazareth? 32:18 How could she do it? 32:20 I don't know, but that's what she wanted to do. 32:24 And then in the darkness of her despair, 32:26 again a voice, "Mary." 32:34 The voice, the voice that had brought life 32:37 to her once before. 32:38 She looks up, it is, it's Jesus. 32:41 Resurrected and real, He's not dead, He's alive. 32:44 "Oh, He's gonna never get away from me now" 32:46 And she grabs Him and holds on to His legs. 32:48 "I'm never gonna let you go." 32:50 And Jesus says, "Mary, you must. 32:53 I've got to go back to My Father. 32:55 So don't detain Me. 32:57 But you, Mary, you go back and tell those 32:59 chicken livered disciples of mine that I'm alive. 33:02 And tell that I'm gonna meet them 33:04 where I promised to meet them in Galilee." 33:06 Beloved, listen, Mary became the first person 33:11 to see the resurrected Jesus. 33:12 Amen. 33:14 She became the first person 33:15 ever to preach the gospel story of a risen Savior. 33:17 Amen. 33:19 Her tears of grief became tears of joy. 33:23 From the depths of sin she had gone 33:25 to the depths of despair. 33:27 Only the depths of understanding 33:29 love of Jesus could possibly meet that. 33:32 And He did and He turned it into the depths of love. 33:39 You know, Jesus had told His disciples, 33:41 "The least among you, he shall be the greatest. 33:46 He that is last, shall be first." 33:51 Dear friends, Mary had a depth of love 33:53 that you'll find in no other follower 33:55 of Jesus Christ in all of the Bible. 33:57 None. 33:58 There is none that can compare with her. 34:01 And the Bible teaches clearly 34:02 that those who love God the most 34:05 will be nearest to Him in the kingdom. 34:08 And I cannot help but wonder 34:10 what her position will be in Heaven. 34:14 Could I suggest the possibility? 34:16 Who will be there on His right hand? 34:19 Peter? Brave man, Peter. 34:23 I doubt it. 34:25 Well, how about loving John? Maybe. 34:32 When I get there, I won't at all be surprised 34:34 to look and see the former mental patient from Magdala 34:38 who made her living by prostitution. 34:42 She will stand by His side forever 34:45 as a symbol of Christ's church and how He redeemed it 34:49 from the depths of despair 34:50 into the highest holy places of eternity. 34:52 Amen. Praise the Lord. 34:54 This then is the collage. 34:59 In Mary we see the glorious collage masterpiece of Jesus, 35:03 the Master Artist. 35:06 But, you know, Jesus knows 35:07 the circumstances of every soul. 35:10 Amen. 35:11 You may be there watching today or listening. 35:14 You may be saying to yourself, "I'm sinful." 35:20 I just passed April 15 35:22 and I got to admit, I'm really dishonest. 35:25 I'm a thief, I hate somebody, 35:28 so I'm a murderer, I'm a liar. 35:31 Or maybe you're sitting down there and you're saying, 35:33 "You know, if people just knew, 35:34 I'm pregnant, too, at 15, just like Mary." 35:39 You may be, but friend, the greater your mistake, 35:43 the more you need Jesus. 35:45 Amen. 35:46 He won't turn you away, 35:48 He won't tell on you, He won't disappoint you. 35:51 Amen. 35:52 He'll forgive. Amen. 35:55 Jesus, the master collage artist is here right now. 36:03 Amen. Praise the Lord. 36:04 Amen. 36:06 He's walking this building today. 36:10 The Master artist at this moment 36:12 is ready to make a masterpiece out of you. 36:15 Walking in this discussion from the Book of John, 36:18 the highways and byways of your minds and your heart, 36:22 searching for those odd bits and scraps 36:24 that maybe you've been hiding under the rug 36:26 and keeping in the closet for years. 36:29 Friend, He wants to take these, 36:31 He wants those things, He wants to put them together 36:33 until He has fashioned out of you 36:35 a beautiful masterpiece of Himself, 36:38 just like He did with Mary. 36:40 Amen. 36:41 I want you to be honest for a moment 36:43 about the big issues we've been looking 36:44 at from night to night here in the meetings 36:46 and if you folks haven't been here, ask yourself, why? 36:50 But I want you to come face to face with yourself right now 36:53 and with God and I want you to ask the question, 36:58 "What am I hiding?" 37:01 Come on, what have you been doing 37:04 that you don't tell other people? 37:05 But you know it's hidden down there, 37:07 way down in the unconscious recesses 37:10 of the closet of your mind. 37:11 Come on, what's down there? 37:14 Be honest. 37:16 Oh, but you say that, 37:18 "I don't like to see it, it depresses me." 37:20 Uh-huh, me too. 37:25 But I would like you today to open the closet, 37:28 pick up the rug, let's get it out. 37:31 The master collage artist is gonna take those little bits 37:34 and scraps of nothingness 37:35 and He's going to put them together into a great life. 37:40 Take the scraps, let Him take them. 37:44 Decide to let Him make something great out of you. 37:49 Listen to the words of this song. 37:54 There is a Savior 38:00 What joys expressed 38:06 His eyes are mercy 38:11 His word is rest 38:16 For each tomorrow 38:22 For yesterday 38:28 There is a Savior 38:33 Who lights our way 38:40 Are there burdens in your heart? 38:44 Is your past a memory that binds you? 38:52 Is there some pain 38:55 That you've carried far too long? 39:02 Then strengthen your heart with His good news 39:12 There is a Savior 39:18 And He's forgiven you 39:24 Would you bow your heads 39:25 and pray with me before Joey continues. 39:27 Master Artist, Jesus, our savior, 39:33 thank you for working in us 39:34 your marvelous miracle of transforming love 39:38 which can change every last one of us from crude, 39:43 bumbling creatures into sense of light, glory. 39:48 Lord, thanks for taking the rap for us 39:50 to save us from embarrassment and exposure 39:55 of every single one of our secret sins. 39:58 And thanks, too, for continuing to search out 40:00 for individuals just like us 40:03 buried in the scrap heap of life. 40:07 Now, Lord, this is a solemn moment 40:08 from many here today who are listening. 40:11 Life and death, rest in the balances right now. 40:18 Can I ask the row captains to pass 40:20 those response cards down the aisle 40:22 so you can have one in your hand. 40:23 Please, take one, everyone today, every person. 40:27 But with every head bowed I wonder who is willing 40:30 as they've heard the words of God. 40:33 With an invitation today and pointing out your duty 40:36 and you've been studying with us 40:37 about God's wonderful, wonderful plan. 40:41 You've been considering its, its great importance. 40:45 How many feel today that the time has come 40:47 for you to step out and fully and completely 40:49 accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior? 40:54 To give your whole life to Him. 40:57 I'd like to make an invitation 40:59 this morning, it's a little different 41:00 from what we've done from night to night. 41:01 I would like to invite you to bring that card 41:03 and get up to your feet, stand right now, 41:06 come down to the front, we'd love to pray with you, 41:09 I want to pray with you. 41:11 Wherever you are, Jesus never missed an opportunity 41:13 to invite people to take a stand for Him. 41:16 I'm gonna invite our row captains, 41:18 I'm gonna invite our pastors 41:19 and our counselors, our Bible workers 41:21 to come on down to the front here. 41:22 I'm inviting you to take a stand for Jesus. 41:25 And I want to do this, right now, this morning. 41:32 Wherever you are in your downlink location, 41:33 if you're a young person that's sitting with us today, 41:36 maybe you're an individual 41:37 who has already made your decision, 41:39 you've written it on that card, 41:40 I want you to just come down 41:42 'cause we want to pray with you. 41:44 Maybe you're a member of an another church 41:45 but you want to recommit your life to Jesus 41:48 and begin to follow maybe some new light 41:50 that you've understood. 41:51 Is there someone here 41:52 who perhaps has lost their fellowship with Jesus 41:55 who used to be a member of a church, 41:57 perhaps even baptized 41:58 but you'd like to return to Jesus 42:00 or just stand up and be an encouragement 42:02 to someone else by coming down, 42:04 giving your life to Jesus Christ all brand new. 42:07 Come right now while Joey sings. 42:15 There is a Savior 42:21 What joys expressed 42:26 His eyes are mercy 42:32 His word is rest 42:36 For each tomorrow 42:43 For yesterday 42:48 There is a Savior 42:54 Who lights our way 43:00 There is a Savior 43:06 Who lights our way 43:14 Let's continue in that prayer. 43:15 Heavenly Father, here we are, Your church, 43:21 brothers and sisters at the foot of the cross. 43:26 Lord, we know that Your Spirit 43:28 has been sensitively playing on our hearts 43:30 from night to night here. 43:31 But this morning in particular 43:33 as we look at the story of Mary. 43:36 Your marvelous miracle of transforming love. 43:39 Lord that can change every last one of us. 43:44 And so we want to thank You 43:46 and thank You for taking that rap for us 43:48 to save us from our sins. 43:51 I want you to take your response card. 43:55 There are several options for us this morning. 43:58 You'll have a chance to slip back to your seat, 44:01 but right now notice number one, 44:05 if you'd like to check I want to consecrate my heart, 44:08 my mind, my affections to Jesus today. 44:12 I see many young people 44:13 are sitting out in these rows right here. 44:15 That's one I'd like to have you check. 44:18 I want to check and consecrate my heart, 44:21 my mind, my affections to Jesus. 44:24 Number two, there may be individuals 44:25 who like to check the second one. 44:27 We're gonna be talking about that when later in this series. 44:30 I'd like to baptized soon. 44:33 We'd be happy to have you check that. 44:34 Many of you have already. 44:36 Number three, I want to renew my fellowship with Jesus 44:41 and I wish to be re-baptized. 44:43 We will be talking about that, too, 44:45 but someone might like to indicate that this morning. 44:48 And number four, since I've already been baptized, 44:52 I'm a baptized, born again Christian, 44:53 I just want to join the church by profession of faith. 44:58 We can arrange that with you, too, 44:59 you check that if that's your desire this morning. 45:03 Father in heaven, what a privilege to be here. 45:07 And if there's some person yet who's not stood to their feet. 45:10 Maybe it's difficult whether seated 45:12 or in the downlink location 45:14 it's not easy to slip out into the aisle. 45:17 I invite them to stand right where they are just now 45:20 and be included in this prayer 45:21 that their life is being committed 45:23 to Jesus Christ fully and completely. 45:26 Friend, wherever you're located, 45:27 would you stand, if you can move down 45:29 toward the screen wherever you are. 45:31 Please, join us down here, 45:33 some of the counselors will be sure to meet you. 45:36 Thank you for standing. 45:37 And the audience, many around here. 45:40 If there are someone who'd like to say 45:41 as we close this prayer. 45:42 Lord, I've sensed Your still small voice 45:45 and I want to be able to make a decision 45:47 somehow, someway, I got some things, 45:49 some issues in my life, 45:50 but I want to be included in this prayer. 45:53 Would you just raise your hand to heaven 45:54 with your eyes closed and God will see your hand 45:57 and His angels record that response 45:59 and they will be there through the Holy Spirit 46:01 to guide and to direct you and to help you. 46:03 God bless each sincere hand. 46:07 And now as Jesus said to Mary, He says to us today. 46:13 Your sins are forgiven. 46:17 Your faith has saved you, go, go in peace. 46:24 Amen. 46:26 Remember our subject tonight, making a new start. 46:31 Don't miss that. 46:33 Remember as we leave, we end our broadcast every day. 46:37 Friend, God loves you. 46:39 We'll see you tonight. God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17