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Extravagant devotion to Jesus is our duty, our delight and His reward!
 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.” (Mark 14:3-9)
EXTRAVAGANT DEVOTION DEMANDS AN EXTRAVAGANT RESPONSE
At the close of Jesus' earthly ministry, in the final days just before He would go to the cross, Mary of Bethany understood what He was about to through. We aren't told exactly how she knew. We know from the other references to Mary in Scripture that she and her family were close personal friends of Jesus. We know that she would often sit for hours listening to Him teach (Luke 10:38-42). So it is probable that she had heard Him speak of His coming sufferings.
Mary’s response to Jesus’ coming sufferings was to anoint him with costly oil that the Scripture tells us was worth a year’s wages – and which most likely was her inheritance and possibly her only livelihood. She didn't just pour out this ointment, she was pouring out herself, in the most extravagant way that she could. This was her best response to Jesus for the extravagance with which Jesus was about to pour Himself out for her (and for us).
Jesus' disciples had also spent much time with Jesus, they no doubt had heard Jesus speak about His coming suffering as well, yet they did not understand the things that He had spoken concerning His death.
We read in this account that when Mary anointed Jesus, when she poured out her life in extravagant devotion to Jesus, the disciples - led by Judas - immediately became indignant and accused her of wastefulness (John 12:4-6; Matt. 26:8) and began to publicly scold her.
Jesus intervined and rebuked the disciples, and then went on to vindicate and honor Mary for her response to His words. He recognized a like-heart in her extravagance. He did not despise her gift, nor her giving of herself. In the same way Mary seems to be the only one who understood and appreciated the fact that Jesus was about to suffer; Jesus seemed to be the only One who understood and appreciated what she had done for Him.
Mary’s extravagance was not merely symbolic; it was an actual in-time-and-space economic extravagance with far-reaching repercussions upon her future. The day she anointed Jesus was not solitary in its extravagance. Her extravagance on that day, naturally flowed out of a lifestyle ofextravagant devotion to Jesus.
TRUE DEVOTION IS EXTRAVAGANT
The more devoted our hearts grow towards Jesus, the less we will seek to give minimally. Extravagant devotion always begets extravagant giving. The extravagant heart asks how much may I give, not how little can I get away with giving. True devotion is not sparing. Extravagant devotion cannot be swayed by the fear of consequences.
Mary had received revelation knowledge concerning the Person of Jesus, His heart and His mission. As a result, she was thankful and, out of that thankfulness, she was extravagant in her devotion to Jesus.
If we have true revelation of the heart of Jesus, and what He has done for us, we will also, be thankful and extravagant in our devotion to Jesus. What does that look like? Let's look at a couple of ways that extravagant devotion might be expressed:
- A life full of worship
- A life filled with prayer
- A life filled with the study and meditation of God's Word
- A life filled with extravagant giving of our time, money and resources to God and to people
- A life filled with serving God "by" serving His people
How much revelation do you have concerning what Jesus did for you? He said that the one who had true understanding that they had been forgiven of much would love much (Luke 7:47). And the one who loved much would be demonstrate that love by living a life of extravagant devotion the Man, Christ Jesus.
The test is simple. Do you pass?
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