Why Trouble Ye the Woman?

When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me (Matthew 26:10 KJV)

A woman walked up to Jesus one day and poured expensive oil on His head from an alabaster box. The disciples could not believe what they were seeing—how could this woman waste such a costly perfume! That was enough money to feed the poor, sponsor the “work of God”, etc. Do you think if we were in their place we would have behaved differently? probably not. But Jesus’ response took them by surprise. He commended the woman.

He said to His disciples “why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me”. This woman did what was pleasant to Jesus and the first opposition she got was from Jesus’ s closest followers. What a paradox! One of the worst critics of the works of God in many generations has been the very people who identify with God. It is jaw-dropping to think that when God starts using you to do certain things to please Him, the fiercest opposition you will get will be from the Church, other believers. I do not fully understand why this is so but it is a terrible and sad reality. Of course part of it is the result of this ugly spirit called the “religious spirit” that works in different degrees in almost every one of us.

The disciples had lost touch with the Master in front of them and overly carried with feeding the poor, that is, the work of God. They had lost touch with the Lord’s heart and were engrossed with doing His work. What a sad reality! Even more saddening is the reality that there are scores of believers, churches, and ministers who are caught us in this. As I mentioned above, we are all prone to this spirit. We simply have to watch it not to allow it to take control of our lives. When you listen to some churches condemn other churches or some ministers criticize other ministers with obvious hate in their voices, you cannot help but pray that the Lord will deliver us from this horrible spirit.

MEDITATE

Think about this carefully: what were the disciples thinking when they were opposing this woman? Were they sincere? Can sincerity make up for failing to recognize God’s will and purposes?