[Matthew 26:1-16]
1When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2“As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. 5“But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
14Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
[John 12:1-8]
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[b]” 6He 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 into it.
7“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
1. This woman, Mary in John’s story, poured an extremely expensive (One year’s wages – Today that would be an expensive bottle of perfume) perfume on Jesus’ feet as an act of worship. The value of the perfume was so obvious that everyone noticed it and even spoke up about it. Why do you think Jesus reprimanded his disciples/Judas?
2. In John’s story, John specifically names Judas as the one who speaks up about this “waste”. The Bible then says that he objected to Mary’s act because he was a thief, not because he was concerned for the poor. The moral is that God can see what no one else can. It’s possible that no one sitting around that table knew Judas’ heart. But that doesn’t matter, God did. It’s important that we check our motives. If we do things for the wrong reasons, God will not honor us for it. When you serve, do you do it for your reputation, or do you do it out of love and obedience? When you pray, do you do it so others think you’re super spiritual, or because you desire to meet with the Lover of your soul (see Matthew 6:5-18)?
3. Many have probably compared and contrasted Mary and Judas (Seriously, just Google what I wrote and you’ll get a pretty good number of responses. I can’t remember where I ran across this idea first though, so I’m not taking credit!). We have Mary who is free to give a years worth of wages up for one act of worship, and Judas who deceitfully tries to rebuke her. Who are you more like? Although Judas was a disciple, one of the twelve, he was still able to fall so hard. It is important that we stay close to Jesus, in all we do (word, thought or deed!). How can you stay close to him? Ask yourself
– When was the last time you read God’s Word and studied it?
– When was the last time you prayed for the sake of just talking with God?
– When was the last time you saw someone saved because of God’s work through you?