Good morning,
In our church service we spent half an hour singing in the
spirit over and over again, "Lord you are worthy". It was a reminder for
us, that He is worthy! Worthy is to stand alone; to be befitting of; having the greatest merit or value; the most excellent. It
is His beauty, glory, and His nature that keeps us captured by His
gaze. Who is as kind, longsuffering, compassionate, understanding, and
loving as our Lord? There is no one as excellent or who is deserving of
our all or worship. We need to be extravagant with our worship until our
worship ascends to Him as the sweet smell of perfume. A lover and a
worshiper of God with our whole being and life as Mary who was
extravagant in her expression of love. Matthew 26:7-13; There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his
head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the
whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told
for a memorial of her." Alabaster box was the best and expensive material with which to preserve the ointment. The precious ointments the very costly, great value and luxurious sweet smelling, fragrant oil. John identifies this woman as Mary. "Mary took a pound of
ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive,
and she poured it on Jesus" feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, the one of His disciples who was about to betray Him, said, Why
was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii [a year’s wages for an
ordinary workman] and that [money] given to the poor (the destitute)? Now
he did not say this
because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief; and having
the bag (the money box; the purse of the Twelve), he took for himself
what was put into it [pilfering the collection]. But
Jesus said, Let her alone. It was [intended] that she should keep it
for the time of My preparation for burial. [She has kept it that she
might have it for the time of My embalming.] You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. What
Mary poured on Jesus in worship was worth a years wages, that would be
the equivalent of us taking here in the USA, between $40-100,000 and
giving to the Lord! It was an average man's wages. She held nothing
back, but gave her most valuable gift, as an offering of love. I think
she was showing and saying you are worthy, you are deserving of and
befitting of this precious oil. But take notice that it was actually
Judas, the betrayer,
the tare that was sow among the wheat, who was indignant towards her
costly, demonstrative act of worship. Indignation means resentful, angered, wrath, expressing strong displeasure at something; offensive or insulted. Religion is always offended and angered at extravagant worship. You will always here the same response; "to what purpose is this waste?" Today it may sound like, "it doesn't take all that!" True worshipers are always extravagant, think about King David.
spirit over and over again, "Lord you are worthy". It was a reminder for
us, that He is worthy! Worthy is to stand alone; to be befitting of; having the greatest merit or value; the most excellent. It
is His beauty, glory, and His nature that keeps us captured by His
gaze. Who is as kind, longsuffering, compassionate, understanding, and
loving as our Lord? There is no one as excellent or who is deserving of
our all or worship. We need to be extravagant with our worship until our
worship ascends to Him as the sweet smell of perfume. A lover and a
worshiper of God with our whole being and life as Mary who was
extravagant in her expression of love. Matthew 26:7-13; There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his
head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the
whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told
for a memorial of her." Alabaster box was the best and expensive material with which to preserve the ointment. The precious ointments the very costly, great value and luxurious sweet smelling, fragrant oil. John identifies this woman as Mary. "Mary took a pound of
ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive,
and she poured it on Jesus" feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, the one of His disciples who was about to betray Him, said, Why
was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii [a year’s wages for an
ordinary workman] and that [money] given to the poor (the destitute)? Now
he did not say this
because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief; and having
the bag (the money box; the purse of the Twelve), he took for himself
what was put into it [pilfering the collection]. But
Jesus said, Let her alone. It was [intended] that she should keep it
for the time of My preparation for burial. [She has kept it that she
might have it for the time of My embalming.] You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. What
Mary poured on Jesus in worship was worth a years wages, that would be
the equivalent of us taking here in the USA, between $40-100,000 and
giving to the Lord! It was an average man's wages. She held nothing
back, but gave her most valuable gift, as an offering of love. I think
she was showing and saying you are worthy, you are deserving of and
befitting of this precious oil. But take notice that it was actually
Judas, the betrayer,
the tare that was sow among the wheat, who was indignant towards her
costly, demonstrative act of worship. Indignation means resentful, angered, wrath, expressing strong displeasure at something; offensive or insulted. Religion is always offended and angered at extravagant worship. You will always here the same response; "to what purpose is this waste?" Today it may sound like, "it doesn't take all that!" True worshipers are always extravagant, think about King David.
"And David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment]. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart." (2 Sam. 6:14-16) David's wife despised him for his act of extravagant worship. Extravagant is spending much more than is necessary or wise; wasteful; exceeding the bounds of reason, as actions demands, opinions, or passions; going beyond what is deserved or justifiable. In
the days ahead there will be a revelation of how worthy our Lord is of
wasting our lives for Him, spending more than is necessary, we will be
worshipers that exceed the bounds of reason, demands, or even our
passions. We will explode as extravagant worshipers like Mary and David
and religious people will despise us and be indignant towards true
worshipers. It is not the first time that extravagant worshipers are
told that it doesn't take all that. Jesus told them to leave Mary alone,
for she has done something that those all around Him, hadn't even
thought of. Worship brings revelation and insight. Be extravagant in
your worship, give your all, with all your might to Him who is worthy!
the days ahead there will be a revelation of how worthy our Lord is of
wasting our lives for Him, spending more than is necessary, we will be
worshipers that exceed the bounds of reason, demands, or even our
passions. We will explode as extravagant worshipers like Mary and David
and religious people will despise us and be indignant towards true
worshipers. It is not the first time that extravagant worshipers are
told that it doesn't take all that. Jesus told them to leave Mary alone,
for she has done something that those all around Him, hadn't even
thought of. Worship brings revelation and insight. Be extravagant in
your worship, give your all, with all your might to Him who is worthy!
Love,
Pastor D.
Daughters of Z 