Matthew 26:1–16
If you have your Bible, open it to Matthew 26. Today I want to wrestle with a simple but searching question:
Where does your devotion lie?
I titled the message that way on purpose, because this passage shows us a tale of two devotions. And as I mentioned last week—there is no middle ground with God.
You are either devoted to Christ, or you are not.
Jesus has just finished His final teachings, and the shadow of the cross now hangs fully over the Gospel narrative. Matthew begins the chapter by reminding us that Jesus is not caught off guard. He is not the victim of circumstance. He is not scrambling to respond to the threats around Him.
No—He is in full control.
“You know that after two days the Passover is coming,
and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
— Matthew 26:2
Jesus had predicted this moment repeatedly. Now the Passover approaches—a time when Jerusalem swelled to nearly five times its normal population. Yet even in the middle of the crowds, the religious leaders gather in secret, plotting Jesus’ death behind closed doors.
On one side of town, in the palace of Caiaphas, the religious elite are scheming.
On the other side, in the humble home of Simon the leper, a woman is worshiping.
And right there Matthew gives us the contrast that frames the whole passage.
A Tale of Two Devotions
Imagine the scene.
In Caiaphas’s palace, men who look clean on the outside are busy preparing for Passover. They are purifying themselves, making sure every ritual box is checked.
But inside those purified bodies sit polluted hearts—hearts plotting murder.
Meanwhile Jesus is reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper—a place every religious leader would have avoided. And in that humble setting, a woman comes forward with an alabaster flask of extremely expensive perfume and pours it over Jesus’ head.
While religious men sit in clean places with dirty hearts, this woman sits in an “unclean” place with a heart overflowing in worship.
Holiness is not found in the palace.
Holiness is found wherever Jesus is.
1. Love Serves. Hate Schemes.
This woman—John’s Gospel tells us she is Mary—demonstrates a devotion that stops heaven in its tracks. She pours out what was likely a year’s wage. To the disciples, it seems like a waste.
To Jesus, it is beautiful.
“She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
— Matthew 26:10
Her act is extravagant, costly, misunderstood, and yet Jesus says it will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached.
Why?
Because love serves.
She shows us something crucial:
Jesus must come first—above money, above reputation, above expectations, above the needs around us, above everything.
The disciples’ theology was off because they placed service to others on the same level as devotion to Christ. But you cannot love others well unless you first love Him most.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the story, we find Judas.
One of Jesus’ own.
One who walked with Him, watched Him, learned from Him.
And yet Judas slips into the darkness to strike a deal.
“What will you give me if I deliver him to you?”
— Matthew 26:15
Thirty pieces of silver.
Not even half of what Mary poured on Jesus’ head.
Her devotion is uncalculating generosity.
His devotion is cold calculation.
Mary serves.
Judas schemes.
But Christ redeems.
2. Despite Our Sin, Jesus Still Died for Sinners
Here is the beauty of the gospel in this passage:
Love serves. Hate schemes. But Christ redeems.
Mary prepares Jesus’ body for burial without even knowing it. Judas prepares to betray Him, and the religious elite prepare to arrest Him. And through it all—Jesus walks toward the cross on purpose.
He is not a victim of their schemes.
He is the Redeemer fulfilling His mission.
He goes to the cross knowing exactly how deeply humanity betrays Him—and He goes anyway.
He died for Judas-hearted sinners like us so He could give us hearts that love Him.
And then Matthew gives us a picture in Bethany of something that looks like waste—but is actually worship. The perfume poured out looks like a seed buried in the soil. To everyone watching, it seems lost, wasted, gone.
But burial isn’t the end.
Burial is the beginning.
What looked wasted at Bethany would bloom in the resurrection.
What looked like defeat on the cross became eternal victory.
What looked buried in the tomb was planted for glory.
3. What Do We Sell Jesus For?
Before we judge Judas too quickly, we need to ask an honest question:
How much would you sell Jesus for?
Most of us say, “I’d never betray Him!”
But we often betray Him for far less than thirty pieces of silver.
Some sell Christ for comfort—choosing ease over obedience.
Some for convenience—following Him only when it costs nothing.
Some for approval—wanting acceptance more than faithfulness.
Some for secret sin—clinging to what destroys us.
Some for busyness—filling every schedule except the one that includes Him.
Some for self-glory—choosing our reputation over His name.
Some for control—trusting our plan over God’s will.
Some for money—just like Judas.
Judas’s price was thirty pieces of silver.
Ours may be smaller—but often far more subtle.
We betray Him today not with a kiss, but with compromise:
When we call Him Lord but won’t obey Him…
When we praise Him on Sunday but ignore Him Monday…
When we hide our faith…
When we treat sin lightly…
When we want His blessings more than His presence…
Judas had his moment in history.
We have ours every day.
But praise God—Christ went to the cross knowing we would betray Him.
And He died so our hearts could be changed.
4. The Economics Professor and the Cost of Sin
There’s an old story about an economics professor who auctioned off a dollar bill every year. The highest bidder won the dollar, but the second-highest bidder still had to pay their bid. Before long, two embarrassed students were paying more than the dollar was worth simply because they couldn’t admit they were losing.
That’s how sin works.
We start small—just a little compromise, just a little pride, just a little sin.
But sin always raises the price.
We pay with our peace.
We pay with our joy.
We pay with our integrity.
We pay with our closeness to God.
Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver,
but he paid far more than he ever received.
So do we.
But here is the gospel:
Jesus willingly went to the cross for people who haven’t always valued Him rightly.
He died for those who sold Him cheap—so He could buy them back at the highest price: His own blood.
5. How Can We Be Known for Our Love for Christ?
I don’t know about you, but I want to be remembered the way Jesus said this woman would be remembered—
for doing beautiful things for Him.
So how do we do that? How do we, as a church, live a life of devotion?
Here are four simple ways:
1. Give Jesus your best—not your leftovers.
She brought her treasure.
Beautiful devotion begins when Jesus gets the first part of our life—our time, worship, giving, affections—not what remains after everything else is done.
2. Obey Jesus even when others don’t understand.
The disciples called her obedience “waste.”
But Jesus called it beautiful.
3. Love Jesus more than anything else.
Not tied for first.
Not almost first.
First.
A church that treasures Christ above everything becomes a church that looks like Him in everything.
4. Serve one another with humble, sacrificial love.
Real devotion is not loud or flashy.
It’s quiet.
It’s faithful.
It’s Christlike.
When we love each other that way, the world breathes in the fragrance of Christ.
The Call
Church, let’s be a people known for our worship, not our worldliness.
For our devotion, not our distraction.
For our obedience, not our excuses.
For our love, not our schemes.
Let’s be a church that pours out the perfume—
not one that counts the cost and walks away.
We don’t do beautiful things for Jesus to earn His love.
We do beautiful things for Jesus because He first did the most beautiful thing for us.
He gave His life to redeem us.
How could we not give Him our devotion?
Where does your devotion lie?