April 16, 2025
Good Evening Allen Temple Family and Friends,
Have you ever considered the power of your vantage point?
In 2008, a movie was released by Columbia Pictures called Vantage Point. The movie sought to unravel the truth of an attempted assassination of a U.S. President by re-enacting the events from the various perspectives of eyewitness. While the reviews were not stellar, it was enlightening to see the how the same event was perceived so differently. Your vantage point keenly impacts how you recounts and ascribe meaning to a particular event. The witnesses were in the same place, sharing the same experience and came to very different conclusions.
This is what comes to mind this Holy, also dubbed Spy, Wednesday. According to some biblical scholars, two events occurred on Wednesday: the anointing of Jesus by Mary and betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Same place. Same act. Very different conclusion. Jesus spent the evening at a dinner party. Guests included his friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus and the 12 disciples. Mary is said to have taken a very expensive jar of spikenard and anointed Jesus. The perfume oil was thought to be worth a year's salary. I can only imagine the overwhelming sense of gratitude and appreciation she must have felt knowing Jesus had brought her brother back to life. The value of her ointment was not comparable to the return of Lazarus. After this act, she worshipped.
Judas, witnessing this act, saw her offering to Jesus as a waste. John 12:4-5 shares: "But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” After this act, Judas sought opportunity to betray Jesus. I can only imagine his frustration and disappointment after learning Jesus would choose to the way of the cross rather than earthly revolution.
As we move throughout this week towards Calvary, take a moment and reflect on every aspect of life right now. Where do you stand? What's your vantage point: Appreciation and Gratitude? Frustration and Disappointment? Often, the conclusions we have come to about people, places and things have less to do with them and EVERYTHING to do with our own vantage point.
Lord, open our eyes that we might see life through the lens of faith. Help us to see beyond my current circumstances to Your eternal purposes and if needed, shift my vantage point.
In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
