Easter Weekend Devotional Day 1
DAY 1 – Monday
Daily devotional
Read
John 11:55-57 – 12:1-7 (Countdown to the Cross)
Ask
This week, we will use our devotional to prepare our hearts for Easter. Let’s look at Jesus’ last week before his death and burial. I will pull out some stories that happened in that last week, but seriously this is the hardest task! This is the most historic moment in all of history and this journal could never do it justice!
How do we give expression to our feelings about Jesus? How would you describe your desire for Jesus?
Reflect
Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany to attend a dinner. His friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus were there. Bethany was the place he had raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus’ resurrection was the final straw for the religious authorities, they wanted Jesus dead, and gave orders that if anyone knew where he was to report it so they might seize him. In contrast we read about Jesus’ friends. They were not interested in these orders and instead hosted a dinner and their once dead brother reclined with Jesus at the table.
Verses 3-7: Let’s picture this scene. In the midst of the supper, Mary gave a remarkable gift to Jesus. It wasn’t unusual to wash the feet of a guest, but it was unusual to do it during the meal itself, to use very costly oil, and to wipe the feet with one’s hair.
Many years ago my cousin and I took our families to the mountains to play in the snow. Her toddler son’s feet had gotten too cold. He was miserable and I remember watching her try desperately to warm them as he cried. She eventually slipped his sock off and put his little foot in her mouth. I remember thinking, whoa! That mama was desperate to soothe her son and she showed humility in the way she sacrificed self-respect to help him.
Mary did the same. Mary showed humility. She used an oil that might have costed a year’s wages (John 12:5). Her gift was also unselfconscious. She wiped his feet with her hair. This means she let down her hair in public, something Jewish women did not do. Mary’s heart went out to the Lord and she gave expression to something of her feelings in this beautiful touching act.
This makes me ask the question, what do I do to give expression to my feelings for Jesus? Do I worry about what other people think? Are my actions unselfconscious? Do I hold back? What would I have done if I was at that table that night?