“…bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body…” Mark 15:1
All of us love to serve God and want to be used by God. At times we make plans on how exactly we are going to serve God because we sense a need in the body of Christ. Over the years, I have also “sensed” a “need” and made appropriate plans only to find out that my view of the “need” was not really a need. Maybe you are making plans to serve God in some particular because you see a “need” in the body of Christ. What if you were to find out later on that those plans availed nothing? It can be quite disappointing.
We read of one such instance in the bible. Mark 15: 47 says, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where He was laid.” Two women saw where the body of Christ was laid for burial. The Amplified Bible puts it this way: “they were attentively observing where He was laid.” The next verse, Mark 16:1 says, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.” A few women attentively observed where the body of Christ was laid, and they “sensed” that there was a “need” to anoint the body of Christ. So after Sabbath was over, they bought spices and came to execute their “service” based on their understanding of the “need.”
When they came to the tomb, they found out that Jesus had risen from the dead and He wasn’t there! What were they going to do with all those spices they bought? I wonder how much it cost them to buy those spices. I wonder who took the trouble of carrying those spices all the way to the tomb. Maybe they shared the load. They had bought the spices on the previous day, so the spices had to be stored overnight at someone’s house. Let us suppose it was at Salome’s house. I wonder if anyone at home would have asked her what she intended to do with those spices. I am sure she would have told them about the “service” she and her friends were going to do the next day. I wonder if they had discussed between them on how they were going to anoint his body. “You do the hands, I’ll do the legs.” Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, what’s the use? At least if Jesus had been there they could have showed Him the spices to let Him know how much they loved Him. What a waste. A waste of time. A waste of money. A waste of…
A few days earlier a sinful woman in the house of Simon the leper had broke open an alabaster jar full of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus. In response to this act, Jesus says in Mark 14:8: “She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” Note the word “beforehand” The need of the body of Christ to be anointed for burial was already taken care of “beforehand!” Well you would say, if only those 3 women knew! It is not fair! It is out of their love for Jesus that they planned all this. Now all those plans have gone down the drain! How sad!
I have been there many times and the disappointment hardly lasts long. Why do I say that? Because they received a revelation of Christ that no one else had. Nobody else knew that Jesus had risen from the dead! These 3 were the first ones to receive that revelation. Not only that, they were also entrusted with preaching the news of the resurrection to the Apostles of the New Testament church! Can you imagine that? Mark 16: 7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'” WOW! The service they had planned to do was to anoint the body. However, an angel from heaven ordained them to the service of preaching the news of the resurrection to Peter & Co. Who cares about the spices now? :) A new revelation! A new ministry!
Sometimes the reason our eyes see a version of the “need” is so that we will get to the place where we can be entrusted with a greater ministry. If those three women did not act upon their “sense” of the “need,” they would have never got to the tomb. i.e. the place where they received a new revelation and a new commission. Never be disappointed when plans regarding service go wrong. It is often the place where a new revelation is born and a new commission is given. Never sulk about the price you paid for the spices. How much did those spices cost? I don’t know. But I do know the resurrection gospel is far more precious than that.
Having said all this, I get reminded of the story of a little boy whose name was David. His plan of service was to go and give food to his brothers. He found his brothers weren’t where they were supposed to be. His plans went wrong. He wasn’t disappointed though. He continued to search for his brothers and eventually found them. It turned out that his brothers were angry with him for being there. How rude! David had taken the trouble to come all the way there to give them food. However he did meet a man THERE called Goliath. The rest, as they say, is history.
11 comments:
That was really awesome and instant thought Sujith. The one thought that comes to my mind is
"All our disappointments are divine appointments with the Most high God"...BUTTTT it will turn to be an appointment with God, PROVIDED we are those set of people who are willing to do any anything for him, no matter what happens..., he wants people who are ready to pay a huge price, like that of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. They were willing to carry the spices all the way to the tomb. They were ready and all set, as in they were ready to face anything on their way to the tomb, if you noticed they were all prepared. God wants such people who are ready to anything for him. The outcome of their willingness and attempt to show their love towards Christ, fetched them a unique work of witnessing to the people about his resurrection.
This yet again connects with your previous message "The decision to Return". If u noticed not all of them returned back to the tomb, and moreover the first ones to go back were the above mentioned as per the scripture. And all were women if u noticed :)
In my opinion , I would say for the amount of revelation that was given to the people around him especially his disciples who always moved with him everywhere he went,the entire lot should have returned to the tomb, coz Jesus had conveyed to the people clearly that he will rise again on the third day in Mark 8 :31 ...(Mk 8 : 31 - He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.)
The most grieving fact is even today its difficult for people to accept Chirst, and its the gospel work that he wants to accomplish thru the few chosen ones. As god´s people and chosen ones we must know one thing that "nothing is as difficult as it appears to be" one thing is for sure everything will be at ease when he is with us.
I have noticed one more thing, all your messages are interlinked.
God bless ya Sujith.........Continue the Good work.....
Praise be to the Lion of Judah!!!!!!
Beautiful...once again! It was once said to me that a burden (i.e., spices) is a spawning ground for a calling. So many times we see the need....God sees the vessel. At times we may wonder, why did we do all this preparation and think that what we contributed (money, time etc.) was a waste. But nothing that we do for God is a waste. These women were blessed beyond what they could ever had imagined. They were the FIRST to tell the good news. The angel said, "GO tell....
God says to us the same thing..."GO ye therefore into all the world and preach (tell) the gospel."
Thanks again for this anointed message to encourage us to not look at the cost of what we do, but to look at the outcome that God does. His word will not return void. Nothing done for Him is in vain. May we be totally prepared for whatever He has us do. May we have willing hearts to DO whatever he wants us to.
Blessings...
jayme
good job!!
as always!!
keep writing!!!
great job! it shows that if we have a genuine desire to really serve the LORD then He will show us how to serve Him. And not only this, He also provides the means...
Great article da. Really inspiring. God bless
Praise JESUS brother nothing is greater than what JESUS did on the cross, nothing is precious as his blood. Glory to God for such a beautifull message.
I praise God that you chose this site,for the Body of Christ.I was looking fwd to read Jakes & trust you must have been in his fellowship.You R doing a blessed service to The Body.I pray for good health & all provisions to pen down the messages so inspiring.First time I could open two.I had lost God channel.I got the substitute,for rich food.Warm regards!
sujith read yor blog. it was really a blessing
good for a nice afternoon read. cant wait for the next message.
@ Anonymous
All our disappointments are divine apointments with the Most high God! It is interesting you mention that the disciples had a lot more revelation about Jesus and yet they did not return to the tomb. Maybe this proves that it is possible to recieve revelation, yet lack conviction. What do you think?
@ Jayme
It is very true that our burdens in many ways are a spawning ground for a calling. Thank you for helping us reminding us about the value of the great commission
@ Henoch
If we desire to serve Him, He will not only show us how to, but will provide the means as well. Well said!
I wonder how I never read this post before Sujith. Truly, sometimes we feel, the need that we sensed, the cost that we prayed was worthless. Thanks for the reminder, that nothing is a waste in Christ Jesus. Every tear, every hurt, every attempt..God will make it all work for the good of those called for His purpose and those who trust Him.
Praise God!
Rini
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