Mark 14:1-11 Simple, Extravagant Worship

Mark 14:1-11 Simple, Extravagant Worship

We have here one of the “sandwich” passages in Mark. Verses 1 and 2 show the religious leaders “seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him,” while in the closing part of the passage (vv.10-11) we find Judas doing the same: “And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.” This is the “bread” on the outside of the sandwich.

The “peanut butter and jelly” of this sandwich is this account of Jesus being anointed as an act of worship by a woman. Different from other, similar passages, we learn nothing about the character or lifestyle of the woman. She is simply a person who wants to worship Jesus, and finds nothing incongruous in it being costly. In fact, just the opposite, she believes that it is entirely appropriate that her worship cost something. Not that she was trying to “buy” anything from Jesus. She just wanted to worship.

We don’t know the makeup of the crowd that was with Jesus this day. He was visiting in a home, so it couldn’t have been a mass of people. We know that Judas is mentioned in the next paragraph, with the implication that what he saw here was motivation for him to betray Jesus. We assume, then, that they other disciples were present as well. And when some from the crowd objected - “some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.” - we find no one standing up for this woman, or for the fact that Jesus actually and truly deserved this kind of worship. No one. Except Jesus.

He, however, says some important things that we should consider with regard to our own worship. He says, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” That’s an amazing statement, and a bit shocking. The usual human response would be, “Oh, you shouldn’t have.” “This is way too much.” What kind of person says, as it were, “this is entirely appropriate.”

Jesus does not say that one should not contribute to the needs of the poor. He just says that it is acceptable to put off meeting those needs when the opportunity to worship Jesus, who is physically present with them only a short time, affords itself. Again, this would be strange for any mere human to say. And remember, she is not just doing something nice. She is worshipping Him.

Jesus says, “She is anointing my body beforehand for burial.” I wonder, does this woman even understand this point. If so, then she is both the only one present worshipping Jesus in such an extravagant way, and she is also the only one present who has heard Jesus words predicting his death, and who has absorbed that message and believed it. I don’t know if this is true, but if she alone understood the gravity of Jesus’ mission, she alone also is the one, the only one, who worships him appropriately. And, she gets criticized for it.

I wonder if it’s not this way throughout the history of the Church, that those who best know Jesus; who most closely walk with Him; who most dearly love Him - I wonder if the Church, conducting business as usual, tends to marginalize and criticize such persons. Is there anyone in your experience that you think might resemble the unnamed woman of Mark 14?