She Did What She Could - Mark 14:1-9

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The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Mark 14:1-9 (NIV). In this passage of Scripture, we read about a special gift given to Jesus by Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. He accepts her gift and praises her for the beautiful think she has done for Him. As we remember Jesus by partaking of the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine from the cup, we ask ourselves, "How can we show Jesus that we love Him?" As we remember Him today, He remembers us. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) and are used with permission.

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "She Did What She Could." I read from Mark 14:1-9 (NIV). All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version and are used with permission.

1 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This beloved story is told by Mark, Matthew (Matthew 26:6-13), and John (John 12:1-8). From these parallel accounts, we learn the identity of the woman; she is Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. The authors are faithful to Jesus' declaration—they record the story as Jesus said it would be told side-by-side with the gospel wherever it was preached, but why is this story so important and what are we to learn from it? As I reflect on Jesus' ministry as told in the gospels, people always wanted something from Jesus—to be healed, to have a demon cast out, to be fed, to get answers to questions—or to challenge His authority and ministry. He was forever faithful to meet the needs of people and confront and correct challengers; however, this must have taken its toll. What is different in this story is that Jesus is the one who receives a gift, and the giver asks for nothing in return. Mary is immediately criticized for her choice; nevertheless, Jesus honors her by saying, "Leave her alone," "Why are you bothering her," "She did what she could." We do not know if Jesus shared with His fellow guests the purpose of His visit to Jerusalem; however, Jesus used this opportunity to say that not only was Mary's gift "a beautiful thing," but that Mary was preparing His body for burial. Jesus knew His time was very short, and here is one person, Mary, who loves Him and wants to honor Him. In our prayers, we ask God for things. He told us to do that, but what He also wants is for us to volunteer to serve and honor Him and His Son, Jesus. As we reflect on this story, we should ask ourselves, "Are we doing what we can to show Jesus how much we love Him?" One way we can show Him is to remember that Jesus gave His life for us by partaking of the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine from the cup. We can do that! We also learn from this story that as we remember Him, He remembers us! Let us pray.

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, as we read the gospels, we learn about Your love and Your gifts of forgiveness of sin and eternal life. We also see how much You appreciate and desire for us to give back to You! As Mary did what she could, help us to show our love for You in doing all that we can. We begin again in earnest this morning by remembering Your Son's sacrifice of His life for us by partaking of the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine from the cup. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT).

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV), “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!