Snapshot
Key Characters: Mary, Judas, Jesus.
Overview
The name Christ means the anointed. In another place, we read that God gave Jesus the anointing in measureless flow. How significant is then the anointing of Mary to Jesus that He had to rebuke Judas for Mary’s sake? We shall spend this series observing why a negligible input like that could mean so much to Jesus.
The Jar
The jar was a bottle of oil filled with such powerfully scented and expensive perfume. So it makes sense to say a bottle of the same size might have equally been filled with a less scented perfume and of cheaper worth.
The jar is but a casing, which our bodies, like God’s temple, are. A body is what God has given us for one purpose as He gave Jesus - to do His will. His will was the expression of His love by donating the most holy to ransom, the most sinful. And we read this ascended to God as a sweet-smelling savour (Ephesians 5:2).
Thus the body have we all, but like any perfume jar, it could be decked and cocked with cheap or sour or offensive smelling savour. To do God’s will was to die in love. Mary thus preached the following message to us all.
The jar we are, and until we are broken, we are but a potential blessing. Like a child with all blessed faculties, holding a prospect of a bright future, so are we, when decked and blessed but unmoved by God into circumstances where the swirling torrents of harsh events of life can roll over us. So decorated and bless Joseph was, but a broken Jacob knew his children’s future and predicted them with utmost precision. He was a jar poured out. And in his pouring, the whole human race was blessed with Jesus with salvation. So, where are the children of blessed Joseph?
How long did it take to deck this bottle of perfume?
To save for a year’s wage with a disposable income of 30% requires about 3½ years, assuming the whole disposable income is saved. It took her 3½ years to save for an ointment, not worthy of polishing the Master’s crown but smearing his feet in appreciation for a 3½-year selfless ministry that blessed the world. He saw the beautiful feet of Christ that brought the Goodnews, and the beauty allured her so much that she could spend her all to keep the beauty intact.
What may be decked in the jar of oil?
When broken by lack, death or denial, how may our bodies ooze out such strong scents that wind cannot consume but diffuse or disperse? For short, how may we please God in our bodies?
It is something the Father sought for about 4000 years. It is that all men should conform to the image of the Son. So that all adopted may be of the same inward-born character as with the Only Begotten. Thus, it is Christ-life, the new life, that this jar must be filled with.
It will therefore take a lifetime to deck this body fully. It will take some trying years of waiting before conformity in some aspects is attained. Yet, in the highest of its heavens, that is, our spiritual attainments, they would have had their best positions at the feet of Jesus.
We may do well to examine, in sobriety, if we are a jar reserved for His filling. If we are, how filled are we? How much progress have we made in our drive for Christ-likeness? If we have progressed, are we being deflated by pride or diffused by the desire for selflessness in His services? Our highest invitation is to be invited to birth our Master’s feet with our best.
Judas the Judge and his Justification
John 12:4-6 NLT
But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.
Without a counsellor, without an advocate, Judas falsely took up the course of the poor. He advocated for the poor and judged Mary. In His opinion, Mary was a waster due to the fragrance’s worth. It was too much to be given to Jesus alone. He’s not worthy of Christ because he could deny himself to overcome the love of money. He also felt nothing expensive was worthy of Christ.
He also assumed on Jesus’s behalf, since Jesus lived a simple life, that such a jar of oil would have been profitably sold. He further belittled Jesus. Judas was the advocate and the judge. He found fault in Mary and pronounced her a waster; he found a spot in Jesus for being extravagant while the poor were suffering.
His Justification
He argued that the opportunity cost of this expensive ointment was ministerial outreach to the poor. And so, he became the father of all those who prefers alternatives to obedience to the persuasive voice of the Holy Spirit. No law commanded such a gift from Mary. She gave of her volition. How unfortunate is one bid to make restitution and meets Judas on the way! It is a pity for a supposedly restituting Zacchaeus but meets with Judas on his way! He would have counselled him otherwise.
Not that these lukewarm Christians desire our good, but they know the subtle digs to fling at us. So Judas, a subtle serpent 🐍, dethroned from his ministerial position, is looking for who and what to drag down! He was jealous of Jesus because he was entirely blind to the beauty Mary beheld to make her prize Jesus that highly.
To be continued…
