“She did what she could”

Mark 14

 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly. "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Mark 14)

This story, or a variation of it, can be found in all four of the Gospels that you can read in your day. (also Matthew 26, Luke 7 and John 12).

I will let you decide if this happened only once or if it was repeated. You can also decide on the identity of the woman. Was she a “sinner” or an unnamed woman, or possibly Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus? You can also decide on the location of this event. The accounts that you can read don’t seem to agree.

What I want you to learn goes way beyond those superficial questions. You see, there is a deeper meaning to what happened, a meaning that I have reflected on for years.

Yes, the event you can read about happened years ago. I was young when I witnessed this, and now, in my later years, I can tell you that, for me, many things have come together about the life and teachings of Jesus. Yes, even though my eyesight is failing, I can see things in the past that I never before noticed. If you are old like me, I hope you also can see more clearly now in your senior years.

You see, now, I’m so focused, not on where it happened or on the identity of the woman, but instead, I’m concerned with what Jesus said about her. Yes, you know that His words about her did come true. This story has, in fact, been told throughout the centuries, as Jesus said, “in memory of her.”

But what speaks to me so clearly are His other words: “she did what she could.”

Anointing Jesus

Greek Orthodox

Without question, her act was one of extravagant love. To the surprise of most of us, Jesus called it “a beautiful thing.” And it wasn’t just the expense that she incurred. Jesus did not merely say, “she spent what she could.”

No, it was what she did, including the way that she gave the gift to Jesus. You must agree that she anointed Jesus in the most intimate way imaginable: a way, you should know, that deviated from all of the social norms of our day. In fact, in another recounting, she also anointed His feet and wiped them with her hair.

Her act was, to some of us who were present, shocking, and it resulted in their rebuke of her and their rejection of Jesus. Both Jesus and the woman were criticized doubly, for both the cost and also for the manner in which she touched Him.

In their eyes, the money was wasted and her act of anointing was not something a woman would do to a man. Yet, surprisingly to those of us who witnessed it, Jesus seemed to love it and He defended her act to us all. And also to you.

Perhaps she was rich and could afford such extravagance. You will need to ponder that. I was reminded of the old woman who, just a week or so before, shamed the rich donors with her two-penny gift to the treasury at Jerusalem’s temple (Mark 12). That was another act of extravagance and Jesus made sure that we did not miss it. In His way of thinking, the old woman’s act was the most generous gift of all.

Jesus’ remark about His burial seemed to slip past us without much notice. I’m sure that the woman had no idea that she was preparing His body for burial.

And frankly, the rest of us were too shocked (and some too outraged) by the woman’s act to consider what Jesus was actually saying. To Him, this was not just a gift, not just an act of friendship or even love. It was much, much more, a solemn act, perhaps even a ritual act, and an important part of the preparation for what awaited Him in Jerusalem.

You will surely remember that what awaited Jesus was not only a brutal crucifixion, but worse, in His death, Jesus was called to carry the weight of the sins of the world, with all of its evil focused on the life of this one man. So perhaps you can better understand why Jesus was so grateful for her loving act of preparing His body for burial.

We totally missed the importance of that fact. I hope you did not.

“She did what she could.”

Could she have done more? Perhaps, but Jesus did not claim that she could, or that He expected more. He seemed to understand, maybe more than any of us, that we are all called to do what we can. What she did was an unqualified act of love and so was His appreciation of it. That’s all that mattered to Him. Jesus doesn’t call us to be perfect, to do anything beyond our capacity. He calls us to do what we can. And when we do, His appreciation is also without qualification.

Maybe one of my faults is that I think too much. And judge too much. Yes, I was one of the witnesses who quickly concluded that she was wrong to spend so much and especially wrong to anoint Jesus as she did. That’s why the response of Jesus was such a surprise. Along with the others, I was sure that He would reject her act of love. I was sure that He would judge her, just as I did. I had forgotten the words of Jesus, that He did not come to judge the world, but instead, to save it.

As a result of my judging, I totally missed the significance and the beauty of this act of hers. And I missed the gracious way that Jesus accepted her gift. Most of all, I missed the importance of this act as Jesus looked ahead to His crucifixion. I think down deep, He really needed the affirmation that He received from her. Perhaps that’s why He thought it so important that her act would always be remembered.

Of course, the most extravagant act of love that I have ever experienced was to witness the act of Jesus Himself. He gave the most costly gift imaginable, and He did so, like the woman, in the most personal way possible, giving His very life. No one can ever match the extravagance of that gift.

But we can appreciate His gift, can’t we, just as He did for her. Yes, we can do what we can, not only to thank Jesus, but also to find our own ways to make sure that His gift, like hers, will always be remembered.

The gift of Jesus was the greatest gift ever given.

Have you thought about it? I have. And I continue to consider what I can do. Yes, what can I do to appreciate the gift of Jesus? Doing “what I can” seems like a lot. Why? Because my gratitude could never match the enormity of the gift of Jesus. Yet, I know that I must try, must be willing to spend a lot, must be willing to touch those whom Jesus told me to touch. As He said, when we touch “the least of these,” we touch Him. (Matthew 25)

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3)