"A Memorial of Her"

Towards the last days of our Savior, Jesus Christ, He would be the ultimate example and wash the feet of His disciples. Before this wonderful act took place, Jesus, Himself was anointed with very precious oil.

He was in the house of Simon Peter, the leper, and was sitting there to eat. A woman entered into the room and took out an alabaster box. Inside this box contained ointment of spikenard.  Spikenard was very expensive oil. In Mark 14:5, the disciples get a little mad and ask why it wasn’t sold. It is even mentioned that this particular oil “might have been sold for more than three hundred pence.” In that time three hundred pence was equivalent to a year's wages, such as the average agricultural worker received.

Christ sort of rebuked them and told them to leave her alone.  He explains to them that she has done a good work to Him. He also brings them back down to earth when He tells them, “For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them: but me ye have not always.” (Mark 14:7) This silenced the disciples. Christ was trying to tell them something this woman already knew. While she had come to anoint Him to prepare for His burial, the disciples were preoccupied with the costly price of the spikenard and not on the act itself.

The Savior goes on to say about this woman, “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (Mark 14:9) She saw beyond the cost of the oil and knew the price of true love, devotion and sacrifice. She proved to the Savior that she was willing to do whatever was asked of her, and even what was not asked. She showed to the disciples what true discipleship looked like.

In our own lives there are things that we can be doing to show our love and adoration to Christ. While He is not here for us to anoint him with expensive oils, we can show our devotion in other ways. Simply by the way we live our lives we can prove our love and devotion to Him. I think the greatest way to show Christ how much we love Him is to do as He said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

The Second Coming

“And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” –Mark 13:37

         In preparing for the second coming, in Mark, Christ continually repeated two phrases; “take heed” and “watch.” Now, we must understand what “take heed” means. In the dictionary it states, “listen: listen and pay attention.” When Christ was speaking, He wasn’t messing around. He meant business. He was serious and wanted us to listen to Him and sincerely pay attention. He told us to “take heed,” of the deceivers that might try to deceive us. There will be those proclaiming to be Christ. There will also be those that will proclaim that there is no Christ at all. He also told us to “take heed” of the trials. We will be put through some trials, but we must pay attention and learn from them. If we curse them and don’t learn from them, we will not be preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ. Christ warns us that we will be cursed and even “beaten” for what we believe in. Christ also tells us to “take heed; behold, I have foretold you all things.” (Mark 13:23) Here He is telling us that we have the knowledge, we know the signs. We must take His words and apply them, learn from them and live them. Christ said, “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” (Mark 13:33)

                When Christ was talking to the disciples about the second coming He related a story about the fig tree. He said, “…of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Then affectionately He added, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”(Matt. 24)

                In the Doctrine and Covenants section 87 verse 8 it reads, “Wherefore, stand ye in hold places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen.”  He has also said about the second coming, “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.” (D&C 45:57)

                It is clear that the second coming is nigh. We have the words of Christ and we know what we need to be doing. Among the many things that we must do, above all we need to continue to “take heed,” “watch” and “pray.” If we do so, the Lord will save us at the last day and we will not be afraid, but rejoice in His second coming.

“If ye are prepared ye shall not fear”

--D&C 38:30

The Widows Mite

“In the accounts kept by the recording angels, figured out according to the arithmetic of heaven, entries are made in terms of quality rather than of quantity, and values are determined on the basis of capability and intent. The rich gave much yet kept back more; the widow’s gift was her all. It was not the smallness of her offering that made is especially acceptable, but the spirit of sacrifice and devout intent with which she gave.”

 (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, pp. 561-62.)

When thinking about the Saviors words and those that followed his words, the Widow comes to mind. The Savior told that to inherit eternal life we must forsake all and follow him. The widow walked in and gave her mite, the only one she had. To onlookers it was a very small amount, almost too small. Compared to others that had given the Widow had only given a tiny amount. The Savior said that she gave more than them. How can that be? The widow gave everything she had. Those that had more, didn’t even compare to that. The prices they gave might have been higher, but the real amount of what they gave did not compare to that of the widow.

                Not only did this widow give everything, but she did it ungrudgingly. She had the desire to give her all. Compared to the young man that didn’t want to sell all his riches to Christ, she willingly gave it. To me this is a great example. Sometime we think that we don’t have enough money to compare to what someone else might give to the church. There are other ways that we might feel inadequate compared to what someone else is doing or giving. I think the most important thing to remember is that it doesn’t matter what someone else is giving or doing. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to someone else. If we can look inside ourselves and know that we are doing everything we can and giving our all, I think we can be happy with ourselves. Not caring what others are doing and just taking care of ourselves is the key. When we are giving everything we have to the Lord and we know that, we will be happy.

It is not about what we don’t have, but what we do have and what we do give.

“On the books of the heavenly accountants that widow’s contribution was entered as a magnificent gift, surpassing in worth the largess of kings. ‘For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.’”

(Talmage, Jesus the Christ, pp. 561-62.)