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Nothing Too Costly, October 28
Luke 7:36-50
For the love of Christ constraineth us.
2 Corinthians 5:14
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Christ delighted in the earnest desire of Mary to do the will of her Lord.
He accepted the wealth of pure affection which His disciples did not, would
not, understand. The desire that Mary had to do this service for her Lord was
of more value to Christ than all the precious ointment in the world, because it
expressed her appreciation of the world’s Redeemer. It was the love of Christ
that constrained her. The matchless excellence of the character of Christ filled
her soul. That ointment was a symbol of the heart of the giver. It was the outward
demonstration of a love fed by heavenly streams until it overflowed.
The work of Mary was just the lesson the disciples needed to show them that
the expression of their love for Him would be pleasing to Christ. He had been
everything to them, and they did not realize that soon they would be deprived of
His presence, that soon they could offer Him no token of their gratitude for His
great love. The loneliness of Christ, separated from the heavenly courts, living
the life of humanity, was never understood or appreciated by the disciples as it
should have been....
Their afterknowledge gave them a true sense of the many things they might
have done for Jesus expressive of the love and gratitude of their hearts.... When
Jesus was no longer with them, ... they began to see how they might have shown
Him attentions that would have brought gladness to His heart. They no longer
cast blame upon Mary, but upon themselves. Oh, if they could have taken back
their censuring, their presenting the poor as more worthy of the gift than was
Christ! They felt the reproof keenly as they took from the cross the bruised body
of their Lord.
The same want is evident in our world today. But few appreciate all that
Christ is to them. If they did, the great love of Mary would be expressed, the
anointing would be freely bestowed. The expensive ointment would not be called
a waste. Nothing would be thought too costly to give for Christ, no self-denial
or self-sacrifice too great to be endured for His sake
[308]
47
Ibid., 564, 565
.
319