Love, Honour, Obey and be Blessed

The Woman v Judas

There is so much in this passage. First the woman with the oil. Here it shows the difference between the 2 commands to love the Lord your God with all your heart and loving others as yourself. It shows that putting God first is paramount. This woman put God first and that is what she is to be remembered for.

And yet the juxtaposition of this act and Judas's is so stark. From honour to betrayal. Was He peeved off that the money hadn't gone into the common purse, the purse he was skimming off? Perhaps he felt that something that could have been his was wasted on Jesus and the woman was commended for it! It would seem he didn't see the point of honouring Jesus. In fact he saw it as a flagrant waste. He had missed the point. His selfishness drove him away from God.

Passover

Then the Passover Meal. It wasn't necessary for Jesus to hold it. Traditionally it was to be held the next day and yet Jesus saw past the tradition to the importance of holding the meal. To praise God, to show obedience to Him and finally to pass down a most profound teaching. Do this in remembrance of me! Do what exactly? Well, really it was the Passover meal. Eating the bread and drinking the wine was only part of the meal, which was in memory of God's mercy and provision of freedom to the Jews from their captivity in Egypt. And yet, Jesus was explaining that from then on they were to celebrate Passover not in memory of their physical freedom from Egypt, but their spiritual freedom, provided by Jesus through his sacrifice.

Peter

Often we think of Peter as impulsive and yet here he showed perseverance. The passage says, he was there to see the end. He so wanted to be there. He understood its importance. And yet He wasn't there at the end. He left. His own fear had caused him to stumble. He was scared about being associated with the one he knew was the Son of God, the one who had helped Him to walk on water, who had taught him the meaning of life. Even though he knew Jesus authority, he loved Him and wanted to follow Him, his fear of what the people around him thought meant he bailed out. He didn't see it through. What a word of warning and yet also a story with a wonderful ending. Jesus still forgave Him and used Him. He became someone who championed Jesus and spread the good news to lots of complete strangers, some who didn't want to know. So we must never forget Jesus unlimited grace and compassion. For Peter's heart was willing, and Jesus saw this, even if his fear at the time was greater. But he had to conquer it and put God first.

Laura