BETRAYED

I don’t know about you, but I know that I have felt, in the past, betrayed by someone that I thought was my friend. It’s not a great feeling, especially when you thought that the two of you were friends and you were trying to help them.

The scene in the following passage shows Jesus being betrayed by someone with whom he had walked, talked and eaten for the last three years. And why? You read the passage and tell me if it looks like a money thing to you…

³And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. ⁴But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? ⁵For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. ⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. ⁷For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. ⁸She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. ⁹Assuredly, 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.” ¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. ¹¹And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him. Mark 14:3 - 11 (NKJV)

Jesus had let this woman waste the equivalent of an entire year’s salary – on His feet!!!! That was poor money management. Judas, being the treasurer, naturally had to do something about it, so he contacted the people who wanted to kill Jesus to make sure that it wouldn’t happen again.

Notice Jesus’ response to those who complained about the waste. He praised the woman for the attention and worship that she lavished on Him, the Messiah. It reminds me of another time that someone was indignant in the company of Jesus…

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. ³⁹Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” ⁴¹But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! ⁴²There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38 - 42 (NLT)

As the week before Resurrection Day unfolds, think about that “one thing” that Jesus was talking about. Are you worried and upset over the day-to-day operations of your life, or are you thinking about the One (thing), Jesus Christ?

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD…