Longing To Do Something Beautiful for Jesus

Hello again on this Tuesday of Holy Week as we head towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Before the pandemic struck, Tuesday used to be the cheapest day to buy a seat on for airline travel.  Now most of us haven’t boarded trains or buses, let alone planes for this past year and for most of the year have lived with great limitations in our movements every day of every week of every month.   Some families practiced “Taco Tuesday” with their meal planning. During the pandemic lots of people have taken to learning how to cook new things.   I wonder what meal planning looks like in many households these days.  I have to say whether it’s on a Tuesday evening or not, a supper of tacos is still one of my favourites. 

On Tuesday of the week Jesus was sacrificed for us, we know that He was at a dinner. Thursday night Jesus would share the Last Supper with his disciples but he was sharing this meal with some other folks on this night. Remember this story? 

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.  “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.  She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”  Mark 14:1-9

Jesus knew the time of his death on the cross was near and true to His word, here we are 2000 years later remembering this woman for her act of generous love and worship. 

Jesus’ followers had been with Him, observing what He did and listening to His teachings.  They hadn’t just heard what He taught the crowds but Jesus had often taken them aside to teach them so they would understand the lesson He was giving them.  However, for all His efforts, they still did not, could not, would not – I don’t know which – but they didn’t understand why Jesus had to die and how He would rise again.  We pray today to enter in to this wonderful fact that is still in many ways a mystery to us.

Heavenly Father, each year when we come to these days where the Easter events are very much on  many of our minds I find it impossible to wrap my mind around all that Jesus did and why He did it.  We have the events recorded in history so we know what happened and when it happened but this fact that Jesus did all this for people like us, so our rebellion and sins could we washed away and we could have a relationship  with You forever – why was that so important to You?  You could have created whatever You want.  You could have made new things when we humans sinned and walked away from Your presence and yet You chose to make a way of restoration and life for us.  We can’t quite understand the depths of it all but we certainly do appreciate it.

Along with this woman who anointed Jesus feet who also didn’t understand it all but acted in love and worship anyway, that’s how we want to respond today to Your great love.  We come together today to worship You and to give thanks for how our lives have been touched and transformed because You came into them and made us whole. 

We have lots to learn and lots yet to understand but we pray today to just live simply and faithfully in loving service so whatever we do to honour You can be told, maybe just  to our neighbours or close family members and maybe to the generations to come – that part is all up to You.  We want to believe that You will use our simple acts of love in ways that go beyond what we see, just like You did for this woman, but we know that until we get to heaven we just leave that bit with You.

Today, help us to do something beautiful for You – whatever that looks like in each of our circumstances.  Amen

Have a wonderful day in the blessing of God on this Tuesday of Holy Week.  See you tomorrow.