Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? John 21:5

My wife and I are having more health problems in our older (more mature) age. After several trips to the doctors for weeks at a time, I began to grow tired of the hassle, stress, and travel. As I was sharing my dilemma with a worker (Linda Brubacker) at a grocery store, guilt seemed to grip me, I thought I was complaining. She quickly responded; “You’re not complaining, you’re explaining.”

I had never looked at it that way before. Her words echoed through my head for days. Was there some Scriptural truth to what she had said? I began to consider different passages in the Bible; I also found there really is a big difference. Explaining is basically telling the story the way it actually is,

even being truthful about our feelings and emotions.

Complaining is making a story that sounds the way we want it to. It usually contains a lot of exaggeration so that people will feel sorry for us or agree with us. When we complain, we often have a self-centered goal in mind. We are going to look at some examples of complaining in the Bible.

In Numbers chapter 20, the Israelites do not have enough water for the congregation; “so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.” Verse 5 says, “And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is

not a place of grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” There are several things we need to notice from these verses.

The people gathered together against Moses and Aaron; they didn’t simply come with a problem that needed to be solved, they came with an opposing attitude.

The people were concerned about their livestock; there was no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor was there any water to drink. The need for water was the last thing on their wish list.

The people were not happy about the situation they were in. They were a bunch of whiners and complainers.

In John 12:3-8, we can read the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. Judas was not happy about her kindness, generosity, and act of love.

In verse 5 Judas asked the question, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” Judas was simply complaining because he was a thief and wanted to get his hands on the money; he was only concerned about himself.

We all know the story of how Israel was afraid to enter the land of Canaan. They also gave a bad report about the land; “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great stature,”

Numbers 13:32. Instead of being people of faith like Joshua, they complained and were stiff-necked.

Many of the complainers around us are like Judas, they have an entitlement

attitude; they think they are deserving of more. They can do things that they would condemn others for. They think they have special rights and privileges; it seems to be a state of mind.

In the next article we will look at some people in the Bible that did some explaining, not complaining. Which group of people do you belong to? Which is the most glorifying to God? Comments or questions, contact me at: thoughtsonword@gmail.com

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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published three books, “Common Thoughts on The Word” in 2016 and “Eye of a Needle” in 2017 and “Common Thoughts on The Word II” in 2019. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children’s book.