Matthew 26:6-13: a reflection

6Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. 8But when his disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” 10However, knowing this, Jesus said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a good work for me. 11For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me. 12For in pouring this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”

In the house of Simon the leper, a woman comes to Jesus with a jar of costly ointment and pours it over his head. The disciples are indignant. Why this waste, they ask; it could have been sold and given to the poor. Their objection sounds reasonable, even charitable. But Jesus does not see waste. He sees a beautiful thing done for him.

She has done a good work for me, Jesus says. He honors the extravagance rather than scolding it, because he understands what the disciples miss: she is anointing his body in advance for burial. Her love has read the hour rightly. And he gives her a remarkable promise, that wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.

There is a kind of love that calculates, always asking whether a gift is efficient, and there is a kind that simply pours itself out. Jesus welcomes the second. Do not let a cramped, cost-counting spirit talk you out of lavish devotion to him. Some things given to Christ will look like waste to onlookers and be precious to him. Pour out your love without stinting, and let him be the judge of its worth.

Lord Jesus, you received a costly gift that others called waste and treasured it as a beautiful thing. Free me from a cramped, calculating love. Teach me to pour myself out for you without counting the cost, trusting that what is given to you in devotion is never truly wasted. Let my life be an offering poured at your feet. Amen.