Thoughts on John 12: 1-8

Since I need a blog for today and need to gather my thoughts on the aforementioned scripture, I thought I might combine the two. First, the verse in ESV:

¹Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³ Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵"Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

 One thing I got from reading this time around which I've managed to miss before, or forget about if I knew it before, was the part about Judas wanting to sell the ointment, not for the purpose of helping the poor, but so that he could steal some of the proceeds. The theme of this passage is about sacrifice, something Judas knew nothing about. Regardless of Judas' intentions, Jesus insisted they let Mary do as she meant to. It was a sacrifice from her to Jesus.

Many of us in the Christian worship realm have heard of the term "sacrifice of praise" before and thought it meant getting up at 7am on a Sunday to play in the worship band. The notion of having to wake up a little extra early on the weekend, pitted against pouring out every bit of something you have worked a year for seems trivial. If you were to space out your silly sacrifice, it would take you seven years to begin to equal what she did, and even then actually working at a job instead of getting up early, grabbing a latte and going to play five four chord songs is almost always harder. The fact she did this so easily and freely in one moment which would be soon gone speaks of how much she cared for the man who's feet she wiped with her hair. Think about that for a moment, working for a year straight in order to bless one man on one night, then to get down and wipe his nasty feet with your hair. None of us know sacrifice like Mary did, or like King David.

The amazing, wonderful, glorious, redeeming fact behind all of this is that Jesus loves whatever we do actually sacrifice to him. The story of the woman who gave all she had at the offering at the temple, when others were giving sizable sums, she gave what would be the equivalent of dropping a ten in the offering plate when that is every bit of money you had. Jesus saw this and it meant more to Him than all of the other offerings. Mary, if she had the chance would have done the same thing for Jesus if the ointment was worth 10 years' wages. Sacrifice is about giving what we have, withholding nothing.

Let me reiterate, Jesus loves any small sacrifice we give to him. He wants all of us, but is overjoyed when we, in our fragility and humanness, give him only a portion. He knows we are human and imperfect, that is precisely why He completed the work of salvation. In Jesus is completeness. He makes up for our lack.

In conclusion, give all you have. Withhold nothing, for the opening of our eyes to see who He is is what praise is, and this requires sacrifice. "Nothing good has ever come without sacrifice."

Love,
Colton