Mt. Pisgah off the Blue Ridge Parkway between Mt. Celo Church and Waynesville, NC |
Now The Shepherd has been sent to lead God's sheep in Mark 14 - to be the means of the Passover of God's people from death to life eternal. As with Moses, the people have rejected this Servant-Leader also. At the same time the Jewish leaders prepare to kill the passover lambs for the Passover celebration, they also prepare, plot, and scheme to kill The True Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ. Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus who sat at Jesus' feet to learn from His teaching, (Luke 10:38-42 and the John 12 account), out of love and devotion to the LORD, breaks an alabaster flask of costly perfume and anoints Jesus in preparation for His burial. It is an act that arouses the anger of all the disciples - especially Judas Iscariot. They see her devotion as a waste. Money takes center stage for them, under the guise of helping the poor. They seem to still not understand that Christ will be killed for them - for us - but Mary understands and gives her most costly possession - her sacrifice - for the Christ, a sweet aroma to Him of her love and devotion. Jesus' response: "Let her alone...She has done a good thing for me...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..." A concern not for Himself, but for His people - the pattern for the Servant-Leader.
My Lesson/Application: Am I willing to be a servant for others in His name? When called to lead, do I follow this pattern of the Servant-Leader?
The New Covenant / The Lord's Supper / Broken and Spilled Out - 'And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, 'Take eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."' (emphases mine.)
My Lesson/Application: I am called to follow the pattern of my Master - to live a life that is broken and spilled out for Him, for His people, a sweet aroma to Him. Or, as Thomas Chalmers (19th C. Scottish Theologian) said, a life that exemplifies"...the expulsive power of a new affection."
Steve Green sings "Broken and Spilled Out.
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