There’s Something About Mary- An Easter Message

Have you ever watched the movie, "There’s something about Mary?"
Well, I'm telling you, there's something about that Mary.
There’s so many great people of old.
Noah, Moses, David
Yet there’s just something about Mary, that’s so worthy of our attention.
Now Mary’s one of those names that seemed to be SUPER played out during the lifetime of Jesus.
The Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, Mary the mother of James and Joses.
But there was something about Mary of Bethany that I think we ought to take notice.
Because we see her journey to know and experience Jesus in a real and powerful way.
Many of us are from different walks of life, We are in different places in our belief in Jesus.
But like Mary, I hope we can come to a place where Mary ended up.
Mary and Martha’s House
So who is this Mary of Bethany?
Well, the first we learn of her comes in Luke 10:38-41.
So there’s 3 siblings that live together in the town of Bethany, very close to Jerusalem.
Here’s this story where they open up there house for Jesus to stay as he’s traveling, and Martha’s going around the house, taking care of all this stuff… cleaning the house, preparing the meal.
Mary just sits there, at the feet of Jesus.
Martha sees this and she’s furious! “Tell her to help me!”
But Jesus replies, “Mary has chosen to do what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Mary was there just seeking to hear from Jesus
But all we know is that she sat and listened to the things Jesus taught.

But then we go on to a later event where she grows in her understanding of Jesus.
Mary’s about to learn about some real, ultimate Power.
Turn with me to John 11.
Pray
Here in John 11, Mary and Martha are in some desperate need of help. Lazarus is sick an about to die.
By this time, since it’s near the end of Jesus’ life, they’ve probably come to know Jesus quite well.
And if there’s anyone who can help their dying brother, well, in their mind, it’s gotta be Jesus.
So they send a message over to Jesus, about a day’s journey away.
EX: James flying up to SF.
So what does Jesus do? Jump on his donkey and rides off into the sunset right?
Wrong. V. 5 says “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”
Who’s good at math? 4 Days!
Why? To make sure he’s dead.
Jesus could have boned out and made it there in the nick of time to keep Lazarus from dying.
But he was about to show Mary and Martha the POWER embodied in this man Jesus.

(v 17) “ON his arrival Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.”
(v 21) And as he’s walking toward where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived, Martha comes to Jesus saying “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Jesus says to her, “Your brother will rise again.” In other words, “Your brother will resurrect.”
(v. 24) Martha, being familiar with Jesus’ teaching, says “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
See, based on Jesus’ teaching, as well as other Jewish teaching, the righteous people who die will one day be raised from the dead. Resurrected to Life again. And Martha says, Yeah, I know that one day he’ll rise again, but I wanted him alive now.
I want you to jot down something in your sermon notes. It’s the one of the most important things you’ll hear today:

Jesus’ Resurrection gives us Hope for Life.
Jesus said to her in v 25. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
What in the world was that about? Let me break it down for you real simple.
Jesus first says I am the Resurrection and the Life.
Doesn’t that sound weird? How can some BE the resurrection and BE the Life.
He is the very source that resurrects someone. He is the very power that gives a person Life.
Resurrection = physical raising up of life.
Life = spiritual Life.
Jesus is saying, I am the source of BOTH physical and spiritual life.
So when Martha says “yeah, I know my bro will Resurrect one day in the future,”
Jesus is saying, “Hey listen. Who do you think resurrects Him? If I can raise him then, I can now!”
Then he goes on:
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
That’s Super confusing. But let me break it down for you.
He who believes in me will live (Spiritually), even though he dies (Physically)
whoever lives (physically) and believes in me will never die (Spiritually).
Bottom line: If we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal, spiritual life.

The Bible teaches that there is no one good, not one.
Because no one is good, no one deserves an everlasting relationship with a Good God.
I know a lot of you are good people. How many of you have made a sacrifice to help another?
You can be like the Dahli Lama or Mother Teresa. You can help people, feed the homeless…
But you only have the capacity to be good horizontally.
We do not have the capacity to be good vertically.
Because of sin, there is not one of us who is perfectly good in the eyes of a perfectly Good God.
You have already been disqualified from having everlasting relationship with a perfect God.
So the result: You will die physically, and you will die spiritually.
And by spiritual death, we’re not talking about your spirit ceasing to exist, but Eternal suffering.

But Jesus here is saying, “Hey look. I am the power behind a physical resurrection, yeah, but I am also the power behind spiritual Life. BELIEVE IN ME, and you will LIVE.”
You will be taken from being spiritually dead, and made spiritually alive and be with God.
This is the Hope of Life we have when we believe.

Ex: San Diego evangelism. Christians are joyful when people die.
I thought, that’s true. When Christians die, we ultimately are able to say, “Praise the Lord!”
But guys, can I remind you, death is not a good thing.
Death is a result of sin. Introduced by the temptation of Satan. Death is the power of the evil one (Heb 2:14-15). DEATH is NOT good.
It’s the resurrection that’s good, cause in it death is conquered. Death is overcome. Death is no more.
It’s because of resurrection both, spiritual and physical, that Christians are able to rejoice and be glad.
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.
He has the power to raise a person who is spiritually dead and make him spiritually alive.

But do you know validates this? The fact that Christ Himself died, and was himself resurrected.
Did you know there are more sources and clearer evidence for Jesus’ resurrection than Ceasar?
1 Cor 15:14 says, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
A lot of different want to offer spiritual hope.
EX: True story. There was a Muslim guy who converted to Christianity.
Muhammad is dead. Buddha’s dead. Confucius is dead. Joseph Smith is dead. Jesus is alive.
Because He is alive, we know he is who he said he was, and that he will do what he says he will do.
Here in John 11 Jesus says believe in me, and you will be given everlasting Life.
That’s our Hope of life.
Jesus’ asks the question in v 26, “Do you believe this?” Do you?

Jesus then gives them a little something to prove that he is the source of life.
In v 33, it says he sees Mary just weeping. She too was thinking “Jesus if you had just been here.”
So Jesus walks to the tomb and says “Take away the stone” (v. 39).
Jesus, gives thanks to God the Father, then in a loud voice, calls out “Lazarus, come out!”
“The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” (43-44)
Mary and Martha not only heard that Jesus teach them that he is able to resurrect, now they saw it.
This is the hope of life that we have.

We can experience the power of Christ in our lives now, if we would believe That Christ is that power!
I don’t know where you come from as you sit here today.
Maybe you’re overcome by a trial or suffering: Insecurity, An addiction to pornography, Depression, Hurt or pain.
But we can experience the power of Christ’s resurrection now, as Mary did.
Eph 1 Paul says “I pray that you would know the hope in you and19…his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, (Eph 1:18-20)
The power of the resurrection is not just something we’ll experience at a future event. We have hope now, because that same power that raise Jesus from the dead is made available to us right NOW.
Do you believe that with whatever struggle, that Christ has the power to raise you up out of it?
He raise a man from the dead! He raised HIMSELF from the dead!

Guys, in you believe that Christ for you, and has accomplished the physically impossible by resurrection, do you realize you have already don the difficult stuff! To believe in the resurrection takes a tremendous amount of faith, a faith that is assisted by Divine Grace. It is from God.
But if you can believe in the resurrection, do you believe that God can raise you out of what you are going through right now, or will go through in the future?
We don’t only have an eternal spiritual hope available to us, we have hope also now in the present.
The Resurrection gives us present hope.



Jesus’ Resurrection gives us Present Hope.
Jn 12, a dinner in Bethany is held in Jesus’ honor.
Of course Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are there.
Martha’s serving them, again. And guess where Mary is, again? At Jesus’ feet.
But this time, she’s not there to learn from him. She’s done that already. She’s already seen it.
(v. 3) “Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
EX: CK. I checked it out, it’s $40.00-50.00.
Judas says it was worth a years wages!
Why? She was worshipping Jesus. It was a sacrifice, an act of worship, because now she knows.
V. 7, Jesus says “Leave her alone…it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”
Did you get that? That perfume was reserved for his burial. It was the perfume that was used to anoint dead bodies with.
But Mary of Bethany takes it and pours it on him now. Why? He’s not dead.
It seems to me that Mary got it. Jesus’ death on the cross isn’t the end of the story. There’s hope! He is the resurrection!
Why does she need to save it for his dead body, when his dead body ain’t gonna be there?

CROSS: When Jesus was hanging on the cross, it says that the Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Mary wife of Clopas was there.
TOMB: Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of James was there.
But where was Mary of Bethany? She wasn’t at the cross, nor the tomb.

The perfume was already used up. She knew that she wouldn’t need it.
She used it to worship him, because now she understood that He is indeed all that He says He is.
He is The Resurrection and the Life.
Her hope is found now, in the present, and her worship is given NOW to a Jesus that’s alive.

Here’s the thing about Mary. Mary’s life was changed by the Power of Christ.
But it was a journey for her to come to know it.
She took the time to learn from Jesus.
She experienced the power of Jesus at work.
And finally when she believed, she responded in worship.
Her hope was found.

Today, that Hope is made available to anyone who believes, rich, poor, young, old, intelligent, or simple.
Closing Story: Phillip.
For me, it’s empty. For Phillip, it’s empty. Completely empty. Christ is risen! That’s Hope!
Even though at that moment his body lay dead, He was alive in Christ. He has the hope of the Resurrection.