What’s a beautiful gesture you’ve seen recently?
Something someone did for you that they wouldn’t do normally for themselves.
But because they care deeply for you they took time and energy to do something beautiful for you?
Those gestures mean a lot. They leave an impact that may not be described in words but leaves an imprint on one’s heart.
One evening, a few days before Passover, Jesus was visiting Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. While he was there Mary took an expensive bottle of perfume, poured it over Jesus’ feet and wiped them down with her hair.
All four gospels tell us this story, 3 say it was Mary, Lazarus’ sister, one doesn’t name the woman, it references her as a sinner. But the point remains the same.
A gift was given to Jesus . . . a gift of humility, a gift of sacrifice, and a gift of love.
The disciples scoffed at the gesture, saying it was wasteful.
Jesus pointed out that they were wrong to judge the gift.
A gift given in love, sacrifice, and humility isn’t wasteful. Her perspective was quite different than the one the disciples shared.
For her, it wasn’t about the money or the waste, it was about the action.
A radical gesture of great love.
On this Monday of Holy Week, what gesture can you do and share with someone that you love that is radical, selfless, and marked with great humility?
What can you do that puts someone you love first and yourself last?
That’s a lesson not only shown by Mary, but ultimately the one demonstrated by Christ.
Selflessness leads to great love.
Let’s try it today.
Grace and Peace,
Andrea
John 12:
1-3 Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.