Matthew 26:6-16
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
6 While Jesus was in
Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper,7 a woman came to him with
an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he
was reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw
this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have
been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 Aware of this, Jesus
said to them, “Why are you bothering
this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always
have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this
perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth,
wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also
be told, in memory of her.
14 Then one of the
Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you
willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him
thirty silver coins. 16 From
then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Do we listen and obey when He asks us to do something?
What this woman did has been preached throughout
this world and I am telling the story once again. Even though we do not know this woman, many
around the world have heard of her actions, how she prepared the body of Christ
for burial. What I find most interesting
about this is that generally the body was prepared after death. This could not be done because His body would
need to be taken from the cross and placed in the tomb quickly due to the
observance of the Passover. By the time
they could anoint His body again, it would be too late. Do you recall the women who went to the tomb
on the third day with perfume to anoint His body? They had good intentions but they were too
late. You can find this account in all
four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Mark 16:1, New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
16 When the Sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to
anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day
of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other,
“Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up,
they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb,
they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side,
and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are
looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who
was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Back to the woman with the oil, her task must have
been a difficult task to do because this lady took oil that was very expensive
and used it all at one time. I remember
one time my mother bought me some very expensive body powder and told me to use
it on only special occasions. Fifteen or
twenty years later, I think I was still using it! This woman used it on the most special
occasions of all and it pleased the Lord.
It was laid upon this woman’s heart to anoint Him, the Righteous One,
with oil for His burial. She listened
and she obeyed. When the Lord places
something on our hearts to do, do we listen and obey? Or are we too late and miss the blessing
because we think we will do it later?
What is more
important to us money or the Lord?
Now
some were grumbling about this because they felt this lady was wasting her
money. What would they have said had she
done this when He was dead? Would they
have praised her for giving this to a dead man?
Yet when He was alive and amongst them, they thought she was crazy. That doesn’t make much sense, why not do something
for the One who is amongst you, again, it is too late when they are dead.
I
found it very interesting that at that point Judas decided that he was going to
betray Jesus. None of us know his
thoughts but I have to wonder if he thought, “Well, he is going to die anyway,
He said so Himself, so I might as well make some money off the deal.” Maybe Judas was listening a little closer to
what Jesus was saying than the others were.
The part that destroyed him though was that although he listened, he did
not apply it to his heart, he applied it to his pocket book. Hummm, have we ever been there?
Maybe
Judas had good intentions for this money.
Maybe he reasoned to himself that he would use this money to give to the
poor since this lady wasted all of hers.
I have to wonder how many people place money in the offering plate
thinking it will possibly pay for the sins of that week while at the same time
help the church help others in need.
Well, we know it doesn’t work that way.
There is no amount of money that will pay for our sins or make our
actions right in the eyes of God. It is
only through the power of the resurrected Lord, the One that was crucified for
us, that we can be cleansed from all our sins.
There is no sin too great that He will not forgive, if we will only
repent and ask Him to become a part of our lives, living for Him and not for
ourselves. This is a gift and money can’t
buy it.
Two
people with two different perspectives.
One was praised for her actions and the other hung himself from a tree
from guilt of betraying a friend. We
need to ask ourselves, “Which one am I?”
As
you seek Him today, may you find that He is so much greater than any amount of
money in this world. May you do as He
asks you without delay so that you won’t be too late for His blessings.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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