Thursday 10 August 2017
- Bible Book:
- John
“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.’” (vv. 7-8)
Psalm: Psalm 54
Background
Jesus is back at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and Maryhonours him in the most extravagant way (verse 3). Seeing Judas'response to Mary's action (verse 4), the phrase 'knowing the priceof everything and the value of nothing' springs to mind. All he canthink of is how much money they would have made if only Mary hadsold the perfume instead of wasting it on Jesus' feet - and notbecause he actually cared about the poor, but because there wouldhave been more money in the kitty for him to help himself to (verse6).
Jesus' reply to Judas gives us another quote that's heard a lottoday: 'You will always have the poor with you'. For far too manypeople, these words of Jesus have become an easy get-out clausewhenever poverty is mentioned -'Jesus said the poor will always bewith us, so that's our excuse to ignore poverty'. But that was notwhat Jesus meant when he said it.
Lazarus has now become a focus of attention from the public, aswell as a catalyst for many others to come to faith. But some ofthe attention is unwelcome - and he is now a target for deathhimself (verses 10-11).
To Ponder
- Think of a time that someone gave you a gift that was veryextravagant. How did it make you feel?
- What do you think Jesus meant when he said, "You will alwayshave the poor among you"?