From Mark 14:10-11 / Jesus: A means to an end? What a contrast to Mary in the verses above. Mary sought to pour out on Jesus whatever the cost. Judas sought to gain from Jesus, for a mere 30 pieces of silver. Mary poured out what would have been the near equivalent of a year’s salary. Judas sold Jesus for about a month’s pay in his day. How cheaply he valued the Savior. But the real contrast is found in this: Judas saw Jesus as a means to an end. Mary saw Jesus AS the end. And this is keen lesson for us. Do we ever really seek Him – for Him? Do we find Him lovely? Relationship to Him worth pursuing? Equating Heaven not so much with streets of gold and freedom from this sin-wracked world – as with beholding the face of Him who died for our sins, and rose for our justification? When Jesus prays in John 17, He pleads with the Father: “I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” What must the wonder of seeing Him in His glory be, if He makes that the highest gift He can think of to ask the Father to grant us? Older theologians used to call that the “beatific vision.” A vision so glorious, that it is instantly, utterly and permanently transformative. If being with and seeing Jesus isn’t our end, but we seek Jesus only for what He can do for us, we are living so woefully below what He has made us for. Don’t settle for less than the Son of God Himself as your true and final reward.