And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of spikenard very costly; and she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head … Jesus said … Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. — Mark 14:3,6,9
The result of what Mary did in the account of Mark 14:3 is a mumur from those present saying it’s a waste. Mark 14:4,5.
Waste among other things means to give more that is neccessary or needed. To give something too much for something too little.
The Lord desires that people should come an waste themselves on Him.
The question of wasting ourselves on the Lord from the standpoint of the desciples:
- Judas (John 12:4-6)
- Here, Judas represents the world — they see our devotion to the Lord as a total and sheer waste.
- The Lord is worthy to be so served. He is worthy for me to be his prisoner, live and die for Him.
- The rest of the desciples (Matt. 26:8,9)
- The rest of the desciples represent our fellow Christians who think a waste if you are filled and manifest much spiritual virtures and not going out by your own will to engage it in working for the Lord. In reality the Lord is our Master and we are His slave, and he can decide to confine us and make us His prisoners first before deploying us for His active service.
- This is the basis of all service that the Lord layed down for us in His encounter with Mary at Bethany: that you pour out all you have, your very self, unto Him; and if that should be all He allows you to do, that is enough. It is not first of all a question of whether `the poor’ have been helped or not. The first question is: Has the Lord been satisfied?
The gospel is preached primarily for the satisfaction of the Lord.
Our satisfaction comes when we satisfy the Lord.
Wasting ourselves before the Lord produces power, and real usefulness in the hands of Jesus is when we waste ourselves on Him.
Mary was the only person who succeeded in anointing the Lord and she did it before hand. She did not wait for Him to die before anointing Him. She did it in the slightest opportunity she had.
An important question we should ask ourselves is What am I doing to the Lord today?
How precious is He to us now? If we do not think much of Him, then of course to give Him anything at all, however small, will seem to us a wicked waste. But when He is really precious to our soul, nothing will be too good, nothing too costly for Him; everything we have, our dearest, our most priceless treasure, we shall pour out upon Him, and we shall not count it a shame to have done so.
And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. — John 12:3
There is a sweet savour and fragrance of Christ that ensues from one that has wasted themselves on the Lord - ones that have gone through deep experiences with the Lord, ones that have given their all to the Lord withholding nothing.
The matter of our impact upon others turns upon one thing, and that is the working of the Cross in us with regard to the pleasure of the heart of God. It demands that I seek His pleasure, that I seek to satisfy Him only, and that I do not mind how much it costs me to do so. — Watchman Nee
There must be something — a willingness to yield, a breaking and a pouring out of everything to Him — which gives release to that fragrance of Christ and produces in other lives an awareness of need, drawing them out and on to know the Lord. — Watchman Nee