Wednesday
March 31, 2021
John 12:3–6 (CSB)
3 Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So, the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor?” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.
How much do you value Jesus?
In our passage today we see that Mary placed a substantial value on Jesus. The nard that she used was estimated at one year’s wages. The equivalent of over $54,000 today. Because of Mary’s generosity Jesus said, (CSB) “wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Judas immediately went to the priests to contract with them to betray Jesus into their hands. When it came time to place a value on the life of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, he accepted 30 pieces of silver (equivalent to about $200 today) the value set to redeem one’s life for the death of a slave that had been gorged to death by an ox (Exodus 21:32). Jesus’ pronouncement about his betrayer, Matthew 26:24 (CSB)”It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”
Make no mistake the value we place on Jesus will determine your eternity.
Dear God, lead us to recognize the value of Jesus as being beyond compare to anything this world has to offer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.