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19 November 2007
Word on the Web
John 12 v 1-8
Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from the dead.) There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus' feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.
Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' followers who would later turn against him, was there. Judas said, "This perfume was worth three hundred coins. Why wasn't it sold and the money given to the poor?" But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole from it.
Jesus answered, "Leave her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial. You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."
Here, in Bethany, Jesus is with his closest friends. Notice how straight he talks to Judas - no parables or questions like in his public ministry; he just says it like it is.
And notice what he says about Mary... "It was right for her to save this perfume for today". Now, commentaries will tell us that this perfume was like a dowry or family inheritance, maybe like the savings we have tucked away in banks today. It seems that Jesus says plainly to Mary it was right for her to have saved her family's accumulated wealth specifically to 'waste' in this act of worship, never to be repeated. Can that be?
How about you? You have wealth - how will you use it? Is it perpetually saved for a rainy day? Clearly there is responsibility that goes with having wealth, as we see in the parables of the prodigal son and the 3 servants given 'talents' - I'm not saying blow it all for kicks! But what about when God calls us to give to Him the things in life that give us status, or security? Mary pours out her future to Jesus - yes to prepare him for burial - but also as an act of worship. Will we be ready to give what we have saved when the time is right; recognising that today is that day?
Prayer
Thank you Jesus, that you are as real to us today as you were to Martha, Lazarus & Mary. God, I want to be close to you. Holy Spirit, may I be ready to give when you call me to give. As scary as it is God, and I know you understand, may the pillars that hold up my life and give me security all rest on you, or be taken away. Amen.
Written by Laurence Keith
Word on the Web
John 12 v 1-8
Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from the dead.) There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus' feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.
Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' followers who would later turn against him, was there. Judas said, "This perfume was worth three hundred coins. Why wasn't it sold and the money given to the poor?" But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole from it.
Jesus answered, "Leave her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial. You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."
Here, in Bethany, Jesus is with his closest friends. Notice how straight he talks to Judas - no parables or questions like in his public ministry; he just says it like it is.
And notice what he says about Mary... "It was right for her to save this perfume for today". Now, commentaries will tell us that this perfume was like a dowry or family inheritance, maybe like the savings we have tucked away in banks today. It seems that Jesus says plainly to Mary it was right for her to have saved her family's accumulated wealth specifically to 'waste' in this act of worship, never to be repeated. Can that be?
How about you? You have wealth - how will you use it? Is it perpetually saved for a rainy day? Clearly there is responsibility that goes with having wealth, as we see in the parables of the prodigal son and the 3 servants given 'talents' - I'm not saying blow it all for kicks! But what about when God calls us to give to Him the things in life that give us status, or security? Mary pours out her future to Jesus - yes to prepare him for burial - but also as an act of worship. Will we be ready to give what we have saved when the time is right; recognising that today is that day?
Prayer
Thank you Jesus, that you are as real to us today as you were to Martha, Lazarus & Mary. God, I want to be close to you. Holy Spirit, may I be ready to give when you call me to give. As scary as it is God, and I know you understand, may the pillars that hold up my life and give me security all rest on you, or be taken away. Amen.
Written by Laurence Keith
