March 30, 2026
John 12:1–8 tells of Mary anointing Jesus with expensive perfume shortly before His death. What some see as waste, Jesus receives as love and preparation for His burial. The moment reveals devotion that is personal, costly, and unashamed.
Devotional: Holy Week does not begin with efficiency. It begins with love poured out.
Mary takes what is precious and uses it on Jesus. The perfume is costly. The act is public. The whole room fills with the fragrance. Some people immediately start calculating. They see dollars, loss, and impracticality. Mary sees Jesus.
That difference matters.
We live in a world that is always measuring. How useful is this? How productive is that? What do I get in return? Even our faith can slip into that way of thinking. We can start treating devotion like a transaction. We give just enough. We hold something back. We protect what feels too valuable to surrender.
Mary does not do that. She loves Jesus in a way that is openhearted and costly. She does not seem worried about appearances. She does not stop to ask whether anyone will understand. She simply gives.
That can feel uncomfortable, because love like that always does. Real love is rarely neat. It is not always efficient. It is not interested in impressing the room. It is centered on the one being loved.
Jesus receives her offering and names it for what it is. He sees the beauty in it. He sees the timing of it. He sees the heart behind it. That is good news for us, because sometimes the offerings made in love are misunderstood by everyone except Jesus.
Holy Week gives us reason to ask what we are still holding back. Where have we become careful instead of surrendered? Where have we learned to calculate devotion instead of pour it out?
The grace in this passage is not only that Mary loved Jesus deeply. It is that Jesus received her love with tenderness. He still does that. He does not despise sincere devotion. He does not roll His eyes at love that looks too wholehearted. He welcomes it.
Maybe today is a good day to stop measuring and start offering.
Action: Take a few quiet minutes today and ask God what you are still holding back from Him. Offer it honestly, whether it is time, trust, grief, fear, or love.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for receiving the offerings of Your people with mercy and tenderness. Forgive me for the ways I measure devotion too carefully and hold back what belongs to You. Teach me to love You with sincerity, courage, and gratitude. Let my life be marked by trust instead of calculation. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Thought for the Day: Love offered to Jesus is never wasted.
John 12:1–8 gives us the beautiful image of Mary pouring costly perfume on Jesus in an act of openhearted devotion. While others immediately focus on the expense and call it waste, Jesus receives it as love. This moment reminds us that real devotion is not always efficient or easily understood by the people around us.
Holy Week asks us to consider what we are still holding back from Christ. Love for Jesus is not meant to be measured out in tiny, cautious portions. It is meant to be offered with sincerity, gratitude, and trust. Mary’s act reminds us that what is given to Jesus in love is never wasted, even when others fail to see its worth.
