Reason for the Season

Matthew 26:6-9: And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.

Jesus was in a safe house awaiting His trial and execution. It had to be on Passover, and He could not allow Satan the attempt to ruin the appointed plan. The scene in this paragraph is an event that is found in other Gospels, and many details are added in Mark and John. John 12:3 identifies the woman as Mary of Bethany. That would be the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Her devotion to the Lord was of the highest that could be found in Scripture. She knew exactly who Jesus was, and worshipped Him as God.

The alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil is noted, but Mark 14 adds that Mary broke the alabaster flask. Alabaster came from Egypt and would itself have been a very expensive item. Mark 14:5 adds that the value was more than three hundred denarii. While we do not have an exact equivalency with our inflated currency today in the United States, the New Testament does say that a denarius was a normal wage for a day-laborer. In other words, the bare minimum to live on for a day was a denarius, and thus more than 300 might be a way of saying that this was almost a year's wages for a common laborer. Mary considered this moment so important to her own life that she gave an enormous sum of money.

The disciples, not seeing the significance of Mary's act, say that this ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Here we have the future leaders of the church clueless like so many in the church today are regarding where resources should be allocated. They were basically saying that the work of Jesus Christ was of no monetary value, and thus social concerns should be addressed with any donated resources. Until the Great Depression, the poor depended on the generosity of churches to meet their needs. The government then stepped in, and have continued that role. This passage is not teaching that it is wrong to care about the needs of society.

What is being taught is that the priority goes to the Lord's work. I have had several young people in church forced (they did not volunteer) by their schools to participate in "walks" to raise money for causes like AIDS research, SAY NO TO DRUGS, and the most recently Arthritis. Is it wrong to donate to those causes or to walk for those causes? No. Is it wrong to take your tithe or time away from the worship of the Lord to support those causes. This passage says "YES." All of those walks were on Sunday, and the impression was given to the young people to all that here is a way to put value in this day (especially when the school intimidates them with a grade reduction or removal from their school club if they fail to attend the walk). The disciples also did not believe time or money should be wasted on Jesus when there were other causes. Look at what has been done with Christmas--people giving gifts to each other but nothing for the One who is the Reason for the Season.