To What Purpose was this Waste?

Matthew 26:8
The disciples asked Jesus, ‘For what purpose is all this waste?’ at the sight of the woman with the alabaster box pouring out all its contents that were precious to her and that she had been saving up all her life for her day of marriage.

A graduating bible college student weds his fiancée as they both start out on a promising life as missionaries to the unreached tribes of Kalimantan. Before they could begin on their mission, they are killed in a tragic car accident while returning home from a speaking engagement in one of the local churches.

An active lay leader serving on the worship team and actively helps out in the church’s programme for the handicapped and orphaned children for many years suddenly dies of a heart attack while taking the children on an outing and picnic.

A Korean tent-maker working among the refugee camps of Africa serving as a medical support personnel showing the love and mercy of God to a people that hardly knew or heard of the name of Jesus, is suddenly decapitated and his body mutilated by terrorists.

A missionary couple serving in India for many years reaching out to those afflicted by leprosy. The husband and their young son suddenly finds themselves surrounded by religious fanatics and gets burnt alive in the car he was travelling in.

Or what about a man by the name of John who had spent his early ministry years preaching repentance as a voice in the wilderness waiting in prison and finally ends up having his head delivered on a platter, much to the dismay and chagrin of the rest of his followers who had been praying for his release.

'What purpose is all this waste?’ Isn’t this the same question we pose ourselves and God when we see lives seemingly ended prematurely by some inexplicable act or tragic moment? Whether it is losing someone we know and cherish dearly or hearing the loss of someone who had much potential for the work of God, situations like these always trigger the same kind of question. Beyond a personal loss to the families of those who lost their lives, isn’t it also a loss to the kingdom and purposes of God? We find ourselves in the same shoes as the disciples because we do not and cannot see the situation from God’s perspective. Not now, anyway. Can we fault the disciples for asking that question?

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over” John 12:24 The Message. We look at this passage, and ask, ‘does it need to involve actual physical death?’ Can’t it refer to death of our personal ambition, our pride, our selfishness, for the corn of wheat to bear much fruit? Which of the above does this passage apply to? The answer I guess is, “all of the above’. Jesus knew what he was talking about, for him to fulfill God’s purpose of redemption for man, he had to die. Our mission in life goes beyond our life, it lives beyond death like the Master.

What is the conclusion? This is what Jesus’ take on this story of the woman with the alabaster box was, “I assure you: Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her” Matt 26:13 HCSB.

MT
16 May 2011