Matthew 26:6-13
6 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. 7 While he was eating,[b] a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.
8 The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. 9 “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me? 11 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 12 She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”
Today, Monday March 10th, 2025, as I write this blog post, we are officially 5 weeks away or 41 days away from Easter Morning. Or to be even more precise we are 984 hours away from the Sunday morning where we, the western Christian Church, celebrates the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.
I am really trying this year to be very intentional in the preparation of my heart for this joyous morning. Of course the celebration of the resurrection should be every day of the year. No doubt, but I do believe there is a special outpouring of grace and momentum from heaven that is poured out on Easter morning that we can expect and prepare for. I believe Father God loves celebrating with us on Easter morning. I know from experience the Holy Spirit touches people uniquely and in profound ways when they show up expectant and ready to receive. So again, I am taking extra care to prepare my heart for whatever Jesus wants to do on that joyous day. I invite you to do the same with me.
In my last blog post I highlighted the fact that the Good News message of the Gospel really takes hold in us when we recognize that we are human in need of God’s healing. This week I want to spend time talking about the prep work. While Jesus was in Bethany, eating and fellowshipping with His disciples in the home of a man whom Jesus healed from leprosy. A woman walks in and disrupts the supper by pouring expensive perfume all over Jesus’s head. Needless to say, kind of an awkward interruption. But the disciples don’t get upset because of the ladies' intrusion into the meal. They get upset because they think they can do a better job putting to use what the women poured out on the head of Jesus. We could feed the poor! “Jesus says yes you could have, but this lady did something much greater, she prepared me for my burial, my sacrifice, by pouring out and sacrificing for my sake, the most expensive thing she owns.”
In other words, she could have easily gotten distracted with all the perpetual pain in the world and spent a lifetime trying to fix that. Which, in reality, would have also been a wasteful application of the perfume. Sure a few people would have been temporarily relieved of their poverty, but truly there are not enough resources in the world to solve poverty. Poverty is not simply a lack of resources but more so, a condition of the fallen human heart. Instead the woman catches a glimpse of a more divine purpose for her prized possession. Poured out on the head of the man, whose sacrifice would not only change the world but would change all of humanity for all of eternity. There is a valuable lesson in this story. You can let circumstances or people tell you how to sacrifice what you have and maybe do a little good in the world. Or you can recognize what God is doing, and partner with Him by sacrificing everything you have to Him and His purpose and be a part of changing the world forever.
That’s exactly what the woman in the story has done.
She has made a very important decision, the only thing in this world that matters is recognizing and honoring what Jesus is doing by sacrificing everything we have to be a part of His plans.
So, as we prepare for the greatest celebration on earth. I think it's important to recognize what God has given us, and then to ask Holy Spirit how we can pour that back upon the life of Jesus as a sacrifice that will pull us into partnership with what He is doing in our lifetime.
My prayer is that as we prep ourselves to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of our glorious King Jesus that we take our focus of the many crises of this world. More than just being aware and concerned over the many broken parts of this word, we would choose to be consumed with what Jesus is doing. So then we can sacrifice everything we have to be a part of His plans.
Love,
Pastor John
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