Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
(Preceded by Mary anointing Jesus' feet with an expensive perfume, which prompted Judas Iscariot to complain that this perfume should have been sold and given to the poor. The Gospels of Mark and Matthew mention that all of the disciples complained).
John was the first book I read when starting my daily Bible reading, and I remember this passage as one that I didn't really understand. Just today, I was listening to a podcast and this passage was mentioned, so I turned back to this chapter and sure enough I had highlighted this passage with a question mark.
My confusion came with what the message of this verse was. I understand that Jesus probably knew of Judas' intentions with this phrase, as he was known as a thief stealing the disciples money for himself. I still didn't understand however how this would justify Jesus' quote. My first instinct was that this message almost seems selfish, "the poor can wait because I am about to be gone". After more reflection, I now see my mistakes in this interpretation.
Reflection:
There are numerous lessons to be learned in this Scripture, but I am reflecting on one that may not seem so obvious. I read this Scripture as a great example that is provided for a message that is scattered throughout the Bible: which is not to judge others. The Disciples, particularly Judas, showed public anger towards Mary, likely thinking that their judgment was correct and would win them favor with Jesus. What they didn't think about in their judgment was Mary's unselfish act of worship, sacrificing something of great value to symbolize her love and devotion for the Messiah.
Thoughts:
-Scriptures about judging others are plentiful in the Bible, and I could have looked to numerous other versus to make the same point. This particular one however, I think really speaks to a problem in our society, one that I, and probably many of you, can relate to.
-How many times do we see something and say, "Why didn't they do this?" "Why didn't they do that, how stupid?!" I can't count the number of times I have been driving and said "What is this idiot doing???", or watching a baseball game and said "What was the manager thinking, what a dumb bullpen move?". I'm sure we all can think of situations where we do this. Just like Judas in this Scripture, we are making a mistake when our first instinct is to assume someone is doing something wrong whenever we see something happening we don't agree with, or think we wouldn't do in that situation.
-Instead of our usual responses, why don't we try to look at the situation half full? "I hope that driver is ok, maybe something fell off of their dashboard". "I wonder if that receiver is ok, he might have a bad injury that caused him not to make that catch".
Lets not make the mistake Judas made and assume we know whats best for everyone all the time. We need to hear Jesus's words....."Leave her alone".....next time we start to judge someone's actions; and instead spend our time praying for the person we want to judge, or find another way to be helpful. Not only will the person benefit, but you will as well.
John was the first book I read when starting my daily Bible reading, and I remember this passage as one that I didn't really understand. Just today, I was listening to a podcast and this passage was mentioned, so I turned back to this chapter and sure enough I had highlighted this passage with a question mark.
My confusion came with what the message of this verse was. I understand that Jesus probably knew of Judas' intentions with this phrase, as he was known as a thief stealing the disciples money for himself. I still didn't understand however how this would justify Jesus' quote. My first instinct was that this message almost seems selfish, "the poor can wait because I am about to be gone". After more reflection, I now see my mistakes in this interpretation.
Reflection:
There are numerous lessons to be learned in this Scripture, but I am reflecting on one that may not seem so obvious. I read this Scripture as a great example that is provided for a message that is scattered throughout the Bible: which is not to judge others. The Disciples, particularly Judas, showed public anger towards Mary, likely thinking that their judgment was correct and would win them favor with Jesus. What they didn't think about in their judgment was Mary's unselfish act of worship, sacrificing something of great value to symbolize her love and devotion for the Messiah.
Thoughts:
-Scriptures about judging others are plentiful in the Bible, and I could have looked to numerous other versus to make the same point. This particular one however, I think really speaks to a problem in our society, one that I, and probably many of you, can relate to.
-How many times do we see something and say, "Why didn't they do this?" "Why didn't they do that, how stupid?!" I can't count the number of times I have been driving and said "What is this idiot doing???", or watching a baseball game and said "What was the manager thinking, what a dumb bullpen move?". I'm sure we all can think of situations where we do this. Just like Judas in this Scripture, we are making a mistake when our first instinct is to assume someone is doing something wrong whenever we see something happening we don't agree with, or think we wouldn't do in that situation.
-Instead of our usual responses, why don't we try to look at the situation half full? "I hope that driver is ok, maybe something fell off of their dashboard". "I wonder if that receiver is ok, he might have a bad injury that caused him not to make that catch".
Lets not make the mistake Judas made and assume we know whats best for everyone all the time. We need to hear Jesus's words....."Leave her alone".....next time we start to judge someone's actions; and instead spend our time praying for the person we want to judge, or find another way to be helpful. Not only will the person benefit, but you will as well.
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