Holy Wednesday Devotion

This Holy Wednesday Devotion is part of a series of devotions for the week before Easter.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Matthew 6:24

She had expensive ointment, and she used it to anoint the head of Jesus. Then, she used the remaining oil on His feet and wiped it with her hair. Did I mention it was expensive? Because that’s what tripped up Judas.

While Jesus told Judas what she had done was beautiful, Judas couldn’t get past the fact that it was worth 300 denarii—that would be tens of thousands of dollars in America today.

Judas claimed to be outraged because that money could have helped the poor, but in reality, he was in charge of the funds and wanted some of it for himself. When he saw it was lost to him, and Jesus approved, he decided he was done with Jesus.

Judas hadn’t been following Jesus because he recognized Him as the Messiah, valued Him as a teacher, or even because he wanted to be closer to God. He was following Jesus because it benefited him, and when it ceased to benefit him, he looked for greener pastures.

As I was reading and meditating on this today, I thought about the reasons we follow Jesus today. There are certainly people whose motives aren’t pure. We all know pastors and leaders who seek power, praise, money, or fame. But then there’s the rest of us. We think, if God is really good, why do bad things happen? If I am loved by God, why is life so hard?

And it’s 100% okay to ask God why. What’s not okay is giving Him ultimatums: I’ll only follow Jesus if I get my way. That’s essentially what Judas said: I’ll follow Jesus as long as things look good, but if this relationship doesn’t benefit me, I’m out.

Mary gave Jesus her all. In light of the events of the week, anointing Him with oil (even expensive oil) seems like such a small thing. But Jesus said, “She did what she could” (Mark 14:8). Her heart was in the right place, whereas Judas’ wasn’t. That’s what it always comes down to—our hearts.

Find all the devotions in the Holy Week series here.