Selfless Devotion to the Lord Jesus

The Gospel reading on the Monday of the Holy Week presents the story of the anointing of the Lord Jesus shortly before His death. This episode shows us how our lives and actions accurately estimate how much value we have for the Lord. But this story draws us to also reflect on our motivations for serving the Lord. How devoted are we in our relationship with the Lord? How close in devotion do we come to imitating the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus? Why do we do what we do when we say we do it for the Lord? Satisfaction for being of use to Him is a sure wrong motivation. Gratification for helping others is likewise a lousy motivation.

The true motive is serving Christ because He is worthy of everything you can do for Him. Serving Christ because you love Him and want to please Him since He gave Himself for you, even unto death on the Cross, is a true motivation. But another side to this anointing event presents serving the self as a wasted life. This is an egotistic focus depicted in the actions of Judas, who eventually hung himself and the evil plans of the chief priests, who plotted and eventually crucified the Lord Jesus. Neither Judas nor the chief priests saw the proper estimate of the worth of Jesus for them to devote their all to Him.

The Art of Selfless Devotion

According to Judas (and the other disciples), Mary’s devotion was a waste that could have been better disbursed to the poor. These people had spent much time in the Lord’s presence, yet they behaved as though they had never heard Him speak. In the Gospel of Mark 8:35-36, Jesus taught that,

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

On the occasion of this anointing, the Lord defended Mary from the protestations of the others. Mary denied herself the benefits of the alabaster jar of oil. Her extravagant devotion to the Lord Jesus demonstrated her hate for her life for Jesus’ sake. It gained her that which would not be taken from her (Luke 10:42). On the other hand is Judas, who never learnt to sit at the Lord’s feet; but he greedily wished he could have pocketed some of the proceeds from Mary’s gift. In a few days, he would receive a paltry sum of money; with it, he would forfeit his soul (John 12:25).

1. Selfless Devotion will Cost You Financially.

Mary anointed Jesus with a perfume made of pure nard imported from the Himalayan Mountains in the far north of India. It was a costly item, priced at 300 days’ pay for a working man (Matthew 20:2). Therefore, pouring this oil on the Lord’s feet was an insensible extravagant action that warranted a scolding. But the Lord Jesus rebukes those who take it out on her (John 12:8) and indirectly enlightens them on His worthiness: The Lord is more worthy of our unselfish devotion than all the world’s poor put together. This was why He accepted Mary’s act of worship and love; for she rightly saw that He is worthy of all that we can give Him and even more. Since the Lord bought you with His blood, all you own is His. Therefore, he can direct that you give a portion or all of it for His Kingdom. Mary gave all of it because she knew the Lord Jesus was worth it. If people looked at how you spend your time and money, would they conclude that you must love the Lord Jesus a lot?

2. Selfless Devotion will Cost You Socially.

Mary is in her home but takes on the lowly task of a servant washing the guest’s feet. This is an act of humility before the Lord (cf. King David in 2 Samuel 6:14-23). She wipes the Lord’s feet with her hair, not using a towel. For her, the Lord Jesus is worth more than her pride or social standing. She is so caught up in her act of devotion that she lets her hair down in public with no thought of what people might think of her. Her action makes those present uncomfortable, but the Lord Jesus sides with her (John 12:7). And you? Do you treasure Jesus more than your pride? Are you more concerned with what others think of you than what the Lord Jesus thinks about your selfless devotion to Him?

3. Selfless Devotion will Cost you some Criticism.

Although Judas led the attack on Mary, the other disciples joined in the criticism, thinking of themselves as pragmatic and sensible as they questioned the perceived waste (Matthew 26:8). Mary is motivated to make an act of gratitude to the Lord Jesus for her love of Him and for having raised her brother from the dead. She treasured the Lord Jesus more than her reputation. Judas considered himself concerned for the poor, but his motivation was undoubtedly not led by love for Christ. Perhaps like many Christians who call attention to their charitable acts, he did not understand that the Lord looks at the hidden motives of our hearts and not at our external actions. The Lord must be satisfied with why we do what we do.

How Do We Cultivate Selfless Devotion?

1. By Knowing the Lord Jesus Personally

Mary knew the value of the costly perfume. Yet, she did not sell it even to make a profit herself. Instead, she broke the jar and poured the whole amount on the feet of Jesus. Indeed, she must not have understood enough about Jesus’ impending death to spare the jar and anoint Him after He died (John 12:7). But from the time she spent sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to Him, Mary probably had some sense that Jesus was soon going to die. However, she could have unintentionally anointed the Lord Jesus by God’s providence. No matter what the case was, Mary knew more about the infinite worthiness of the Lord Jesus than the disciples did. She gained this personal knowledge of Jesus by spending much time sitting at His feet (Luke 10:39). This insight led her to this act of selfless devotion. Sitting at the feet of the Lord, learning from Him, and pouring out her sorrows to Him led her to this expression of deep love and devotion to Him. We, too, must spend consistent time in the Word and prayer to love the Lord deeply.

2. By taking Good Action and Bearing Good Results

This was a radical display of love, which was not deterred by reason. Martha, Mary and Lazarus had good intentions and acted well. Because of their selfless devotion to Jesus, the siblings bore three good results:

• By Surrounding their Life with the Fragrance Of Christ

The fragrance that now filled the house (John 12:3) was in Mary’s hair, and everywhere she went, the scent went with her. Do you carry the fragrance of Christ with you everywhere you go? Perhaps you do not know what it smells like…. It smells like the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). This is how our homes and our relationships should smell like. We should bear this fragrance when we spend much time at Jesus’ feet, worshipping Him in selfless devotion.

• By Serving Christ in Selfless Devotion

Previously, Martha served the Lord Jesus but was aggravated by trying to do it alone and complained that her sister was not helping (Luke 10:38-42). This time she was serving more people, but without stressing out (John 12:2). By this time, Martha knew that serving the Lord out of selfless devotion is an act of love of God. If you love Him, you serve others for His sake and without complaining.

• By Becoming Witnesses for Christ

The gospel presents Lazarus reclining at the table in fellowship with the Lord who had raised him from the dead (John 12:2). Many people were reportedly coming to see him and believing in Jesus because Lazarus was raised to life (John 12:9-11). The Lord Jesus gave Lazarus a new life, which made him a witness for Christ. People could see a definite change in his life after being raised from the dead.  Because of him, many Jews were going away and believing in Jesus (John 12:11). To be an effective witness, Lazarus had to spend time in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, learning from Him. Our time spent with the Lord Jesus should help His mission of seeking and saving the lost, on account of our witness for Him. We must be open to the Lord’s use to seek and save the lost.

Suppose You Spend Your Life On Yourself?

Judas and the Jewish leaders who sought to kill Jesus and Lazarus acted out of selfish interests. Judas was looking for more happiness and thought more money would bring it. He was entrusted with the money box, but he stole from it (John 12:6). His craving for a position of power in the Kingdom was crushed when the Lord declared that He would die. Judas decided he had had enough when the Lord Jesus defended Mary’s action with more talk about His death and went on to betray Jesus to the Jewish authorities. He sold his soul for a measly amount of thirty pieces of silver. The Jewish leaders wanted to hang onto their power by keeping followers. They planned to kill both the Lord of Life and the man raised from the dead, yet they still lost many followers after the death of Jesus. Unfortunately, both parties wasted their lives because they spent it on themselves (John 12:25).

Take-Home Message

We must learn to evaluate our actions. We must understand what motivates our actions. We must know the Lord Jesus and have a perception of His worth. We will gain this knowledge by sitting at His feet and listening to Him. The Lord Jesus must become our treasure so we spend our lives in selfless devotion to Him. All we do in ministry must be done for Him. Even when our message is scorned and rejected, and our fellow Christians criticize us and fail to appreciate what we are doing, we will remember that selfless devotion to the Lord Jesus is not a waste; it gains us life in eternity.

*NB: All Bible quotations are from NASB Version