Sunday, April 5, 2009

Dinner with Jesus

The night before the Triumphal Entry had to be a pretty special night. Though the disciples didn't know what was to come the next week that Sabbath dinner had to be pretty amazing.

Jesus has dinner with Martha and Mary. Can you just smell the dinner? The sounds of serving utensils, cooking and visiting in the air. Sweet fellowship of the disciples with their Lord. Mary brings in this very expensive perfume, and fills the room with fragrance. That had to bring the conversation to a halt. All eyes were now on Mary and Jesus. Mary doesn't care if others are watching, she is here to worship her Lord.

The story generally gets told of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, Judas asking why they didn't just give the money to him, so he could steal it and Martha serving, but I think something else significant is happening here. Jesus is having dinner with Lazarus.

As one who gets to eat meals with one who has been "dead", I get the point how special this must have been. Jesus is having dinner with the one He loved after He raised him from the dead. I do understand that Lazarus was much more dead than Grant.

The sisters must have been beside themselves, looking over at Lazarus. What a miracle to get to have dinner with their brother again. Every time Martha walked by him she must have shook her head in disbelief. Mary knew it was special, but she was focused on Christ. She loved her brother, but she loved Christ more. Her brother was special, but Jesus was more special. She understood the preciousness of Christ and that He requires our willingness to leave all earthly things to follow him.

There is nothing we have here that compares to Christ. There is nothing worthy of our worship but Christ. There is no fellowship that should supersede our fellowship with Christ.

Oh that we might have fellowship and worship like He is with us today, because He is. Would it be difficult to talk about spiritual things if Jesus was sitting at the table with you? Would the attention be on you, or Jesus?

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