Bottles of Perfume

We embarked on a journey of 24 hours of worship and intercession in order to prepare our hearts for the overseas outreach we will be going on in a little less than two weeks. India, Japan, and Canada are about to receive teams from our base full of passionate hunger for the Lord and zeal to see His name known. During this time, the Lord spoke to me about extravagant love through a passage in the Gospel of John. This is where He has led us.

John 11, 12:1-8

Here is the scene. Jesus knows His friend Lazarus is dead. He chooses to go to Bethany where He had almost been stoned before, despite the apparent concern and fear His disciples have (John 11:8,16). He declares that He needs to wake Lazarus up-- which means He has a revelation in store for His followers about the kind of person He really is.

He goes to Bethany. As soon as He enters the town, Martha gets to Him quickly and informs Him that the funeral for Lazarus has been going on for 4 days. She knows that Jesus is a Rabbi who holds the words of life-- She has seen Him heal the blind and she believes deep in her heart that Jesus might be this Christ-King the Jews have been waiting for centuries to see come and restore the majesty of Israel. Her declaration is this-- 'If you would've been here, Lazarus wouldn't have died.' She recognized the power of life that Jesus had in His words.. But here Jesus reveals something new- His declaration that Lazarus will rise again is not a theological concept but a present reality-- for He is the resurrection and the life.

Mary runs to find Jesus. Her friends think she's in another fanatical fit of mourning over her brother and that she is probably heading to the tomb to weep. But she goes to Jesus. She meets Him with brokenness and in worship. She falls at His feet and declares in faith that Lazarus would have lived in Jesus' presence.
His response to her brokenness was compassion. He wept. He followed her to the grave seemingly for a visit, but He had something else in mind. He commands them to roll away the stone. Daring to embrace the stench of 4 days of rotting corpse, they comply with His request. They remove the rock, the barrier. Jesus calls forth Lazarus, and the Lord's declaration about Himself, 'I am the Resurrection Life' echoes into eternity as Lazarus steps forth from the grave.
This is Jesus.

Jesus visits this family again six days before Passover. Here Martha serves, Lazarus soaks up time with Jesus and Mary bestows upon Him the most extravagant gift she could give to show how full of thankfulness and adoration her heart is. This bottle of perfume is worth at least a year's wages, and in one instance the year's wealth is wasted on the feet of this man Jesus.
Judas complains. Jesus silences the complainer and receives the gift with a greatful heart.
This is Jesus, the Resurrection Life, the Conquering King, the Lovesick Bridegroom, the Prince of Peace, the Pure Lamb.
He deserves the most extravagant expressions of love from our hearts-- bottles of perfume poured over His feet without hesitation in adoration of Him.

May we be a people who give ourselves, who break open the bottles of perfume to pour out upon His feet, who love with heart in complete abandon to Him. May we be a people who's thankfulness and adoration manifests in the deepest expressions of love the world has ever seen or could know. May we be a people filled with affection for Christ Jesus above all else-- may He be the first love of our hearts and the ultimate choice we make every day.
Amen.