Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus. (John 12:1-11, CEB)
You will always have the poor but you won’t always have me.
Does this mean we should not care for the poor? Or maybe sometimes we need to use resources for something else? Meaning that we use what we can to help those in need, and sometimes we do what we need to do to prepare ourselves?
The author of the gospel of John calls Judas a thief and maybe he was, or maybe he wasn’t and I honestly don’t think that the money being stolen impacts the story.
Mary prepared Jesus for burial. What do we do in our lives to prepare a way for Jesus?
Are we more concerned with saving resources or preparing Jesus?
We will always have those in need. Jesus is always with us.
Always love.
Loving People. Loving God.
aSacredRebel 