Last week we read the judgment scene from Matthew’s gospel. You may remember Jesus as the king separating the sheep from the goats. The sheep went to his right side and into eternal bliss. The goats went to his left side into punishment. On the surface it seemed like the deciding factor was acts of charity. But other things were going on at a deeper level. One of those things was whether a person’s actions were driven by self-serving strategy, or whether a person’s actions were driven by authentic love.
In what we read today we get to see the contrast play out. On one side we’ll group the religious leaders and Judas. On the other side we’ll put the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus. Let’s look a little more carefully.
For the last few weeks we’ve been reading from what is called Jesus’ Judgment Discourse. He gives it probably in the middle of what we call Holy Week. Sunday Jesus had entered the city riding on a donkey. Then he went to the temple and caused a ruckus. The religious leaders questioned Jesus about why he did this and it became a verbal sparring match. Back and forth it went with various religious leaders challenging Jesus. That led Jesus into the Judgment Discourse, which included a stinging critique of the religious leaders. They probably would have just ignored Jesus, but the crowds were drawn to him. They saw him as a threat. And so, our gospel reading begins today with the leaders conspiring to have Jesus arrested and killed. However, they are worried about a riot developing. So they decide to postpone action. It may very well have been just left at that, if it weren’t for Judas.
Later in the story we read that Judas goes to the religious leaders and offers to hand Jesus over to them, but for a price. What caused this change in Judas?
The gospels don’t give us a back story on Judas, so we’re forever left to wonder. Maybe he was scared. Maybe he was greedy. Who knows? In our reading for today we see that Judas decides to go to the leaders right after the anointing by the unnamed woman. Perhaps that is what did it. And we can understand why.
Jesus has gone to Bethany to the home of Simon the Leper. Nothing else is known about this man. Bethany is a village just a couple miles from Jerusalem. There was a road between Bethany and Jerusalem going over the Mount of Olives. It seems that Jesus would stay in Bethany at night and then travel back to Jerusalem for the day.
For whatever the reason, a woman comes to Jesus while he is in Simon’s house and pours an entire bottle full of expensive ointment over Jesus’ head. The place was probably overwhelmed with the smell. And let’s remember that villages and cities generally stank in those days, especially when they were crowded for holidays. With lots of animals used for transportation, no real sewage systems, and no real opportunities for bathing, everything stank. Houses stank. Animals stank. People stank. You step outside a house for some fresh air and your nose is met with the stink of everyone else. Incense, ointments, and perfumes were ways to mask the smells.
In every gospel there is some story about a woman who anoints Jesus. The stories vary. In one she anoints Jesus’ feet. In others she anoints his head. Also, the stories vary with what kind of perfume or ointment that she uses. Exactly what the historical reality is behind these stories is impossible to determine. What we do want to do, is to be sure that we understand what Matthew’s gospel wants us to get from this.
Somehow, someway, this woman has a remarkable understanding of who Jesus is and what is going to happen to him. Perhaps she does not recognize him as God in human form. And perhaps she does not know that Jesus is about to be arrested and crucified. But she has some understanding that is beyond what every other person in the gospel has. She certainly knows more than the religious leaders. She knows more than the crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem and have listened to him for the past few days. And she even knows more than the disciples, who, despite being close to Jesus all along, don’t really seem to understand at all.
The disciples say the very thing that we find ourselves thinking. Why all this waste? The gesture was commendable and all, but this is ridiculous. No one has been fed, clothed, or housed from this gesture. No one has been healed. No problems have been solved. It is just an enormous amount of resources dumped out.
But Jesus, knowing what is coming, commends her. This unnamed and unknown woman has absolute worship and devotion to Jesus. From her point of view, she will give all of her very best to him.
We could speculate endlessly about this woman. How did she get the ointment? Was she rich? Was she poor? Who knows, and Matthew isn’t bothered telling us. What he does suggest, is that this is the act that sends Judas over the edge.
Whether Judas has been a greedy schemer all along, or whether he’s just had a sudden change of heart, are more things we don’t know. But Judas decides to part company with Jesus. He heads to the chief priests and says, “What will you give me to betray him to you?”
How much do they offer him? You know how much! Thirty pieces of silver. That amount, according to Exodus 21:32, is the value of an injured slave. So, Judas agrees to betray Jesus for cheap.
Now we see the contrast Matthew wants us to see. The unnamed woman anoints Jesus lavishly with an abundance of expensive ointment. That is the level of her devotion to him. Judas, whose name we do know, sells out Jesus as if Jesus is worth an injured slave.
If we take all of this back to where we began, which was talking about those who were the sheep whose lives are driven by authentic love, and the goats whose lives are driven by self-serving strategy, we see how that plays out in life.
This is not a lesson that we should be extravagant or wasteful. This is not a lesson that we should stop being critical thinkers or using limited resources wisely. But it is a lesson in motives.
Judas is driven by greed. The religious leaders are driven by fear and by clinging to their way of life. Take away their roles as religious leaders and they no longer have a special personal status or way of life. They are like the goats in last week’s gospel. They’re driven by strategy.
The woman is driven by love and devotion. She is like the sheep in last week’s gospel. There’s no strategy, no calculation. It’s just giving.
Discipleship like hers is hard. There is no clear road map. There is no guidebook. There are no solid rules even. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe you’ll look a fool. Maybe that which you pour your love into fails or dies. I wonder how that woman felt after her extravagant anointing when she learned of Jesus’ crucifixion. Did she feel a fool? Did she know it all along? Was she in some way profoundly grateful to have done such a thing to Jesus? We know none of these things.
She is unknown. Her motives are unknown. But she is remembered and celebrated. A life of faith and devotion to God is not a clear straightforward path. But it is a life driven by commitment, and a life of giving that does not care what the world thinks. It is focused only on celebrating God and worshipping God with whatever may be available.
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