Welcome to day 35 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in Isaiah 42 and John 12

(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33, Day 34 if you missed them)

Isaiah 42:1-9

The Servant of the Lord

 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will bring justice to the nations.
² He will not shout or cry out,
    or raise his voice in the streets.
³ A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
⁴     he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

⁵ This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
    who gives breath to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it:
⁶ “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷ to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

⁸ “I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.
⁹ See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

John 12:1-1

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹ Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

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I wonder if the Lord brought the words of Isaiah to the minds of any of the Pharisees after they had Jesus crucified. They knew these words by heart. They knew Psalm 22. They had already decided in their minds what they were going to do and that Jesus was a threat to them, that their hearts weren’t open to any promptings of the Lord to them. That’s a scary place to be, so decided in your warpath that you can’t hear the Lord.

And then we have the passage of Mary anointing Jesus’s feet. I love this story. It shows how different our reactions to Him can be. While the hearts of some are hardened against Him and filled with hate, others are changed and transformed forever and just grateful to be near Him.

He is so worthy of anything we could give. And today’s passage is such an extravagant thing done for Him. What would someone consider a year’s wage today? And to even own something that precious is already something incredible, and it’s likely the only thing she had that was worth anything. And she took it all and poured it out over His feet in one extravagant act of worship.

I know from personal experience that we can’t be more extravagant to God than He is with us. He always gives more to us than we give to Him and is always more generous than we are.

And not only that, but every gift given to Him is a seed that grows and matures and then multiplies into more. One seed makes one plant at harvest time. But that one plant creates more seeds. And if we keep sowing the seeds that come, what incredible harvests we’ll see! I can’t wait to meet Mary and see the harvest from this one act that we’ve been retelling for thousands of years. ♥

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 36, in John 12 and 1 Corinthians 1

♥ Samantha