The Good News!
We are about to read a very moving passage of God’s Word that tells of a woman who gave up her precious, costly perfumed oil that one saves for their own burial…as we would save a life insurance policy for the costs of our burial and help with expenses when we are gone. She gave it up. She broke the seal by breaking the neck of the bottle that held this precious, protected oil. Once the seal is broken, you have to use it or it will lose it’s potency. She then walked in the room and stood over Jesus who was eating, invited as a guest to a home where He had probably healed His host.
She risked even walking in where she was not invited. Then risked her “life savings” of precious perfume by pouring it over the head of Jesus to anoint him with her deep love, faith and trust in Who would soon be her Savior. Worth the risk? Absolutely. See what Jesus says…and imagine being in the room…see how He handled this risk taking situation.
Mark 14, The Message
14 1-2 In only two days the eight-day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. “We don’t want the crowds up in arms,” they said.
THE RISK-TAKING WOMAN
3-5 Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. “That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.” They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.
6-9 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.”
“She did what she could when she could”. This statement is of great importance to me. TIMING is everything when you take a risk. You must be motivated by love, directed by the Holy Spirit, then obedient to God’s timing.
MEANWHILE…
The opening of this passage sets the scene for what is going on behind Jesus’ back. The religious leaders want to kill Him. They are looking for a way to get the job done. They have tried tricking this Perfect One into telling a lie or disputing the Torah, but it just wasn’t happening. They are threatened by His authority and power to influence, heal, and probably most of all His Perfect Love for people that they cannot imagine possessing for themselves.
Finally, among Jesus’ disciples, a man who has traveled with him, took care of the finances along the way and was counting on a bold revolutionary to set up an earthy kingdom, missing the whole point of Jesus’ mission, take a different kind of risk and becomes the Betrayer to Jesus the Christ. Judas, whose name now is used as a descriptor of one who betrays another, took a risk guided by evil, Satan Himself, to betray the One, the Only One, the Perfect One who could have saved Him forever.
Mark 14, The Message
10-11 Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the cabal of high priests, determined to betray him. They couldn’t believe their ears, and promised to pay him well. He started looking for just the right moment to hand him over.
“They couldn’t believe their ears”…Can you imagine the pride, the high fives around the room of those who have spent months trying to get the “dirt” on Jesus so they could finally have Him arrested? One of Jesus’ own followers took the risk to betray Him! They paid Him well…was it worth it? The rest of the story of this risk is to come.
In just eleven verses of this passage, as told by Mark, a concise, quick description of two people taking a risk. One person was full of love. The other person was full of hate, greed, pride, disappointment in what HE wanted Jesus to be and do, disgusted at the expensive risk of the one who loved by pouring out perfume over the head of Jesus.
Which one am I is the question we ask ourselves today. What kind of risk am I willing to take, guided by God’s timing? What am I motivated by when I take a risk? Is it out of deep love and devotion for my Master? Am I willing to be broken and poured out as an offering to my Savior?
Dear Heavenly Father, What a testimony of this woman’s love for You! We praise You and thank You for this passage that causes us to tremble, reflect, meditate and repent of those times when our “risks” where poorly motivated. We give our lives back to You, to be loved, guided and redirected by You.
Yes, Lord, continue to be with us. Help us to love like You love.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 