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Mark

Mark 
Day 
Day 292

"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried... laid daily at the gate of the temple... to ask alms from those who entered the temple." Acts 3:2"

Text: Acts 3:2

Day 292 – Mark 14

“And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried… laid daily at the gate of the temple… to ask alms from those who entered the temple.” Acts 3:2

THE HOME OF A GRATEFUL FOLLOWER

Jesus did not stay over in Jerusalem in the last week of His life and ministry on earth. Daily, He would walk to Jerusalem, speak to interested people, and then leave the city. His favourite town seemed to have been Bethany.

One of the homes that welcome Jesus belonged to a man called Simon. We can understand why he would undertake the task of looking after Jesus and His disciples.

“And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper…”
MARK 14:3A

Simon had once been a leper. The name “Simon the leper” stuck with him, even though he was no longer suffering from leprosy! Jesus had healed him. For that alone, he would have been eternally grateful to the Lord Jesus. It was nothing to play host to Jesus and His many disciples. It was his honour that Jesus would choose to come and stay in his house and have a meal there!

ANOTHER GRATEFUL FOLLOWER

As Jesus sat at Simon’s table after a hard day’s work, a significant and moving incident took place.

“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.”
MARK 14:3B

1. No mention of the woman’s name

While John identified this lady as Mary (Cf. John 12:3), Mark did not mention her name. His focus was on this act of anointing Jesus.

2. A costly gift indeed

That this gift must have been about the most costly gift ever given to Jesus was not lost on Mark!

a) The alabaster flask
The flask itself was costly. Mark noted that the woman broke the flask. She was signifying that she would never use this flask again. This gift would be used just once- and that for the Person she loved!
b) Very costly oil of spikenard
The oil of spikenard was imported. And commercial travel being what it was in those days, this gift was well described. This “very costly oil of spikenard” would probably have been imported from far away India.
It would take soul-deep love for the woman to have done what she did!