The woman’s anointing, the leaders’ plot, and Judas’s betrayal

14:1 Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 14:2 For they said, "Not during the feast, so there won't be a riot among the people." 14:3 Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of costly aromatic oil from pure nard. After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head. 14:4 But some who were present indignantly said to one another, "Why this waste of expensive ointment? 14:5 It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor!" So they spoke angrily to her. 14:6 But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a good service for me. 14:7 For you will always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want. But you will not always have me! 14:8 She did what she could. She anointed my body beforehand for burial. 14:9 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her." 14:10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus into their hands. 14:11 When they heard this, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

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Mark places a woman’s costly anointing of Jesus between the leaders’ plan to kill him and Judas’s move to betray him. Jesus says her act was not wasteful. It was a good and timely act that prepared him for burial.

Two days before Passover, the chief priests and scribes were looking for a secret way to arrest Jesus and kill him. They wanted to avoid a crowd. Their plan was hidden and evil.

While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. Some of those present were angry. They said the perfume could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor. They spoke harshly against her.

But Jesus defended her. He told them to leave her alone. He said she had done a beautiful and fitting thing for him. Jesus did not deny the duty to care for the poor. He said they would always have the poor with them and could do good for them whenever they wanted. But he also said, “You will not always have me.” This was a unique moment.

Jesus then explained the meaning of her act. She did what she could. She anointed his body beforehand for burial. Her act was not pointless. It was timely and fitting because his death was near. Jesus also said that wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she had done would be told in memory of her.

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus. They were glad and promised him money. Judas then looked for an opportunity to hand Jesus over. The passage ends with a sharp contrast: the woman honored Jesus, but Judas sold him out for money.

• The leaders wanted to arrest and kill Jesus secretly.
• Their fear of the crowd was political, not moral.
• The woman’s gift was very costly and deliberate.
• Some people thought the act was wasteful and spoke angrily against her.
• Jesus called her act good and fitting.
• Jesus did not cancel the duty to care for the poor.
• Jesus said the woman anointed him beforehand for burial.
• Jesus promised that her deed would be remembered wherever the gospel is preached.
• Judas, one of the twelve, betrayed Jesus for money.

• Do not use Jesus’ words about the poor to excuse neglect of the poor.
• Do not treat the passage as a general approval of every expensive religious act.
• Do not make royal symbolism the main point over Jesus’ burial explanation.
• Do not say more about the woman’s understanding than the text says.
• Do not narrow the critics in Mark to Judas alone.

The scene shows Jesus moving toward his death with full awareness. The woman’s act fits that coming death and burial. Her deed becomes part of the gospel story, while the leaders’ plot and Judas’s betrayal show human sin working against God’s saving purpose.

Judge acts of devotion by Christ’s worth and by his own purposes, not by efficiency alone. Do not use concern for other good works as an automatic objection to honoring Jesus. Remember that some moments of faithfulness come only once. Be careful of moral outrage that sounds right but misses what Jesus says. And remember that closeness to Jesus’ circle does not guarantee loyalty.

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