After raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus withdraws from the public eye, no longer “walking openly” among those who have hardened themselves against him. As chapter 12 opens, the scene shifts to a house party at Simon the leper. The room is full—friends, disciples, and curious onlookers gathered to celebrate and to sit with Jesus. And in this setting, the Lord reveals something essential about the heart of true worship.

Two figures stand in stark contrast: Mary of Bethany and Judas Iscariot—each embodying a radically different vision of what worship should look like. Today we’re going to discover, through their example, what it means to enter the place of power in our worship.