Pour your ointments now!

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 3, 2023 | Matthew 26:1-13

KEY VERSE:

¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." Matthew 26:12-13 (NIV)

MESSAGE:

Someone has said that the reason why we give so many flowers to the dead is that we have a sense of guilt that we did not give them any flowers while they were alive, and so we seek to make up for that failure. There’s a lot of sense in that statement. People who have lost loved ones in many cases have a sense of guilt because they did not visit them enough, call them enough, give to them enough or generally, show them love enough. Our reflection today is an invitation to do for the Lord and humanity all the good we could, now, while we have the time and opportunity.

A woman, identified as Mary by John’s Gospel (John 12:3), came to the Lord while He sat at table in Bethany, broke an expensive jar of perfume and poured it on the Lord. The disciples of the Lord and the people present raised concerns about why that expense had been made when the money from the sale of the perfume could have taken care of the poor (we are told it was worth a year’s wages). The response of the Lord was: “¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Matthew 26:12-13), NIV.

Was the Lord promoting a wasteful way of life? Certainly not, the Lord was not a wasteful person. Do you remember the miracles of the multiplication of bread, and the command to pick up the pieces, and for nothing to be wasted? We must not be wasteful. He was only indicating that certain necessary expenses must be attended to, especially in the fulfilment of the mission for the salvation of human souls. He endorsed the action of Mary for some of the following reasons.

Firstly, the sacrifice of Heaven in sending the Saviour makes any sacrifice we make on earth pale into insignificance: He had come from His throne in Heaven to accomplish the most important feat for the redemption and wellbeing of the human race. In the light of that sacrifice, the gesture of Mary was insignificant.

Secondly, His mission was for a specified time frame, and as we saw yesterday, the events to bring about our salvation were being enacted according to the prophecies to demonstrate to the Jews that this was the Messiah. He was to go to the cross and die hurriedly, and there would not be time to do for Him all the ceremonies that accompany the burial customs. Therefore the action of Mary was a pre-emptive one, she prepared the living body of the Lord for His soon burial when He would have overcome our sins and Satan by the cross.

Thirdly any action to move ahead the agenda of God must not be stopped because there are human needs, for human needs will never be fully provided for until the restoration of all things in the new Heavens and the new Earth.

Mary, the woman who anointed the Lord in Bethany, in the week He was to go to the cross, has been remembered up to today with every telling of the Holy Week narratives, just as the Lord promised. What we do for the Master, if not valued and applauded by humans, will receive the approval of Heaven, and our rewards will not be missing.

FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE:

What do you feel led by God to do, now, for His glory and the advancement of the Kingdom? Now is the time to change mindsets, attitudes, and behaviours that do not glorify God. Now is the time to break our jars of talents, gifts, time, financial resources, and loving hearts, to serve the Master’s glory. Identify your jars of alabaster, bring them to the Saviour, break them, and anoint the Master, before He comes again.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord Jesus, I offer my life as a living sacrifice, and pray that you will cleanse me and make me a sweet-smelling perfume that makes people give praise and honour to you. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen.

THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.

SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!