Our Savior Is Anointed
Open Your Bible
Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 14:1-9, 1 John 4:7-10
BY Andrea Lucado
In today’s reading, Christ is anointed in both word and deed. First, we read about the children in the temple who declare, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:15). And then there is the woman in Bethany who anoints Jesus physically, breaking open a jar of perfume and pouring it out on His head (Mark 14:3). Both are beautiful examples of exulting Christ both with our words and with our actions, though not everybody in the story is happy.
Scripture describes the chief priests and scribes as indignant after hearing children call Jesus “Son of David,” a title reserved for the Messiah. And after the woman anoints Christ with perfume, the onlookers are described in the same way—indignant—asking, “Why has this perfume been wasted?” (v.4).
The anointing of Christ was an offense and a disruption. For the chief priests and scribes, it represented a disruption to their hierarchy, placing this man Jesus at the top. For those watching the woman spend her most expensive perfume, the anointing seemed irresponsible: Why waste such a precious possession? Additionally, as members of two marginalized and powerless demographics in first-century Judea, a woman and a group of children would not have had the authority to make such claims about a man. The anointing of Christ grated against an otherwise ordered and reasonable existence.
But did Jesus come to ensure a reasonable and ordered existence for us all?
When the woman anoints Jesus, He says she is foreshadowing an even greater disruption to society as they knew it. Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection were about to turn humanity upside-down. The greatest societal disruption of all was still to come, one in which the unclean would be clean and the unrighteous made righteous.
If I’m honest, I can be resistant to the Jesus who disrupts my order in the same way He disrupted the temple and the town of Bethany. I can grow very comfortable in the world I’ve created for myself and my place in it. The anointing of Christ, as well as the way He was anointed, tell me my purpose is not to be complacent with the way things are. I am to anoint Christ in word and in deed, following my King and doing His work, even if it pushes social boundaries, even if it prioritizes the wellbeing of the marginalized over my own comfort. This is the work that acts out real love toward one another, not because we are so good at loving, but because we have been so loved.
This is my prayer for us today, that our hearts would be set on the anointed Christ. I pray that the sacrificial love we have been shown and given would propel us to love others, so that one day Jesus will look at us and say, “She has done a noble thing for me” (v.6).
46 thoughts on "Our Savior Is Anointed"
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As a mother to a young child, anything that disrupts or changes our routine can be a burden and stressful. This lesson reminds me to accept the interruptions because it could be a God moment that I’m meant to be a part of or wittiness to.
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As a mother to a young child, anything that disrupts or
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Lord disrupt my plans for your glory and remind me that above all, You are love .
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“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him” (1 Jn 4:9). God showed His love by sending His Son to live and die for us. His death gives us life. We show our love for Him by loving others. I cannot anoint Jesus’ feet, but I can wash and care for the feet of my dying patient. I cannot serve Him a meal, but I can help feed the college students at my church or the new mom down the road. I don’t have to travel to another country to show His love. There are so many here who desperately need to know His love. May I be the hands and feet of Jesus, right here every day
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Thank you Andrea for such an insightful message today! To Erin, I’ve been thinking about the concept you mentioned of anointing Christ in word and in deed. I think of anointing Christ in word as lifting Him up in praise and adoration as those little children did. We do this most often in a setting of believers like when singing in church or at a Christian conference, but also as individual believers when we are alone at home and spending time with God, praising Him with words of thanksgiving and love, are ways to “anoint Jesus with our words.”
Anointing Jesus in deed could be any small kindness we provide for another person out of love for God. “Washing others feet” is a figurative way to describe this, but it could be any act of kindness as long as we are doing it out of our love for the God who loved us first. -
My mother moved in with us over the weekend due to some troubles with my stepdad. I imagine it must be uncomfortable for her to be living with her daughter’s family. And I KNOW it is an incredibly disheartening and emotional time for her right now. All that to say, I pray that I can be an encouragement to her and do what I can to help make her feel comfortable here during this time. It would be far too easy to focus on my own discomfort at the change in our normal routine, rather than focusing on caring for her. Pray that I can overlook any selfish thoughts and put her comfort over my own.
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Bethany, I pray for you, that you will be filled with God’s Love for your mother in ways you couldnt even imagine, amen!
I have moved back to my parents’ house, living with them for some months now, and I too struggle with trying to set my self aside for God’s Love to come through to my parents.
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I am thinking about the concept of anointing Christ in word and deed. I’m wondering if anyone has wisdom to expand on this? I understood why the woman anointed Jesus and I have heard believers talking about us being anointed by God in certain instances but hadn’t ever considered that we would still be figuratively anointing Christ today. Would love to explore this further!
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Amen!!!
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