The Woman with a jar of perfume: extravagance versus prudence

Mark14: 3-11

While Jesus 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.

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.

“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.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

We have seen this week that Jesus often confounds our expectations of what good behaviour might be. The Christian virtues, such as patience and kindness, sound such small, simple things, but can actually be hugely challenging and require strength, conviction and determination. They are values which will often feel counter-intuitive.....how often do we find it easy to be meek at work, or gentle when we feel frustrated? How much do we really believe that these things are virtues in our modern world?

Today's character is not named. Here in Mark's gospel she is completely anonymous and Luke only tells us that in that town, she had a reputation as a sinful woman- probably a polite way of saying she was a prostitute. But Jesus sees her, and recognises in her actions a glimpse of what character should be about- it should show us what God is like, remind us of our calling to be the image of our Creator, restore us to the people we were created to be. Virtues should enlarge us, free us, expand us, challenge us and glorify us......quite a different picture from those who see virtues as restrictive. This is the tension we see played out in the reactions to this woman's extravagance. It unsettled some, embarrassed them and their response was angry and defensive. What she had done was challenging to their vision of what a flourishing human life could look like- as the fragrance of the perfume spread through the room, did they catch an aroma of holiness, of beauty, of all the possibilities that following Christ offered? 

This weekend, may we make space for God to surprise us with beauty, extravagance, joy and misunderstandings.....may He give us opportunities to rethink what we have always assumed and be prepared to discover what matters to Him.