A Heartfelt Act

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.

— Matthew 26:13

 

As you read the New Testament, you can't help but notice how little it says about the major events of world history. You might think Scripture would mention Rome and all its mighty conquests. But it doesn't.

Instead, God brings out nuances that are entirely different.

Here in Matthew 26, for example, we find a unique story that God wants us never to forget (see verse 13). It was the incredible sacrifice that a woman made for Jesus. What was it that she did that so impressed the Lord? Was it a miracle or some great teaching? No. It was a heartfelt act.

Hope Beyond This Life

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

— 1 Corinthians 15:13–14

 

Not only does the Bible tell us we will live beyond the grave, but it also tells us there is hope beyond this life. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves there is life beyond the grave for the believer. The Bible says, "He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

No doubt this is why the devil has tried to discredit the Resurrection over the years. This is why, ever since the first century, he has been spreading his rumors about what happened to the body of Christ. And one of the oldest rumors of all was that His body was stolen by the disciples.

A Foundational Truth

If mortals die, can they live again? This thought would give me hope, and through my struggle I would eagerly wait for release.

— Job 14:14

 

In one of the oldest books of the Bible, the Book of Job, the question is asked, "If mortals die, can they live again?" That is something everyone should ask in life: "What's going to happen to me when I die? What is there beyond this place called Earth?"

Before I became a Christian, I thought about this quite often. I was only a teenager, and it was sort of a heavy subject to be contemplating. But I did find myself thinking about death on semi-regular basis. It isn't that I was obsessed with death or that I wanted to die. My belief at the time was that once people stopped living, they simply ceased to exist. I was not certain there was a place called heaven. I was definitely hoping there wasn't a place called hell. My conclusion was that when you're gone, you're gone. It's all over with.

A Working Conscience

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

— 1 Timothy 4:1–2

 

Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the famed Sherlock Holmes novels, was a bit of a practical joker. One day, on a lark, he jotted out a note and sent it to 12 of his closest friends. The note read, "Flee at once! All is discovered!" Within 24 hours, all 12 of his friends had left the country.

The conscience is a bit like an alarm; it warns us of impending danger. Sometimes we are tempted to ignore or even disable alarms because we don't want to listen to them. The smoke alarm in my house only goes off at 3:00 A.M., warning that the battery is dead. It is very tempting to disconnect it so that I won't have to listen to it.

But if our conscience is working, if it is reminding us that something we have said or done is wrong, then that is a good thing. We want a conscience that is tender, a conscience that works properly. We don't want to try to disable it, and we certainly don't want to dull it, because the Bible warns that we can sear our conscience as with a hot iron (see 1 Timothy 4:1–2). This means having a conscience that is calloused and hard.