SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2024 12:46 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-4 “The
Preparation of Loving Worship”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
26:6-13
Message of the verses: “6 Now when Jesus
was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an
alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He
reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this,
and said, "Why this waste? 9 “For this perfume might have been sold
for a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 But Jesus,
aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has
done a good deed to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do
not always have Me. 12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it
to prepare Me for burial. 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is
preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in
memory of her.’”
As one looks at this section from the other gospel
writers they can see that the disciples’ indignation was not voiced openly but
only among themselves, however we know that Jesus was aware of this and so He
rebuked them for it. “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed
to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have
Me.”
MacArthur writes “In the parable of the sheep and
the goats the Lord had just graphically taught that meeting the physical needs
of His people is of the utmost importance and is a mark of genuine salvation
(Matt. 25:34-36). But He was very soon
to end His earthly ministry and return to His Father in heaven. And before He returned He would suffer, die,
and be raised up. This was therefore not
the time for philanthropy but adoration, not the time for charity but for
worship. Just as she had done on an
earlier occasion, Mary now had ‘chosen the good part’ (Luke 10:42) and was
performing a beautiful good deed to her Lord.”
He goes on to write about a very
important point: “Genuine worship is the supreme service a
Christian can offer to Christ. There is
a time for ministering to the poor, the sick, the naked, and the
imprisoned. There is a time for discipling
new believers and helping them grow in the faith. There is a time for discipling new believers
and helping them grow in the faith.
There is a time for careful study and teaching of God’s Word. But above all else that the Lord requires of
His people is their true worship, without which everything else they may do in
His name is empty and powerless.
“The
worshiper emulated by Mary does not ask, ‘How much is it going to cost?’ or ‘Do
I have the time?’ Like her, the true worship gives Jesus whatever he has,
knowing it is trifling compared to what has been received from Him.”
We can see in this particular and
unique act of worship, when Mary poured this perfume upon the body of Jesus, even
without her realizing it she did it to prepare Him for burial. It became a symbolic deed that anticipated
His death and His burial.
It
was what Mary did that was of such a lasting significance that Jesus declared
the following ““Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the
whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” Through the accounts of this story in three
of the gospels, the Holy Spirit secured for posterity a memorial to her love
and generous worship. In fulfillment of
the Lord’s prediction, for nearly thousand years what this woman did has indeed
been spoken of in memory of her. Mary is
perpetually an example to all Christians of unselfish, sacrificial adoration.
This
ends this section and Lord willing we will look at the last subsection in this
chapter which MacArthur entitles “The Preparation of Betraying Hypocrisy.”
4/15/2024 1:07 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment