The Lord Jesus Christ Is Worthy of Adoration (Matthew 26:6-13).Wednesday January 28, 2026
Every human being, made in the image of God, longs to love and be loved. The fall twisted our understanding of love.
The NT almost always uses the Greek word agape for love. Agape fulfills the heart, its desires, dreams, hopes.
Mary’s worship:
Mary’s heart is placed in the midst of a cast of characters who have several different views of Christ: Chief priests and elders, the disciples, Judas, and the poor (world in general).
Mat 26:6-13 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? 9 "For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 "For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 "For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."
Agape for Christ. During His passion, there would be some who understood that He was worthy to be adored, loved, and worshiped.
Misunderstanding of love:
Our image, in God, is fallen. We seek love and seek to love, but without regeneration and wisdom, our love is ultimately flawed and selfish. Human love, eros, is an intense desire that moves us towards something.
The disciples, falling in with Judas (John’s gospel), were pulled into a kind of thinking that is sometimes correct and other times very dangerous. That thinking is utilitarianism - the greatest good for the greatest number.
Above all laws is the love of God.
It turns out that everyone but Mary has a form of “greatest good.”
The chief priests and elders desired to keep the status quo.
Judas’ greatest good is his own covetousness.
The disciples are interesting. They are the pious Jews who have a desire for good works, but the desire supersedes their desire for Christ Himself.
Then there are the poor. The masses of humanity who, in general, lack meaning and purpose.
Mary: She desires to worship the Lord and He calls her act beautiful.
The Lord Jesus is to be adored and worshiped.
Deu 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Mat 22:38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.”
Deu 10:12-13 "Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good.
When we love God above all, as Mary does, we will fulfill our purpose.
Joh 5:23 that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Luk 7:40-50 And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." 41 "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." 48 Then He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." 49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" 50 And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
It was the true essence of the Lord that led both women to worship Him as they did.
We are all poor:
Luk 12:15 “for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
We are all poor before the Lord. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Our poverty is not measured by material.
Psa 42:1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?
Psa 63:1 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Phi 3:7-8 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
Eph 6:24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.
Our worship comes from our love (not a desire to get: eros)
What you do out of adoration for the Lord may be mocked by others or they may insult you and persecute you for your love of Him.
When all He is and all He has done for you sinks in, you will find yourself doing things for Him (in our age this takes the form of doing for someone else) that will seem crazy to others.
The Lord Jesus Christ deserves to be loved and adored. God wants us to do so because it will fulfill our great need for love, which no other person can truly fulfill.
This even is a precursor to the day of the judgment seat of Christ where only the good works of the believer are rewarded. Every work you do, from the smallest, out of honor and love of our Lord, is not in vain. |