Daily Scripture
Mark 14:1 It was two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and legal experts through cunning tricks were searching for a way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 But they agreed that it shouldn’t happen during the festival; otherwise, there would be an uproar among the people.
3 Jesus was at Bethany visiting the house of Simon, who had a skin disease. During dinner, a woman came in with a vase made of alabaster and containing very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke open the vase and poured the perfume on his head. 4 Some grew angry. They said to each other, “Why waste the perfume? 5 This perfume could have been sold for almost a year’s pay [Or three hundred denaria; a denarion was equivalent to a day’s pay], and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
6 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. 7 You always have the poor with you; and whenever you want, you can do something good for them. But you won’t always have me. 8 She has done what she could. She has anointed my body ahead of time for burial. 9 I tell you the truth that, wherever in the whole world the good news is announced, what she’s done will also be told in memory of her.”
10 Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to give Jesus up to them. 11 When they heard it, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So he started looking for an opportunity to turn him in.
12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”
13 He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city. A man carrying a water jar will meet you. Follow him. 14 Wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks, “Where is my guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?”’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished. Prepare for us there.” 16 The disciples left, came into the city, found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
17 That evening, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 During the meal, Jesus said, “I assure you that one of you will betray me—someone eating with me.”
19 Deeply saddened, they asked him, one by one, “It’s not me, is it?”
20 Jesus answered, “It’s one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me into this bowl. 21 The Human One [or Son of Man] goes to his death just as it is written about him. But how terrible it is for that person who betrays the Human One! It would have been better for him if he had never been born.”
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 I assure you that I won’t drink wine again until that day when I drink it in a new way in God’s kingdom.” 26 After singing songs of praise, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Complete Jewish Bible)
Reflection Questions
Two suppers—one hosted by Simon, “who had a skin disease,” likely a man Jesus healed. A woman anointed Jesus with expensive perfume. Keenly aware that within 48 hours he would die, Jesus said she had anointed him in advance of his burial. Then a Passover supper, which Jesus redefined. We often take Judas’ betrayal for granted—but imagine how Jesus’ words stunned the disciples, who didn’t know the story in advance. Mark didn’t feel a need to give much detail about “songs of praise.” Psalm 118 was pretty much always the last hymn sung at the end of Passover.
- Some people criticized the woman’s extravagant anointing of Jesus. “Leave her alone,” Jesus told them. Her devotion touched his heart, and her anointing fit his sense that he was the messianic king. Are you ever tempted to be critical when someone else praises or serves God differently than you do? How can Jesus’ example help you move beyond a critical spirit to value the uniqueness of each giver and each gift?
- Passover worshippers sang, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can human beings do to me?” (Psalm 118:6) and “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done” (Psalm 118:17). How might those words have held special meaning for Jesus as he sang them in the upper room hours before his crucifixion? How do they speak to any fear you carry in your heart? What can you proclaim about what the Lord has done for you?
King Jesus, you intentionally walked into the darkest experience any human could face—and you did it for me. Guide me to be more and more effective in proclaiming what you have done for me. Amen.
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at Vibe, West and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
Throughout most of his ministry, Jesus had been intentionally obscure about his true plan. We know the story well now, of course, but it was unthinkable to those who were experiencing it. So the moment of revelation, the moment when Jesus finally unveiled his plan to die is significant. An emperor or king would make an announcement with heralds, a royal court, and great fanfare. But that was never Jesus’s style. Jesus announced his plan in the house of a ceremonially unclean man, shunned by society, to a group of people who didn’t mind being in a ceremonially unclean place. It was a place and a group of people whom society had said had no business taking part in religion.
But the most amazing part was the herald Jesus chose: the woman who anointed him. As Jesus explained, the woman prepared him for burial: a task usually reserved for the deceased’s closest loved ones. And it was this woman, whom even Jesus’s followers mocked, that was chosen to complete this most intimate task. Her act of love, however outlandish or inappropriate it may have been, was the catalyst that kicked off the final phase of God’s plan: to die for all of mankind.
Why would Jesus choose this lowly woman as his herald, and the one to complete the intimate task of preparing his body for burial? It’s the same reason he chose any of his apostles: to show that even the people who didn’t fit into religion, the people who couldn’t make it into polite circles, were of great importance to a God who loves everyone.
This Easter, we celebrate a death—an absurd thing to celebrate, but Jesus turned it into something holy and amazing. Jesus picked his apostles from those that religion had already passed over. He chose a prostitute to announce his plan to save the world. And still today, he is choosing you. You may be a pastor, or you may be a prostitute, or anywhere in-between, but God’s call is the same. He loves you and he wants you to be a part of his plan.
I hope this Easter is a time of contemplation for each of you as you seek to grow more involved in what God has in store for us. Spend some extra time in prayer and always remember: God has saved a place for you, no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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