After the woman broke an expensive perfume and poured it over Jesus’ head as an act of worship, He turned and rebuked the religious rulers, "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (Mark 14:6 NIV).
And Jesus says to Martha, “…but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42 NIV).
When we offer the most precious thing to the Lord, the very thing close to our hearts – it could be an expression of our deepest longings, our long nights of tears from pain, or a desire to be free from a hidden sinful habit – and in our worship we freely surrender it to Him.
In that beautiful exchange, the Lord does something wonderful. He becomes our public defender! He surrounds the broken, downcast and hurting to protect them from the onslaught of the religious and the arrogant.
He does so by shutting the mouth of the critics by using our lives as an illustration of His mercy.
Paul’s describes it best in I Corinthians 4:9, “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” (KJV). The Greek word for spectacle is theater.
We are part of God’s beautiful unfolding drama as He changes us from the inside out. We are the foolish on display to shut the mouths of those who profess to be wise. Our once broken lives now mended stun those who thought we were completely ruined.
We are given a precious promise from God who never shames us but crowns us with grace. We are given a revelation of Christ through the Holy Spirit. This will never be taken away! No one can separate us from His love so we are safe, secured and protected.
God tells the world and to those who wish to harm us (the church), “Leave her alone”!
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