1Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Question 1
What do you think of what the woman did?
Question 2
How is her attitude different to Judas’?
Time is running out. It’s two days until Easter. Two days before Jesus faced the most horrible experience possible and sacrificed his life for us on the cross – the most precious sacrifice ever. And in this time we receive two examples of what Jesus Christ was worth in people’s eyes.
The first example is the woman who comes to him with a jar of perfume while he was eating. She takes this expensive liquid and pours it over her King, filling the room with a wonderful smell. This act showed great love and respect for Jesus and suggested that she understood in a way that Jesus was going to die for people like her. What makes the whole thing even more remarkable is that we learn that this jar of perfume costs at least as much as a year’s salary. She didn’t hesitate to do this for Jesus – she saw him as more valuable than anyone else, and she understood that he deserved the best she could offer.
How different is the attitude of others present. They can’t understand why the woman has done this instead of giving the money to the poor. They see it as a waste and a complete misuse of the money. In fact, after this incident Judas goes and betrays him. We hear elsewhere in the New Testament that Judas was responsible for looking after the disciples’ money and that he stole some of the money. All he saw in Jesus was an opportunity to make himself rich and important, in any way possible.
Care must be taken with these words. It is very important that we are responsible in handling the money God has given us and not wasting it. This was a special situation, with Jesus among them. But now that he has left the earth, it is important that we follow the woman’s example, seeking to glorify him by ensuring that we give Jesus the best we have and look after our brothers and sisters who are in need.
Question 3
Why do you think the lady behaved this way?
Question 4
Do you have something valuable? Would you be willing to sacrifice it for Jesus if necessary?
Pray
for freedom to be generous with all your possessions, glorifying God and caring for people in need.
