ointment[1], and she poured it on the Saviour's head[2] as He was at table.
Now the whole house was filled with the perfume of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot said: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence[3] and given to the poor?’' Then the other disciples also had indignation, and said: “For what purpose is this waste?” Now Judas made this remark, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and carried the purse[4], and was already possessed by the love of money which, a few days later, led him to betray his Master.
But Jesus, knowing what was going on among His disciples, exclaimed: “Why do you trouble this woman? for she hath wrought a good work[5] upon Me. For the poor you have always with you[6], but Me you have not always. For she, in pouring this ointment upon My Body, hath done it for My burial [7]. Amen,
I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her.”
COMMENTARY.
Our Lord's prophecies. He foretold, in detail, His sufferings and death. He also foretold His burial, and His resurrection on the third day.
- ↑ Precious ointment. Spikenard, a very precious and sweet-smelling ointment, which is prepared from the root of a tree which grows in India. It was the custom to keep it in boxes of alabaster, with a long, narrow neck, which was sealed at the top.
- ↑ Head. Scripture adds that she also “anointed the Feet of Jesus and wiped His Feet with her hair”. The anointing of His Feet was a mark of her especial reverence for Him.
- ↑ Three hundred pence. Nearly £ 10. The ointment would have fetched quite this sum, for according to Pliny the usual price of a pound of spikenard was 400 pence.
- ↑ The purse. The apostles had a purse in common, from which was drawn the money required to procure the necessaries of life, as well as for almsgiving. All the proceeds of the sale of their various possessions, besides the contributions from our Lord’s friends, were put into this one purse of which Judas had the charge. He, however, used to take money from it for his own use, and is there fore called “a thief”.
- ↑ A good work. And not an act of extravagance.
- ↑ Always with you. So that you can always be charitable towards them, but I shall leave you very soon.
- ↑ My burial. “To embalm Me for My burial”. After our Lord’s death Mary Magdalen sought vainly for His Body, that she might embalm it. Jesus was willing to receive now before His death this service of love which, by reason of His resurrection, could not be paid to Him in the tomb.
