In two Gospels we read about a woman who Jesus said would be remembered "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world". When was the last time you heard a denominational preacher even mention this woman and her total sacrifice?
In Matthew 26:6-16 we read; "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her......Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
In Mark 14:3-11 we read: "And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.......And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him."
In the other two Gospels we also see the gift of the very precious alabaster box of spikenard ointment that was given directly to Jesus.
Luke 7:36-50 we read: "And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."
In John 12:1-8 we read: "Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always."
In Jesus day, it was customary to anoint the body of the deceased with precious ointments such as spikenard. The biblical spikenard was a costly aromatic ointment, preserved in alabaster boxes, whose chief ingredient is believed to have been derived from Nardostachys grandiflora (or N. jatamansi), a plant of the family Valerianaceae (valerian family). Spikenard is a aromatic rhizome. The botanical name has its roots in the Hindu word Jatamansi which means "lock of hair." It's use goes back in several cultures and religions. Medically it's part of the Ayurveda, and is traditionally considered to calm the nerves and promote awareness and strengthen the mind. Spikenard oil can be effective for tension, stress, migraine, nervous indigestion and insomnia. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and fungicidal. Spikenard's warm and earthy scent has a calming effect on the mind, soothing deeply-held anxiety and instilling a profound sense of peace and inner balance. It was prized in early Egypt and in the Middle East during the time of our Savior. Spikenard essential oil is 93% sesquiterpenes which have the ability to oxygenate the brain. The amount of Spikenard essential oil that was poured on our Savior before his death would have cost a common laborer in the time of our Savior a whole years worth of wages!
The anointing of spikenard prepared Jesus for His death and burial. He tells us this Himself. The fragrance that filled the room announced to the spirit world that Jesus would pass through death to life, that He would be the blood sacrificial offering pleasing to G-d. He is the fragrance of life to those who are called to life, and the fragrance of death to those destined to die. The spikenard represents a life poured out in a supreme act of worship. Mixed with Jesus’ Blood and the spices of myrrh and aloes, the fragrance says to each and all in heaven and on earth that Jesus is Lord over death. Spikenard" means "glistening." In the Song of Songs 1.12 it says, "While the king is at his table, my spikenard sends forth its fragrance. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; that lies all night between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En Gedi. (1.12-14) Spikenard cost an entire year’s wages. It represents all that you have, all that you do and all that you are. To pour it out on Jesus’ head and feet seems a total waste and not true worship to many religious people. Like David before her, Mary would not worship the Lord with something that cost nothing In 2 Samuel 24:24 we read: ". And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my G-d of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel." Jesus said to this woman who gave Him her all: "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."
Religion and greedy men want all the things of this world for themselves. Most people will not give all their wealth and all their eternal hopes to Jesus. Both Matthew and Mark record that as soon as Jesus was annointed with this expensive gift everyone (who did not so receive) was upset and murmured the money should have been given to the "poor". Matthew and Mark then note that Judas immediately went out and betrayed the Lord so he could have some money of his own. John 12.5 records the first words we have of Judas. "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denari and given to the poor?" His last words are in Matthew. 27.4: "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." Judas was the treasurer who now watched the annointing with incredulity and literally "snorted" with self-righteous indignation. "What a waste. What wicked extravagance." His criticism seemed valid. He appeared devoted to the concerns of the poor. But, Judas wanted all the money from the spikenard given to him.(Sounds like a lot of denominational pastors.) . Mary chose to put her entire earthly treasure into the Kingdom of G-d, into the Kingdom of G-d (not Judas money purse) where no one comes to steal. Greed cannot understand giving, only taking. Satan hates to see Jesus glorified. Satan seeks to rob the Lord of His inheritance. All things are Christ’s but, Satan is filled with pride. His desire is to have everything in himself, to be as G-d, to be the seat of knowledge, to be as G-d knowing. Satan fills people with lies, anger, jealousy, envy, greed, pride, indignation, predjudice, avarice, selfishness, false piety, hate and many other demonic influences to try to steal our gifts for G-d and to turn our affections against our brethren and to try to divide us from our gathering together to worship the Lord.
Mary of Bethany is found three times in the gospel records and each time she is at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10.39, John 11.32, John 12.3). She loved to listen to His word. When Lazarus lay dead she fell at His feet and poured out her sorrow. Here now she comes again to His feet (John 13:1-17) in this supreme act of worship. When Lazarus died, she said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (Jn 11.32) Her Brother Lazarus is again alive and sitting at this supper - Lazarus had been dead and stinking but Jesus had brought Lazarus out of the grave and out of the grip of death. He had been loosed from the grave clothes and is now seated here eating with this same Jesus at this supper. (Eph. 2.6) Here with her Brother Lazarus as a living witness, Mary demonstrates an understanding of what is required to be seated with Him. She lets down her hair and wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair. She takes the place of a servant, a slave girl. In untying her hair she does something Jewish women did not do in public (1 Cor. 11.15). She dismantled her glory. She humbled herself in an act of worship that was public, spontaneous, sacrificial, lavish, personal, and unembarrassed. Mary was uncalculating in her generosity. Jesus did not condemn Mary. He blessed her. Mary blessed Jesus, and He blesses her.
Dear one, are you really ready to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth? Praising the Lord is easy and makes us feel good But to truly worhip Jesus like this woman did - can be found in Romans 12:1 where we read: "“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G-d, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G-d, which is your spiritual worship.” This level of worship and relationship with Jesus will bring ridicule and criticism, even from others close to Jesus. Mary’s worship was rebuked and rejected by all of His disciples, it was criticized and condemned. Judas called it "a waste." "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of Life." (Rev. 3.10) Sacrifice is an offering up, not a giving up. “If we suffer with him we shall reign with him". Sacrifice is the offering up of a life to G-d. The anointing destroys the yoke. The anointing prepares one for the glory of G-d. The anointing consecrates one to the service of G-d. The spikenard anointing covered Jesus with the fragrance that when mixed with His Blood would be pleasing to the Father as Jesus offered it to Him in the Holy of Holies! That is why denominational churches do not remember to or want to talk about this woman and her total sacrifice unto the Lord.
Dear one, are you truly ready to worship the Lord Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth? Are you ready to die to sin, to self (Romans 6.11), to die to the world (Gal. 6.14), to die to the divisions of man, e.g., denominations, nationalism, gender, race, caste, culture, language (Eph. 2.13-22), to die to the Law (Romans 7.14) and to only hear the Lord (John 10:27). If so, you will then hear the Lord's promise that "to Him (the one) who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." (Rev. 3.21). In Revelation 3:22 we read how we may hear Him - "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the chuches." Dear one, do you really want to hear Him ask you to willingly and humbly present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to G-d, which is your reasonable service, or spiritual worship? Or will you also say like all those at the supper - what a waste"?
What does this woman's sacrifice have to do with the death of Ananias and his wife Sapphira?
In Acts 5:1-11 we read about the deaths of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. All the way through the book of Acts, Luke recorded the many miraculous things that the disciples of Jesus were able to do after they were filled with power from the Holy Ghost and the phenomenal growth of the true Church. Acts 4:33 summarizes everything when it says, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.” It’s a picture of a wonderful community of G-d’s believers. The gospel of the resurrection is proclaimed and abundant grace is upon all the people ... - Why does Luke stop discussing the positive growth of the Church and write about this depressing death story? “But a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.” This links our text with what has just been said at the previous chapter. Acts 4:36-37 tells us that a man called Barnabas sold a field and gave the money to the apostles so that it could be used for distribution among the believers who were in need. His action must have brought Barnabas much praise and thanks among the believers. In fact, his name was actually “Joseph”, but the apostles called him “Barnabas” which means “Son of Encouragement”. It is this event at the end of the previous chapter which now leads into these two deaths. Acts 5:1-11 is not an interruption in the flow of the acts of the apostles, rather, it is an integral part of that narrative. Ananias, moved by what he has just seen Barnabas do, decides along with this wife, to do the same thing. The only difference is, his action is motivated by a completely different spirit than that of Barnabas. If Barnabas was moved by the Holy Spirit to do what he did, and for that he won much praise and favour from G-d and men, Ananias has done the opposite. Moved by a different spirit, an unholy spirit, he received no praise, but only G-d's severe judgment.
Religious people continue to ask: "Isn’t the Lord supposed to love everyone? Doesn’t his grace come upon all people?" Some denominational theologians have even said that they hope this story is a legend and not true because it makes the apostle Peter seem harsh and G-d’s judgment severe. Think about it, Ananias was not even given a chance to repent before he was struck down. Then the apostles didn’t even have the courtesy to inform his wife about his death and when she came looking for him, she was also struck down for participating in their lie. What kind of pastoral care is that? You see, Luke tells us this story of judgment in the midst of many other stories which speak of the spread of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives because he wants us to know that the Spirit at work among G-d’s people is a HOLY Spirit and G-d will not tolerate and/or be mocked by satanic lies and/or human sin! We all must learn to fear the Lord - for G-d is a fearsome fire and no man should ever dare treat Him other than what He has revealed Himself to be, holy and sinless. G-d will not be trifled with, rejected, insulted, mocked or lied to. In Romans 2 verses 8 and 10 it says that “for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. ... but glory, honour, and peace for everyone who does good.”
In Lev. 27:30 - 34 we read “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the LORD. He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’
Peter confronts Ananias with his crime in verses 3-4. He says, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit ...” And then at the end of verse 4 he says, “You have not lied to men but to G-d.” Here we come already to the heart of the matter. The real crime is not that this man and his wife kept back some of their own money. Their crime is that they have lied to G-d when they pretended to give all as the woman had freely done to Jesus!. Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit while attempting to make themselves look better than they were. Peter says to the husband, “Didn’t (the field) belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t (all) the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing?” Trying to steal from, or trying to fool or con the Omnipotent, All-knowing Lord is going to destroy you forever!. If Satan cannot destroy the church from without, he will attempt to destroy it from within - that is why the great whore and her harlot daughters (Revelation 17&18) are filled with demons. Do not lie to G-d dear one! If you promise G-d to do or give something - you better do it or give it! There is no way that you can choose to even substitute something else - if you do try both now belong to G-d! Ananias and his wife Sapphira lies and theft if left unchallenged by G-d would have interupted the victorious progress of G-d's people.
Dear One, there were miracles before the death of Annias and his wife but, after their deaths even Peter's shadow healed and G-d added to the church daily!
“The story of the deaths (Act 3:23) of Ananias and his wife can be compared Achan in the book of Joshua. In both stories an act of deceit and theft from G-d. Do you remember Achan? After the victory of the Israelites at the battle of Jericho, Joshua ordered that all of the goods and the wealth of the city were to be devoted to the Lord. The people could keep nothing for themselves. The city of Jericho and its wealth was to be offered as the first fruits to the Lord. It was all to be given to the Lord. In Joshua 7:1 it says, “But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan, the son of Carmi of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.” As a result of this crime Israel was defeated in their next battle. This loss was only because Achan had lied and stolen from the living G-d and had thus interupted the victorious progress of G-d's people. When the sin of Achan was later discovered he, like Ananias in our text, was punished by being put to death. The Lord will not be mocked. He will not tolerate sin. Those who say that the G-d of the Old Testament is a vengeful and violent G-d but, the G-d of the New Testament is a G-d of love and grace, have never read His whole book! It is all one revelation. The terrible G-d of the Old Testament is also the Loving G-d and Father of our Savior Jesus. He is the Sovereign One. He is the Holy One. We are to fear Him! Apart from his grace, we are all the same as Achan at the battle of Jericho and Ananias and Sapphira in the early Christian Church. It is no wonder that our text concludes in Acts 5:11-16 by saying, “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed." G-d had again removed all who were interrupting the victorious progress of G-d’s people!
It is interesting to note that before and after the deaths of these two lying thieves that only pretended to give G-d their all - that Luke tells us about miraculous healings which the apostles and in particular Peter, were enabled to perform. In Acts 3 we read an account in which Peter healed a man who had been crippled from birth. Immediately after their deaths, it says in Acts 5:15 that the apostles healed so many others that people brought their sick into the streets so that “at least Peter’s shadow might fall on them” as they lay in the street. Once again G-d destroyed those who were interrupting the victorious progress of G-d’s people. Dear one, I believe the deaths of "Ananias and Sapphira" (and all who are currently interrupting the victorious progress of G-d’s people) will have to be repeated before we see the prophecy in Haggai 2:9 fulfilled: "The glory of this latter house shal be greater then of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." Don't you know dear one, the coming of the Kingdom means the total restoration for mankind and creation and all that G-d chooses to bless with his grace, it also means removal and destruction of all that which is evil. In 1 Peter 4:17 we read: "For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of G-d: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of G-d?" In today's society, which is willing to tolerate any philosophy, except one that claims to be the exclusive truth, there is a strong tendency to dilute the proclamation of Christ as the only way to G-d. This makes the message of Revelation especially relevant to the denominational church today. After each admonition to each of the seven churches John writes, "Listen what the spirit says to the churches" . . . (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Although a different message was given to each church, each message ended with this clear warning: "To him that overcometh". There is only one him - and he must overcome all the seven churches! If you still have any doubt about G-d's judgment of Christians, you need to fully understand these two chapters. They give us insight as to how G-d deals with churches today. To each church John writes, "He who has an ear, let him hear . . . John tells the reader to stop, look and listen to what Jesus Christ (not Babylon) is saying to him that hath an ear..
Jesus said "I tell you the truth. The person that believes in me (not Babylon) will do the same things I have done. Yes! He will do even greater things than I have done. Why? Because I am going to the Father. And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you. Then the Father's glory will be shown through the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it." But dear one how can He do this work if we are not totally committed to bringing all the believers to Him? His true church can not be filled with demons or people who listen to Satan and steal from G-d. Once the true church is no longer divided, and free from all demonic influences and filled with the Holy Spirit - then and only then shall we see Jesus' promise of greater works!
Shalom!
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