I love the opening scene to John 12, and I just want to pause there. I talk about this in a By Way of Reminder lesson, but it’s a revisit to the scene of Mary and Martha. Mary again is at Jesus’ feet. Martha is again serving. When Jesus told her she was distracted and worried about many things and how Mary had chosen the good portion, Jesus wasn’t telling her it was wrong to serve. Martha’s heart had to change. Now she served with a cheerful, willing heart instead of a huffing, resentful heart.

Mary had a different portion. She served in another way. She was prophetically preparing Jesus for His burial. The fragrance filled the house.

Are you pouring out a sweet aroma into your home through your loving, servant’s heart, or a bitter perfume of complaining?

That home, filled with servants of Christ, was the last stop before Jesus makes His final earthly ride into Jerusalem. They are shouting that Jesus is the king of Israel.

My favorite quote about this scene is from Corrie Ten Boom. She was asked about how she dealt with all the praise from people. She said something like, “The donkey carrying Jesus into Jerusalem never for a moment thought they were clapping for him.”

Jesus talks of being glorified, but He knows it’s the Father that will glorify Him. He doesn’t look for glory from man. The crowd will be shouting, “Kill him!” in a week. His glory and honor will come from the Father.

Jesus knows that to receive that glory, he must be obedient unto death. He will lose His life and keep it for eternity. He knows that death brings life. He was there at creation and all things were created through Him. The seed has to come from the dead plant and be buried to bring forth multiplied fruit. Jesus did that. He knows that the greatest impact His life can have is through death and then through life brought from death.

He knows that to draw all people to Himself, He needs to be lifted up. The cross is His achievement, and the full surrender of a life laid down for God is our ultimate goal. That’s being like Jesus.