Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” – John 12:1-8
I preached a sermon on this passage and suggested that Jesus was worthy of extravagant expressions of love. Just like Mary extravagantly expressed her love for Jesus by washing his feet with expensive perfume, we should be willing to extravagantly express our love for Jesus in any way we can. This isn’t so much a reflection of us, but a response to who Jesus is and everything he has done for us. He came to the earth, ushered in the kingdom of God and made reconciliation with God possible through his death and resurrection. Jesus has done everything for us and he is definitely worthy of extravagant expressions of love.
As I reread this passage, though, I began to realize that often times I’m not ready to give Jesus extravagant expressions of love because I’m not giving him average expressions of love. Looking at Mary’s sacrifice it’s easy to think that we should go out and do something completely extravagant and over the top for Jesus like donating a large sum of money to World Vision or signing up for a long-term mission trip. But how can I think about giving Jesus extravagant expressions of love when I’m not even giving him average expressions of love?
Reading the Bible.
Spending time in prayer.
Obedience.
These are some average expressions of love, the things that we should do on a regular basis to show Jesus that we love him. If my life has been less than obedient then how can I expect to really offer an extravagant expression of love to Jesus? What’s worse, is that if my life has been lacking average expressions of love then I might try to cover up that fact with some extravagant expressions of love.
Jesus deserves our everything because he gave his everything. Sometimes, though, we get so focused on giving him the big, extraordinary things, that we miss giving him the small, pedestrian things. Average expressions of love should be the prerequisite for extravagant expressions; if I can’t spend time in prayer on a daily basis then I should figure that out before moving onto something bigger. Something bigger only happens a few times a year, like an anniversary or Valentine’s Day in a marriage. We shouldn’t simply hold out for the extravagant expressions of love for Jesus, but should strive for average expressions of love for Jesus on a daily basis.
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