3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
I am sure we all have heard under the auspice of entertainment news how celebrities lavish exorbitantly expensive presents on their kids for their birthdays and holidays. Due to their possessing large quantities of resources, they can buy cars, houses, and boats for their children to enjoy. While it always seems that they are buying far too expensive things for their kids, we also seem to hear about those that criticize them in their spending. An actor buys an expensive car for a sixteen-year-old daughter, and a pundit complains about a better use for $100,000. We have no shortage of far too expensive gift givers and no absence of people to complain about their spending.
In our text from Mark, we also have a very expensive gift, and no shortage of people to complain about it. While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. A woman was so moved by Jesus’ forgiveness of her sins, that she gave him a very expensive jar of ointment poured over his head. Her gratitude at having her many sins washed away by Jesus’ grace and mercy, prompts her to pay back an attempt at an equal gift. Many sins forgiven can only be repaid by a large gift of gratitude. The forgiveness was so large due to her many sins, that only a large gift could symbolize her gratitude.
But her gift was also misunderstood and criticized. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. We have no famine when it comes to critics, who attack how others spend their money. The years wages could have helped a lot of people, was the argument and spending all of that to make Jesus smell nice was an irresponsible decision. They were not concerned with gratitude or appreciation for Jesus, they were concerned with poor economics and faithful sociology. Her profound self-offering in gratitude for Jesus’ forgiveness has been transformed into an affront to justice. She should be cancelled for such a transgression.
But while everyone else was criticizing her motivations and decisions, Jesus comes to her defense. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” The conclusion we could come to, was that Jesus was not interested in justice for the poor and their tending, which would be wrong, Jesus was. But where the emphasis lies is how Jesus accepts the self-offerings of people which are grateful for his forgiveness. Jesus is content to accept the gifts motivated by gratitude and thankfulness. She did what she could, and Jesus appreciated her thank you gift.
We are all perhaps a bit too eager to criticize how others spend their money, and the poor choices the wealthy all seem to make. But what perhaps the point of the story is not that we must force others into responsible choices, but we should look at our own self-offerings (if we have any to begin with) and test if they are truly gifts from gratitude, or some other motivation. Perhaps we don’t even give back anything to God, and perhaps we don’t give back to God proportionate to what God has given to us. No doubt we will never be able to give a gratitude gift equal to the grace given to us by God, but that is not an excuse to give little to nothing. True gratitude and thankfulness are the proper response to the free gift of God given in the covenant of Jesus Christ. What will you give back to God and is it enough?
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