Matthew 26:6-13

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Our devotion today is taken from Matthew chapter 26, beginning with verse six.

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of 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.”

Another gospel tells us that was Judas.

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. 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)

Sometimes there are stories like this that really contrast to individuals and how they relate to God. We can see that very prominently here with Mary and then with Judas. Someone once said, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow it casts. The irony is that in this act of love by Mary, it causes Judas on the other side of things to think about his greed and his love for money. And Judas tries to hide that under his comment when he feels and says that this could have been used to help give a gift to the poor. And that’s sometimes how we can be too. Sometimes we can sort of mask or disguise an evil thought or a selfish thought in a way that by saying something that maybe sounds really nice on the surface, but really down inside of us, God is able to see what’s going on in our heart.

Now let’s go back to this Mary. So Mary’s great love for Jesus is what causes her to bring this very expensive gift to him. And her humble faith recognizes the importance of what’s coming up in his life, the great sacrifice he’s going to have to make on the cross. And we know from the rest of Scripture that Mary sat attentively at Jesus feet, listening to him, and she had such devotion to him. And she knows that there’s no dollar amount that can repay God for the wonderful gift of his sacrifice that will pay for all of her sins, as it does for all of us too.

She has an awareness of the gravity of what’s going on in this very week when Jesus will die on the cross. And you don’t get that sense from Jesus disciples, however.

Anointing was a very special thing. It was often a way of really selecting and identifying someone. We see it often in the Old Testament. It was used at the consecration of prophets and priests and kings, and these were all offices that Jesus would come to fulfill. And Mary now consecrated the very human body of Christ in this unique way by pouring this ointment on him, highlighting that it’s this very body of the Son of God that will be used to pay for our entrance into heaven.

And so it is certainly the Holy Spirit that chooses to highlight her gift and to highlight what she has done. And he says, Jesus says, that this gospel, wherever the gospel is preached in the world, the story will be told. And just us hearing it again today is a fulfillment of that great prophecy as a memorial to her.

The world may mock us sometimes for our devotion and our love for Jesus our Savior. But heaven is always there to praise such devotion. The same Savior says to you and me, he who confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my father in heaven. Amen.