Mark 14:1-11
14: 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.
Reflection
The Messiah (God’s chosen King) must be “cut off” (Dan. 9:26; cf. Isa. 53:8; Mark 3:6). Even though the enemies of Jesus are resisting God, they are unintentionally accomplishing God’s perfect will. His great plan of salvation will be achieved through the execution of Jesus.
We can trust in God’s wisdom and power (Rom. 8:28). Often his ways, especially in our suffering, are impossible to explain, but we can always trust that he is good. Everything that happens to believers comes to us from God’s great heart of love. The cross of Christ teaches us that even when circumstances are awful and inexplicable, God will ultimately bring about the good he intends.
Galatians 3:1-6
3: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
Reflection
The Galatians are in danger of making the same mistake as Peter did in Antioch (Gal. 2:11–14). False teachers are saying that circumcision and obedience to the law is necessary for membership in the people of God.
Paul and Barnabas had taught the Galatians the message of the crucifixion, and the Galatians had responded by “hearing with faith” (3:2, 5). The result was that the Galatians received the gift of the Holy Spirit, who had produced miracles within the church (v. 5). The Spirit’s presence was a sign that those who had trusted in Christ had been accepted before God (cf. Rom. 5:5; 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:14). God has accepted people by faith alone, apart from circumcision or any other form of human obedience. Faith is what fuels the Christian life. We “receive the Spirit” not “by works of the law” but rather “by hearing with faith” (Gal. 3:2)—and it is this faith that not only begins the Christian life but also sustains it (v. 3).
Psalm 13:5
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
Continue to fuel your faith by regularly “hearing” (Gal. 3:2) the message of the gospel through God’s Word. Pray that God would help you find a way to make Bible reading a daily priority.