A jar of perfume

A jar of perfume

Scripture:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of 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 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:1-13

Observation:

Just as the Lord prophesied, the chief priests and elder of the people plotted with the high priest to arrest Jesus and kill him. They could no longer stand His popularity among the people and His open opposition and judgment of their ways. Even in so doing, they were worried that their actions would cause a riot among the people. Even in their evil plans, they were not willing to risk losing their favor among the people.

As the time of these events neared, the Lord was in Bethany in the home of Simon the leper when a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. It was an act of devoted worship and other gospels record her as weeping as she anoints Jesus. The disciples are indignant that she has wasted the expensive perfume in this way as it could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor. The Lord, however, deeply appreciates her gesture, and remarks that though they will always have the poor, they will not always have Him. He goes on to prophesy again how her actions are actually preparing Him for His death and burial, and also declares that wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, her actions here would also be remembered in memory of her.

Application:

The deep act of devotion of this woman for Jesus has long been lauded as a supreme act of deep worship that our Lord fully deserves because of what He has done for us. Her actions spoke of her deep love for the Lord, and she sensed that with the Lord’s death imminently approaching, she had to take the opportunity to pour out her tremendous love and gratitude to Him for forgiving and restoring her. She did not care what others think. She did not bother about the judgment of the men. She only had her attention fully focused on showing her devotion and love for Jesus. How great it would be if only we could learn to love the Lord like that and worship Him like that, with such deep love, such deep intimacy, such deep devotion.

The Lord’s statement “the poor you will always have with you” in no way demeans the poor, but instead shows the supreme importance of first and foremost putting our worship of the Lord first. Giving to the poor is important and the Lord always has the poor at heart, but priority is our worship and relationship with the Lord.

Beware having that critical and judgmental spirit that the disciples had. When others worship God lavishly, do not judge them but instead, focus on our own worship to the Lord, seeking to worship Him deeply, passionately, intimately,

Prayer:

We thank You Lord Jesus for the great example of this sister who worshipped you so deeply, with such devotion and love and intimacy and passion. Help us to learn to worship You like that, Lord. Help us remember and treasure deeply in our hearts how You saved us, and lifted us when we were without hope. Grant us that same devotion and passion we pray.

Turn us away from a critical hard or judgmental attitude, but instead focus on worshipping You ourselves more deeply, more passionately, more lavishly. We praise You and worship You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.