A New Covenant

A Costly Worship Written By: Charise McNutt

“And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My 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.”  Matt. 26:6-13

   Jesus was graciously preparing His disciples for what was to come. He had just told them, “After two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” How blunt could he be? He had been very honest about the coming days but it seems they were missing the point. I am sure they were thrilled when they received a meal invitation by the man who had been healed of leprosy. They were not prepared for an offering of worship as was to come. 

As they gathered; a woman, a worshipper of Jesus, came into the house and poured a very costly, fragrant oil upon Jesus’ head. She lovingly anointed her Savior in preparation for His burial.  There was a pure, loving and sacrificial worship offered here that the disciples did not grasp. They were indignant and thought it could have been used in better ways.  Oh, but the cost of her worship and the profound impact for thousands of generations. She, humbly prepared his body for that which He came on earth to do; to be the sacrificial lamb, to take away the sins of the world. 

Oh, that we would offer our worship simply, sacrificially, joyfully, and humbly. The woman may have known the “why” of the offering or she may have not understood until the moment Jesus told them. And yet Jesus said she would be remembered for what she had done. How beautiful! Oh, that our lives would be like that very costly oil poured out as living sacrifices for the King of Kings who loves us and died upon the cross for us and rose again from the grave! Oh, that we would offer our most sacred things and intimacies of our hearts and minds. And may we never forget that our simple acts of worship can be preparing for something great that God is doing. It is working in tandem with the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech  you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”