I Did It For My
Lord
Mary therefore took a pound of
expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and
wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the
perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray
him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred
denarii and given to the poor?” John 12:3-5 (ESV)
Bill Mills in
his book Finishing Well in Life and
Ministry shares the following incident. Many years back they had been
assigned to translate the Bible into one of the Indian tribal languages. This
was a lengthy and tedious process. Before computers, it often took as long as
twenty years.
During the
process, the translators were teaching the Scriptures and seeing a new church
emerging among the tribe. But as they came toward the end of the translation
project, the tribal people were becoming more and more involved in selling
their crops for the drug trade and less and less interested in the Scriptures.
When they finally finished the translation of the New Testament and scheduled a
dedication service, not even one person came!
He says his wife
was angry and bitter. She had given twenty years of her life so that these
people could have the Scriptures, but they didn’t even want it! Then with
regard to Bill’s ministry of the Word that week, she said: “It is as though God
has been washing His Word over my soul and healing me, and He has opened my
eyes to see this all from His perspective. I am just beginning to realize now
that we did it for Him! That is the only thing that makes any sense in all of
this. We did it for God!”
Mills concludes,
“That
is the only thing that makes any sense in ministry. We do it for Him.”
Why do you do what you do for the Lord is
a question that we need to ask. This account and all the parallel accounts - Matthew
(26:6-13) and Mark (14:3-9; Luke 7:37-39 is a different incident), all the
disciples joined Judas in scolding Mary for wasting this expensive perfume on
Jesus when it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus
defends Mary by replying (Matt. 26:13), “Truly I say to you, wherever this
gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be
spoken of in memory of her.”
Mary’s
expression is a great illustration to remind us of sacrificial, total, complete
and unrestrained love. I don’t think Mary’s expression was calculated or
premeditated. The perfume which she poured was pure and valuable. In fact, its
value was known by the man who always thought only about the price of things:
Judas. He named the price in verse 5 as 300 denarii. A denarius is
a day’s wage. That’s 300 days of work. That’s essentially a year’s
work if you take some days off out.
This is an
amazing and lavish expression. But the expression of love and devotion doesn’t stop
there. Mary didn’t use a towel to wipe Jesus’ feet. Rather, she wiped the
Lord’s feet with her hair. Respectable Jewish women never let down their hair
in public. In fact, it was considered a
mark of a woman of loose morals. But, Mary was so caught up with her devotion
to Christ that she didn’t stop to consider what others might think about her. Like David dancing before the Lord wearing
only an ephod (2 Sam. 6:14-23), Mary cast public opinion to the wind, let her
hair down, and wiped Jesus’ feet. David’s fervent devotion embarrassed his
wife, but the Lord stood with David. Mary’s action made the apostles
uncomfortable, but Jesus sided with Mary. Jesus sided Mary and this is what ultimately
counts.
When we do
something for the Lord it should be out of a love that knows no limits, love
without restraint. It’s extravagant. It’s humble. It’s
generous. She gave everything of value that she could lay her hands on.
Why do you do what you do for the Lord? Is
there a love in it that will go beyond limits? Do I look at how others will
react? Can we say I did it for the Lord?
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