I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 25-26.

    The passage begins with two parables about being prepared for the Kingdom of God. The first, the parable of the bridesmaids, reminds us that we must continue to serve God until He calls us home. We cannot do good and then rest on our laurels. The second, the parable of the three servants, reminds us that God has given us things, talents, gifts, material possessions, in order to serve Him. We must put what He has given us to good use in order to further His purposes. Finally in this series, Jesus gives an account of Judgement Day involving sheep and goats. In this he tells us what sorts of actions the first two were talking about: feeding the poor, providing water to the thirsty, offering hospitality to strangers, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, visiting those in prison.

    However, almost immediately after that we have the story of the woman anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume. I am not completely sure of the meaning of this incident, but its message contains a lesson that providing a little luxury to those who serve God is not wrong. That not every ounce of our energy and resources must be spent relieving the suffering of the poor. An element in my believing that I am missing something is the fact that Matthew juxtaposes this incident with Judas selling out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. I think that there is more to it than this, but Matthew is telling us that we can become too obsessed with money, even when we intend to do good things with the money.