In his last days, Jesus is invited to a dinner in Bethany. A woman breaks open a jar of expensive perfumed oil, wanting to honor Jesus with the best that she has. She takes the ointment and begins to anoint Jesus’ feet.
As the luxurious scent fills the house, the disciples all turn to see. They are working people from Galilee, unaccustomed to using fine perfumes or being anointed before dinner. They believe in Jesus’ radical rejection of wealth: To enter the kingdom of God, he said, you must sell all you have and give it to the poor. They are shocked that Jesus does not send the woman away to sell the jar and lets it be spread on his feet instead. But Jesus accepts the gift, just as it is given. He trusts that God is using this woman to give him exactly what he needs. Her loving gesture helps him to accept that soon he will die. Instead of fearing a lonely death, he imagines caring hands anointing his body for burial. How many times have we pushed away a gift or a compliment? “Oh, it was nothing,” we say, or “You shouldn’t have,” or “Thank you so much for the offer, but I’ll be fine.” What would happen if we joined Jesus and trusted that God sends gifts into our life for a reason? What if we let go of all our protests and just said a heartfelt “Thank you”?
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