Mark 14:1-11

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, ² for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

The Passover feast was a big event during that time that attracted millions of people to the town of Jerusalem. The Pharisees had been plotting on how to trap Jesus and have him arrested, yet they could not find a way to do so. Many have followed Jesus because of the miracles they have seen, and for some, they believed that Jesus was the Savior who would save them from the Roman empire.

³ And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

Now, as Jesus was having fellowship with some people in the church, a woman came and cleaned his feet with an ointment of pure nard which cost a fortune. Many commented how it was a waste and would have been better used in helping those in need. This reasoning sounds familiar because many people have the tendency to question our giving as an act of worship and try to reason that it could have been given somewhere else but most when asked if they have given any amount to the poor – many don’t. So Jesus defended the woman.

⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

What the woman did was a beautiful thing to Jesus. To give something of value and lay it down at the feet of Jesus was a privilege. When we give to God it is beyond obeying a command, it is worship. It is a privilege to give to the One who had given His all to us – even His own death.

This is a great reminder for me that whatever I give to God would never be considered a loss. I know the Scripture promises that we can never outgive God but even without that promise – just the fact that He laid down His life for me is more than enough reason that I should worship Him with all that I am and all that I have.

Then the story jumps off to Judas who on the other hand was blinded by wealth that led to his downfall and a most treacherous act of betrayal.

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray him to them. ¹¹ And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Again, it is a good question to ask what I do with the money God has given me. Do I use the money to worship Jesus or do I worship Jesus so that I could get the money?

Lord, may you guard my heart and my eyes from the lures of wealth. May money be a tool that I use to worship you. Holy Spirit convict me when there comes a day that I am tempted to use the money for my own sake and glory. May I never come to a point in my life where I worship Jesus to get money.