From the Pastor’s Pen

Final thoughts on Mark 14:3-9

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.”  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”               NKJV

When you hear the word extravagant, what imagery comes to mind?  Is it some jewelry dripping with precious stones?  Maybe a grand estate with a lavish mansion?  A brand-new luxury automobile or a completely restored vintage car?  An exotic spa vacation with a plush, five-star hotel?  Whichever picture filled your mind, my guess is that your thoughts weren’t about worship.  In our text, we have a picture of an extravagant worshiper.

This unnamed woman comes into the noisy dinner at Simon’s house and refuses to let anything stop her from accomplishing what the Lord has put on her heart.  She takes this spikenard that cost 300 days wages and consciously forgets its original intended purchase and instead, she uses it to anoint Jesus’ head.

How delightful is Jesus’ response to the people’s shock?  He blesses her extravagant worship  and tells the other guests that she is preparing Him for burial.  Her worship proves that she understood the Lord’s agenda better than Jesus’ Apostles and she altered her agenda to match His as an act of worship.

Extravagant worship always focuses on the Lord Jesus, giving glory and honor to Him no matter what the cost or what other people think.  Jesus will always receive extravagant worship whether it is financial, through song, in service to the church, in the sharing of scripture with others, in the giving of your time serving Him, or in the way you live your everyday life as a testimony for Him to bring glory and honor to His name.  I Corinthians 10:31 tells us that whatever we do, even in such simple acts as eating and drinking, we are to do all to the glory of God.  Jesus said of this woman, “She has done what she could.”  Today, are you doing all you can to worship extravagantly the One who has saved you by His grace?