HONORED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

John 12:1-3

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus had done something miraculous in the presence of the two sisters of a very dead Lazarus and those who had come to support and console them in their grieving.

He raised Lazarus from the dead.

You’ll recall that Lazarus, a man very dear to Jesus, had passed away and put to rest in a tomb for four days when Jesus arrived in Bethany. But no amount of time would deter the life restoring power that Jesus possessed and when He commanded Lazarus to rise after the tomb was opened, out he came wrapped in the linen strips used to cover the body and a cloth over his face.

While the people were obviously awestruck at what they had just witnessed, Jesus commanded this:

“Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

And with that, Jesus’ good friend Lazarus lived again. It was a time of great rejoicing for everyone except the Pharisees and chief priests who planned to arrest and kill Jesus if they got the chance. And they would get it but not just yet. Because for now, Jesus remained in Bethany as the Passover approached, spending more time with Lazarus and his sisters. Look again at today’s passage:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  John 12:1-3

We read where Jesus was honored with a dinner at the home of Lazarus who reclined at the table with Jesus. It had to be a very joyous occasion, one celebrating a new life for the once dead homeowner.

The scriptures tell us that Martha, one of Lazarus’ sisters, was busy serving everyone but Mary, the other sister, was serving Jesus in a very different way, one that brought Him the special honor He deserved. She took a pint of pure nard, a very expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus’ feet before using her hair to wipe them.

How valuable was the pure nard?

If you drop down to verse 5 in John 12, Judas (who we’ll look at tomorrow) states the pure nard was worth “a year’s wages” and this was estimated at 300 danarii. To translate that to a currency we have a better understanding of, 300 denarii would be equivalent to around $20,000. There’s no arguing how valuable the perfume was and there then is a question that results:

Is anything too valuable to surrender in order to honor Jesus?

And then this raises a secondary, more personal question:

How much would you be willing to give up to honor Jesus?

It’s a question that challenges and even convicts us. Or at least it should.

I say this because as we follow the Jesus story out to its biblical end, and see where it continues from the heavens through present day and will do so until He returns, we realize that Jesus sacrificed everything and suffered incredibly in order to save us. As the classic hymn proclaims, “Jesus gave it all”. Are we ready to feel the words of the next phrase, “All to Him I owe.”

How much is too much to honor the very Son of God, the Savior of all mankind, the One who bore the punishment we deserved to deliver us from sin?

Frankly, a pint of nard, as expensive as it was, seems terribly inadequate but as we’ll see tomorrow, one of Jesus’ chosen twelve will feel otherwise.

Tune in tomorrow to see the approach we can never afford to take when it comes to honoring Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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