Thursday, July 14, 2016

What She Has Done


When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”
Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.”
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. Matthew 26:1-16 


What She Has Done

That woman, poor, outcast and rejected
made a normal meal a holy moment
turned the betrayer's heart to stone
gave her all for the love of God.

For the love of money and security
we shield our eyes from want and pain
we close our windows to the cries
we shutter out the other from our safety.

She broke the rules of culture and religion
she moved in a circle where she didn't belong
she honor the heart of God in her offering
and shamed the righteous in their greed.

What she has done for all of us shows
there is no outcast among God's beloved
the table is set for the hungry and needy
plenty available for all who would come.

She gave her small gift and she is remembered
the rule breaker, the harlot, the rejected
love is bigger than any label or any shame
love breaks barriers and sets captives free.


 

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