A Memorial – The Saturday Morning Post
Today’s Passage – Matthew 26 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 71 – 75; Proverbs 15)
Read the “1015 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” (Matthew 26:6-13)
Good morning. Just out of curiosity, did any verse pop into your head when you read the title and the verses above? The first one to pop into my head was…
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
In our text passage, the Lord calls what the woman did a good work that was done for Him. And her story will be remembered in the gospel, and be a memorial of her. We can see as the woman poured out the ointment on Jesus’ head, and the sweet odor filled the room, the disciples were filled with indignation – they became angry: “[It] could have been sold for much, and given to the poor.”
Maybe their priorities were a little backwards in putting the poor first…
“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40)
Maybe we should put God first, and in the putting and obedience to Him, help the poor, or whatever it is He wants us to do. Was it good that the disciples thought about the poor? Yes, it was. But Jesus needed this ointment for His burial. She put God first, and Jesus made it a memorial to her. Obedience to God is as simple as one, two, three.
1) The Holy Spirit opens your eyes to something that needs to be taken care of.
2) You ask God what He wants you to do about it, and God tells you.
3) You do it.
Whether it is confession of sin, helping someone in need, whatever, you cannot out give God. He is always there to help you, and to help others through you. But put God first, and you don’t have to worry about filthy rags.
Peace!
Posted in Devotions by Pastor Ted Stahl with no comments yet.