BY STEVE DUNN
Reading: Mark 14.1-11
"She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial."
Jesus' appointment with Golgotha is now two days way. He knows that his journey will require him to go to the Cross. The disciples are still choosing to downplay his comments about his death. Together they go to home of Simon the Leper to enjoy a pleasant meal and a respite from the intensity of those two days in the Temple.
During the meal a woman (which we are told elsewhere is Mary, the sister of Lazarus) comes with an alabaster jar filled with incredibly expense perfume. She breaks the jar and pours the perfume on his head. Imagine its pungent aroma permeating the room as the perfume runs down over his face through his beard.
The disciples, especially, are upset. It is too extravagant a thing to do. They could have taken the money and fed the poor, thereby increasing Jesus' standing among the people. Yet Jesus defends her. "She understands," says Jesus. She recognizes the road I must take, the death to which it will lead, and the grace that it comes from. She has chosen to prepare me for that."
It is an extravagance that begins to approach the even greater extravagance of an unconditional love that will die for our sins. When was the last time you were extravagant in the service of Jesus?
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