Peter's Problem - Mark 14:26-31 - January 17, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for January 17, 2020. We are meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 14:26-31 Peter’s Problem

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Let’s pray.

That Psalm, Psalm 23, known as the Shepherd’s Psalm has brought comfort to millions. I think it’s read at every funeral, at the very least every funeral that I perform.

The beautiful thought that Jesus is the Great Shepherd of the sheep, watching out for us and caring for us, leading and guiding us right where He wants us to go.

Jesus is again portrayed as a shepherd in His parable in Matthew 18:12 and Luke 15:4.

If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

It seems in our day that being called a sheep is an insult, blindly following and not thinking for oneself. I say that it’s not an insult if you’re following the right Shepherd.

1 Peter 5:4 and Hebrews 13:20 both refer to Jesus as the Great Shepherd. Ephesians 4:11 says that Jesus gave some to be, “poimen didaskalos,” shepherd-teachers, also known as pastors, Jesus’ under-shepherds.

We’re picking up our study in Mark 14 right after Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper. They had celebrated the Passover together in an upper room that scholars believe belonged to the father of John Mark, the human author of this Gospel. After singing a hymn, which would have been Psalm 113-118, Jesus led the disciples across the darkness of the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. This would have been around midnight. It’s on this walk through the night that we pick up in Mark 14:27-31, page 851 in the pew Bibles.

27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Here Jesus applies the title of Shepherd to Himself and He quotes Zechariah 13:7.

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered…”

Do you see any difference between how Zechariah said it and how Jesus said it? For you English nerds, Jesus changed the verb, “to strike,” from imperative to indicative, from “strike,” to “I will strike.”

It is the Lord of Hosts that will strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Not the devil, not the Sanhedrin, not the Romans, the Lord of Hosts. God Himself will strike the Shepherd Jesus, pouring out His wrath on Him for us.

I don’t know if the disciples knew their Old Testament well enough to notice the difference but I’m sure Jesus did. Jesus death was not a surprise to Him, it was the plan from the beginning, as was His desertion by His friends.

But even here in our short text Jesus reminds His disciples that He will not be stricken for long. Verse 28 says, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.” Jesus’ role as Great Shepherd would continue after His death and resurrection and He promised to meet them back where this all started, in the back woods of Galilee.

Unfortunately this promise from the Great Shepherd fell on mostly deaf ears. The disciples missed the part about being raised up after being stricken, they only heard the part about being scattered.

So up steps Peter. 29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

Ever stop and think about that statement? Even though the rest of these guys are not strong enough, not loyal enough, not courageous enough to stand with you, I will stay strong, I will not fall away.”

But as we know, Peter was not courageous, he was thoughtless. Peter foolishly boasted because he was not wise enough to carefully examine himself. He overestimated the strength of his will and character to which Jesus responds in verse 30, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Peter claimed that his loyalty was greater than the rest but in truth, his failure was greater than the rest. Jesus predicted that they would all desert Him but Peter would disown Him, not once but three times… that night… sometime in the next four or so hours! The rooster crows just before the sun comes up and it was already after midnight.

Since we have the added benefit of perspective, we are standing back considering this moment, what should Peter’s response to Jesus have been?

Lord, I don’t want to do that. How do I not do that? He should have asked Jesus for help to stand firm and not deny Him!

John Calvin wrote, “Believers ought, indeed, to be prepared for the contest in such a manner that, entertaining no doubt or uncertainty about the result and the victory, they may resist fear; for trembling and excessive anxiety are marks of distrust. But, on the other hand, they ought to guard against that stupidity which shakes off all anxiety, and fills their minds with pride, and extinguishes the desire to pray. This middle course between two faulty extremes is very beautifully expressed by Paul, when he enjoins us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God that works in us to will and perform…”

Instead of counting on the Lord to help him avoid denying Him, instead of asking Him for help in the trial, in his stupidity and pride he flat out told Jesus that He was wrong, and that there was no way that he would ever deny Him, even if he had to die with Him, and all the other disciples chimed in and said the same.

Now, as we have already seen, even in this short text, that it was the will of God to strike Jesus the Shepherd, we know that His death means salvation for us, but that does not free Peter nor the disciples from bearing responsibility of their own actions.

We can see the list of failures right here in our text: foolishness, pride, they thought more of themselves than they did of Jesus, in fact, they trusted their own ideas, their own plans over His, over the Father’s.

They were all idiots!

But the Lord has proven, time and time again, through the disciples and through me that being an idiot is not an insurmountable problem. But they also didn’t have the Holy Spirit, also not an insurmountable problem. All we have to do is skip ahead to the first two chapters of the Book of Acts and see how the Lord solved it.

And it’s that solution that I think we need to focus on, that’s the one point to this sermon. Peter and the other disciples, at this point in the story, did not have the Holy Spirit within them. They had the advantage of being face to face with Jesus, yes, but they did not have the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome their weaknesses.

And this is a weak point in Peter’s life. His pride and arrogance blinded him to the will of the Lord. Jesus said, “I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter. You will all fall away,” but Peter foolishly boasted of his own strength, which, we will see, failed him… miserably!

I can’t say what I would do if I were in his shoes, it probably would have been a lot worse. But, in truth, we are in those shoes all the time. Peter and the disciples didn’t have the faith to trust Jesus when things didn’t go according to their plan… When has anything gone according to our plan?!

The difference is, we have the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus.

Ezekiel 36:24-28 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

1 John 4:13-15 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

Romans 8:9-11 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Where Peter failed, by the power of the Holy Spirit we can succeed. Where he foolishly boasted of his strength, we can trust the Lord in our weakness.

The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 10:7 wrote:

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited… a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

May every hardship, along with every victory, every twist in the road, along with every straightaway teach us, even force us, to rely on the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The Love Feast - Mark 14:12-26 - January 10, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for January 10, 2020. We are resuming in person services at the church building. We ask everyone attending in person to wear a mask as we will continue to follow the state's guidance for mask wearing and social distancing. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 14:12-26 The Love Feast

Good morning and welcome back! 

Thank you so much for your love and prayers for our family while we have been in quarantine, we are all well and are very glad to be out of the house and able to interact with people again! I’d also like to thank Nate for rightly dividing the Word of truth for us last week, I pray you were all encouraged as I was in considering your own newness through renewal and your progress in sanctification.

And as Nate mentioned we are going to continue in our exposition of the Gospel of Mark in our study together this morning with chapter 14, verses 12-26, that’s page 850 in the pew Bibles.

It’s no coincidence that we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper this morning, though it was unintentional on my part, as we are going to be focusing on the institution of this great sacrament.

I hope you all have some bread and drink set aside for this purpose at home. My initial intent in scheduling Communion for this week had a lot to do with emphasizing unity, the common unity that we embrace when we all eat this bread and drink this cup. 

As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

And that idea could certainly use some emphasis given the events of the last few days and weeks. But I don’t think that exactly what the Lord has in mind for us this morning. The idea is not false, it’s not wrong, that common unity does truly exist and should be emphasized, but that is not the express purpose of the Lord’s Supper.

So let’s look at the text, Mark 14:12-26.

12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 

17 And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Let’s pray.

This account very closely parallels the account of the triumphal entry. 

Jesus instructs some of the disciples to go to the city and someone will meet you and give you what you need for what is going to happen next. 

With the Triumphal entry it was a colt that had never been ridden tied up and waiting for them, and this time it was a man carrying a jar of water to lead them to where they could prepare and celebrate the Passover together.

I have always considered these two events to be miraculous, that God had preordained these things to be there at the moment the disciples needed them and I’m not sure I’m ready to give up that idea. 

It only occurred to me in the study preparing for this morning that I had ever even heard anyone suggesting that Jesus had arranged these things beforehand. I guess my flannelgraph is just a little more miraculous then pragmatic.

The fact that there was a man carrying a jar of water was a much more clear sign in the first century than it would be today. During the time of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread there were millions of people in the city of Jerusalem, how on earth would the two disciples be able to identify the right man carrying the water jug? How many other guys could there possibly be fitting that description?

It turns out that carrying water jars, in the first century, was women’s work, a man would only carry skins filled with water. A notion that in the age of “amen and a-women” must be very popular. 

No matter what your opinion on the subject, this was a sign that was much more obvious to them then than it would be to us now.

The other Gospel writers tell us that these two disciples were Peter and John, and they found things just as the Lord had told them and they prepared the Passover in that upper room.

17 And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 

It has always amazed me that when Jesus tells the twelve that one of them will betray Him that one by one they asked Him, “It isn’t me, is it?”

They don’t point fingers at each other, nobody was placing blame, nobody says, “I think Judas is sus-spicious.” They humbly ask the Lord, “is it me?”

And though we all know that it was Judas from what we read in verses 10-11 of this chapter, Jesus doesn’t immediately point him out specifically in our text, He simply says, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 

Jesus and the disciples would not have been arrayed like Davinci’s painting of the Last Supper all on one side of the table as if posing for a picture. We do know from the other Gospel accounts that John was on Jesus’ right and Judas was on His left, in a seat of honor.

Judas was neither hero nor victim. He was not a hero for being used by God as the instrument that brought about Jesus’ death for our benefit, nor was he a victim of cold predestination as if he had no choice but to act like a robot.

Judas, motivated by greed, acted on his own accord and accomplished the will of the Father. 

He was lost for the same reason that millions of other people have been, are, and will be lost: he did not repent of his sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

It would be better for him if he had not been born. That’s no joke.

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

It struck me that the original Passover was eaten on the way, in haste. The Israelites had escaped from Egypt but they had not yet reached the Promised Land. Their redemption was not yet complete but they were looking forward to its completion. 

The Lord’s Supper was instituted in the same way, on the way. The process of their redemption had begun but would not be completed until Jesus died and was raised. 

And when we celebrate it now, we do it to remember what He did, yes, but also to proclaim His death while looking forward to His return when our redemption will be complete.

Luke adds the words in his account, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” What is it that we are to remember?

The word remembrance is not just recollection of past events, but a participation in past events. We too, like those disciples take in the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf by faith.

The bread and the wine (or juice) does not become the actual flesh and blood of Christ as our Catholic friends would have us believe. John Calvin called that doctrine known as “transubstantiation,” a monster!

The bread is still bread and the juice is still juice but faith gives that bread and that juice new purpose.

The bread and the cup are symbols of the body of our Lord and the blood of the New Covenant, the new arrangement made by God between us and Him and eating and drinking them are symbolic of our faith.

It is no longer an arrangement of works that brings us to Him but faith in His Son, that mankind, that individuals, either choose to accept or reject.

As I was writing this week the Lord made it clear to me that my remembrance was incomplete.

I remembered the Lord, I remembered His sacrifice on the cross, His body given, His blood poured out.

But the Spirit spoke to my heart: “Remember how much I love you.” The words pierced my soul. “Remember how much I love you!”

It’s not just a matter of God so loving the world back then that He gave His only Son back then… 

Remember how much He loves you right now.

As we eat the bread and drink the cup today, let’s remember just how much He loves us.

(say a blessing) “Take and eat, this is my body.”

(give thanks) This is the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Amen.

Let’s sign a hymn like they did that night!

A Beautiful Thing - Mark 14:1-11 - December 27, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for December 27, 2020. We have temporarily suspended in person services. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 14:1-11 A Beautiful Thing

Good morning and Merry Christmas!

We are returning to Mark’s Gospel in chapter 14, verses 1-11. This is another example of how Mark’s Gospel is arranged strategically and not necessarily chronologically. What I mean is, that verse one clearly states that it was two days before the Passover, but verses 3-9 take place six days before the Passover according to John’s Gospel. 

This isn’t a disagreement in the Gospel accounts, Mark simply sets it up as a contrast between love and hate, of worship and betrayal.

So let’s look at the text and try to discover what it is that the Lord wants to show us this morning.

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” 

3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” 

10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Let’s pray.

So here we have a lovely sandwich with a lot of love between two slices of hate… Mmm, mmm, delicious!

The chief priests and the scribes wanted very much to destroy Jesus because they were jealous of His influence over the people. The crowds were flocking to Jesus to listen to Him rather than listen to them. In their jealousy they were trying to devise way to get rid of Jesus without attracting too much attention from the people. This is why they wanted to wait until after the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover because there was upwards of two million people in Jerusalem to celebrate. If they waited until after the feasts there wouldn’t be nearly as many people, the pilgrims would have all gone home. It would be like Ossipee in November as opposed to July.

Judas decided that he would be the instrument of the chief priest’s plan to arrest Jesus in secret as we see in verses 10-11.

The timing of their plan didn’t go according to their plan however as we’ll see in the rest of this chapter.

Instead of focusing on the two slices of hate, I’d like to look more closely at the love in the middle of the sandwich. There’s a lot for us to learn there.

3 And while [Jesus] was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

Now, I admit there is temptation to go into great detail about what pure nard is and where it comes from, not to mention the alabaster flask that it was in and what was involved in breaking the flask and on and on. 

I’ve even seen these types of alabaster flasks when I was in the Holy Lands. It’s all very fascinating!

The only important detail is right in front of our faces and we can all see it in verse 3. It was very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over Jesus’ head.

There is no real significance in her breaking the flask, as if she smashed it in order to get every last drop, or that here breaking of the flask meant that she didn’t save any for herself. 

Breaking an alabaster flask was the normal way of getting its contents out. They had a long skinny neck designed to be snapped off and poured out. This was normal. Again, the only important detail is that it was very costly.

This woman, John’s Gospel reveals, was Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And in her great love for the Lord she anointed His head with this very costly ointment.

She knew the value of the ointment, everybody did. She also knew that she loved the Lord and was inspired to act in this extravagant way. She also knew that He was worth it, that He deserved her gift.

What she didn’t know was what would happen next. She didn’t anticipate the disciples’ response, which, from our perspective is a little predictable, and she also didn’t know just how significant this anointing would be.

So this woman comes and gives a very costly gift, much like the poor widow who gave the two small coins, all she had to live on. A beautiful act of devotion and sacrifice. 

This ointment may have been her dowry, or her inheritance, either way, it was a significant act of devotion and sacrifice to the Savior.

And the disciples, John tells us led by Judas, obviously react and praise her act of devotion and love, right? Nope.

4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

All they saw was a year’s wages just dumped on the floor. What possible good could come from that?

Matthew records the words, “Why this waste?”

Of course we know that Judas cared nothing for the poor, he was the keeper of the money bag and would often help himself to it, and the other disciples were, at that moment, swayed by his words and scolded her for her act of devotion to the Lord.

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last time in the history of the church that greed would wear the mask of piety.

Also, the disciples did what we also often do in rushing to judgment before consulting the Lord. They could have waited to hear the Lord’s word on Mary’s act of worship. That would have been the right thing to do. Instead they listened to and agreed with Judas. An act, I’m sure, they lived to regret.

But Jesus comes to the woman, Mary’s, defense and rebukes His disciples regardless of their true intent.

6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

This act of great devotion and sacrifice was a beautiful thing, more beautiful than I think we often give it credit for. 

Smell is a sense that we often take for granted, yet it is strongly attached to our memories and truly serves to enrich our experiences. Karole-Ann can testify, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.

Now, there are parts of the world that do not see hygiene through the same lens as we do here in America. Egypt, even today, has a very distinct odor, everywhere you go. It’s the pervasive smell of B.O. 

I’ve been inside the Great Pyramids of Giza, you want to know what I remember the most? It smells like a giant stone armpit!

Now rewind two thousand years, a long time before Ivory Soap was invented, no Old Spice, no Chanel Number 5, no Axe Body Spray. A hot climate and a lot of people, need I say more?

In the midst of all that, Mary anoints Jesus with this very costly ointment and the beautiful smell of that perfume filled the room. 

It not only filled that room, but it would linger, and stay with Him. That fragrance would reach the noses even of the Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross, it followed Jesus all the way into the borrowed tomb.

Mary anointed His body beforehand for burial. This was a beautiful thing.

And just in reading this account, in considering these words, we are fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy that wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.

Our lesson here is not that we should neglect the poor in order to worship Jesus. 

He did say that the poor will always be with you and you can do good to them whenever you want. 

Jesus’ point was not to chose Him over them, but rather, to chose “not always,” over, “always.”

You will always have the poor, but you will not always have me. 

Sometimes, the Lord will inspire us to perform great acts of devotion and sacrifice, sometimes He will inspire us to do little things that still go a long way. 

Mary did what she could out of faith and love, and it was a beautiful thing. 

May we follow her example and do what we can out of faith and love. 

That would be a beautiful thing.

Amen.