By Allen White
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:1-13
One year at youth camp as I was unpacking my bag, a full bottle of cologne dropped on the concrete floor. I think it was Halston Z-14 back then, or was that the car I wanted to drive…. After the initial nauseating fumes wore off, we had the best smelling cabin for the rest of the week. I think we won the “Cleanest Cabin” award every day that week. It was a costly, though unfair advantage.
Acting on impulse, she chose to honor Jesus with a costly gift. Though unaware of the impending events in the days ahead, she anointed Jesus with the best of what she had in preparation for His death.
The disciples rationalized the poor stewardship of such extravagance. “This should have been sold to help the poor.” Of course, the question is: what were they selling to help the poor? If the poor were so significant to them, what were they sacrificing?
Sacrificial giving isn’t so popular among us. God gives us extravagant grace and endless blessings, yet we tend to hold on to what we have. What we don’t realize is we’ve only experienced a taste of what God has for us.
When we hold ourselves back from God’s purposes, we limit who we can become. When we are reluctant with our resources, we don’t experience the depths of His riches. We cling to worthless things rather than plunging headlong into eternal blessings.
Years ago, Steve Green recorded a song about this event in Jesus’ life called “Broken and Spilled Out.” The chorus says:
Broken and spilled out
Just for love of you Jesus
My most precious treasure
Lavished on Thee
Broken and spilled out
And poured at Your feet
In sweet abandon
Let me be spilled out
And used up for Thee
What is God calling you to offer Him today? What is that part of yourself you hold so tightly? God can multiply everything you give Him hundreds of times over. What do you have to lose?
Hear the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklUAB4E4nA&feature=related
More from Allen White: allenwhite.org
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Twitter: @galatians419 @allenwhite
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