Mat 26:7-10 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord Jesus is in Bethany for the last time, a place of rest and peace for Him. That is where His friends live and where He is welcome. What a blessing it is to be such a house where the Savior, while death draws ever closer – and what a death! – can have a last stopover before He surrenders Himself to allow these things to happen to Him. Simon, into whose house He comes, is no longer a leper. Yet he is still so called to remember who he used to be and what the Lord has done to him. Rachab the harlot ( ) is also spoken of in this way, who she once was, and of Ruth the Moabitess ( ), the people to whom she once belonged. In this house God has a loving consolation for the heart of His Son before He suffers. There is a woman who comes to Him and pours very costly perfume on His head. It is more balm for His heart than for His body. In this deed she expresses the appreciation of what her heart understands of His preciousness and grace. This woman had a need to show the Savior her admiration. The “very costly perfume” expresses this. She feels this is also the right moment to do this. In this deed lies all the worship of her heart for her Lord of Whom she understands that He will soon die. While the religious world outside calls for His blood, she comes inside to honor Him. She has saved a long time for this very costly perfume. She has been occupied with this for a long time. True worship is the result of being occupied with the Lord Jesus and His death on the cross and what He has accomplished as a result. The disciples do not understand her. They even reproach her and call her act of love to the Savior a “waste”. They address her and want her to account for what they consider to be the irresponsible use of her money. The testimony of affection and devotion to Christ brings the self-interest and heartlessness of others to light. Judas’ heart is the source of the evil, but the other disciples fall into the snare because they are not occupied with Christ. It provides sad evidence that knowledge of Christ does not automatically arouse the feelings of affection in our hearts that go with it. They also tell her that they knew of a better destination for the perfume. It could have helped many poor people. Helping the poor is indeed a good thing. But it is not a good deed to give something intended for the Lord Jesus a different purpose. That will always be a lower destination, while He is thereby dishonored. We can also have this wrong way of thinking. For example, we may think that the time we spend studying God’s Word is lost time, for we would be better off bringing the gospel to other people or helping others to get on better with their neighbors or the environment. The Lord knows how they are talking among themselves about the act of the woman, of whom we know from another Gospel that it is Mary. He protects her and justifies her act. It is both an approval and an acknowledgement. The disciples bothered her, but He called the deed she had done to Him “a good deed”. How great the difference in assessment of the deed is by the disciples and by the Lord. The Lord does not say that it would not be good to help the poor, but that everything has an appointed time. The woman who anointed Him had not been informed of the circumstances that would come, nor is she a prophetess. But she feels the approach of the hour of darkness because her heart is directed toward Him. The perfection of Christ that arouses deadly enmity in the leaders arouses fervent love in the women. The true character of every person is placed in full light by Him. For the Lord, the woman’s deed is not only meaningful for the moment she does it. He gives the deed a far-reaching significance. The anointing has happened in view of His burial. This significance is always attached to it in all future preaching of the gospel. The meaning is worship. The purpose of the gospel is that people become worshippers of the Father. In this way, the woman will be remembered in all ages. She is the example of worship.

‏ Matthew 26:7-10

Anointing in Bethany

The Lord Jesus is in Bethany for the last time, a place of rest and peace for Him. That is where His friends live and where He is welcome. What a blessing it is to be such a house where the Savior, while death draws ever closer – and what a death! – can have a last stopover before He surrenders Himself to allow these things to happen to Him.

Simon, into whose house He comes, is no longer a leper. Yet he is still so called to remember who he used to be and what the Lord has done to him. Rachab the harlot (Jam 2:25) is also spoken of in this way, who she once was, and of Ruth the Moabitess (Rth 4:5 ; 10), the people to whom she once belonged.

In this house God has a loving consolation for the heart of His Son before He suffers. There is a woman who comes to Him and pours very costly perfume on His head. It is more balm for His heart than for His body. In this deed she expresses the appreciation of what her heart understands of His preciousness and grace.

This woman had a need to show the Savior her admiration. The “very costly perfume” expresses this. She feels this is also the right moment to do this. In this deed lies all the worship of her heart for her Lord of Whom she understands that He will soon die. While the religious world outside calls for His blood, she comes inside to honor Him.

She has saved a long time for this very costly perfume. She has been occupied with this for a long time. True worship is the result of being occupied with the Lord Jesus and His death on the cross and what He has accomplished as a result.

The disciples do not understand her. They even reproach her and call her act of love to the Savior a “waste”. They address her and want her to account for what they consider to be the irresponsible use of her money. The testimony of affection and devotion to Christ brings the self-interest and heartlessness of others to light. Judas’ heart is the source of the evil, but the other disciples fall into the snare because they are not occupied with Christ. It provides sad evidence that knowledge of Christ does not automatically arouse the feelings of affection in our hearts that go with it.

They also tell her that they knew of a better destination for the perfume. It could have helped many poor people. Helping the poor is indeed a good thing. But it is not a good deed to give something intended for the Lord Jesus a different purpose. That will always be a lower destination, while He is thereby dishonored.

We can also have this wrong way of thinking. For example, we may think that the time we spend studying God’s Word is lost time, for we would be better off bringing the gospel to other people or helping others to get on better with their neighbors or the environment.

The Lord knows how they are talking among themselves about the act of the woman, of whom we know from another Gospel that it is Mary. He protects her and justifies her act. It is both an approval and an acknowledgement. The disciples bothered her, but He called the deed she had done to Him “a good deed”. How great the difference in assessment of the deed is by the disciples and by the Lord. The Lord does not say that it would not be good to help the poor, but that everything has an appointed time.

The woman who anointed Him had not been informed of the circumstances that would come, nor is she a prophetess. But she feels the approach of the hour of darkness because her heart is directed toward Him. The perfection of Christ that arouses deadly enmity in the leaders arouses fervent love in the women. The true character of every person is placed in full light by Him.

For the Lord, the woman’s deed is not only meaningful for the moment she does it. He gives the deed a far-reaching significance. The anointing has happened in view of His burial. This significance is always attached to it in all future preaching of the gospel. The meaning is worship. The purpose of the gospel is that people become worshippers of the Father. In this way, the woman will be remembered in all ages. She is the example of worship.