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. But some were indignantly remarking to
one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might
have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the
poor." And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone;
why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to me. 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. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body
beforehand for the burial. 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."
The woman
(whom other gospels call Mary Magdalene) brought out an ointment that was worth
about a year’s salary. This seemed like
an unbelievable waste to the disciples, to take the wage of a year and put it
on Jesus’ feet for a night. They
mentioned giving the money to the poor, which Jesus commanded them to do, and,
it seems, the ministry of Jesus did.
But
Jesus defended the actions of the woman.
First, he says, she is doing it as a benefit to him, and her act of
service for her Master should not be condemned.
Second, he says, the poor can be given to tomorrow. Jesus was not saying that it was pointless to
give to the poor, as some people interpret this saying, as if Jesus was saying
“Forget about the poor, they’ll never go away.”
Rather, Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 15, which uses the same statement
to mean that because the poor will never go away, there will always be people
that will need help. This is what Jesus
means—it isn’t like the poor will disappear today and so you will lose your
opportunity to help them. You can always
help them another time.
Third, Jesus is
speaking of this anointing as being like the anointing people would do for a
dead body just before it was buried.
Jesus is saying that he is a dead man, and he is being prepared for
burial. Note, that when Jesus is buried,
his body is not able to be prepared, because it was too close to the Sabbath
(this is why women went to his tomb on Sunday morning, to do the anointing that
was left undone Friday afternoon).
Finally, Jesus blesses the woman by saying that she would be honored
world-wide for the honor she was doing to him that night. Of course, this prophecy came true.
If you pressed Jesus, in a private moment, I suspect that he would agree that pouring a bunch of expensive oil on his head wasn't a very wise action. The disciples were right, it was a waste. But what is never a waste is love.
The disciples were treating this woman as an outsider, as a person who isn't doing right because she doesn't have the right teaching. She isn't orthodox enough, isn't moral enough, and doesn't follow the true precepts. But whether her actions were wise or not, they were representations of true love, of true devotion. And Jesus will never despise true devotion. No one was actually harmed by her act. Perhaps another form of devotion would have been better. But Jesus loved her heart, nonetheless.
This is hope for us. Because many of our acts of devotion are sloppy, or simply wrong-headed. But Jesus isn't looking at the rightness of the action, but the pure love of the heart. If Jesus gives us a break, perhaps we should give others a break as well.
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