Whatever you did for one of the least ...

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked.  “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, 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.  Matthew 26: 6 – 11

This story sits in an interesting place in the Gospel narrative and explains why the disciples had suddenly got so interested in the poor and were indignant to the woman’s act of devotion. Immediately preceding this event, Jesus had taught two very important and well known principles. The first was the using of talents (Matthew 25: 14 – 30). Those who used what God had given them were commended for their diligence and the one who through fear had done nothing with his talent, was sent out from the Master’s presence. The second story was the separating of the sheep and goats based on their attitude to the hungry and thirsty, to strangers, to the naked and those who were sick or in prison. Neither the sheep nor the goats realised that by helping the weakest and least in society meant you were doing it to Jesus (Matthew 25: 31 – 46).

So with these stories fresh in the disciples’ minds, a woman came to anoint Jesus’ head with extremely expensive perfume at the home of Simon the Leper. The disciples had picked up that they needed to look after the least and poorest in society because this was the same as doing it to Jesus. So why waste an expensive perfume on Jesus? Wasn’t it better to sell it to look after the poor? You could help a lot of poor with the sale of the perfume. What they had forgotten was the most important thing was to actually minister unto Jesus himself. There would always be opportunities to show kindness and mercy to the poor but Jesus was only going to be with them a little longer and this lady showered Jesus with her love and wealth in a reckless, extravagant act of worship for which Jesus greatly commended her.

I grew up in a church that had a strong emphasis on a social Gospel. This story of showing kindness to the weakest in society was mentioned quite often. The church was always pursuing good causes and showing great kindness to the least members of society. The downside was that the Gospel was not preached so I grew up in church with a strong sense of Christian duty but not realising I needed to be saved. 

It is vital that we use our God given talents to the best of our ability whether money or abilities and that we show great kindness to all those struggling with life but our first and greatest joy is to show our extravagant love and worship to our Saviour and let every other act of our Christian life flow out of that.