Read Matthew 26:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-13
I. The Anointing of Jesus
a. Passage (Matthew 26:1-16)
- The religious leaders have been trying hard to find a way to arrest Jesus and put him to death. Jesus had been gaining fame and the Pharisees feared that they were going to lose power if this continues. Jesus once again told His disciples of His crucifixion. At the same time, the religious leaders are planning Jesus' arrest and death. In verses 6-13, Matthew went back 6 days prior to the Passover to tell the story of Jesus being anointed by oil. This was done by Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus who poured a jar of expensive perfume on Jesus head to ready Him for burial. When the disciples saw this, they were outraged and called it a waste because of the money that they could have gotten by selling the perfume. Jesus then rebuked them. In the last verses, Judas Iscariot approached the religious leaders and offered his services for 30 pieces of silver
b. Reflection
- In this passage, we saw how Mary honored Jesus by using her expensive perfume. Unlike the disciples, Mary believed everything that Jesus was saying about his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death. At this time, the disciples still did not know what Jesus' mission was on earth. Mary knew His mission and while he was in her family's home, she took the opportunity to give Him her most precious possession. Do we understand what Jesus had done for us? Jesus died for us so we can be cleansed from our sins. Jesus died for us to make us righteous again in the eyes of God. He had provided us a way for salvation, a way for a relationship with our Father. We are given a choice to accept this free gift or reject it. We are asked to pick up our cross, leave the ways of the world, and follow the Lord. We can do this by honoring Him with our most precious belonging, our life. We need to fully commit to God and live a righteous life. We have to trust in Him with all our heart and let God lead our lives to eternity.
II. Washed in Christ's blood
a. Passage (1 Corinthians 6:9-13)
- Paul told the Corinthians that the "unrighteous" will not inherit the Kingdom of God. All idolaters, sexually immoral, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers will never enter God's Kingdom. We are also reminded that because of our faith and Jesus' crucifixion, we are washed by His blood and have received salvation.
b. Reflection
- The church is not a place where perfect people go. We are all unrighteous and we continue to sin. The only thing that differentiate us from others is that we have repented and will continue to repent from our sins. We have asked God, numerously, for forgiveness. As followers of Christ, we should always hold a high moral standard. With a culture nowadays that accepts divorce, abortion, premarital sex, and homosexuality, we should not lower our values just to blend in with the world. Remember that is is not our job to please people but to we need to be pleasing only God. We should never accept immoral behavior and never take part in it in any way. It might now be accepted by the general public, but it will never be accepted by God. Our lives here are short and instead of wasting it in living the life of this world, we should be focus on building treasures in heaven and following the way of the Lord. It does not matter what is "trending" right now because no matter what generation we are in, God expects His followers to obey His commands.
III. Proverbs for Today / 10:29-30
29 The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless,
but it is the ruin of those who do evil.
30 The righteous will never be uprooted,
but the wicked will not remain in the land.
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