Jesus, therefore, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the
dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was
one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very
costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet
with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But
Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why
was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor
people?" Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor,
but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what
was put into it. Therefore Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep
it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do
not always have Me." John 12:1-8
You will not always have Me. Poor—yes; Me—no. Can you imagine walking in
barefoot sandals on a dusty road all day? Your feet are hot, tired, and grungy.
You come to your friends’ home where a servant rinses off your feet with cool
water and you leave your dusty sandals by the door. Now here is Mary rubbing
Jesus’ feet with nice fragrant oil. Hot, dry feet soothed and moisturized.
Ahhhh—that must have felt great. Then she dries His feet with her hair. What a
humbling thing to do. Jesus just wanted to enjoy being pampered by Mary, after
all this was His burial preparation—but Judas Iscariot was on Mary’s case to
not “waste” the perfume. This expensive perfume oil was made from the flower of
an East Indian plant, Valerianna.
It was worth an amount equal to a year’s wages for a farm worker. Judas was
stingy and deceitful—faking a concern for the poor people. He probably had
never been poor, missed a meal, or shared one with a starving person. Have you
ever shared or provided a meal for a homeless person? He or she may be a military veteran who has given of themselves for the freedom of our nation.
At this
time of the year, approaching Thanksgiving, people start giving lots of food
items to food banks and for distribution through social services to the needy
in our community and in countless other places across the United States. Maybe
people are feeling generous, knowing that their Thanksgiving dinner table will
be loaded with food—or maybe they are feeling guilty that they have so much and
others don’t have any. At any rate more donations are given from now until
Christmas than at any time during the year. Some of the needy families that I
helped deliver food to several years ago had many boxes of food on their table
from multiple organizations. Is that right? Of course, they needed the food—but
there was enough food for forty people and there were only two people living in
that one apartment. Hmmm. Maybe the food
could have been distributed in a better way so that additional needs could be
met. What would Judas Iscariot have done? What would Jesus do? What will you do
when you have the opportunity in the coming weeks to help a needy or even
homeless person?
Prayer – Jesus, teach us to love others the
way You would love them. Help us to be merciful to those in need and give us
the resources to provide for the needs of others in our neighborhood, in our
community and in our world.
Honor our Veterans.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New American Standard
Bible (NASB).
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