Welcome to Holy Wednesday where 2 people awoke with Jesus deeply on their minds and hearts. One was Mary of Bethany who was so excited that she was going to get to spend time with Jesus. She loved Him as a follower, student and worshipper. She glanced over to her side table and saw her very expensive jar of alabaster perfume. What better way to honor Jesus than to pour this over His head at dinner that night at the home of Simon the Leper. No doubt she focused her day around the evening event where she would fellowship with Jesus and show her love and devotion. I am sure she could hardly wait. I can’t imagine spending today getting ready to be in the visible presence of Jesus. I wouldn’t be able to get it off my mind and the minutes would drag until I was with Him.
Across the city a man awoke with Jesus on his mind, but this man had no intention of honoring Jesus. He was plotting to betray his friend instead of honoring Him. We have no evidence that Jesus did anything to this man except choose him…fellowship with him…love him. This man was Judas and he had evil and greed in his heart. How long did he lay there that morning formulating a plan to capitalize off the anger and rage the authorities had towards his ‘friend, mentor and teacher?’ The Bible states that Satan entered Judas that day but make no mistake about it…Satan knew Judas’ heart was fertile ground to plant evil. As Mary was carefully packing up her jar of expensive perfume to anoint Jesus, Judas was determining how much money he wanted to betray Him.
The way we interact with Jesus will depend on the fertility of our heart. Do we have a heart for Jesus, or do we look beyond Him towards our own agenda? Do we honor Jesus with some of our most precious gifts like our time, resources and service? We must ensure we have planted love and devotion for Jesus into our hearts not just at Easter but every day of the year. We cannot give Satan a stronghold in our hearts for he will plant his own seeds of compromise…bitterness…discontent which can lead to selling Jesus out. Oddly enough, these two people interacted that evening in stark contrast that caught the attention of Jesus. We only need to read His response to understand the heart. As Mary poured the expensive perfume over Jesus, Judas sharply criticized the act as being ‘a waste.’ But Jesus had the last word fully understanding the condition of the heart of Judas. ‘Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.’ Matthew 26:8.
We all have an alabaster jar that contains our most precious gifts...our possessions...our dreams...our family. Will we honor Jesus by surrendering everything in our jars fully trusting Him. On this Holy Wednesday and every day, may we all have the heart of Mary and ‘do a beautiful thing to Jesus.’
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