She Did What She Could for Jesus

Mar 14:3-9  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 this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  (Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

It is good to be a good steward of what God allows us to have. But that does not mean we should never spend money or time or effort in expressing love, whether it is to our wife, husband, child, friend, or the Lord.

I don't know to what extent that woman understood who Jesus was when she broke the expensive flask of fragrant ointment and poured it on His head. How many people did she see Him heal? How many times had she seen Him deliver people from demons? How many times had she heard Him speak wondrous truth? How much had he healed and taught her?

The question should not be why didn't she sell the expensive ointment and give the money to the poor. The question should be why was she one of the few who sought to be extravagant in expressing love and appreciation to Jesus after all He'd done in their presence?

There would always be opportunities to help the poor. There would not always be the opportunity to show Jesus while He was here in the flesh the exceeding gratitude, appreciation, and love He deserves to be shown. There was coming a time when He would be crucified and die. And then, even though He rose again with a resurrection body that could never die again, He was only to remain here for 40 days before returning to heaven.

That woman did what she could to thank Jesus. Have we done all that we could to thank Him?

At this time we are unable to pour fragrant oil on the physical head of Jesus.  But there are things we can do to express our love and thankfulness to Him. If we read the Bible we can learn the things that please Him. Doing those things is what we can do.

Let's learn what we can do to be a blessing to our Lord Jesus, and do them as much as we can.