Matthew 26:6-13 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,… Although this spirit of boundless consecration may often make mistakes, and it does — though it may often run into some strange extravagances, and it does — yet, at the same time, in the end it accomplishes far more than the very wise but very cold spirit. The author to whom I have previously referred makes this remark on the point, and it is very true — "One rash but heroic Luther is worth a thousand men of the Erasmus type, unspeakably wise, but passionless and time-serving." The men who leave their mark on the world, and the men who really extend the empire of Christ's kingdom, are not generally the men who are very calculating and very professional, but men who, whatever else they may lack, have their hearts surcharged with love. Oh would ye be a real power? Ye must have a love that scorns all meanness. How different does Mary appear from the disciples? She does a noble deed: they criticize it. It does not require love to criticize. Indeed, love will not criticize. Love is too noble a thing to condescend to it, specially when criticism means perpetual fault-finding. If there be good, love delights to take down her harp and praise it to her utmost, but if there is nothing to praise, love prefers to be silent rather than cavil. Only mean spirits find pleasure in finding fault. (A. G. Brown.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,WEB: Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, |
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