Poured Out For Him
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put in it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” John 12:4-8
Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem for Passover (12:1). Bethany is on the same trade route and Jesus has joined others for a meal in His honour (12:2). Lazarus, recently raised from the dead, is among the guests (12:2) as too are Martha and Mary.
While Martha was among those serving, Mary has taken a container of very expensive nard perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet with it. This would have caused embarrassment to the guests and doubly so when Mary unbraided her hair to wipe the nard. Women always wore their hair up. Letting it down in public was thought shameful and more common among “loose” women.
With the sweet smell of the perfume filling the house, someone had to break the silence. ‘But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”’ The perfume really was expensive. A Roman pound’s worth (326 grams), would take an average worker 300 days to earn an equivalent amount of money. The NIV has paraphrased the more literal ‘worth 300 denarii’ (where a denarii was a normal days wage) into ‘worth a year’s wages.’
It’s true that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Bethany, where the recorded events happened, literally means ‘house of the poor.’ Often elderly Jews moved to Bethany to die as near to Jerusalem as they could afford. The town was a kind of hospice.
But what happened to the perfume was not Judas’ decision. Not only did it belong to Mary, and so it was up to her how it was used, but Judas’ motives were very wrong. ‘He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put in it.’ Judas carried the money bag for Jesus and the disciples. Taking from it had become a common failing. The value of the perfume would almost certainly have been considerably more than Jesus had ever been given over the three years up until now. Pilfering from such a large amount would have been easy.
Jesus responds by challenging Judas, “Leave her alone … It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” If it is still six days before Passover (12:1) then it is Saturday night. In another seven days, Jesus’ body will lie in the cool and silence of a tomb in a Jerusalem garden. When Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea anointed Jesus’ body for burial after the crucifixion (19:38-42), Mary would know her act of worship preceded and foreshadowed theirs.
“You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” ‘You’ is plural so Jesus is talking to everyone. Acts of worship and acts of compassion are not mutually exclusive. While there would be no shortage of opportunity to help the poor, the opportunity for an act of worship like they had just seen was very short. They would not always ‘have’ Him in their midst as they did this night.
Does extravagant worship embarrass you? It didn’t embarrass Jesus and in heaven you will live in the pure atmosphere of extravagant worship. Learn to pour out your life before Jesus in the here and now because in the next life this will be your greatest privilege and highest pleasure. You won’t be embarrassed then.
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