Devotion:
Read Matthew 26:6-13.
Each night during the last week of his life Jesus is staying in Bethany, a village about an hour’s walk from Jerusalem. We learn from other Gospel writers that Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus is the one who anoints Jesus with the costly oil. Mary’s oil is worth three hundred denarii, a year’s wage for most first-century Palestinians, indicating that she means to honor the Lord with all that she has when she pours oil on him.
Mary, we have learned, had a heart for the worship of her Lord. During another visit with Jesus, Martha chastised Mary for sitting at Jesus’ feet while there was work to be done. Jesus commended Mary’s worship. Here, the disciples chastise her for being wasteful. Poor Mary! Always rebuked for her desire to sit at our Lord’s feet, and worship! But Jesus comes to her defense, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Jesus emphasizes the value, and necessity to worship the Lord, even at the expense, at times, of doing other good works. In light of the coming events, the anointing of Jesus served a symbolic purpose: it was done in preparation for the burial of Jesus, in anticipation of his death. Mary alone, it seems, grasped the importance and gravity of Jesus’ statement that He would be “handed over to be crucified,” and she responded with this beautiful act of worship.
Personal Worship Option:
What beautiful act of worship will you show God today?
No comments:
Post a Comment