Key Thought

Part of the Gospel wherever it is told! Wow, what a promise, but the very fact that we're reading this is proof that it is true. The last will be first, the scorned will be honored, and the poor will be made rich. That was Jesus' promise. He is the validation of that promise and so is this woman whose generosity is extravagantly appropriate for the Son of God who is about to be rejected, scorned, persecuted, reviled, humiliated, and murdered. How can the response to such a gift not be extravagant? How can my response to such grace not be boundless? How can I treat God's unrestrained mercy, love, and grace with the normal and restrained thank you's of day-to-day thanks. God's gift is so generous and Jesus' sacrifice is so great, how can I offer only a token word of gratitude and praise?

Today's Prayer

Today's Verses in Context

After Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his followers, "You know that the day after tomorrow is Passover. On that day the Son of Man will be given {to his enemies} to be killed on a cross." Then the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders had a meeting at the palace where the high priest lived. The high priest's name was Caiaphas. In the meeting, they tried to find a way to arrest Jesus without the people seeing it. They planned to arrest Jesus and kill him. The men in the meeting said, "We cannot arrest Jesus during Passover. We don't want the people to become angry and cause a riot." Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the house of Simon the leper. While Jesus was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume. The woman poured this perfume on Jesus' head while Jesus was eating. The followers saw the woman do this and became upset at the woman. The followers asked, "Why waste that perfume? That perfume could be sold for much money and the money could be given to poor people." But Jesus knew what happened. Jesus said, "Why are you troubling this woman? She did a very good thing for me. You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me. This woman poured perfume on my body. She did this to prepare me for burial after I die. I tell you the truth. The Good News will be told to people in all the world. And in every place where the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told. And people will remember her." Then one of the twelve followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. Judas said, "I will give you Jesus. What will you pay me for doing this?" The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. After that time Judas waited for the best time to give Jesus to the priests.

— Matthew 26:1-16 (ERV)

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