Unveiling the Value of Jesus

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

John 12:3

Our Lord Jesus loved to frequent Bethany where He could be among His closest friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Bethany was a home away from home for our Lord. There, His friends loved Him, honored Him, and truly valued His presence. On His part, He cherished their company dearly, and always felt comfortable and relaxed with them.

Six days before He gave Himself up to be crucified, He gathered His friends together in Bethany, which was about two miles away from Jerusalem. They had prepared a feast in His honor, but their reunion was overshadowed by the looming Passover, which was less than a week away. His friends understood to some degree what the Lord intended to do, and their hearts were heavy because they cared deeply for Him.

As our Lord Jesus was eating, Mary brought out a jar of spikenard, a very costly fragrant oil. So costly, in fact, that it was worth a whole year’s wages. But it wasn’t the hours she had toiled to earn the oil that Mary thought about as she cradled the jar in her hands.

It was Jesus. It was her Lord.

She had come prepared to worship Jesus and her heart overflowed with a love that could not be expressed in words as she drew near to Him. Gratitude and adoration welled up inside her as she knelt quietly beside Him.

Not sparing a drop of her exquisite tribute, she anointed the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. And the entire house was filled with the opulent fragrance of her worship of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Upon witnessing this lavish and extravagant gesture, one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot, lashed out indignantly, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (John 12:5).

The sad reality is this: Judas could tell the value of the oil straightaway, but he couldn’t see the value of our Lord Jesus. He is like so many people today who know the value of real estate, commodities, and publicly traded companies in the stock market, but not the value of our Lord Jesus.

Mary understood the value of our Lord implicitly. Because she esteemed Jesus so greatly, anointing Him with her most valuable possession was simply an outward representation of just how much she loved, valued, and cherished our Lord Jesus inwardly.

What Judas Iscariot saw as waste, Mary saw as worship. To her, the person of our Lord Jesus was priceless.

Have you ever been told that reading the Bible is a waste of time? That serving and being engaged in your local church is a waste of time? That bringing your tithes to your church is a waste of money? My dear reader, there will always be such accusatory voices in the world. Why? Because these voices do not understand the value of our Lord Jesus.

I am so glad that you appreciate the value of our Lord Jesus, which is why you are taking time to read this devotional that is all about the person of Jesus. The grace revolution is all about unveiling the value of Jesus. When you know the value of Jesus, Who He is, what He has done, and what He is still doing in your life today, you will experience a grace revolution in your life.

You will begin to live above every defeat, sin, addiction, fear, doubt, and challenge in your life when you have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus and keep receiving teaching that is full of the abundance of His grace and the gift of righteousness. Value our Lord Jesus accurately in your life and you will be unstoppable.

This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution.