Mark 14:1-11, CEB - It was two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and legal experts through cunning tricks were searching for a way to arrest Jesus and kill him. But they agreed that it shouldn’t happen during the festival; otherwise, there would be an uproar among the people.
Jesus was at Bethany visiting the house of Simon, who had
a skin disease. During dinner, a woman came in with a vase made of alabaster
and containing very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke open the vase and
poured the perfume on his head. Some
grew angry. They said to each other, “Why waste the perfume? This perfume could have been sold for almost a
year’s pay and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you make trouble for
her? She has done a good thing for me. You always have the poor with you; and
whenever you want, you can do something good for them. But you won’t always
have me. She has done what she could.
She has anointed my body ahead of time for burial. I tell you the truth that, wherever in the
whole world the good news is announced, what she’s done will also be told in
memory of her.”
Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief
priests to give Jesus up to them. When
they heard it, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So he
started looking for an opportunity to turn him in.
There
is an awful lot to say about this passage, so I will try to economical in my highlights.
First, The passage begins and ends with the
conspiracy to stop Jesus permanently. In
the beginning, it is the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus’s known opponents
since His ministry started three years ago. At the end, they gain the help of one of Jesus’s
closest friends. The implication here is
that any of us on the continuum between friend and foe are capable of betraying
the One who would save us.
In the
middle, we have the controversial story an extremely expensive gift lavished on
Jesus. He is anointed with perfume that is worth a year’s wages. Most Christians have heard this story before
and know that Jesus defends the woman’s incredible, if not wasteful gift. But before we side too quickly with Jesus, I
invite you to hear the legitimate protest.
What is your income in a year?
Hold that figure in your mind for a moment. Have you ever given someone
a gift worth that amount of money just to show your love for them? To put this in perspective, the average
engagement ring given in America costs 4% of the annual salary of the person
who gives it. Also keep in mind that the
woman would have been able to take care of her and/or her family for a year by
selling this perfume instead of offering the gift. To say that this is an extravagant gift is an
understatement.
So why
does Jesus defend the gift. Jesus gives
us a couple of clues in His answer.
First, he highlights that it is her choice to give the gift (She has done
what SHE could). The disciples don’t get
to decide what is done with this woman’s resource; she does. Second, Jesus points out that this is a once-in-history
opportunity. The compulsion to help the
poor never ends. This moment of
uncalculated love on the woman’s part has marked a moment that will only happen
once in history – the death of God’s Son.
There are rare moments where we have an opportunity to do something beautiful
out of love that transcend conventional wisdom about counting the cost. The extravagance of the gift is not the point. The love that doesn’t care about the extravagance
is. Obviously, on almost all occasions,
supporting the poor would be a better choice than wasting expensive resources
on a fleeting gesture. We are reminded here though that we should not judge
someone whose heart is driven by only by selfless love. This woman’s gift foreshadows the unthinkable
gift that Jesus Himself is about to give her and all the rest of us.
Jesus’s
death is made even more imminent because Judas, the friend and pledged disciple
of Jesus, helps the authorities do what they could not do easily without him –
arrest Jesus discreetly so as not to attract the attention of the crowds of
people gathered for Passover. The fact
that it is Passover further intensifies the cosmic symbolism of a sacrifice
being given to save a people. Jesus will
become the forever sacrifice for all of us.
This rich and poignant story marks the beginning of Mark’s account of
that sacrifice.
Questions: Two
sacrifices are highlighted in this passage:
the sacrificial gift of the unnamed woman and the sacrifice about to be
made by Jesus. As you consider the
striking comparison between them, how does what you have offered to Jesus
compare?
Prayer: Dear God, may
our hearts be guided by Your presence within us as seek to care for those in
need and express our love to You. May we
not shy away from sacrificial giving of ourselves and our resources for Your
purposes as we respond to Your sacrificial love for us. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for the congregation where you worship as they prepare for the Lenten season.
Song: Lead Me to The
Cross – Hillsong
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