Dear Christian friend,
I hope and pray all is well with you. I wanted to share this brief devotional thought with you, after being inspired by a teaching from my dear friend and brother in Christ.
Here's the question I asked myself, and, in turn, I'd like to ask you:
"Am I giving my all to Jesus?"
In the four Gospel accounts of our Lord's earthly life and ministry, here's a list of folks who were recorded for their sacrificial giving to the things of God and His Son.
Matthew
• Peter (speaking for the Twelve) — Matthew 19:27 — "we have forsaken all, and followed thee."
• A woman (Bethany, harmonized with Mark 14 / John 12) — Matthew 26:7–13 — poured an alabaster box of very precious ointment on Jesus' head.
• Joseph of Arimathaea — Matthew 27:59–60 — gave his own new rock-hewn tomb for Jesus' burial.
Mark
• Peter/the disciples — Mark 10:28 — "we have left all, and have followed thee."
• The poor widow — Mark 12:41–44 — cast in two mites, "all her living."
• A woman (Bethany) — Mark 14:3 — broke an alabaster box of spikenard ointment and poured it on his head.
Luke
• Peter, James, John — Luke 5:11 — forsook all (ships, nets) and followed him.
• Levi (Matthew) — Luke 5:27–28 — left the tax office, rose up, and followed him.
• A sinful woman — Luke 7:37–38 — anointed Jesus' feet with ointment, washed them with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.
• Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others — Luke 8:2–3 — ministered to Jesus "of their substance."
• Peter — Luke 18:28 — "we have left all, and followed thee."
• Zacchaeus — Luke 19:8 — gave half his goods to the poor and restored fourfold anything taken by fraud.
• The poor widow — Luke 21:1–4 — cast in two mites, "all the living that she had."
John
• A lad — John 6:9 — gave up his five barley loaves and two small fishes, which Jesus multiplied.
• Mary of Bethany — John 12:3 — anointed Jesus' feet with a pound of costly spikenard ointment and wiped them with her hair.
• Nicodemus — John 19:39 — brought about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes for Jesus' burial.
Each of these cases cost the offerer something they either received from another person or worked hard to obtain. In each case, it was sacrificial.
I'd like to narrow in on the case of Mary in John 12.
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
(John 12:3 KJV)
The ointment of spikenard is a physical thing carrying a spiritual reality (the honoring of the body destined for the tomb).
"a pound": A Roman litra ≈ 12 oz (~327 g) — an extravagant quantity
"ointment": Perfumed, aromatic unguent
"of spikenard": Aromatic oil from the nard plant (Himalayan Nardostachys), imported at great cost
Key phrase:
"very costly": Of great price; high value
Grammatico-Historical meaning: A pound (λฮฏτρα ≈ 12 oz) of pure nard is an astonishing quantity; spikenard was distilled from a plant of the Himalayan highlands and transported thousands of miles, which is why Judas can value it at "three hundred pence" (v. 5) — roughly a laborer's annual wage. That John notes the feet (not the head, as in Matt. 26:7 / Mark 14:3) is deliberate: the diners reclined at table (v. 2, synanakeimenลn), feet extended behind them, so Mary could reach his feet — and to anoint the feet, and then to unbind her hair and wipe them, was an act of extreme social self-abasement. A respectable woman did not loose her hair publicly; here she spends her "glory" (1 Cor. 11:15) upon his lowest part.
The question I was pondering was the following:
"Would I be willing to spend a year's wages I earn on my Lord?"
History has passed on to us that the cost Mary was willing to sacrifice to anoint the feet of Jesus was equal to about a full year's wage. Imagine that: one full year of working, laboring, trading, selling — whatever means she labored — she considered Jesus' feet more important than her own things.
This is what our devotion to Jesus Christ should look like before others. Our love for Jesus Christ should be observed by how we spend our money on the things He cares for, our time on the things He cares for, our talents and gifts on the things He cares for. Our addiction to serving Christ can metaphorically become a sweet fragrance before others to smell and behold, and even refresh.
Why wouldn't we be willing to sacrifice our all for the One who sacrificed His all for us?
Why do we spend more on earthly things such as entertainment, sports, subscriptions, hobbies and interests than we do on our giving to our local church ministry?
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. (Philippians 2:21 KJV)
The Word condemns those who make their selfish appetites more important to satisfy than the true God; earthly devotion above spiritual devotion!
Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. (Philippians 3:19 KJV)
The verse in John 12 displays Christ as the one worthy of unmeasured, costly worship.
Mary's act is proleptic devotion: she alone in the room seems to grasp that he is going to die, and she honors the body beforehand. The fragrance filling the house anticipates what Paul later names — Christ's self-offering as "a sweetsmelling savour" to God (Eph. 5:2). What Mary pours out in a room, Christ will pour out on a cross.
Application:
Where genuine, sacrificial love for Christ is poured out, its aroma spreads to everyone in reach.
Today, I humbly ask you, dear reader, to re-evaluate your profession of faith, and your wallet or purse (sisters). I humbly ask you to re-evaluate your profession of faith, and your schedule throughout your week, month, and year.
Then, once completed, ponder the following questions I thought about earlier:
"Am I giving my all to Jesus?"
"Would I be willing to spend a year's wages I earn on my Lord?"
We understand the historical context of interpreting Scripture. Of course, we know that today we're not called to leave our husbands, wives, or family to serve the Lord. Of course, we're called to work with our hands to provide for our own needs (Acts 20; 2 Thessalonians 3), and we have to provide for our families and church (1 Timothy 5). However, what this devotional thought calls for is our personal devotion to Christ — our intent and willingness to give what we worked for, sacrificially, for Him, such as our money, time, gifts, and talents, etc.
Christ currently sits bodily at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, but the Spirit has revealed to us that His church is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6), His body (1 Corinthians 6, 12; Ephesians 5; Colossians 1). We should, therefore, be willing to demonstrate to our local church family our devotion, addiction, labor, and giving as unto the Lord, so that our sacrifice might produce a sweet fragrance for those around us.
The next time an opportunity arises for you to give up something you consider of great value — perhaps your hard-earned money, time, gifts, or talents — please remember that He is worthy of all our sacrifice, for He offered Himself as a sacrifice for you on the cross to gain eternal redemption for your soul.
With love, Brother Carlos.
