Sacrifice – Word for the Soul

A Fragrance of Loving Service

May 28, 2024May 21, 2024 Loring Schultz

“While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.” Matthew 26:7 NLT

The world’s most expensive perfume is ‘Passant Guardant’ by Clive Christian at $7,600 per ml or $228,000 a bottle (30ml). To be a recipient of such a gift would be an honor of the highest regard. To be the giver of such an expensive gift would be symbolic of the love towards the one receiving it. The sacrifice made in presenting the gift is on display whether intended or not. The giver cares not about the exposure, but only about presenting a gift of love in the most exquisite means possible.

Jesus received such a gift just a few days before His crucifixion. Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazurus, presented this fragrance of loving service by pouring it over His head. The pouring of oil over the head in the Old Testament is referred to as anointing oil. It was poured over the head of the high priest and his descendants to mark them as holy and set apart unto the Lord. Mary, in this case, anointed Jesus as an act of worship. She was aware who Jesus was, the Messiah. It is also possible she believed in Jesus’ words when He spoke of His impending death, even more than His disciples who seemed to struggle with it. Jesus speaks to Mary’s actions, “She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.” (Mt.26:12 nlt)

The perfume or oil Mary poured on Jesus came from Northen India and was made of pure nard. The cost is noted as 300 denarii or about a year’s wages. (Mk.14:5) Today’s value would be about $40,000-$50,000. It was not only a fragrance of loving service, but a loving sacrifice. But Jesus’ disciples complained this act was wasteful and could have been used more wisely. “But Jesus, aware of this, replied, ‘Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me?’” (Mt.26:10 nlt) Charles R. Erdman writes, “No gift to him can be too great if made in grateful love, an act may be morally beautiful even though not practically useful.” (1)

Jesus is pleased with our gifts of service to Him whatever the cost. We can never give too little or too much according to our ability to give. Our motives will determine the value of the gift and our Lord will recognize its true value; may it always be a fragrance of loving service.

Read: Matthew 26:6-13 NLT – Jesus Anointed at Bethany – Meanwhile, – Bible Gateway

(1) Erdman, Charles R. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983.

Devotionals

A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

April 17, 2024April 16, 2024 Loring Schultz

“Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God and keep the vows you made to the Most High…. But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.” Psalm 50:14, 23a NLT

We have recently come out of the Lenten season with the conclusion of Easter Sunday a few weeks ago. A significant part of Lent is to withhold or give up something as a sacrifice to the Lord. This is done to yearn for God more than the sacrifice you gave up. It is a time to drive away any distractions that would keep you from getting closer to God leading into Passion Week. It is a shame we only allot one time a year for this sacrifice as a church, but it can and should be a part of our daily spiritual walk with the Lord.

The idea is not what we give up for the Lord, but that we are in a constant growing relationship with Him. In Psalm 50, a psalm of Asaph, the Lord says, “O my people, listen as I speak.
Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God! I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.” (Ps.50:7-9 nlt) The Lord then explains He doesn’t need any of their animal sacrifices. All the animals of the forest are His, and He certainly doesn’t need them for food. God wants their sacrifices to be a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Not to diminish any sacrifice we make to the Lord, but the best sacrifice we can make, and make it daily, is a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Giving thanks to God praising Him for all He is, and all He has done for us. The Lord Himself says, “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God and keep the vows you made to the Most High…. But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.” (Ps, 50:14, 23a nlt) May we truly honor the Lord today with a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Read: Psalm 50:7-15 NLT – “O my people, listen as I speak. Here – Bible Gateway

Devotionals

We Have Access to God the Father through Jesus Christ

March 29, 2024March 26, 2024 Loring Schultz

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” Matthew 27:50-51 ESV

For the religious Jews of Jesus’s day, the tearing of the curtain (veil) in the temple should have been a revelation of who Jesus is and His purpose in dying on the cross. Scripture says the curtain was torn at the moment Jesus died, yielding up His spirit. It was torn from top to bottom indicating no human could have done it, it was clearly an act of God. The curtain that was torn was the inner curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy place in the Temple. It separated God who is Holy from sinful man, and it contained the Ark of the Covenant and the law of God.

Entrance into the most Holy place, the Holy of Holies, was only once a year on the Day of Atonement. This was the most solemn holy day of all the feasts and festivals on the Jewish calendar. The High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies after offering a bull sacrifice for his own sins. He would then enter and sprinkle some of the blood on the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the sins of the people. Forgiveness and covering of sin were only through a blood sacrifice and repeated every year on the Day of Atonement.

The events that took place on the first Good Friday are many. They started in the early morning hours past midnight with the unjust trials of Jesus, and after being condemned to die, mocked, beaten, he was finally nailed to a cross later in the morning. Darkness covered the earth from twelve noon until three in the afternoon, the time Jesus died. At that moment, the last event, access to God was made possible to all through Jesus’s sacrifice and shedding of His blood. The curtain was torn down, no more need for a yearly animal sacrifice to cover sin. A permanent sacrifice for sin was made. “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all.” (Ro. 6:10 esv) We have access to God the Father through the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have you accepted the sacrifice of Jesus in not just covering your sins but in taking them away completely? Access to God, Salvation, and eternal life is only made possible through the blood of Jesus Christ as we repent, confess our sins, and accept Him as our Savoir. This Good Friday make sure you have access to God the Father.

Read: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27%3A32-56&version=ESV