This last week I came across the same bible verse on 2 separate occasions from 2 different sources. I picked up an old ‘Daily Bread’ booklet and glancing through it I read the devotion for the 19th (wrong month and year, but that didn’t matter). Then, at a church meeting, a daily devotion was read out at the beginning of the gathering for the 21st (right month and year) and it was the same verse.  My thought immediately was, the Lord is trying to tell me something here!

I don’t believe in coincidences, do you? So I’ve decided to spend a little while thinking about this verse. Mark Chapter 14 v 8 reads, ‘She has done what she could.’ The background to these words, spoken by Jesus, were said at a time when Jesus was having a meal in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, in Bethany, the small town where his close friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived. According to the Gospel of John Ch 11, these 3 friends were also present at this dinner. While Jesus was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. Some of those present, including Judas who later betrayed Jesus, were indignant that the woman should do such a thing, claiming it was a total waste of money. It could have been sold and the money given to the poor, or so they said, but Jesus knew the real reason for this outcry. It was not out of concern for the poor but for their own personal greed. Although they rebuked her, Jesus told them to leave her alone. She had done a beautiful thing to him. The woman had done what she could. She had poured perfume on his body, so anointing his body, in preparation for his death and burial. This was only a couple of days before Jesus’ death, so he knew the time of his crucifixion was drawing close.

I’m sure at times many of us feel we cannot do much, but one of the points here is that the woman did what she could.

There are people who think if they can’t do something great, that will be noticed and celebrated by others, then they won’t do anything at all.  I wonder if we ever do things so that others will notice, and if that’s our reason for doing them? It shouldn’t be, yet we can all become too proud at times.

Or maybe we just feel we can’t do much, as we don’t have the strength, energy or health. It’s often said, ‘None of us are getting any younger, and can’t do as much as we used to.’  Yes, that’s true, yet nevertheless we can do something.  Mother Teresa once said, ‘We cannot all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.’

How about making a phone call, writing that letter, or visiting someone. We’ve been putting it off for ages or perhaps haven’t got around to it.

Another interesting point to this story in Mark, is Jesus saying that what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.  In other words, she, and what she did, will never be forgotten. How true is that!  Here, 2,000 + years later, I’m reminding you about this remarkable woman. We are thinking about her legacy. What was it? Kindness!

Yet I think this woman’s’ act was more than just kindness. It was her way of showing Jesus how much she loved him. It was indeed a real sacrifice, and yet for her it was worth every penny. She was worshipping her Lord, and Jesus could see this. He could see into her heart and could feel her immense love and devotion to him and so he praised her for what she was doing.

Remember the time when Jesus sat in the Temple and watched the rich people throwing large amounts of money into the treasury box, and then a poor widow dropped in two small coins. Jeus could see her heart, and knew she had given, out of her poverty, everything she had. She had given far more than any of the others.  Mark 12 v 41-44.

Let us always remember Jesus sees our hearts, and if we do all we can, in love, then nothing is too insignificant or ever wasted.

God bless,

Eileen

24 August 2025