##DailyDevotion Why Does Mary Anoint Jesus?
Matt. 26:6-13 6Jesus came to Bethany and went into the home of Simon the leper. 7There a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, and she poured it on His head while He was reclining at the table. 8The disciples saw it and didn’t like it. “Why should there be such a waste?” they asked. 9“This could have been sold for a big sum and the money given to the poor.” 10Knowing what was going on, Jesus asked them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. 11The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have Me. 12She poured this perfume on My body to prepare Me for My burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this good news is preached in the whole world, certainly what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
We know from the other Gospels this was one of the Mary’s that annointed Jesus here, most likely Mary Magdala. They were at the home of Simon the leper. Well he obviously isn’t a leper anymore. He must have been one of those lepers Jesus had healed who followed him. However, he keeps the moniker, the leper. Perhaps it is kept to remind us of the miracle Jesus performed on him and to remind us who Jesus reached out to and to whom we are to reach out to with the Gospel of Jesus.
What is going on with Mary annointing Jesus? Well Jesus tells us, “12She poured this perfume on My body to prepare Me for My burial.” Normally you would annoint the body of the dead when it is buried. Jesus isn’t dead yet. Why does she annoint his body now? You might remember that whenever Jesus talks about his upcoming, suffering, death, burial and resurrection, the disciples get pretty flustered at this. They are seriously dense and don’t understand. They don’t believe it. Mary however seems to get it at this moment. Once Jesus’ passion begins, once he is arrested, tried, crucified and buried she is not going to be able to anoint Jesus for burial. Not only that, she believes Jesus is going to rise from the dead. While it appears she forget all this once the passion begins until Jesus is raised from the dead, for right now, she gets it, believes it and is acting accordingly.
But the anointing is not only for Jesus’ burial. The LORD said in 1 Samuel 2, “35Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who will do exactly what I want. I will establish a lasting family for him, and he will always live before Me as My anointed one.” Jesus is anointed here to become this faithful priest of God who does excactly what the LORD once. The lasting family or rather house is Christ’s Church, the Temple of the LORD. As High Priest, Jesus is going to offer up himself upon the cross to make atonement for our sins. As our High Priest, he brings his blood into the Heavenly Holy of Holies and pours his upon the mercy seat of God. As our High Priest he makes continuous intercession for us as his holy people.
Mary’s anointing of Jesus before his death reminds us of Daniel 9, “26But after the sixty-two sevens the Anointed will be cut off and have nothing,…” Jesus is about to be cut off by his death. In his crucifixion he has emptied himself of everything so that we could have the riches of his kingdom which has no end. May we all who hear this believe this and rejoice in it.
Heavenly Father, you cut off your son from life having prepared him as our anointed sacrifice for our sin. Grant us faith in Christ Jesus’ work on the cross for us so we may receive from him the kingdom prepared for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.