Burial Preperation
Anointed for burial
At Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman anoints Jesus with expensive perfume poured on his head while he is reclining at the table. The disciples, particularly Judas Iscariot in some accounts, protest that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus rebukes them, defending the woman’s action: she has done a beautiful thing for him, anointing him in preparation for his burial. He says that wherever the gospel is proclaimed throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.
(ai summarized)
“Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.””