The Lamb that was slain
Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil (John 12:3).
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:11-12).
Mary was heavily criticised for breaking a box of precious spikenard on the Lord’s feet. But it was the response of worship to the One who is the “Resurrection and the Life”. She alone discerned the pathway the Lord was taking to lay down His life at Calvary and to be buried (v. 7). It was from the grave that the God of peace “brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20). But, the Lord Jesus does not speak in verse 7 of His resurrection. He speaks about how much He valued worship from the hearts of His own people, who would never forget that He went into death for them.
Mary did not speak, but in Revelation 5, the redeemed company and the angelic host gather together and with one voice respond in worship to the Lamb that was slain. We glory in the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus. We joy in the words of the hymn that “sorrow’s night is o’er”, but neither time nor eternity will erase the memory of the love that took the Lord Jesus into death. It touched His heart that Mary appreciated the extent of His love. The day is coming when the redeemed people of God and hosts of heaven will together express that appreciation and be overwhelmed by His worthiness.
Angels share in the worship. They were witnesses to His eternal glory and they followed Him and served Him in amazement during His lowly life on earth. They could not minister to Him at the cross, but they gloried in His resurrection and ascension in glory. We, not angels, are the recipients of the love which took the Lord of life into death. Our names are engraved upon the palms of His hands, and we are in His heart. Each one of us is a trophy and story of grace, and we each have an opportunity to follow the Saviour who so loved us. The thief on the cross had the briefest of time to respond to Jesus Christ. But what a glorious response it was and, like Mary, what joy it brought to the Saviour’s heart amidst the horror of Calvary. I am sure this dying thief would have wished he could have spent his life responding to the Saviour who he discovered loved him. Instead, he stands as a witness to the fact that every single one of us is brought into life by simple faith in the Son of God “who loved me and gave Himself for me”. His love alone takes us to glory.
This morning may our hearts be filled with holy worship as we bow afresh at the feet of the One in whose heart we were as He died upon the tree. The One who is now the centre of heaven.
