Matthew 26:1-30

There are multiple areas of the faith were a dynamic tension surfaces. One of the more prominent of those areas is the tension between our responsibilities toward God and our responsibilities toward other people.

In the passage from yesterday we saw that in God’s sight how we treat others is essentially how we treat Him. In this passage today we see that there is an innate worth and beauty in the direct worship of God.

Which is the more valuable; the intimate expression of faith found in private and corporate worship, or the robust expression of faith found in service to others? Both are of more worth than we know. The key is the heart and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

What we must not do is become disingenuous. The Pharisees were all about the worship of God through strict observance of the law. Yet, they were often held up by Jesus as negative examples. They kept the technical rules toward God but ignored justice, love, and mercy toward their fellowman. In this passage we hear the complaint about this waste of expensive perfume. It could have been sold to help the poor. John’s gospel tells us that Judas was the source of that complaint. He goes on to tell us that Judas wasn’t saying this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and wanted to see this money put into the money bag which was entrusted to him.

If God has wired you and led you in such a way that you find fulfillment in that fragrant time alone with Him then by all means pursue it, and pray for others while you are there. If He has given you the passion to serve others then do it with all of your might as unto Him. If you are like the majority of people and feel drawn both directions understand that they are essentially the same path.