Matthew 26:6-13 Mark 14:3-9 John 12:2-8
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6 Now
when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a
woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she
poured it on His head as He reclined at the table.8 But
the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said,
“Why this waste? 9 “For this perfume might
have been sold for a high price and the money given to the
poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said
to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to
Me. 11 “For you always have the poor
with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 “For
when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for
burial. 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever
this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will
also be spoken of in memory of her.”
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3 While
He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at
the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly
perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it
over His head. 4 But some were indignantly remarking to
one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 “For
this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the
money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. 6 But
Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed
to Me. 7 “For you always have the poor with
you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always
have Me. 8 “She has done what she could; she
has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. 9 “Truly
I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this
woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
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2 So
they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of
those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Mary
then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet
of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the
fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His
disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 5 “Why
was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” 6 Now
he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was
a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into
it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her
alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 “For
you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
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There are certain passages of Scripture that demonstrate the
disciple’s difficulty in understanding exactly what was happening. It seems at times that they just didn’t “get
it.” I am sure the way we handle the circumstances
of our lives also demonstrates this same type of disconnect as well. We tend to get all practical and pragmatic in
our walk with the Lord. Love is rarely either
of those things. There is nothing practical
or pragmatic about buying flowers for a lady.
Love and a desire to please are the motives behind flowers for the special
people in our lives. This passage gives
us a glimpse into the depth of love between the relationship of Jesus and Mary,
the sister of Lazarus.
MARY DEMONSTRATES A SACRIFICIAL ACT OF LOVE FOR JESUS: The
setting for this act is said to have happened in the house of Simon, the
leper. In typical fashion, Martha was
busy serving the guests. There is much
we don’t know about this setting. We
would presume that Simon was a leper who had been cured by Jesus. Another person who is present at the dinner is
Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead by Jesus. These are significant miracles represented at
this table. The gathering takes place at
Simon’s home, but the three siblings, Lazarus, Martha and Mary also seem to be
right at home in this place. Perhaps
Simon was a close relative or friend of the family who hosted the entire group
in his home. Whatever the relation, Mary
is overwhelmed by her love for Jesus and joyfully anoints Him with an ointment
that is worth more than a year’s wages for a working man. This was truly a sacrificial act of love. Mary truly understood that she was in the
presence of Messiah and is completely in awe of His glory. One day all of us will stand in His presence. However, we will not be standing for long. When we see His glory we too will be overwhelmed
with love, fall on our faces before Him and deposit at His feet the crowns that
represent our life’s work. We will be in
awe of Him. We will love Him deeply and
increasingly as we know Him more. We
will worship Him.
JUDAS DEMONSTRATES A SUPERFICIAL UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS:
Judas, and the other disciples, criticize Mary for this extravagant act of
love. Judas complains that the ointment
could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor as opposed to “wasting”
it by pouring it all out over Jesus. It
seems that there was so much that the contents covered Jesus from head to
toe. I have no way of knowing how this
anointing must have felt physically, but it must have been soothing, refreshing
and the smell must have been amazingly wonderful. However, it must have felt astoundingly wonderful
to be honored in such a way. Judas just does
not get who Jesus is and how there is no honor that could possibly be too great
to bestow upon Him. Judas places a
higher value on money than he does on the Lord.
Is there any amount of money that could be considered too great to honor
God? He is our Creator, Savior and
Ruler. Nothing could be enough to
properly thank Him for His mercy, grace and love. As we order our lives, we must constantly
answer the question of: how will we honor God today? However we answer that question, it will
always be inadequate. We must not
devalue the Lord by making half-hearted attempts to honor and serve Him. He is worth our extravagance.
JESUS DEMONSTRATES A SUBSTANTIAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MARY, JUDAS
AND HIMSELF: Jesus knows what the disciples are saying and He knows exactly what
is in Mary’s heart. He knows the motives
behind their scolding and her demonstration of love. More importantly, He knows what is really
going on is that Mary is preparing His body for death. As pleasant as this experience must have been
physically; that smooth, well moisturized and fragrant skin would soon be pouring
out blood from the stripes of a whip.
This is no confusion to Jesus about what is happening. Jesus confronts Judas and defends Mary by
honoring her and promising that this act of generosity would be remembered forever
as we still do in this very post. Every
person with sincere motives of love for God that has been misunderstood and
even harshly criticized should take hope from this passage. Men will often be mistaken in their
evaluations of our actions. God will
never misjudge us. He knows all that is
in our hearts and will reward us accordingly.
His glory must be our primary motive in all we do.
APPLICATION: Love God extravagantly. Strive to constantly reflect on the glory of
who He is so we will be properly motivated in all our worship. Guard our hearts from selfish motives and
human perspectives that devalue the Lord.
Don’t be discouraged by the criticism of men who do not understand what
is in our hearts. Rejoice in the
knowledge that God understands all our motives.
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