While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Jesus had just been teaching that at the final judgment part of the criteria He will use in separating the sheep from the goats (those who actually know Him from those who do not), is based in how we have treated the poor and the hurting. It makes sense, then, that the disciples would object to this waste of money. The expensive perfume that was poured out on Jesus' head could have, in fact, been sold and the money used to help the poor. The disciples were not mistaken in their assessment, except for one detail.
Even at this point when the disciples had walked with Jesus for 3 years and heard Jesus teach and knew more about Jesus than any other people possibly could have, they still did not understand who Jesus was. And they would not (could not) fully know Jesus until after His death and resurrection. I'm not blaming the disciple here, just pointing out the obvious. They knew all about Jesus, but they did not know Jesus.
The woman in this story intuitively understood something that the disciples at this time only understood in theory: Jesus was and is worthy of our worship. If they had really grasped who Jesus was, they would have known that the glory of who Jesus is and the majesty of why He was among us trumps everything. If they really knew Jesus, they would have understood that even our treatment of the "least of these" (the poor and hurting and marginalized of society) must flow out of our love for Christ -we love because He loves us; we treat others with respect and dignity because He treats us with respect and dignity; we forgive because He forgives us.
Lord Jesus, teach me to love You more. Help me to know You more. Let my love for You overflow into the lives of others who need to know You too.
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