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Matthew 26:6-13
Jesus Anointed at Bethany Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” |
The woman in this passage was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
It was seen as great respect to have ointment poured on your head. We can see this in the Old Testament with David: ‘You anoint my head with oil, my cup runneth over’. (Psalm 23:5)
This is an act of kindness, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and an act of love and respect. Mary was recognising Jesus as her king, and was demonstrating her final act of devotion to Him before He died.
However, the disciples took offence at what they saw as waste. But Jesus said ‘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’.
Some think that women better understood Christ’s frequent predictions of His death and sufferings than the apostles did; for the women were recompensed with the honour of being the first witnesses of His resurrection.
The memory and faith of this woman have been preserved, and over 2000 years later we are still reading and hearing this story being told. It is a reminder to us to ‘not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.’ (Hebrews 6:12).
During these challenging times, we must not give up but continue to have faith in our God who is still in complete control of everything. The King whose head was washed with ointment all those years ago is the same King who is here with us today and every day, giving us all that we need for each day.
Andrew and Karen S