Mark 14:3-9
Jesus
Anointed with Perfume
14:3
While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the
leper, and reclining at the table, there came a
woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume
of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it
over His head.
4 But some were
indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this
perfume been wasted?
5 "For this perfume might
have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and
the money given to the poor." And they were
scolding her.
6 But Jesus said, "Let her
alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good
deed to Me.
7 "For you always have the
poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do
good to them; but you do not always have Me.
8 "She has done what she
could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the
burial.
9 "Truly I say to you,
wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world,
what this woman has done will also be spoken of in
memory of her."
-
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to
change the way that we think, and the way that
we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
The Woman and the
Perfume
Two initial lessons in this
Scripture reading. Number one, is about the want
for power and possessions and the second is to look
at how we should regard Christ.
Who are Those
Guys?
First, who are they?
"some were indignantly remarking to one another".
Mark does not mention this but John states it was
Judas who made the remark about wasting the perfume
- selling it to take care of the poor.
Greed
Judas was a greedy man, the
treasurer of the ministry who had embezzled part of
the funds for his own use. So, naturally he would
want that "perfume money" to be added to the
treasury.
Motives
When making statements, let's
be careful of our true motive. If we do something
to help another person, the poor for example, do it
for that reason only. Too many times we allow
ourselves to be motivated by greed or other
personal gains when "doing the right
thing".
Was Jesus against the
Poor?
Jesus mentioned that there
would always be poor people which could be
misconstrued as His not caring about them. After
all, He was having expensive perfume poured out
onto His head.
Truth is, Jesus loved poor
people just as He did the wealthy (and all other
sinners) and was not saying they should not be
taken care of. Not at all. He praised Mary for her
giving of something very valuable to her without
regard to herself.
To Love
Christ
Loving Jesus and being a
Christian means we should be willing to give up our
immediate need for wealth, power and welfare if
needed as an act of worship.
Difficult? Yes - but, before
answering ask what Jesus gave up for us.
-
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Verses about the woman anointing Jesus with
perfume are from New American Standard Bible
- Lesson from Life Application Study Bible: New
International Version
More Lessons from
Mark
Mark
12:41-44 - The Widow and Two Coins
(Mites)
Mark
13:1-23
- Jesus
Tells about the Future and End of
Time
Mark
13:24-31
- Jesus
Tells about His
Return
Mark
14:1-2 -
Religious
Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus
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