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Matthew 26.10, 11 (NIV)
Jesus said to them, “Why
are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor
you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.”
[Read Matthew 26.6-13 for the whole story.]
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| It is a great trouble to good people to have their good works censured and misconstrued.* |
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Perhaps
it was common practice in the Middle East to pour perfume over the heads of
one’s guests since no one complained about the woman’s interruption of their
little get-together. The disciples’ only concern was for how wasteful she was
being. Whose oil was it anyway? They
didn’t accuse the woman of stealing it so it must have been hers to squander as
she pleased. As someone has observed, they would rather embarrass her and make an example of her than to
allow her to honor her Savior.*
When
Jesus said that the poor would always be with them, he was perhaps chastising his
disciples for not doing enough for the poor. Jesus knew just how concerned the
grumblers were for the poor – which is to say, probably not very much. If the
poor are always going to be among us, then the opportunity to help the poor
will always be there also. Other types of opportunities present themselves less
frequently – and lavishing Jesus with special attention is one of those rare
occasions.
Many
of us get caught up in taking care of urgent matters and neglect those that are
important. Even if the hearts of Jesus’ followers had been in the right place
regarding the poor, their focus was not where it should have been that day – on
Jesus.
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| ‘Tis wiser to err on the side of generosity than on the side of scrutiny.* |
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