Youth Sunday School on John 12:1-8 - Wasted on Jesus! - Mary Anoints Jesus' Feet

Another great youth Sunday School!

Needed: (Optional: The Visual Bible, bottle of perfume or cologne, money, a watch)

I like to start by showing the night’s passage from The Visual Bible. It’s a word-for-word dramatization of the Scripture passage.

Have your students take turns reading John 12:1-8.

Show your students some perfume or cologne that you brought. Let them smell it.

Ask students, Why did Judas want to sell the perfume instead of letting Mary pour it on Jesus’ feet? (He wanted to steal the money they got from selling it.)

What do you think about what Mary did? Was it a waste to pour the expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet? Should she have used it for something else?

There are probably a lot of people who would say that Mary wasted that perfume. She poured it on Jesus’ feet and then it was gone. They would say that she wasted it on Jesus.

There are a lot of things that we can waste on Jesus. When we come to church or youth group, we’re wasting time on Jesus (show your watch). That’s time that we could have spent doing other things.

When we give money to the church (show some money), we’re doing what Mary did. We’re wasting money on Jesus. We give it to Him and then it’s gone. We could have spent that money on other things.

When we follow the rules and listen to what Jesus wants us to do instead of doing what we want to do, we’re wasting our lives on Jesus. We could be doing a ton of stuff if we weren’t trying to listen to Him all the time.

But here’s the point:

Why did Mary want to pour the perfume on Jesus’ feet?

She wanted to worship Him. As a follower of Jesus, Mary knew that Jesus was worth more than any perfume she could ever buy, worth more than any money she could ever get, worth more than anything else she could ever do. You see, Mary knew who Jesus was – He’s God, the Creator of the Universe, the One who gave her and us life – and she knew what Jesus was about to do for her. She knew that Jesus was about to die to forgive her for all of her sins and give her a way to live forever with Him instead of going to Hell. Because of all that, Mary knew that Jesus was worth everything.

And that’s why we also give everything that we can to Jesus. That’s why we spend time with Him, that’s why we listen to what He wants for our lives, that’s why we donate to the things He wants us to support. Because of who Jesus and what He’s done for us, we know that He is worth everything we can possibly do for Him.

Check our site for more ideas for your youth Sunday School!