It's
occurred to me for the first time, in preparing Sunday School on
Matthew 26, that Jesus' response is not so much one of principle but of
pastoral care. Judas says, "you could have taken all that money this
woman wasted on perfume for you, and given it to the poor." Jesus'
response is "the poor will be with you always, but I will not be. She
has anointed me with oil as for my burial." The anointing was an act of
love - possibly misguided, possibly OTT and a bit embarrassing for
Jesus, possibly not the most effective use of 300 denarii. But it was
an act of love, and standing there vulnerable in front of her Lord, the
woman needed that love acknowledged. Judas is practical, and he may be
right in that Christians should care more about the poor than about how
expensive our worship materials are. But that woman needed Jesus to
publicly recognize that her intention - love - was what mattered to him.
And he did.
No comments:
Post a Comment