Two incidents are recorded in all four Gospels: the Lord’s feeding of the five thousand with bread, and the anointing of the Lord by Mary. After the Lord fed the five thousand, He ordered the disciples to gather the broken pieces that nothing would be lost (John 6:12). This is quite amazing. The Lord performed a miracle to feed men with bread, yet He asked the disciples to gather the broken pieces lest they be wasted. Later a woman came, broke the alabaster flask, and anointed the Lord’s head with ointment. Some disciples said, “Why has this waste of the ointment been made?” But the Lord Jesus said, “She has done a noble deed on Me” (Mark 14:3-7). Here we see two contrasting things: the feeding of the bread and the anointing of the Lord. In one case, nothing was wasted. In the other case, everything seemed to be wasted. Nothing produced from a miracle was to be wasted, yet something worth over three hundred denarii could be poured on the Lord and not spared. The ointment was worth three hundred denarii; it was not spent to feed five thousand but to be consumed by the Lord in an instant. It was not a gathering up but a breaking apart. It was not twelve baskets but one alabaster flask. All these are contrasts. In the case of God’s Son performing a miracle, even the leftovers are to be gathered up. But He does not consider it too much to receive the consecration of something equivalent to three hundred denarii. All four Gospels record this story, and everywhere that men preach the gospel, they are to remember this story. Consecration should go as far as the gospel goes. Wherever the gospel goes, an absolute offering of consecration to the Lord has to follow. The reaches of the gospel must be the reaches of man’s consecration and ointment. We must have a solid impression of this fact.
Sometimes it is meaningful to compare the four Gospels with Acts. We can compare the judgment the Lord faced with the judgment that Paul faced. When Paul was judged, he said that he was a Pharisee and a son of Pharisees (Acts 23:6). This was different from the case of the Lord Jesus. We treasure our brother Paul. But the best son that the world can produce is merely a son of man. Jesus of Nazareth, however, is the only begotten Son of God! When we compare the two, we find that one is God’s only begotten Son, while the other is merely a child of God. One is the Master, while the other is the servant. One is the Teacher, while the other is the student. Although Paul’s attainment was high, he cannot be compared to his Lord. We have to be fine and tender. Only then will we come to know the Lord depicted in the Gospels and the apostles depicted in the Acts. If we are not tender, we will not be impressed with anything. Even if the Lord wants to show us something, we will not be able to prostrate before Him and worship Him. A careless man treats the Bible as if it were just ordinary stories. He glosses over everything, and it is difficult for the Holy Spirit to impress him with anything.
Once the Lord Jesus was reading the Scriptures in the synagogue in Nazareth. After He finished, He spoke a little, but the crowd took Him to the brow of a hill so that they might throw Him down the cliff. Yet He, passing through their midst, went away (Luke 4:29-30). How solemn and dignified He was! He was not like Paul, who had to be let down through the wall and lowered in a basket (Acts 9:25). We are not saying that Paul was wrong in any sense. We are saying that there is a difference in nature. The Lord passed through the crowd and went away. These few words, “passing through their midst, went away” (Luke 4:30), should give us some kind of impression. When the Lord passed through those who wanted to kill Him, the crowd could only watch; they could do nothing. How dignified and noble is our Lord!
Home | First | Prev | Next