1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”
Comment: Jesus has been teaching and challenging the leaders and people of Judea to think about Who He was (and is). The mass of the chief priests and scribes rejected Him. I don’t know if they seriously listened to what He was saying but their response was that they had to be rid of Him. The method was to be secret murder – secret unless the people among whom Jesus had become popular became an opposing force. Many people greatly respected and appreciated Jesus and some even were persuaded that He was the promised Messiah. Any opposition to their plan was to be avoided at this time because of the importance of the Passover and their standing with the Romans, which would be messed up if there was an uproar! There was a mixture of (pseudo-)religious and political reasons for their delay in committing murder!
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Comment: Who was Simon the leper? Many guess but no one knows exactly so let us just accept him as real. As he was living in the community, his leprosy must have been cured – perhaps by Jesus! We are told that ‘A woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard‘. Does this mean that she was not a part of Simon’s family but lived close by? Was she the Mary, the sister, of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead? That happened in Bethany and that would have given her a great cause to be very thankful to Jesus. Does it really matter who she was? Jesus accepts people who are not known as well as ‘famous’ people. Here we see some people (led by whom?) kicking up a fuss at the waste of such an extravagant spice on Jesus, and sought for her to be criticized and maybe even put out of the room! Jesus, approaching His death places great status and praise and thanks on her head. Two thousand years later, today, we are considering her action and Jesus’ words to her.
Proverbs 14: 31 - Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Prayer: Thank You Jesus for the way that You treated this lady. Help me to be Your true follower.
As I read it! 