Lavish Love

Lavish Love

By Eric Elder
www.theranch. org


I’ve read the story in Matthew 26 many times about the woman who
poured out a jar of very expensive perfume onto Jesus’s head. I’ve
always been impressed by the woman’s action, and by Jesus’s response
to it.

But it wasn’t until recently that I’ve seen the story from God’s
perspective, which has deepened my appreciation for it even more.

In case you haven’t read it, or just need a refresher, here’s the story:

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the
Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive
perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the
table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this
waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high
price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman?
She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have
with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this
perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you
the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world,
what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Matthew
26:6-13).

I love this woman’s lavish love for Jesus. I’m sure she knew the
value of her gift. She didn’t see it as wasteful, but as totally
appropriate for the one who was to receive it.

I also love Jesus’s response to this gift. He wasn’t bothered that
someone poured out such a lavish expression of love upon Him. He
was, after all, the one who turned water into wine -- and not just
any wine, but the best. He understood what it meant to lavish love
upon others.

But what I love even more about this story is the lavish love of God
for His Son displayed in this act. From God’s perspective, it’s
almost as if God wanted to pour out a special measure of His love to
Jesus, so He moved on the heart of a woman who had a very expensive
jar of perfume, allowing her to be His hands to His Son. He put in
her heart the willingness to pick up her alabaster jar and pour it
out on Jesus’s head.

God knew what Jesus was about to undergo. Jesus knew what He was
about to undergo. If there was ever a time where Jesus might have
doubted His Father’s love for Him, it was in the upcoming days of
mocking, beating, and being nailed to a cross. This demonstration of
love was as if God wanted to assure Jesus of His love yet one more
time, moving on the heart of a woman who could pour out just such an
expression. It was an act of lavish love, not only from the woman,
but from God Himself, given through the woman.

Why is this so important to point out? Because God may want to do
the same thing through you for others. He may want to show someone
His lavish love, and in order to do that, He may move on your heart
to display it. We all have an alabaster jar of some kind. It may
not be an expensive perfume, but it may be just as valuable to the
person receiving it.

Maybe it’s a gift of time, of attention, of writing a song, of
serving with our hands. Maybe it’s a gift of money, giving something
that may or may not mean much to us, but will certainly mean
something special to the recipient. Maybe it’s a gift of an item, an
object of value, something that would mean the world to someone else.

Sometimes love is outlandishly lavish. But sometimes, from God’s
perspective, it’s just the kind of love that He wants us to pour out
on others.

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Prayer: “Father, help me to be willing to show Your lavish love to
others, demonstrating Your love for them in tangible ways. In Jesus’
name, Amen.”