Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as 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.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Mark 14:1-10 NIV
Catch the irony in this story?
First a complaint about what a waste the gift of perfume was - it could have been used to help the poor . . . and then a treachorous act is sold.
We humans are a funny lot - we can justify anything we do for money or not . . .
We also cry foul and point to the poor, the hungry, and the homeless . . .
Perhaps we need to pour a bit more valuable perfume on the One we claim to love the most.
I wonder if we loved God with all our heart, mind, and soul . . . what might happen to the poor? What might our money 'buy' then . . .
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