Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
John 13:1
As you read these final chapters of Christ’s earthly life, you can just feel the tension building, and it continues to build until resurrection morning. In the tale of the Lord of the Rings, in a conversation where Pippin says to Gandalf just prior to a great battle, “It’s so quiet.” “It’s the deep breath before the plunge” Gandalf replies. “I don’t want to be in a battle. But waiting on the edge of one I can’t escape is even worse.” It’s a quiet day that is about to give way to the most dramatic few days in history.
The Priests retreat to the palace of the High Priest to plot the destruction of Jesus. They have devised a strategy to have the rabble rouser delivered into their hands by one of his own followers. Judas, consumed with greed, sells the King of the Universe out for a handful of shiny coins. The consummation of this betrayal must come in a secret place away from the adoring eyes of the people. But the deed is done, Judas has prostituted his following of Christ for a whore’s fare.
Jesus meanwhile retreats to the house of Simon the Leper to prepare his disciples. The name of Bethany means ‘house of misery,’ and we can see how the suffering on the cross begins to overshadow the coming days. Jesus, who had spoken somewhat mysteriously, now speaks plainly, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified” (Mt 26:2). As He sits at the table, a woman arrives and anoints Jesus with an expensive oil. An outcry breaks out for such an exorbitant display. Jesus uses it as a lesson to signify for the disciples an understanding of all that is about to take place. This woman covered his brow with this oil as a preparation for his burial and Jesus says that this event will be inseparable from the telling of the gospel.
The woman who comes to Christ is a harlot, a woman of the streets, a prostitute. Her act of honor to the head of the Messiah is one of unique perception. The woman, used, abused, neglected and cast out understood the Christ was to die and she took the opportunity to anoint his body prior to his burial. This is a woman who does not deserve to be given the time of day, yet Jesus says she shall be remembered for all of history as an act of true sacrifice and worship. Matthew Henry says of this encounter, “Where there is true love in the heart to Jesus Christ, nothing will be thought too good, no, nor good enough, to bestow upon him.” She has given him the costliest honor she could give.
I hope you see the difference. One took advantage of circumstance to indulge the flesh, the other, who deserved no such attention is given a spotlight to be remembered through the ages. Hosea, the prophet says, “Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel” (Hos 1:11). Hosea’s prophecy gives us a picture as his own wife plays the harlot and he has to pursue her as a sign of God and his own children. Fitting it is then, the harlot should be the one who comes to anoint the head of Israel. The promise given is “in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hos 1:10). Those who were illegitimate, far away, and rejected, are brought near to cover his head with fragrant oil. Even so, as the legitimate King will die the death of an illegitimate criminal, he receives the anointing honor due him from a humble sinner who was due nothing. This is the beauty of the gospel and it’s why this woman will be remembered wherever the gospel is shared. This quiet moment speaks loudly as we make the plunge into the most intense three days of Jesus’ life. These days are not going to be easy, but for the joy set before him, he endures it.
