Sandwiched
between the declaration of Israel's leaders to kill Jesus and Judas'
decision to betray him, a woman expresses her devotion to Jesus in a
tangible and generous manner. She broke open an expensive jar of
perfume and poured it on his head. She
was so overwhelmed by the wonder of Jesus Christ and his love for us
that she wanted to give back. When we put God first, we serve Him,
not out of duty but out of love.
She
gave sacrificially. The perfume was expensive; about the
annual wage of a laborer. It was usually used to anoint a body in
preparation for burial. Sometimes, a little was used to anoint
guests.
True
love refuses to count the cost. Earlier Mark told us about a woman
who gave two coins; all she had. (Mark
12:41-44) Neither of these
women held anything back.
The
disciples objected to what they perceived as waste (Mark
14:4-5) but love always seems wasteful to those who don’t love.
A person’s outlook is
determined by what is inside the heart. Judas witnessed an act of
love and called it an extravagant waste but offerings of love are
never wasted. Jesus did not receive any other expression of love
prior to his crucifixion.
This
woman thought only of Jesus as she broke that jar and poured that
perfume over his head but she immediately faced attacks. Christ
followers will never do anything worthwhile for Jesus without being
criticized – even by other churchgoers. The devil only bothers
those who are working for Jesus and his favorite tactic is to use
people in your church, your family, or your friends to reject you and
try to get others against you.
The
woman's act had an eternal impact. Jesus said, "Wherever
this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, what this woman
did will also be spoken of as a memorial to her." (Mark
14:9)
Our
acts of love will have eternal impact if, like this woman, we have
more compassion and generosity and less concern about what somebody
might think or say.
Is
there something you can do this week to demonstrate your love in
service to Christ?
