My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

The Anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13)

6And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7a 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. 8But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."

10But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

I’m trying to imagine this happening. Having someone pour fragrant oil over a man’s head is extremely foreign to me. But from what I can gather here, it was a loving act.

And Jesus was spending time with His friends. They knew they had a limited time left with Him, though it was probably hard to believe. In just two days, Jesus would be delivered up to be crucified.

They objected to the use of this costly oil when there were so many other good uses for that money. They didn’t realize that she was anointing Jesus’ body for burial. I wonder if even she realized she was anointing His body for burial. She probably just felt she was doing a loving act. But Jesus knew the true reason for the anointing, and He saw to it that the whole world knew it.

It is so hard to not be critical of things we do not understand, mostly because we think we do understand. But we never really know what God’s plans or purposes are. It may be that His plans are being carried out by the one we thought to criticize. Would I have been critical of this woman’s use of the costly oil before Jesus explained her purpose? Probably. Are there good reasons for why people do some of the things I find to criticize? Possibly.

Being critical of people and their actions is very dangerous ground. We cannot possibly understand all there is to know about them. And Jesus does not often step forward to clarify our understanding like He did here. We may be right in our criticism. But what if we are wrong? Jesus’ time with us is limited. Why waste it being critical? Let Jesus be the judge. He is the only one who knows all the details, sometimes even more so than the person who is doing the thing you thought to criticize.