Matthew 26:6-13: “A Beautiful Thing”

“Why do you trouble this woman?  For she has done a beautiful thing to me,” Jesus in Matthew 26:10

“What can I give back to God for the blessings he poured out on me? I lift high the cup of salvation as a toast to our Father. To follow through on the promise I made to you.”  (U2’s Bono , from his intro to “Where the Streets Have No Name”, during their “Elevation” tour.  Bono is quoting loosely Psalm 116)

 “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1674)

Jesus is in the city of Bethany (v. 6) outside of Jerusalem where He resided during the week before His crucifixion (see 21:17).   He is in the house of Simon the Leper (v. 6), who undoubtedly had been healed of his leprosy or he would otherwise be isolated from society (see Leviticus 13:45-46).  From John’s account (John 12:1-8) we learn that Mary, Martha and Lazarus were also there.     As “Martha served” and Lazarus, along with the disciples, “was reclining with Him at the table” (John 12:2), Mary came up to Him (v. 7).

Mary had an alabaster flask of expensive ointment and she poured it on His head (v. 7).  From Mark we learn that it was “pure nard” (Mark 14:3) and was worth “more than three hundred denarii” (Mark 14:5), which was a year’s wages for a laborer.   And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?  For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor,” (vv. 8-9). 

John adds that it was Judas who protested loudest.  But “not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief” and he was helping “himself to what was put into” the moneybag (John 12:6).   Jesus, aware (omnisciently?) of this complaining calls what Mary did “a beautiful thing” (v. 10).   Then He says something truly remarkable:  “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have Me,” (v. 11).

Here we have the triumph of the worship of Jesus over the social gospel of good works.  This is a lesson we must learn over and over again.  No doubt, faith without works is dead, James 2:17 teaches.  But equally as dead is works without faith, as the Lord teaches here.   James Sire, in his excellent book, The Universe Next Door, writes how 100 years ago Karl Barth rescued our faith from “theistic existentialism” and “put God very much back in the picture” (p. 131).    In our current day men such as Timothy Keller and John Piper have fought hard so that the worship of Jesus Christ, not human effort and good works, is central to being Christian.

And this passage here emphasizes the lesson of the parable of the sheep and goats (25:31-36).  For if the parable merely taught good works, then Judas’ complaint would have been received and blessed by Jesus.   Instead, we have Jesus teaching that the bulls-eye of Christianity is the worship of, and a relationship with, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.   This is even more central to our faith than the feeding of the poor.

Jesus continues, “In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial,” (v. 12).   Jesus continues the theme of His death, proving He knew full well what was coming.   But for one man at the table this may have been the last straw, realizing that Jesus was not the political messiah he had hoped for.

As His disciples, we should live lives of good works.   But we must remember exactly what it is that the Lord calls “a beautiful thing” (v. 10).  We do not want the Lord to accuse us in our pursuit of good works, as He said to the church at Ephesus, that “you have left your first love,” (Revelation 2:4, NASB).   Remembering the priority of worship is why our Lord said of Mary, “Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her,” (v. 13).  What an honor!

Matthew 26:1-5: The Perfection of God’s Timing

“…the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”  Jesus in Matthew 26:2

“And since I have been reading the Bible, I sense that there is something – I don’t know if it is personal or if it is a great idea or powerful influence – but there is something that can bring meaning to my life,” (Renown existentialist Albert Camus in 1960, the year of his death; Albert Camus and the Minister by Howard Mumma)

“According to Josephus, some 256,500 sacrificial lambs were slain during a typical Passover [in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day].  And because tradition required that no fewer than ten people were to eat of one lamb, the number of celebrants could have exceeded two million.”  (John MacArthur, Matthew 24-28 MacArthur New Testament Commentary, p. 133)

There are two different settings for these verses.  The first is the Mount of Olives.  Here Jesus’ transitions out of chapters 24 and 25.   Since Passover starts on Thursday night, then we can believe based on these words, “after two days the Passover is coming,” (v.2) that Jesus finishes the Olivet Discourse on Tuesday of Holy Week.  As John Walvoord said in his book, Matthew, Thy Kingdom Come, “Only hours separated Jesus from the cross on Cavalry,” (p. 208).

Jesus says that “the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified,” (v. 2).  This prediction has been a steady theme since Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah in Caesarea Philippi (see Matthew 16:21).   From this point on, the Lord reveals continually His plan that they are to go to Jerusalem where He will be crucified. (See 17:12; 22-23; 20:18-19)

The other setting is the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas (v. 3).   There the chief priests and elders of the people were gathered (v. 3).  They plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him (v. 4).  Surely this is the same group who had been challenging Him repeatedly during the week in the temple (see 21:13, 22:34) and it was not the first time they had tried to hatch a plan by which they could destroy Jesus (see Luke 19:47).

Since they dare not challenge Jesus publically anymore (see 22:46), this group of religious demons sought a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him (v. 4).    Jerusalem was full of pilgrims who had come to celebrate the Passover feast as instructed in Exodus 12:14 and Leviticus 23:4-5.   Satan’s minions gathered in Caiaphas’ palace did not want to arrest Jesus during the Passover feast, lest there be an uproar among the people (v. 5).    

Israel was occupied by the Romans much the way Eastern European countries were occupied by the Soviets a generation ago.  Israel thought their Messiah would overthrow Rome and restore Israel as an empire.  This belief was even held within His disciples at the moment of His ascension (see Acts 1:6).    The people believed Jesus was their political Savior which made Him popular among the people; hence the desire to wait until after the feast to arrest and kill Jesus.     

But Jesus had other plans.   “The Lamb of God” (John 1:29) was to be crucified during the Passover, not after.   That plan would not be thwarted by mere men. “The rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and His anointed…He who sits in heaven laughs,” (Psalm 2:2, 4).    Even in the darkest moment of history  at precisely “the right time Christ died for the ungodly,” (Romans 5:6).  The Lord was so in control that He even used the evil Caiaphas to unwittingly predict, “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish,” (John 11:50).     

If your world is spinning out of control and it seems as if the Lord is not there, know that, “it is He who sits above the circle of the earth…[and who] makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness,” (Isaiah 40:22-23).  Abide, wait and trust.   Life is not absurd and God is not reckless, even when the powers of earth seem to be aligned to prove otherwise.  

What the chief priests meant for evil, “God meant it for good,” (Genesis 50:20).  God’s plan is to make for Himself “a royal priesthood (unlike those at Caiaphas’ palace), a holy nation…and a people for His own possession,” (1 Peter 2:9) so that we may proclaim His excellencies.   But first there will be a knock at Caiaphas’ door; Judas is about to be unleashed.