That Last Week: A Homily on John 12

Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ,

If you are a Bible-believing, blood-bought, fundamentalist Christian who still holds fast to the old paths, then this message is for you. Turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 12. This is no ordinary chapter in Scripture. This is the divine record of **that last week**—the final seven days of our Lord Jesus Christ’s public ministry before He went to the cross for the sins of the world.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrives in Bethany, the home of Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead. The air is thick with destiny. The crowds are swelling. The religious leaders are already plotting His death. And the Savior of the world is deliberately walking straight into the storm that will redeem humanity. This is not dusty ancient history, dear friends. This is the living pattern of every soul that ever comes face-to-face with the King of kings.

In John 12 the Holy Spirit clearly shows us three distinct responses to Jesus Christ during His final week on earth. Today, under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, we must ask ourselves the same piercing question the Lord asked them: **Which response will you make?**

Let us hear the Word of the living God. John 12:1-8 (KJV) declares:

“Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”

1. The Response of Extravagant Worship – Mary’s Broken Alabaster Box

Look at Mary. She takes a pound of pure spikenard—worth an entire year’s wages—and pours it all out on the feet of Jesus. No half-measures. No concern for what others will think. She breaks the alabaster box, wipes His feet with her hair, and the whole house is filled with the sweet odour of the ointment.

Fundamentalist brethren, this is the *only* right response to the One who is about to die for you! Mary understood what the others missed: Jesus is heading straight to the cross. She was anointing Him for burial while He was still alive. True worship is always costly. It always has been.

Church, are you sitting in the pew this week with your own “spikenard” still sealed up tight? Your time, your talent, your treasure, your reputation—are they all locked away while Jesus passes by? Mary gave her very best while she still could. Jesus Himself said, “me ye have not always.” One day the opportunity to pour out your life on the Lord will be gone forever. Will you break your alabaster box today?

2. The Response of Hypocritical Betrayal – Judas the Thief

Now look at Judas Iscariot in the very same room, at the very same supper, with the very same Jesus. His heart is black as midnight. He pretends to care about the poor—“Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?”—yet the Bible plainly tells us he was a thief who stole from the money bag.

This is a solemn warning straight from the lips of our Saviour. You can sit in a fundamentalist church week after week, carry a big King James Bible, quote the old-time preachers, and still have a heart that has never been broken by the cross. Judas walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He saw the miracles. He heard the sermons. He even preached and cast out devils himself. Yet in that last week he sold the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver.

I ask you this morning with fear and trembling: Is there a Judas in this room? Is there someone whose lips say “Lord, Lord,” but whose heart is far from Him? The Bible commands us, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Don’t wait until it’s too late.

3. The Response of Superficial Admiration – The Fickle Palm Sunday Crowd

By verse 12 the crowds are shouting, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord!” They lay palm branches and coats in the road. They think Jesus is about to overthrow Rome and set up an earthly kingdom right then and there.

But notice verse 16: “These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him.” The same crowd that cried “Hosanna!” five days later screamed “Crucify Him!” That is the deadly danger of superficial admiration. It looks spiritual on Palm Sunday but folds like a cheap suit when the cross comes.

Fundamentalist Christians are not called to wave palm branches and cheer when it’s popular. We are called to take up our cross and follow Him even when the crowd turns against us.

Later in the chapter the Greeks come seeking Jesus. Jesus declares, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” Then He speaks those immortal words: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). That, dear friends, is the gospel! Jesus had to die so that you and I could live. He had to be lifted up on the cross so that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The Warning That Still Echoes Today

The chapter closes with a solemn warning. Many believed not. Even after all the miracles, they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Jesus cries out: “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46).

My final question to every fundamentalist believer reading this: Which response are you making to Jesus in **your** last week?

We are living in the last days. The signs of the times are screaming at us. The King is coming back—this time not on a donkey but on a white horse with a sword in His mouth (Revelation 19:11-16).

Will you be like Mary—broken, poured out, fragrant with wholehearted devotion?  

Will you be like Judas—religious on the outside, lost on the inside?  

Or will you be like the fickle crowd—cheering one day and cursing the next?

I plead with you by the mercies of God: fall at the feet of Jesus today. If you have never been born again, repent of your sin right now and trust the blood of the Lamb that was slain. If you are saved but your worship has grown cold, bring your alabaster box and break it open afresh.

The house was filled with the odour of the ointment when Mary poured it out. May your heart, your home, and your church be filled with the sweet savour of surrendered lives this very day!

Let Us Pray

Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for John 12 and for that last week. We thank You that Jesus did not turn back. He went all the way to Calvary for sinners like us.

Lord, search every heart reading this post. If there is a Judas here, convict him. If there is a Mary here, fill her with fresh oil. If there is someone on the fence, draw them to the foot of the cross.

We give You all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise. In the powerful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

The altar is open. Don’t leave this page the same way you came to it. **That last week** changed everything for the world. Let this moment change everything for you.

Go in the power of the resurrected Christ!

*Share this post if it blessed you. The King is coming—make sure your response to Him is right.*

DMMC 

3-27-26