Pour it all

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

POUR IT ALL

Mark 14:3-9

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as 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 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." 

NIV

We know this is about Jesus telling them he is going to be killed, or die thus being buried, but there is also a truth here about the poor. We will always have the poor with us, and we can help them anytime we want, but the fact remains we will always have the poor with us. There will never be an end to having the poor with us, any suggestion about a war on poverty in simply rubbish. Now it is not that we should not help them for Jesus tells us we can do that just anything we want. It is interesting how the guests were indignant about her using such expensive perfume. First their indigence was about her using it on Jesus, and that it could have been used to help the poor, like they really were actually going to help the poor. Most likely they were just putting on a front to show Jesus, or the other guests, how righteous they were, being so concerned about the poor. Now, of course, we have the alabaster jars every so often to collect for the poor, which if we are not mistaken is in memory of this woman. But perhaps we should be breaking our own expensive perfumes and pouring on the head of Jesus. That seems silly as he is not here with us in the physical and he already died and was buried and rose and ascended and is now at the right hand of the Father preparing a place for us so some day he can return for us to take us to that place where he is. But this woman, who may not have been very wealthy and had in somehow come into the having this expensive perfume which she could have sold to buy the needs of life for herself, gave it up simply to pour it all over Jesus. Perhaps in a sense she is like the widow who gave all she had. Perhaps we too put up a front of righteousness in our filling the alabaster jar, to help the poor, but we really do not pour all we have on Jesus. Sure we have to keep some wealth for ourselves to pay for housing, cars, clothing, food, entertainment, vacations, things, and savings for some future we are certain we will have, but do we also keep a portion of our self for ourselves instead of pouring all we are on Jesus? Shouldn’t we pour it all?