How Much is Your Jesus Worth?

Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.

John 12:5

In John 12, after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead in chapter 1, it was now six days before the Passover feast. The Jews were busy waiting and speculating whether Jesus was coming for the feast. Meanwhile, Jesus came to Bethany,  where Lazarus lived, whom He had raised from the dead.  A dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus.  

Then Mary came and poured about a pint of pure nard on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Pure nard was a very expensive perfume in those days. Its estimated worth was 300 days’ wages. In modern times without adding the time value of money, that’s about $30,000. What would you do with over $30,000? Many people would have bought a nice new car. Some would put it towards a house; down-payment or mortgage payoff. Some might go on an extravagant vacation to Dubai, Zanzibar, Miami etc. But Mary gave it all to Jesus, pouring it on his feet and wiping his feet with her hair. 

Why would she do this? After all, it surely was not Jesus’ custom to wear perfume. Obviously, it was a lavish expression of love and thanks to Jesus. She was so thankful to Jesus for raising her dead brother Lazarus to life again. More than that, Jesus was all the world to her. She knew she’d rather have Jesus than anything this world could offer her. 

On the other hand, brother Judas Iscariot was also in the room and he just couldn’t bear it. He opposed the idea openly, saying: “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” (John 12:5)  Actually, what Judas said sounded reasonable. I mean, that much money spent to give Jesus’ feet a sweet smell, does seem, by all economic standards, unnecessary, wasteful and poor use of that treasured perfume. She could have poured just a few drops, why waste it all? 

However, the reality is that Judas saw Mary’s act as foolish because he didn’t love Jesus as she did. He was just using Jesus for his own benefit. He didn’t think Jesus deserved that much. While Mary’s perfume was about 300 denari (103 Sheckels), Judas sold Jesus for just 30 shekels. That’s how much his Jesus was worth. 

Now, it’s easy to condemn Judas but in reality, haven’t you put a price tag on Jesus at some point in your life? How much is your own Jesus worth today?  Some sold their Jesus having sex with a fine girl, the bosom of Delilah was worth more to them than the rest that Christ offered; others sold him for ungodly earthly friendships or business associations that they didn’t want to lose. Some sold him in the exam hall in exchange for answers because the certificate was more important. 

It doesn’t matter how much you sold him for, guess what? Even now he’s still waiting for you to repent, come home and let him take his rightful place in your heart. Will you summon the courage to return to him today?

PRAYER

Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ, please help me to understand that you’re worth more than anything I can ever desire to have in this world.