Spent
Is there a right reason and a wrong reason for spending our money?
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, "Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people." Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, "Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her." Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. - Matthew 26:1-16
Imagine how Jesus must have felt.
This woman is doing something special for him, and his disciples are saying he isn't worth the money she spent on him.
Oh, I am sure their intentions were good. Don't we always start out with good intentions when we criticize and critique?
What did they expect Jesus to do?
It may be extremely humbling to receive a lavish gift, but that humility is something we feel. It is not something others thrust upon us.
When the disciples criticized the expense, they were saying the money would have been better spent some other way.
Maybe they thought Jesus would agree. After all, Jesus is always talking about the poor and how the rich should give their money to those who have none.
But it is one thing to decide what we should do with our riches and quite another thing to tell others what they should do, or should have done.
Once it is done, it is done. At that point, shouldn't we look for the good in it?
But that might be difficult.
It is easy to criticize others, especially if they have more than we have.
What we should be questioning is what we are doing with our wealth.
Perhaps if we could see ourselves through the eyes of others, that would be easier.
More to come...