Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head. The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” Matthew 26:6-13
There are
two distinct attendees to the party that stand out as the showcase of the Gospel’s
message, love and evil. Let’s get a look
at both.
Love is the
first guest, and it expresses in worship the gratitude which is natural for
saved people. Note the players, Simon (a
leper who was healed by Jesus), and Mary, perhaps a former prostitute whom
Jesus publicly rescued from those who would stone her.
The woman
anoints Jesus, having believed His prediction about the cross. It is as much an act of faith as honor. She gave an extravagant offering of her most
prized possession. In today's currency she
dumped $40,000 worth of perfume on Jesus' head!
What kind of Savior can prompt that kind of expression of love? When you consider where Mary and Simon had
been, and the life they'd been given from Jesus, it's not hard to understand.
Love
prostrates in worship while...
Evil Presumes
We notice
that Caiaphas was concerned about "the people" (26.5). He was really condescending. He knew that he knew better than anyone. He had an elitist attitude. Elitist attitudes are ugly; they’re obscene
when they show-up in the church.
You hear
some pretty strange and arrogant words coming out of elitist mouths:
· I can teach that class better!
· The church doesn't have to know about this, THEY
wouldn't understand.
· So what if the Bible doesn't exactly say so, we
want it this way.
The
presumption of evil is that it knows better than God.
John’s
Gospel[1] says that
it was Judas who made the objection over Mary’s wasteful extravagance. It's easy to bash old Judas; his name was
like Hitler. You could say anything about
him, and it wouldn't be bad enough. But Matthew,
the streetwise tax collector, includes all the
disciples. Why the discrepancy? Matthew KNEW!
It may have been Judas to SAY the words...but Matthew knew they were all
thinking the same thing.
Remember the
depravity of human nature. We all have
evil and are capable of being Judas. And
the darker the evil gets around us, the more saved people can look with
amazement, and think, MY GOD - THAT COULD BE ME!
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
Title image By
James Tissot, Public Domain, via WikimediaCommons
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For another post on Mary anointing Jesus, see: When the Fragrance Remains
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