Gifts

Poured Out

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I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels. Psalm 22:14 KJV

When we are singing “It is well with my soul” we should always remember the price of what we are singing about. As a teenager I always loved the Christmas presents I got from my stepmother. She bought me beautiful expensive clothes, but she always left the price tag on! She didn’t mind spending the money, but she wanted to be sure that I treated her gifts other special care!

In the garden Jesus said that His soul was sorrowful unto death. He agonized in prayer in order to accept the suffering of the cross. He asked if there were any other way and then sweat ran down His face like great drops of blood. Just hours after

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He had finished praying, Jesus was nailed to the cross. The Bible tells us that He was poured out like water. Last, the spear pierced His side and the last drop of the lifeblood of Jesus flowed down to the ground. What a price He paid for us!  Maybe like me you will go to church this Good Friday and receive communion. Jesus said that each time we receive the bread and drink from the cup we are to remember His death until He comes. Jesus is not angry that our sin drove Him to the cross rather in love He chose a way of  leaving the price tag attached so we would know the price of His gift.

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The Fragrance of the Perfume

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Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. John 12:3 NKJV

While Hollywood has generally given us the impression that Mary was a young beautiful woman; that may not have been the reality. In that time even poor young beautiful women would have been married and Mary was not poor. While we do not know Mary’s age it seems possible that she and Martha were both widows, living with their brother Lazarus. That would give us an entirely different view than the film version. In this scene we meet a Mary who kept all her savings in that perfume jar. It acted as something of a retirement account. As she grew older with no marital prospects, no way to work or even the right to own property that perfume was all she had besides the kindness of her brother. She was presenting that gift in a single defining moment as her worship and expression of love to the Lord Jesus.

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As the fragrance filled the room people began one by one to realize how exorbitant and yes even a little crazy what Mary was doing really was! Her family and friends were shocked but silent. Then one by one the disciples, beginning with Judas, began to protest. “Why wasn’t this sold …and given to the poor?”

But Jesus knew Mary’s heart and while she remained silently at His feet He defended her. Today we have little to describe how Peter or John, Andrew or Phillip worshiped, but Mary’s gift is still remembered. After 2,000 years, her perfume continues to fill each of our rooms with its fragrance!

Gift Wrapped

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But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.   Philippians 2:7-8

Did you ever stop to wonder who came up with the idea of gift wrapping? Why do we bother with ribbons and bows if it is just the gift itself that people really want? Maybe it all comes down to a presentation; like on the opening night of a play. When we wrap gifts we do it to keep in the surprise. KIMG0138

In a strange sort of way Jesus came as God- gift wrapped! No one could see who Jesus was in his swaddling cloths in the manger. It took angels telling the shepherds to get anyone to begin unwrap that first Christmas present!

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Another reason for gift wrapping is so we can say:  “This just for you!” In that same way Jesus was sent, not only for the whole world, but He also gives Himself to us one by one.

Now some of us open presents on Christmas Eve and others on Christmas morning. But no matter what our selected time, it is the gift wrapping that makes us wait till the right time to open our presents. Then on that special silent night in Bethlehem; at exactly right moment, Jesus came  gift-wrapped and we have been unwrapping the love of God in Jesus Christ ever since!

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