“If you knew there was a Bible story about a woman and Jesus and some perfume, but you couldn’t quite remember who the woman was or when in Jesus’ ministry she went to him or what kind of ointment she brought or what she did with that ointment exactly, you’re in good company. Each of the four gospels describes a woman who approached Jesus intending to anoint him,” begins Carla Pratt Keyes, Pastor of Ginter Park Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia. In today’s version from John 12:1-8, “we learn the woman’s name and her relationship to Jesus…It is Mary, sister to Martha and Lazarus, Mary whom Jesus loved, and Mary whose brother Christ has brought back from the dead.” Everyone was shocked and disturbed, not so much by Mary’s actions, but by the perceived waste of the perfectly good, expensive perfume. Mary chose to honor Christ with her costly gift. How will you choose to honor Christ?
