Day 2 :: What a Waste
…a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”
Matthew 26:7-8(6-16)
A successful business owner who has everything but time to enjoy life.
A mum who gives up a career for the sake of her kids.
An old couple who retire to a seaside village to take life easy.
An intelligent youngster who dies young because of addictions.
A Christian who leaves family, friends, and security to go to the other side of the world to Make Jesus Known?
Which, if any, of these would you consider to be a waste?
While plans to kill Jesus were being hatched, he was in Bethany at the home of a man Jesus had healed of leprosy, called Simon. As they reclined at a table, a woman walks in with a jar of perfume, and she pours it on Jesus.
It wasn’t any old perfume, and it wasn’t just a couple of drops. It would have been worth around a years’ wages, 300 denarii. Imagine taking a big bottle of perfume worth over £25,000 and just splashing it all over someone!
“Why this waste?” (v8)
It’s easy to understand why the disciples couldn’t get their heads round it. John tells us that it was greedy Judas who led the complaints, but they were all thinking the same. (John 12:4-6) They thought it was ridiculous.
“By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial.” (v12)
Jesus, though, gave her actions significance and meaning. Her act was one of extravagant sacrificial faith, love, and worship. But more than that, Jesus says his body was prepared for burial. Jesus says she did a ‘noble thing.’ It was a beautiful thing.
Jesus knew he was heading to a horrible torture and death, was that a waste? It could seem ridiculous that the Son of God would be murdered in such a humiliating way. But Jesus knew he was giving his life, his all, so those who would put wholehearted faith in him could be saved eternally.
This lent, we might see or hear of people giving things up so they can spend more time with Jesus, or give more energy to serving him, is that a waste?
Perhaps we’ve heard stories, or know people who have made extraordinary sacrifices to live for Jesus, is that a waste?
When we grasp the beauty, depth and blessing that it is to know Jesus, then the right response is to give ourselves to living for him. That probably won’t look like us pouring out a years’ wage worth of perfume, but it will look like extravagant sacrifices that might look like a waste.
There are plenty ways we can waste our lives, our time, our money or our energy. But it is never a waste to give everything for Jesus.
‘Jesus paid it all,
All to him I owe.
Sin had left it’s crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.’
Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus, and give our all for him.
Passages to read: Matthew 26:6-16, Mark 14:3-11, John 12:1-10
A thought to remember: Jesus gave his all for his people.
A question to ask: How can we live extravagantly sacrificial lives for Jesus today?
A song to sing: Jesus Paid It All