IN our last study we saw the evil thinking of the Pharisees and the leaders of the Jews. In these verses we are shown the wrong thinking, and judgementalism, which followed from wrong thinking. These wrong thinkers were not evil like the Pharisees, but even though they were disciples of Jesus, yet still they needed correction in their thinking and in their thoughts.

Jesus was visiting in the house of a person described as Simon the Leper. With Jesus was some of his disciples. During this visit a woman came in and anointed the head of Jesus with some very expensive perfume. Her act was prodigal in its execution. She did not just use some of this expensive perfume, but used the whole jar of it. We know the perfume was very expensive from the criticism of the disciples, so we can see that the woman's action was costly. She spared no expense to honour and show her love for Jesus.

The disciples expressed very genuine human wisdom. They felt what perhaps we would have felt, that the woman was wasteful. The ointment could have been sold and given in aid to many poor people who were very much in need of the basics of life. The disciples plainly were uninhibited in judging this woman for what they felt was so wrong.

The reaction of Jesus was so different to the disciples, and somewhat unexpected. He rebuked the disciples for their judgement of this woman. He praised and commended what she had done. He also said that what this woman had done would be perpetually remembered, as it has been in the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus also said that the woman was anointing him for his burial, and so giving him honour in his death.

What can we learn from this incident? The first and foremost lesson must be that we cannot ever love Jesus, and honour Jesus, too much. In his death Jesus has done an infinitely costly thing for us, which is an expression of love greater than any human love can reach. In the light of this how can we honour Jesus too much. This woman gave all she had, and gave it from her heart. It expressed how much she felt indebted to Jesus for his love for her.

The question must be raised in our minds of how much we love Jesus? Love for Jesus, which is an expression of appreciation for his love for us, is expressed in our lives by the honour we give to Jesus, and the sacrifice we are prepared to make to honour him before others, and to live for him in a life given to him, where all we have and are we dedicate to him.

Jesus tells us here that to love and honour him even comes before caring for those in need. Here is a searching concept. We have the poor and needy always with us. We are bombarded with calls for help in aid of those in need of one kind or another. The needs of people in the world are harrowing and demanding. From this we find that giving in aid of those in need is supported by many. However, when it comes to honouring Jesus, by giving to his work, for evangelism, for Christian teaching, to the preaching of the Gospel, for the maintenance of his church, this takes a very poor second to charitable giving to the poor. Why is this? Jesus tells us here that it is more important to honour him, and to serve him in love, than even giving to the poor.

The fact is that Jesus, and giving him honour comes before anything else. If there is a decision to make between sacrifice for the poor and sacrifice for Jesus, the giving in honour of Jesus should come first. It is a sad fact that it is relatively easy to move people to give for those in need of one kind or another, but when it comes to giving to support the witness of the Gospel it is much more difficult to find people ready to give and give liberally. Yet the nourishment and health of the soul, which evangelism and teaching provides, is much more important than caring for the body. We must care for peoples bodily needs, but the soul should be our chief concern. Honouring Jesus in a sacrificial way as this woman did is achieved by us when we give ourselves to seek his glory in the world, and commend him to others as the the Saviour who has given his all to save us from eternal misery.

Jesus tells us that the woman anointed him to prepare him for his burial. This is rather and enigmatic saying, but if it tells us anything it tells us of the wonder and importance of the death of Jesus, and all that he achieved by his death, and the wonderful self-giving which caused him to be obedient to his Father in giving his life as a ransom for sinners.

No doubt the woman's expression of love and honour in pouring out the ointment on him came from a heart filled with thanksgiving for cleansing and forgiveness. She may not have understood how such forgiveness was possible, but the fact is that her forgiveness, as it is with everyone who is forgiven, was bought by the the Saviour giving his life for our sins to atone for our wrong, and satisfy God's justice on account of our sin, and do it in our place. So the woman's expression of love and thanksgiving in anointing Jesus with precious perfume was an expression of love and thanksgiving for his dying for her. Jesus' burial expressed the fact that he had died for sin once for all, and so the woman with her ointment was expressing thanks to Jesus for his death, and honouring him because he had given his life for her.