Have you ever gone shopping for a special gift for a special person and ended up in a very exclusive department, complete with expensive tags?
And right there in front of you was the perfect gift? Did you walk away or take a deep breath and figure out how many meals you had to skip to afford it? But you couldn't walk away. This gift expressed your love for this person like nothing else you have seen.
Perhaps this was the way the woman from Bethany felt as she entered Simon the Leper's home with the alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume. She felt so good as she poured the perfume over Jesus head, only to be criticized by the disciples for wasting money. Ever experienced that attitude. But Jesus, the grateful recipient saw her expensive gift differently. I agree that we should consider the needs of the poor when being extravagant in gift giving, but should we deny a deserving person of a special gift just so we can give to another?
"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Mtt 16:6-13
It isn't the cost of the gift, but the meaning behind it that makes it valuable. Jesus saw the gift as preparing him for death and therefore more important that giving to the poor at that time. And giving to Jesus unselfishly from the love in your heart is the special gift with great value.
And right there in front of you was the perfect gift? Did you walk away or take a deep breath and figure out how many meals you had to skip to afford it? But you couldn't walk away. This gift expressed your love for this person like nothing else you have seen.
Perhaps this was the way the woman from Bethany felt as she entered Simon the Leper's home with the alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume. She felt so good as she poured the perfume over Jesus head, only to be criticized by the disciples for wasting money. Ever experienced that attitude. But Jesus, the grateful recipient saw her expensive gift differently. I agree that we should consider the needs of the poor when being extravagant in gift giving, but should we deny a deserving person of a special gift just so we can give to another?
"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Mtt 16:6-13
It isn't the cost of the gift, but the meaning behind it that makes it valuable. Jesus saw the gift as preparing him for death and therefore more important that giving to the poor at that time. And giving to Jesus unselfishly from the love in your heart is the special gift with great value.
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