When Someone Hurts You Part 1

Matthew 26:1-16 Read the New Testament in a Year: Romans 9:19-33 Have you ever been falsely accused or betrayed by a friend? Have you had people plotting against you? Or have you ever experienced some other form of personal hostility? Jesus experienced all these things. God has revealed himself in creation. However, his supreme revelation is in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. God himself has come to be part of this hostile world, to do something about it. In this passage we see a glimpse of God’s solution, which he achieved through coming in the person of his Son Jesus. Yet the world was hostile even to Jesus. Plotting We should not be surprised by the world’s hostility to Jesus and to Christians today. Jesus knew he would be ‘handed over to be crucified’ (v.2). The chief priests and elders ‘plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him’ (v.4). Accusations When a woman came to Jesus ‘with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head’ (v.7), even the disciples regarded what was done for Jesus as a ‘waste’ (v.8). There is something deeply moving about this incident. Jesus is given for us. The cost is beyond anything we can ever imagine, and his death is imminent. A jar of expensive perfume is only fitting, and yet the disciples are fussing about waste. Most people understand your works of social action (for example, in response to poverty) but they find it harder to understand your worship of Jesus and all the things associated with it. They regard these things as a ‘waste’ and think that surely there is a better use of your time and money (v.9), but Jesus sees things differently: ‘She has done a beautiful thing to me’ (v.10). She showed her extravagant love for Jesus. Miss a CrossTraining?]]>