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Preserved Forever
"Jesus … was teaching his disciples. He said to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. (Mark 9:31-32).
Jesus' time was fast approaching. He knew how unprepared His disciples were for what was about to happen, and He needed them to hear him. But they didn't. They couldn't understand and were afraid to ask.
I wonder, why were they afraid to ask? They had asked Him all kinds of things before. Was it that they were afraid of the answer? What He was saying sure didn't match their dreams and expectations.
"When he was in the house, he asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the road?' But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest" (vs. 33). Imagine that! He has just told them He would be betrayed and killed, and they are arguing about who is the greatest! Jesus' heart had to have ached.
"As you know, the Passover is two days away–and the Son of man will be handed over to be crucified" (Matthew 26:2). Once again, He tells them. And there is no record of a reply on the part of His disciples. They still are not listening. But then, "While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. 'Why this waste?' they asked. This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.' Aware of this, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you bothering this woman? She has done beautiful thing to me ... When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial'" (vs. 6-12).
Did you notice that? "She did it to prepare me for burial." She had heard Him.
It is believed that this woman was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus–the same Mary who had chosen to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to Him while her sister Martha busied herself with serving and resented her lack of help. "Martha, Martha... Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her," Jesus had said on that occasion.
Once again, Mary had chosen to listen; and because of that, she alone understood Jesus when He repeatedly warned His disciples about His approaching death.
And now … what do you do when someone you care about tells you
He is about to undergo an excruciating death? How do you even begin to
minister to Him? Mary chose to anoint Him with very expensive perfume.
To us, it is a strange gesture; but it was then considered an act of the
highest respect. "She did what she could," Jesus said (Mark
14:8), and called it "a beautiful thing to me."
She heard Him. She ministered to Him as best she could. And the disciples–who
still don't get it–call her act a "waste"
But Jesus' heart was comforted and grateful. "1 tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will al so be told, in memory of her" (vs. 9).
A small act of ministry that could have disappeared in the river of history was preserved forever by the One to whom it was beautiful.
1 find this account incredibly encouraging. Because it tells me that as I listen and do what I can from the heart for my Lord–regardless of whether anyone else understands it–it is beautiful to Him … Beautiful enough to be remembered by Hjm forever.
-Maria Lund