He Is Worthy of It All

Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. (Matthew 26:13)

What on earth could be so special that Jesus would say these words? Lavish love. 

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” (Matthew 26:6-9).

So the woman Jesus mentioned had simply poured some “ointment” or perfume on Him. Why was this so significant? Well, for one, it was expensive, so it was likely a great sacrifice. And in the gospel of John (12:1-8), the woman is identified as Mary, and she also uses the perfume of “pure nard” to wipe His feet with her hair. Feet were very dirty in that culture, and cleaning them was the job of servants, so for her to do this with such a valuable item spoke volumes about Mary’s faith in Jesus as Lord and her place as His servant. 

Most of all, the act spoke of love. Jesus was so important to Mary that she was willing to take the most precious thing she owned and “waste” it on Him in one moment of excessive adoration. And Jesus honored her for that, because, for once, someone had valued Him most. What does God ask of us, after all? To love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength—to love Him first. 

Sadly, my nature would agree with the disciples who said this was a waste. I love Jesus, but I would think of a different way to honor Him that wasn’t so wasteful. It may have been worth as much as 300 days wages. Think of how much good could be done with that kind of money. But Jesus rebuked them, “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me” (Matthew 26:11).

The thing is, we vastly underestimate God’s value. After all, God has some angels created for the singular purpose of praising His greatness forever (see Revelation 4:8). Because He is worthy of it all. And God deserves our absolute best. 

God’s love is lavish (see Ephesians 1:8, 2:7), so why shouldn’t ours be? For years, I didn’t understand this part of God’s heart. I might think that God wouldn’t bless me financially, for example—at least not too much—because it’s more than I needed. I’d think of brethren all over the world who struggle to feed themselves, and I’d wonder why on earth God would give me excess. But then He helped me understand that He has no limits. He can pour out blessing on me and never have to steal it from someone else. 

But on the other hand, for us, giving what we have feels like a sacrifice, and that’s a good thing. When we give up what we value most, we're showing God that He's more valuable by far. And thankfully, we can trust that what we will receive back from Him will be far more than we sacrificed, because He's forever generous and trustworthy. 

As Paul said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). He had at last discovered the surpassing value of Christ. But have we?

What do we feel is too great to give up, too much to waste on Him? May God search our hearts, cleanse us of all unrighteousness, and fill us with the abounding love of the Holy Spirit—for Him.

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Scripture is quoted from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.