Friends in Christ Message for April 12, 2003

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Friends in Christ Weekly Message
April 12, 2003

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.
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 ù 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."
Mark 14:3-9 (Message*)

This story occurs immediately before Jesus' betrayal. While most everybody was unaware of what was about to happen, somehow this woman apparently sensed the momentousness of the time and responded in a remarkable way.

The guests make logical sense, but they miss the point. This woman has made an extravagant gesture of love. Unlike the others, Jesus responds out of his heart. He praises her, and says her act will always be remembered.

Do you primarily have a head relationship with Jesus Christ, carefully calculating your deeds according to His ethical teachings? Or do you have a heart relationship with Him, resulting in your love pouring out to Him extravagantly?

Dear friends, may we each find ourselves so filled with love for Jesus Christ that it bubbles over and pervades our whole lives.

Bill Samuel

* The Message version © by Eugene H. Peterson.