Here Today—Gone Tomorrow – John 12
Why are things like they are? Why do people have to suffer? Why do I have to die? Why does God allow such evil? Why does it seem that God is not concerned with our suffering? These are questions for which no human can supply a full answer. Who can know the mind of God? But, sometimes, God gives us wisdom with an insight into His purpose. This happened to a woman named Mary, after Jesus raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead. When her brother became ill, she sent for their friend, Jesus. She knew He could heal Lazarus. But, Jesus took His time responding. By the time He got there, Lazarus had been dead four days. Mary chided Jesus, “If you would have been here my brother would not have died!” Jesus said, “I am life and life after death. If you believe in Me, you will live after you die. Do you believe that?” Her answer was rather noncommittal. Jesus proceeded to raise her brother back to life and restore Lazarus to his sister. Later, they were having supper. Lazarus was at the table. Mary did something that showed that God had revealed something to her about Jesus; about life, death, and the resurrection.
“Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?’…Jesus said, ‘Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.’” John 12:3-7 (NASB)
Mary had one of those moments in time, where you might say, “the light bulb came on”; a sudden realization of the truth. That jar of nard was worth three hundred day’s wages. It was probably her life savings. Jesus said that Mary had realized something that no one else in the room understood. The Giver of Life, Jesus, would pay the price that every human being would pay for being born—death. Mary understood, if Jesus raised her brother from the grave, it could not hold the Giver of Life. She now knew that if she believed in Jesus, when she died, she would live again, just like the Giver of Life. Her hope had been in her savings, but now it was completely in Jesus Christ.
“Father in heaven, I believe every word of Jesus. Help me to understand that my life is just a vapor, here today, gone tomorrow. My hope lies in the One who has passed through death before me. Jesus Christ won, with His own blood, a propitiation for my sins. The grave could not hold Him, and it cannot hold me, because I have faith in His words. Eternal life! Eternal life! Thank you, Jesus. Amen.”