Mark 14:1-11 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.
This piece of biblical history is sometimes overlooked. We all know that Judas one of the twelve had betrayed Jesus, that fateful kiss in the garden, sealed his dishonoring of Christ and Jesus' fate. But too often we tend to focus on the end results instead of the beginning of the ordeal. And it is very important to recognize the root of the matter. When this woman broke that jar of anointing oil, she opened up a can of worms, the disciples all shook their heads, what a waste they said, money poured down the drain! We could have sold that to help the poor, REALLY? come on let us look at the true cause for their dislike. Greed and self preservation! Realize Judas was the treasurer he looked at this act as the straw that broke the camel's back, that Jesus would have this valuable resource wasted in His honor, upset him, so much that he agrees to sell Him out for 30 pieces of silver to the Pharisees.....now that was w a waste of monies!
Today we tend to do the same, not in as much as selling out Christ, but to sell out His Living Ministry, by not supporting the church. (BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING) Yep, tithing.....some see it as an act of obedience and others see it as a begrudging act by the church, as one of taking money out of their pockets. Let's face it, monies spent for the works of Christ is monies invested in the souls of so many in need of Salvation, monies spent for the upkeep of buildings, for outside Ministering, for printing of Spiritual Readings and lessons, all of this is needed. And we should be willing to do our part, without reservations of self preservation or greed! This is why I preached to the body it's importance, not that the plate has to be full every time it was passed, but that the ideal of supporting Christ and His Works, by supporting the very place that represents it, is so important to the preservation of God's plan for all of mankind.
So think today on this...........tithing is crucial for Honoring Christ and His sacrifice.......it is essential in building the framework for housing His ministry......and it would befall me to see His children dishonor Him, by seeking to complain about the monies set aside for Him, when He sacriced it all for us!
