There is no part of our lives that Jesus isn’t interested in. He’s interested in all of it. Every bit of it.
This idea can be quite unnerving. Each of us have things in our lives that are so deep, so secret, so hidden, and so painful that the idea of allowing someone else into those depths frightens us. We don’t even want to look at it ourselves let alone bear it all for another to see. We keep it hidden, tucked away, ignored, neglected, hoping that it will die in the darkness. Jesus says to this, “I want to get my hands on those areas of your life.”
We encounter many people in the scriptures who use their faith as a means to their own ends. It is as simple as those who go to Jesus for healing, or even food. People go to Jesus so that he can give them what they want. They approached the Master so that he could fulfill their needs. They went to him to get filled.
It is quite ironic, then, that Jesus, when he calls us to follow him, asks us to empty ourselves for him. He says, “come to me ready to give it all. Come to me ready to give me access to every domain of your life. Because it is only when you come to me empty then I can fill you with my Holy Spirit.”
His desire is precisely that, to fill us and in order to be filled we must first be emptied.
This is the theme of the story we find in Mark 14:3–9. It reads:
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (ESV, emphasis added).
The part of the story that I wish to highlight is the detail that this woman broke the flask. In other words, she emptied the flask of its contents. This is a symbol. Jesus wishes for us to be willing to empty ourselves of our brokeness. Every drop, no matter how valuable. He wants us to broken a part for him so that his healing and life-giving presence can leave no area of our lives untouched.
Note that Jesus himself comments, “she has anointed my body beforehand for burial” (v. 8). What does Jesus’ death have to do with this? The author is telling us that Jesus doesn’t just patch us up and then send us off. No, He Is the Resurrection. Jesus wishes to start over with us; to rid us entirely of the curse of sin and death.
This woman gives herself to Jesus without reserve.
One major theme in the text is the group’s negative reaction to the woman’s offering. The men are angry with her because they think that she’s wasted her resources. This is VERY valuable stuff and she’s just dumped it at Jesus feet! Literally! We cannot miss that this is exactly what Jesus asks us to do when he says, “follow me.” He asks us to be willing to give to him even the most precious, the most valuable and life-giving things of our lives so that he can redeem every bit of it. There is no such thing as wasting a resource on Jesus.
This idea of Jesus wanting all of us is apparent in the opening chapter of Joel from the Old Testament. In Joel 1 the prophet talks about the various stages of locusts destroying Israel’s crops. The thrust of the message is that there is nothing left. When it seems like they have eaten all that’s to be eaten, they find more. There’s always more in our lives to give to Jesus. What is he asking you to give?
Once again, when God starts a work, he doesn’t stop until its completed. This means reaching into the worst, nastiest, ugliest parts of our lives and bringing regeneration, new life, and healing.
He is a God who wants all of us because he’s given all of himself for us.
