Message: Today I couldn’t help but notice the irony of opposites in Mark 14. We have the woman with the alabaster jar of expensive oil pouring out her very best over the feet of Jesus. Her very expensive offering and her dramatic gestures of gratitude offended those in the room. They called it a waste and speculated how it could have been used for the poor. Jesus commended her offering of worship and even went as far to say that her offering would be remembered all over the world. On the contrary, his very own disciples, who were close to him had one who completely betrayed him, and the rest who abandoned him. I think we often misunderstand the reasons they denied him. Sure, one did it for gain, and maybe not even just the financial gain, but for the gain of favor within the religious system, but the others did it in fear for their lives. Jesus was being brutally tortured and killed right in front of them. The crowd that was once following him around in awe of him had turned on him and was relentlessly chanting for his death. The disciples knew they were targets and they feared for their own lives too. None of them understood that the things Jesus had been warning them about were happening exactly the way they were supposed to. They had their own ideas of what a Messiah should be and that image was completely destroyed. In their disillusionment they unknowingly fulfilled every word of that prophesy when they crucified Jesus.
Command: Jesus gave me his absolute best and he alone deserves my absolute best.
Promise: Even when I betray him, and become disillusioned, he continues to be there and he doesn’t repay may unfaithfulness with unfaithfulness because he can only be who he is.
Warning: There are so many things the bible warns us about. We think we know what to expect but when we form our own ideas of what that should look like, we miss what God is really doing. In my disillusionment, I betray the one who deserves all of my worship and all of my best.
Application: I see myself in both scenarios. I know that Jesus deserves my very best and I want to worship him with my whole life, but I see so often I see where I am more like the one who betrayed him, or even the ones who ran. My own ideas cloud my vision and I don’t understand the plans of God. I fear what I don’t understand and don’t realize when I am fighting against the very plan of God. Lord Jesus, please help me to see what you have been trying to show us all along. Help me to honor you with my life. You alone are worthy of my best.
