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John 12 is all about love-bursts. Mary had a love-burst, heart full for Jesus. We introduced that in the last episode. She left the table,...and got a small bottle out of her basket. It was full of a very valuable fragrant oil, worth a year's wages. What would that be for you? Put your number on it. Imagine pouring that out. She walks over to Jesus and uncorks the bottle. By now she has everyone's attention, they know what it is. She pours it out. Over his head and shoulders, his feet. And then she wipes off his feet with her hair.

This was the crazy generosity of a love-burst. The disciples thought it was too much. When is the last time you were crazy generous like that? The crazy generosity of a love-burst!

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John 12 starts on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. Jesus is at Lazarus' house. Yep same Lazarus that was recently dead, now living life large. Jesus is there and I'm telling you everyone wants to see Jesus, everyone wants to be on team Jesus. The crowds are going hard after Jesus. The next day is Palm Sunday, the processional of King Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds continue to grow.

But at the heart of the Saturday before Palm Sunday is the love-burst of Mary...for Jesus. For 2000+ years this story has been told. It's how Mary is remembered? It makes me wonder how I will be remembered. Have you ever had a love-burst?

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In John 11, we get a whole new picture of Jesus. We see Jesus, standing near the tomb of his friend, pain and grief cascading over him. It's not simply the death of his friend that he rails against, it is the hand behind death. It is the power behind evil, this death symbolizes the accumulation of all that is wrong in the world. Evil, pain, sorrow and suffering, hopelessness, despair, injustice, cruelty, loneliness, and sin. He weeps for his friends, but he is deeply moved by the outrageous abnormality of what has become normal.

As he turns to the tomb, Christ comes face to face with messed up stuff that Father God never intended his children to face when he created us and called it good. He is stirred up in His spirit and shows his face as our champion!