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Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 26-1] Give an Alabaster Flask of Fragrant Oil to the Lord (Matthew 26:1-29)
(Matthew 26:1-29)
“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’ Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, ‘Now during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.’ And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.’ But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.’ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?’ And He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’’’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’ He answered and said, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’ He said to him, ‘You have said it.’ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’”
“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’ Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, ‘Now during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.’ And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.’ But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.’ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?’ And He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’’’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’ He answered and said, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’ He said to him, ‘You have said it.’ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’”
Jesus Christ knew everything about what he is going to encounter in the future. So, He said to His disciples, “I will be delivered up to the chief priests to be crucified.” When the Passover was near, the chief priests and the religious leaders of Israel assembled at the Temple and plotted to kill Him. The Passover for the Israelites was the great festive day of celebrating the event that they had escaped from Egypt. As the criminals are released from prison under amnesty in our country at the national holiday such as Independence Day, at that time of Israel, there was a custom of releasing a criminal in such a great festive day like Passover. On the other hand, there might be a custom of executing heinous criminals openly as well. Because of such a custom, the chief priests tried to kill Jesus during Passover. Jesus knew that plot beforehand. So, Jesus said to His disciples, “I will be sold to the people during Passover as the sacrificial Lamb.”
When Jesus was in Bethany with His disciples at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on Jesus’ head while He was taking His meal. Jesus stayed still. At this time, that oil is like a perfume from France, which is considered as the best. The woman poured on the head of Jesus unsparingly the fragrant oil, which sent forth so strong a scent that it was spreading all over the room in no time. Perhaps, the oil flowed down along the hair of Jesus. The fragrance of the oil would be full in the room and make people be stifled.
While Jesus stayed still, the faces of Jesus’ disciples were flushed because of anger. The disciples scolded that woman saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” The disciples thought that the woman was surely crazy when they saw her pouring the costly fragrant oil on Jesus’ head. While she poured an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, which wet the face of Jesus and flowed down to His neck, Jesus stayed still, however, His disciples were indignant. Rather, Jesus said to His disciples who were indignant, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
This woman knew that Jesus would soon pass away. She knew that Jesus would die on the Cross taking all our sins and saving mankind, thus she prepared His burial. Usually, if a man dies, he becomes smelly. However, he does not smell bad after having the fragrant oil poured on the body. This was the manner of burial by the Jews. So, this woman poured the fragrant oil onto Jesus and she was spoken well of by Him. The mind of the woman corresponded with the mind of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He would be betrayed and sold by the people on the Passover. Consequently, this woman came at that time and poured the fragrant oil on His head. In fact, the woman wanted the good news, which proclaimed Jesus would save her and all mankind from sins by receiving His baptism and dying on the Cross, to be preached to all people. So, she poured the fragrant oil on His head with such a grateful heart. Because this woman had done all of this to serve the gospel, Jesus said, “Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
Here, another man, Judas is mentioned. He is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, but went to the chief priests and sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver after this affair. He said to the chief priests, “How much are you willing to give me if I deliver my teacher whom you ask for?” “We will give you thirty pieces of silver.” “Deal! It is Jesus whom I kiss when you arrive.” Judas received thirty pieces of silver at that place and returned. Wouldn’t our Lord know that? Our Lord is God. He knew everything about when and how He was going to die. Assuredly, the Lord knew what Judas would do in the future.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him to prepare the table for Me, for I want to eat the Passover food there.” When the disciples said to the man as Jesus had directed, that man prepared the bread and the wine of Passover and invited Jesus and His disciples. While eating there, Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me.” The disciples fell into great anxiety. They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” Then, Jesus said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.” It was Judas who was holding the bread with Jesus at that very moment. So, Judas said, “Is it I?” and Jesus said to him, “You have said it.” How definite word it is? Judas already plotted to betray Jesus and received money for that. Now, if the Passover would come, he was going to sell Jesus, but Jesus knew everything already. Even Jesus said directly that “It is you who is going to betray Me,” but Judas pretended till the end that he knew nothing about it. Because Jesus knew even his wickedness, He said, “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
We must know that there are people who do the spiritual things of serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and there are people who betray Jesus like Judas. Intentionally or unintentionally, people tend to be divided into two groups: “Am I going to satisfy my desires of the flesh by betraying Jesus? Or am I going to preach the gospel of Jesus?” Which group do you belong to? Are you one of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, preach this gospel, and save the souls? Or are you one of those who betray Jesus? In fact, we must ponder on these things.
There are many people like Judas who betrayed Jesus. Not only Judas, but there are also many people who would have not been born. There are the chief priests and the religious leaders who do the spiritual life being not born again, and there are people who betray Jesus like Judas who sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. My beloved saints, there are people in the world who betray Jesus and people who serve and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Man cannot help but to belong in either of these groups, but people who are not born again is likely in the position of selling Jesus. At this age, there has been so many ways of selling Jesus. Many religious leaders write books and sell them not knowing about the gospel of the water and the Spirit or become rich by raking in money under the pretext of the name of Jesus.
For example, a certain famous Christian leader preaches once at the Christian Broadcasting Center saying, “I am going to help the poor by establishing a mission foundation, then I should have about one hundred thousand square meters of land and about ten thousand square meters of buildings.” Then among the audiences, persons who really want to serve the Lord like this woman of Bethany would say, “I will donate my land.” Then this religious leader’s mind becomes pleased and preaches the next time, “I prayed before God and somebody gave me one hundred thousand square meters of land.” And now, he openly says, “I received one hundred thousand square meters of land but I cannot build the building because I do not have money for that. I wish somebody to offer for that.” If one clamors like that at the Christian Broadcasting Center, people who wish to serve Jesus offer the money so he can build the building. That religious leader feels so pleased receiving even that money and administers the huge foundation by his name.
My fellow believers, such is just selling Jesus. Let us, the born again, think once more. Are you still betraying Jesus after being born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Or are you serving the gospel of Jesus? Though we the born-again cannot sell Jesus openly, but it is somehow possible for us to try to live for our flesh and for ourselves as Judas tried to live well in flesh with thirty pieces of silver.
We, the born-again, are standing at the crossroad whether to live for the flesh or to live serving the gospel. Sometimes, even after being born again, we are prone to think fleshly, “How can my body live well?” However, out of such confusion, we come to realize that serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit by faith is the happiest life. If we remember the woman who has broken an alabaster flask of fragrant oil to serve the gospel, we should be ashamed. This woman offered all her possessions reserved for her marriage to serve the gospel. Usually, the Israelite women prepared the fragrant oil for the capital of the marriage. Therefore, this alabaster flask of fragrant oil was her capital for marriage.
This woman did not have something in particular to serve the gospel, so she gave all her capital for marriage to the Lord. Basically, the faith of this woman has a great difference from that of Judas. While Judas got thirty pieces of silver by betraying Jesus, but this woman lost all her possessions. People are worried how they can live after being redeemed. It would be good if there were a secret way to live well in body and spirit, but there is no such secret in serving the gospel. So, the born-again righteous people encounter the problem of whether they live for the flesh or spread the gospel. They are afflicted within this problem.
There will come a moment for us to decide what to do with our lives after being saved by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. However, there is nothing for us to worry about how to live the rest of our lives. Just like the life of the woman who poured the fragrant oil for the business of Jesus’ gospel, life of giving everything for the gospel is the happiest and the most blessed one. As the fragrance of the fragrant oil spread all over the room, it is the most blessed life to let the gospel of the water and the Spirit spread all over the world making it possible for all the people receive the remission of sins. You and I have to choose whether to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit by giving everything we have or to live only for our flesh.
Are you willing to choose the life of taking advantage of Jesus to live well in the flesh not offering anything before God with the thought, “I will be a penniless person if I give everything I have and live wholly for the gospel. I must not do that”? However, the outcome of that kind of life is obvious. My fellow believers, you would know better how to live rightly. This woman poured all the fragrant oil on Jesus, then could this woman marry or not? She could marry. As the Lord said, “One who wants to die for Me will live and the one who wants to live will die,” the Lord takes responsibility for the people who offer their everything for Him. I can conclude on the ground that I have been living until now that many of my co-workers have lived prosperously when they wished to die, but those who wished to live have ended up dying. Those who said, “Damn, I don’t want to serve the Lord,” have surely died. However, those who faithfully served the Lord saying, “I will serve the Lord even though I would perish on the way,” lived very well. Therefore, the answer of how should we live is obvious.
We must follow the way she has done for the Lord whenever we come across the crossroads. We do not meet such a crossroad once in our lifetime. Our minds are suffering from these crossroads everyday. For we are not dayflies, in our lifetime, we have to make up our minds on how to live again and again. That is why we have to deliberate seriously on what is right. And we have to teach people what kind of life is right for them to make a right decision. People cannot make a definite decision by themselves when nobody guides them.
It is proper for us, the children of God who are born again by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, to live a life as the woman of Bethany. Though it is not much to offer all we have, it is the faith of the people serving the gospel that we willingly yearn to give all that we have if the Lord wants. It is necessary for those people who serve the gospel of the water and the spirit to have the thought that, “I will give everything if the Lord wants,” and those who serve the gospel with that thought are the ones who have determined their mind. Those who serve the gospel are the ones who have determined their minds. And if we live serving this gospel in the Lord, He supplies our necessities and blesses us abundantly in His time. Similarly, serving the Lord is just like living our whole lives giving and receiving together with the Lord as a pitcher and as a catcher gives and receives the ball in a baseball game.
In today’s Scripture passage, all that she did to Jesus was proper to be pleased. We have to believe that her deeds were proper, and we must have the faith of believing that it is right to give everything we have if the Lord wishes. After receiving the remission of sins, I have been standing at the crossroads wondering whether to serve the gospel while doing some business or to serve the gospel wholly. Actually, I was penniless at that time. So, after being born again, I was seriously worried about whether to live like this or to live like that. I really had a hard time until I set my mind to serve the gospel wholly. I know it is also really hard for you to make the right decision. However, now, the Lord wants us to give our body, mind and thought before than any other materials. Our Lord wants us to have faith in Him, and He wishes us to follow Him by faith.
The Lord wants to deal with the problems in our hearts, and this Scripture passage also mentions such in context, saying, “There is a woman like this and there is Judas Iscariot. Judas betrayed Me and this woman served Me. Who is right?”
“This woman is right.”
“What about you then? Are you the one like Judas or the one like the woman?”
“I do not betray or sell the Lord.”
“Well, you may not sell Me intentionally, but do you serve Me as your Lord or not? Do you want the gospel to be spread by giving all of yourself? Or, do you just want to be redeemed and live only for your flesh regardless of whether the gospel is preached or not? What about you?” The Lord asks us saying, “What about you? Think about it. What would you do if you encountered the same situation to pick and choose and follow between these two? Would you choose Judas or this woman? What would you do?”
Even as we think a hundred times again, we choose to be like this woman. We Christians must live to spread the gospel. Because the woman has poured the fragrant oil, the room was full of the scent. As the Lord said, “Wherever this gospel is preached, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her,” it is too right to pour out our lives to spread the gospel. Paul said, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). So it is right for us to live spreading the gospel of the water and the spirit all over the world whether we are office workers, businessmen, or the ones who wholly serve the gospel. It means to say that all the people who received the remission of sins must live this way.
As Judas, who did not receive the remission of sins and did not actually believe in the Lord, betrayed our Lord, those who are not born again betray Jesus until now. There are so many people who satisfy their reputation, authority, or desires of the flesh by betraying Jesus. Those who deal in real estate, build church buildings, get honor, and buy a car by selling Jesus will regret this later saying, “It would have been good if I had not been born.” Rather, if they are just lay believers, it is easy for them to return to God confessing, “I am truly a sinner. Jesus, I would like to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” However, the leaders cannot do that easily because they are bound by their own reputations. So, the elders or the pastors cannot receive the remission of sins, while the lay believers do receive the remission of sins. It is really unfortunate that one cannot receive the remission of sins for he cannot cast his reputation away.
In a lot of occasions, Christian leaders in the world cannot answer properly when I ask, “Do you know the meaning of the name, Jesus?” Do you know the meaning of “Christ”? Numerous Christians do not know the meaning of the name, Jesus Christ. Probably, however it is not exact, 98% of the Christians all over the world do not know even the meaning of Jesus’ name though they profess to believe in Him. Do you know what it means? The meaning of “Jesus” is “the One who saves His people from their sins,” and the meaning of “Christ” is “the One who was anointed.”
Then, we should know who are anointed. In the Old Testament, kings, priests, and the prophets were anointed. Therefore, Jesus is Christ who had taken over these three offices. Jesus has taken over all these three duties as the Prophet who tells us how to believe in order to receive the remission of sins; as the High Priest who has blotted out all the sins of mankind; and as the King who has the utmost power and authority. And He has saved us by offering His own body for us as the Lamb of God. That is why we call the Lord, “Lord Jesus.” There are ample possibilities for the people to receive the remission of sins when they fully know just the meaning of the name, “Jesus.” However, those who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit ignoring the meaning of His name say, “What’s the deal that He became a priest? So what’s new that He became a king?”
My fellow believers, man cannot receive the remission of sins without casting away his own reputations, thoughts of flesh, righteousness, or lusts. No matter how honorable one might be as a talented pastor or a Doctor of Divinity, he has to humble himself before the Lord first. “Isn’t it too rude to ask the meaning of the name of Jesus while I am a Doctor of Divinity?” If he does not know even the meaning of the name Jesus Christ while he is a minister with a doctorate in theology, this means that he has not received the remission of sins. Therefore, he has to lower his mind and turn around from his wrong faith to receive the remission of sins.
If one has received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that person should make up his mind to live for the work of spreading this gospel all over the world. If he is not interested with the spreading of the gospel even after he was redeemed, but only think, “That kind of work is not related with me but it is the work only for the ministers,” then, that person has nothing to do with the Lord.
The Lord came to this world and cleansed us from all our sins. He has given us His body as well as His blood. The Lord took and broke the bread and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And giving the cup, He said, “Take, drink; for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” I will save you by dying like this. I will make you sinless like this by the water and the blood. So, the Lord said, “Take, eat, and drink My body and My blood.” We have received the remission of sins by eating and drinking the body and the blood of the Lord. Then, we have to propagate this “gospel of the flesh and the blood” to others. This is the purpose of life of a person who keeps the spiritual Passover.
Our Lord came by water and blood (1 John 5:4-8) And He told us to eat His flesh and blood. The Lord saved us by the water, the blood, and the Spirit. Whoever eats and drinks the flesh and blood of Jesus will be saved. Jesus came to this world, took upon Himself all our sins by receiving His baptism on His body, and received the judgment by shedding His blood on the Cross, this is what God Himself has done. God has allowed us to be born again by the water and the Spirit. We must know and believe in the work that the Lord saved us by the water and the Spirit. Saving us from all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and saving us from the judgment for the sins are all what God has done. Who did the works of cleansing all our sins clearly and saving us from the judgment for those sins? All these are the works that have been fulfilled by God.
And our Lord said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Jesus was very thirsty when He passed away on the Cross. At that time, people filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, then the Lord had tasted it, He would not drink.
The Lord saved us by the water and the blood. He became a human being, took the sins of all mankind onto His body by receiving His baptism, and saved all mankind from being judged by offering His body and life vicariously on the Cross. The Lord has saved all of us.
Do we want Jesus’ gospel of the water and the Spirit to be propagated, or don’t we want that? It is a matter of choice whether we would offer ourselves to live only for our flesh after receiving the remission of sins or for the propagation of the gospel all over the world. This is the core of what our Lord has said in today’s Scripture passage. It teaches us the kind of life we are going to have. We cannot help but to choose between the two kinds of lives. There is no middle way. If you stay in the middle of them, you would say good-bye from the Church someday. There are many people who received the remission of sins in God’s Church. However there are some people who say good-bye from the Church because they do not know the truth that the born-again have to live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, or because they don’t want to sacrifice themselves while living such a life.
If you are saved, how should you live? Those who are saved must go to the Church of the born-again. They must go to the Church of the born-again, listen to the Word of God, believe in the Word, and live for the righteousness of God. If you want to live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit after receiving the remission of sins by believing in the gospel, distance yourself from those people who are not born-again, come to God’s Church, associate with the righteous, and spend much time in serving the gospel. However, some among you think, “Oh! How could I live this world in this way? Telling me to live this way is like telling me that I might fail. Surely, I will fail for not having the faith. Now, I must stop my life of faith because I have already been saved. I must stop the life of faith if I do not want to fail in this world.” Such people are just following their own flesh, and are indifferent to the propagation of the gospel. Those who are not interested in the propagation of the gospel are not the ones who are saved in fact.
Jesus’ disciples were indignant and rebuked the woman not knowing her intentions saying, “If you sold this and gave to the poor, how much could you give this to them? By pouring that oil on Jesus, we could not properly take our meal, why are you doing this?” Who would not have the fiery characteristic among the twelve disciples of Jesus? Peter was hot tempered who really loved to interfere. James and John were probably of a fiery temperament when Jesus called them “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17) Therefore, they might express their indignation greatly to her. Quite probably, Philip who is fast in calculation or Matthew who was a previous tax collector might calculate the price of an alabaster flask of fragrant oil mentally. When Philip said, “That price would be more than 20,000 dollars” then, Judas with a dark heart might think, “Ouch, 20,000 dollars? Then it would be more than enough to support my family year round.” Then, Jesus said to the disciples, “Why do you trouble the woman? She did it for My burial. This woman poured the oil on My head for the propagation of the gospel. Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
My fellow believers, do you know what does commemoration mean? If you go to Beijing in China, the picture of Mao Tse-tung is hanging on the Tienanmen Gate, and there is a monument at that square commemorating Mao Tse-tung. The Chinese government is trying to remember Mao Tse-tung’s remarkable executive services continually through that monument and the picture.
How greatly was Jesus exalting what this woman had done? It also means that what she had done was such a great work that people all over the world must know. He tells us to estimate her life highly and remember the event that she offered everything she had to serve the gospel after being born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and being redeemed. Gospel propagation is really a great commemoration and contribution before God. The act of this woman, that she had offered her everything for the propagation of the gospel, was good enough to be exalted greatly because gospel propagation of the born-again is the most important business in their lives. Jesus told His disciples to commemorate what this woman had done. We also have to commemorate all the time what this woman has done. We must engrave the core of this woman’s heart in our mind, give ourselves for serving and propagating the gospel everyday and we must not forget how greatly the Lord was pleased with that event.
Where do you want to devote your whole lives? We must give our lives to the Lord and live for this gospel propagation that proclaims that the Lord has saved us with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must give our lives in preaching the gospel after being saved, and we must live for this. Today’s Scripture passage tells us to be righteous and we must keep this Word in our minds all the time. Nothing else can be the purpose of our lives.
Jesus said, “For you have the poor with you always.” Dear fellow believers, how many poor people are in this earth all the time? And how many people are there who wish to help the poor? How many poor people are there in this earth while so many people throw themselves into helping the poor? No matter how hard we try to help the poor, they will not be gone. This time, the whole world is helping North Korea. However, the poverty of North Korea will never be eradicated. God intentionally let the poor to be in this world. God let the poor to be like that because their minds can become poor when they are actually poor and they will believe in Jesus when their minds become poor.
Jesus said to us. “You have the poor with you always. They cannot escape from poverty even if you help them humanly. And it is not a proper thing to help them only in the flesh.” However, Jesus’ disciples seemed so good that they had a mind to do good thinking, “If the fragrant oil had been sold for much, we would have helped the poor very much.” How nice a thought is this in the humanly aspect? However, Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Why do you trouble this woman when she did the right thing?” In spiritual perspective, this woman’s deed was the virtuous work that was appropriate to be praised.
Dear fellow believers, we have to live for the propagation of the gospel. You must not think, “I will offer some materials for the gospel propagation if I live in affluence.” The Lord says to us in the parable of a widow’s two mites that one who serves the gospel in poverty is really a blessed one. The Lord says that it is really virtuous that we live for the propagation of this gospel after being born again. Propagating the gospel over the world is hundreds and thousands of times more virtuous than helping poor people in Somalia with food and medicine. Gospel propagation is the most virtuous deed because it enables the souls to receive salvation.
We truly have to know which is the proper way of life, and we have to live with a clear demarcation line in our minds. We have to live having a clear conviction that preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the right thing for us to do. Though we live in our flesh, we have to have spiritual discernment, and we have to bear in our minds the clear and definite purpose of life: “How should we live? We have to live for the propagation of the gospel.” We cannot be double-minded men who are unstable in all our ways by following the flesh for a while and then following the Spirit and vice versa in turn. God does not bless those who are double minded. Though we are truly insufficient, we have to fix our minds. We have to fix our minds to live for the gospel propagation like the woman who gave an alabaster flask of fragrant oil to the Lord. I do not literally mean to live for the gospel 100% in act. What I meant to say is for you to have a right faith. I admonish you to have the faith that “Preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit is right.”
Then, God gives you the eyes of faith, wisdom, and power to do the work of the Lord in His time even though the Church does not instruct you in what to do. The Lord said, “Every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52). We also have to serve the gospel well in due season managing the things entrusted to us as a wise steward serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You and I must live for the gospel propagation all over the world.
My fellow believers, it is nothing to live virtuously in the flesh. It is hypocrisy in real life. It is the false virtue pretending to be the real one. It is right to participate in the work of saving the souls, being determined in the mind to live for the gospel, and living by the faith; but humanly virtue is nothing but a vain effort.
Jesus said to His disciples to commemorate what this woman had done, but His disciples did not understand Him at first. However, they all might realize the meaning after Jesus passed away, was resurrected in 3 days, and ascended to Heaven. The disciples of Jesus preached and taught the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world after this realization: “Oh! Living for the gospel after receiving the remission of sins is the right life.” Probably, the disciples would have testified like this: “Once, when we were eating with Jesus, a woman suddenly broke an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and poured it on the head of Jesus. So, we were so perplexed and said, ‘What are you doing?’ then Jesus said, ‘Stay quiet.’ We could not understand what His saying at that time, but we realize now that life of living for the spreading of the gospel is the righteous one.” My fellow believers, If you do not live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it is not just a matter of being rebuked but it is a wrong faith that makes you go to hell and be punished there.
My fellow believers let us not disgrace God. It is a disgrace to God for us not to live for the propagation of the gospel but to live for the flesh after receiving the remission of sins. Let us, the born-again of the water and the Spirit, not live only for our flesh but be a child of God, who, rather than disgrace Him, gives the glory to Him by propagating the gospel to the whole world. It is because we are the light and the salt of this world no matter how severely the others may revile against us. If we, the born-again of the water and the Spirit, do not serve the gospel, this world will be corrupted. As the salt makes food to last a long time without being rotten, this world is not being decayed owing to us the righteous. And this world is still in the light because we are the light of the world.
My fellow believers let us live for the gospel remembering that we, the born-again of water and the Spirit, are the light and the salt of the world. We became the salt and the light as soon as we were delivered and we were destined to do the duty of the salt and the light for the world. We are the light of this dark world. We are the light preaching the gospel. We become the righteous, the light, and the salt not because our conduct is perfect, but we became the righteous automatically as soon as our sins blotted out by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because we are the light itself, if we serve the gospel dwelling in God’s Church and uniting with each other, the light comes to emanate from us.
The only thing for us, the born-again of the water and the Spirit, to do is to shed light on the people in this world. Preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit itself is shining the light to the people in the darkness. We must not live a life like Judas, but we must live a life like the woman who broke an alabaster flask of fragrant oil.
Halleluiah!
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