She did it for death.

3 Mary took a pound of ointment of pure liquid nard, a rare perfume that was very expensive, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  AMP

This is not the first time Mary wiped Jesus feet with her hair.  She had crashed a party at a prominent man’s house once before.  At that incident, the question was “Why doesn’t this man know who she is if he is truly from God?”  The reply was that her sins were forgiven and she couldn’t help but show true love. 

Frequently, Jesus did not address the question in a direct way.  I feel that this is because the question may have been a front for bigger questions whether or not the person asking realized that.  Simon, though a prominent leader of the Jewish people, was a follower and believer in Jesus.   But he had some issues with sinners, forgiveness and the weightiness of sin.  No one really asked Jesus why he was allowing Mary’s display, but they were asking each other and getting themselves worked up.  So Jesus replied to the unasked question and stopped the speculation.  You see, when they were touched by a woman like she had been –perhaps even Mary herself- they knew what was happening and why.  But here was this man like no man the world had known.  It was hard to recon with.  They saw it as a sensual act of foreplay.  But Jesus knew what this touch, this gift, was all about.  I see it as a gentle reprimand.  He could have asked Simon if he thought he needed forgiveness, but he used an object lesson instead.

4 But Judas Iscariot, the one of His disciples who was about to betray Him, said,  “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii, which was a year’s wages for an ordinary workman, and that money given to the poor?”  Now he did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief; and having the purse of the Twelve, he took for himself what was put into it, pilfering the collections. AMP

This time the issue was an all together different matter.  There was no troubled believer on the point of discovery or rejection, the question came from a heart of deceit, from the mouth of a thief.  Jesus didn’t try to deal with the issues in Judas Iscariot’s heart.  He knew them from the beginning.  Judas was an evil plant, designed for an evil work and destined for destruction.  He was necessary to the plan of God.  His heart was not open to change.  Jesus just answered.  “Leave her alone.”

7 But Jesus said, Let her alone. It was intended that she should keep it for the time of My embalming.  You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.  AMP

The little discussion that continued piqued my thoughts.  First of all, this was being kept by Mary to embalm Jesus.  Whether Mary understood the things Jesus had been trying to tell his disciples or not is not clear.  But regardless, in this moment of tenderness, Mary took what was committed to her to be used for his death and used it to honor and please her master in life.  Surely he would have appreciated a gift to the destitute more.  But he appreciated and respected the gift of love.  Perhaps he knew they would never truly embalm his body, so that intent was moot.  Perhaps the use of the ointment before his death was reinforcing for him.  He knew what was coming, but he struggled with it. 

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

Jesus was ushered into the city of Jerusalem riding a young donkey and heralded by the crowds as Messiah.  I believe he allowed himself to take what the moment was even though he knew it was the beginning of the end and that in less than a week they would be crying “Crucify him.”  The disciples didn’t understand.  They had no precedent for what was going to happen.  They had been taught that Messiah would make all things right.  But they didn’t expect him to do it through his death.

24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

I hate being misunderstood.  But it happens all the time.  I don't know if I'm just bad at communicating, or if misunderstanding is just part of our preoccupied culture.  I recall a foot stamping statement from a movie long ago. 'I won't be passed over!'  But guess what.  I've learned and I will learn.  Perhaps the reason Jesus was able to be 'savior to all' and one day will deserve to be 'LORD' over all is because of those verses above.  The purpose of a plant is to produce something willing to die to produce more.  In the dying, it produces food and life energy for many -not just by dying but by living again -and again.  If words die -silent on the wind- they have no use unless they take hold and live again and again.  Books.  How a word can move and reproduce!  But it's not just the words, it is the actions.  Paintings can beget paintings or sculptures or books.  Music can inspire any host of living thought and action.  If you are so afraid to die or share the essence of you, you will die.  We are honored for serving even though the just shall live by faith.

Jesus, in the earthbound state, took a chance on dying.  It was not understood or valued in the act but it was what he came to do.  Yet he understood dying and he honored Mary's gift toward his death.  Perhaps I struggle with the connection to my own doing in time, but I see the connection -vaguely.  To be pleasing and purposeful, I must refuse to allow my reason and selfishness to trump my willingness to put life on the line whether in a gift of money or song or painting or words or simply a lifted burden. I am to accomplish and allow my accomplishment to die so that it may reproduce and bring life and living again and again.  I don't know where it will go or whose eye or heart may be touched.  But in the end, it is why I am here.