THE ANNOINTING OF JESUS

                         "And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at
                         the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil
                         of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But
                         there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said,
                        "Why  was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for
                         more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor." And they
                         criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why do you
                         trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the
                         poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them
                         good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could.
                         She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I
                         say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what t
                         his woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." Mark 14: 3-9

Jesus is in Bethanie - He was there many times before. Mary, Martha and Lazarus also lived here and we know that He visited them from time to time. Bethanie was not far from Jerusalem, within walking distance
- about 3 miles or about 5 kilometers. Jesus performed the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead in this little town.  We notice that he came here to relax with friends, and to eat. There is another story in the gospels where Jesus sat in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, when Martha was complaining that Mary was not helping to prepare the meal and that she had to do all the work by herself.

But in this instance, Jesus is not in their home, but in the home of Simon, the leper. WOW! Jesus eating with a leper? The mere fact that Simon was at home, eating with Jesus, would indicate that he was no longer a leper but had been healed! Any bets on who healed him?  If he was not healed he would not have been able to stay in his house - he would have had to stay outside the town with all the other lepers, because he would have been seen to be unclean and therefore untouchable. In Matthew 8: 1 - 4 we find a passage where  a leper appeal to Jesus : "Lord, if you want, you can heal me." And Jesus replied: "I want to; be healed". Perhaps it was the same man... if that was the case, Simon would have been a very grateful man and I am sure would have lavishly entertained the Lord with a thankful heart.

Now we read of an unnamed woman - we are not told in this passage whether she is from the same household - maybe Simon's wife - or from another house in the area - could have been Mary  or someone else. Anyway, this woman brings with her a flask, or "vial" with precious, costly, pure oil of spikenard, and she proceeds to break the vial - obviously with the purpose to empty it and not to keep any of it (otherwise she would have had to be able to close it again) and pours the precious annointing oil over the head of Jesus. It is therefore a premeditated action and gift.

Now in those days people were annointed with oil to inaugurate them to the status of priest, or king... Was she annointing Jesus in the sight of all present, proclaiming Him publicly to be her King?  What reason did she have for her behaviour? What motive? It would seem to me that she also must have done it from a loving, grateful, heart. Surely, no one would pour such precious, costly,  pure oil on the head of someone that you care nothing about or had no reason to be thankful to such a person ...

Now, as happens even in our day, people objected to the way in which something so precious was being "wasted" saying that the poor could have benefited much more and the oil used much more effectively if sold and the money used to provide for the poor ... and Jesus turned and stated : "Leave her alone. Don't hinder or trouble her. She has done a good work for me."  The poor you will always have with you and whenever you wish you may do them good." He carried on to say : "She has done what she could."

Now some people find in these words reason to believe that it is not necessary to do good to the poor... but I want to refer you to other words of Jesus, when He said :
               
                 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
                  then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered
                  before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd
                  divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right
                  hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right
                  hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
                  you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me
                  food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took
                  Me in; was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me;
                   I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Matt. 25 : 31 - 46

And when in this passage of Scripture the believers ask Him where did we see You hungry and fed You, we find that He was in fact saying that every time we see someone in need and help them, we are doing it as unto Him directly. All the more reason for us to help someone whenever we can.

Let's get back to this woman without a name :  She brought a gift; a very precious, costly gift. I wonder whether it was perhaps the most precious thing she possessed? Perhaps something she kept to help herself out in "a rainy day"?

What do you and I have that is precious, or costly, or valuable to us? What do we have to offer Jesus, our Saviour? Would you give it to Him? Even if those looking on would object that you are wasting something precious that could be used more effectively elsewhere?

Perhaps your education - your degree? Perhaps opening up your house to others less fortunate than you? Perhaps using your vehicle to transport those who do not have the means to get to church on a Sunday?
Perhaps your time? What is more precious in this  world we are living in than our time? Perhaps physically looking after others? 

What are the gifts that God gave you that you can offer back to Him for use in His Kingdom? For annointing Him as being King in your life? For proclaiming that He and His Kingdom comes first in your life? Perhaps your life as His servant? To preach the gospel to all nations?

What would Jesus say if you were to do it?

                ^"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father,
                inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" Matt 25:34

I would love nothing better than to hear Jesus say to me : "She has done what she could".

Thank You, Lord God, for your precious Son, who did not shrink from giving us His very life and blood - the most precious gift any person can give to another. Help us to not shrink from bringing to You that which is most precious in our lives (which was a gift from You in the first place). Help us to spread the pure spikenard fragrance of Jesus all around us.

AN OPEN DOOR

Last Sunday morning I was listening to a minister preaching on this subject.

Whilst listening to him reading this verse:

                 "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can
                  shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied
                  My name." Rev. 3: 8

I was reminded of another Scripture:

                   "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out
                    and find pasture." John 10:9

and then another verse popped into my mind:

                    "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Rom. 11:29

Suddenly, I was no longer listening to the the pastor's preaching. I was instead listening to the Holy Spirit speaking in my mind and spirit. Jesus IS the door. He died for us and did a "finished" work. No one can add to it. "It is done" He said on the cross. He has opened all the doors we need to walk through.

Therefore if He is the door, and if God's gifts and calling is irrevocable, then we do not have to wait for an "opportunity" or for "a door" to be opened unto us to minister or spread the Gospel, or testify. Whatever the gift or calling that God has given you and me, we should use that timeously and untimely, wherever we go. Do not wait for someone to give you a chance to do whatever God wants you to do - just do it wherever you go, whoever you are with, whenever you are awake.

Let us ask the Lord to open our eyes and our hearts to understand that we may ALWAYS be busy with our Lord's business... day and night.

                  "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" Luke 2:48
                  (Jesus in the temple as a child)

Thank You, Lord, that we do not need to wait for opportunities to be about our Father's business. Help us to remember daily that you have given before us an open door and that no one can shut it  and to act accordingly.

WHOLE BY HIS MERE PRESENCE

Last week at our cell group meeting, we watched a DVD called "The God of Wonders". For those of you who have not seen it yet, it is worth seeing.

The narrators were physicists and highly qualified scientists who set about to show some of the wonders of God's creation, from the different galaxies of stars to the animal world, the plants on this earth, the fish in the oceans and also wondrous things about our human bodies.

One cannot help but sit in awe and wonder as all these unbelievable miracles are being displayed before your very eyes and to begin to grasp the absolute awesome, unrestricted and I almost dare say, the terrible and fearful power and might of Almighty God - and then to sigh with relief understanding that His substance is indeed love.

They proceeded to discuss the human DNA system, explaining what vast amounts of information are being carried by our DNA. Information that have been installed or programmed by the super intelligence of  our Almighty creator God.

They show a computer presentation of our DNA, and what I found most interesting was the way in which they presented the work of enzymes in relation to our DNA system.

Imagine our DNA system being a "ladder" consisting of round pea-shaped balls in long chains. Now imagine enzymes being "a small floating cloud" moving up and down the sides and surrounding the ball shapes of this "ladder". When the enzymes reach one "pea-shaped ball" that is ill, or deteriorating in shape or size, or malfunctioning, the small cloud stops and hovers over that specific "ball" for a while. When it moves on, the DNA "ball" has been repaired!!!

This immediately  reminded me very strongly of certain Scriptures in the Word:

                  "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
                   of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen.
                   1:2

And we know the wonders that ensued...

                    "For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our fore-
                     fathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea."
                     1 Cor. 10:1

There was protection and a creative miracle happening under that cloud...

                     "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them
                      the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day
                      and night." Ex. 13:21

The cloud was available 24 hours a day ... as our enzymes are available 24 hours a day...

Thank You, Lord God, that in Your loving mercy You provide for us by day and by night. Help us to stay under the cloud of your protection and mercy.

THE ETERNAL GLORY OF EASTER

 I have just received this as an e-mail from someone. I do not know who the author is, but I place it verbatim for your encouragement and to God's glory. As you read it, glory with me in the fact that He lives! He is truly risen!

The Eternal Glory of Easter …

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.  

For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal”

– 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV)

Father when I look at the tangled threads in the tapestry of life I must confess many of the troubles our world face today do not seem light at all.  A panoramic portrait of what is seen can paralyze us.  Often viewing the landscape of lust, the boulders of betrayal, the pesticide of pride, the infestation of injustice, the weeds of wickedness, the pain of poverty and the aching abyss of so many human hearts, the temptation is to only see what seems tragic and often hopeless.

My soul cringe under the weight of it all.  I confess my vision gets blurred when I glare at the reality of what is temporal and what is seen, discouragement and doubt surround us, desperately trying to strangle us into despair.

Yet faith whispers:  “Where hope grows, miracles blossom”.  Is this what Jesus felt when He knelt underneath the crushing weight of Calvary’s Cross?  Did He measure the seen against the unseen on the divine scales of hope?

Did He choose to place the humiliation, the suffering, the pain and shame on the scales of eternity and by faith grasped for the promise of eternal glory? 

How fierce His faith …

How relentless His passion …

How deep His love …

How wide His mercy …

How marvelous His grace …

When the crown of thorns were pressed in, when the lashes of sin were slicing into His flesh, when the stain of humanity’s blood were dripping from His brow.  To us this moment in history seems overwhelming, but to a Suffering Savior it was the momentary hinging on the weight of eternal glory. 

Help me Lord to approach life like Jesus did, yes even the afflictions, the trials and the pain, help me to place the exclamation not on the seen but imprison doubt in the furnace of faith allowing eternal glory to rise on the horizon of tomorrow until it spills all over the universe.  Through grace use my momentary troubles as a vehicle of hope to transport me into an eternal glory, knowing everything I endure on earth will blossom something of beauty in heaven. 

As you lift the veil upon Easter this year let me not stay sheltered in the shadow of the cross but help me to rejoice in the radiance of the resurrection and dance in the glow of the eternal glory, yet to come …