Jesus has informed the disciples that He is about to be handed over to the authorities for crucifixion. He is about to eat the passover meal and provide the long discourse we read in John 13-17. Christ, at some point is about to wash the disciples feet. All the pieces are in place and prophecy is being fulfilled at an alarming rate. But then, in a most unusual act, one the of the Marys in the room does something that all the disciples view as wasteful and useless ... she pours expensive perfume out of a bottle onto Jesus feet. This is the second time an act like this is recorded in Scripture but the first time the disciples, in unison, are displeased. It seems that the perfume brought out a foul oder in their character. It revealed a number of things that Jesus immediately exposes. The main issue was that they seem to be concerned about poor people more than Jesus Himself. Here is a great lesson we should put into our practice of our faith today. Jesus chastens them for, "having the poor in mind but not having Him in mind." We can get so caught up in caring for the poor that we forget the purpose of such acts of kindness is to glorify Christ. It is always good to care for others but never good to do so without having Christ central in our lives. Christ is the source of our service but also the focus of our service. The disciples were concerned about the value of perfume and the waste of it. Mary was concerned about pouring the value out on Christ. We ought to worry more about how we worship and serve and honor Christ than with what we do for acts of kindness for others. Having put Christ first we can serve others; but only after Christ has received the honor in our lives He deserves and demands. Don't let our large acts of kindness reveal a real oder in our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment