Meditate. Think about how Jesus must have smelled wonderful after He was anointed with perfume.
Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head. Some of those at the table were indignant. "Why waste such expensive perfume?" they asked. "It could have been sold for a year's wages and the money given to the poor!" So they scolded her harshly. But Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be remembered and discussed." Mark 14:3-9
Jesus went to the home of a man whom He had healed from leprosy—a dreaded unclean disease of that day. He must have regained some standing in the community after his healing because it wasn’t just Jesus who was at this dinner party. Others were there to observe and criticize that this lady, assumed to be Mary, who poured expensive perfume oil over Jesus’s head. I think the scolding she was given enforces what we’ve been told about the low level of respect that women received in Biblical times. It would have been appropriate to have praised her…she was anointing our shepherd’s head with oil, just like He does for us so many times. Israel is a dry and dusty country and to have His head…and even His feet…anointed would be such a wonderful compassionate gesture. In another account of what might have been this same event the woman is said to have anointed Jesus’ feet.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him,
so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman
from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar
filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping.
Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept
kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited
him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would
know what kind of woman is touching him. She's a sinner!" ... Then he
turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Look at this woman kneeling here.
When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my
feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You
didn't greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not
stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my
head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. "I tell you, her
sins--and they are many--have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But
a person who is forgiven little shows only little love." Luke 7:36-39,
44-47
Jesus stood up for her…“Leave
her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?” I am sure
He was honored to be pampered and why not? He was likely the guest of honor.
Additionally, although no one was probably aware of it…He was the creator and
the Savior of world. He deserved to have His head anointed—with a precious oil.
He was about to be offered as a sacrificial lamb. Sheep were anointed with oil
to keep flies and other insects from bothering them. Phillip Keller vividly
describes this in his book, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” as sheep will
stop grazing and bash their heads into things so they can to get relief from
the pesty flies that invade their nasal passages. We need God’s anointing with
the oil of the Holy Spirit to relive the pesky thing of our lives. Was Jesus
needing an anointing of oil to subdue the pesky things in His life? You can be
sure that the Pharisees could be viewed as “pests” in Jesus’ life as they
continually attacked Him and sought to have Him killed. Yes. Jesus needed that
anointing—spiritually and physically. It was effective as Jesus said it would
be. This woman is remembered for her act of mercy in pouring that precious perfume
oil on her precious Savior’s head.
 |
| Perfume as fragrant as apple blossoms. |
Do you think you could pour an expensive oil over your Lord’s head or feet? Would that action make your relationship with Him any deeper? Consider what you are willing to give up or share that would honor Him today.
Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, may my life honor You, as if pouring fragrant perfume over Your head. You are worthy of all honor, praise and glory.
Verse of Salvation ~ Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15
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