90 - Life of Jesus
Week Twelve - “Celebration, Preparation, and Association”
Mark 14:3-9, Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:1-11
Who are you associated with, and why does it matter?
Context: Lazarus has been raised from the dead, a few weeks have passed, and Matthew tells us Jesus has wrapped up his teaching ministry and is heading to Jerusalem. It’s pretty clear at this point that his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion are imminent…at least to some.
6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 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.
8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” —Matthew 26:6-13
John 12
John tells us this woman was Mary, and that Martha and Lazarus were also at this dinner. The expensive perfume was pure nard that “filled the house” with the fragrance. And it was Judas specifically who objected to the expense and the money not being used for the poor…
- Several things happening here:
- When people held dinners, they would put out a basin for people to wash their feet as they arrived. Often, they would put a small amount of perfume in the water to help with smell, but it was a very small amount because Torah law made it illegal to be wasteful or extravagant with regard to
- However, the other thing happening here, is that there are at least a handful of people in the room, probably more, who know that Jesus is not going to be around much longer. People are actively plotting his death, and the disciples know he walked himself into it when he came back to Bethany of Lazarus. And so, Mary begins the process of
- While there is this disagreement over whether the perfume should have been used, it’s a question of whether this perfume is about celebration or preparation; but even more so it’s about
- When people held dinners, they would put out a basin for people to wash their feet as they arrived. Often, they would put a small amount of perfume in the water to help with smell, but it was a very small amount because Torah law made it illegal to be wasteful or extravagant with regard to
Jesus is finished teaching, now He needs to know who’s committing.
Questions the disciples are asking?
-Will we be kicked out of the Temple for ignoring Torah law and become social outcasts? (celebration)
-Will the people who want to kill Jesus also want to kill us? (preparation)
-Will we bet it all on Jesus and keep watch until the end? (association)