Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
In Mark 14:3, a remarkable lady anoints Jesus: “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious, and she brake the box, and poured it on His head.” The parallel account in John 12:1-8 identifies this woman as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha (verses 1-3). This passage adds the detail that she “anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair” (verse 3). Her devotion to Jesus is a sterling example, one that all Christians should admire. The fine Biblical commentator Warren Wiersbe said of her, “She found at His feet her blessing (Luke 10:38-42), she brought to His feet her burdens (John 11:28-32), and she gave at His feet her best.” Indeed, this “very precious” aromatic “ointment” likely represented Mary’s life savings. Her self-denial in giving reminds us of the “poor widow” who was commended by Jesus for giving “all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:41-44). Mary’s gift was more valuable monetarily than that of the widow (equal to a full year’s wages), but both are compelling examples of genuine, godly giving and are thus equal in God’s eyes. It is interesting that in this last week before the Cross, Jesus praises two women for their willingness to give. The Pharisees in particular did not highly regard women; some of them, in fact, taught that women were temptresses to be avoided at all times. Jesus corrects that misogamy while also teaching us about giving. Let us remember that Jesus was soon to outgive all of us as He gave Himself on the Cross.