Show Don't Tell: Mark 14:1-11

Instead of saying "Jesus was anointed while enemies plotted," smell the nard. Now the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread are only two days away. The chief priests and teachers of the law are scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him—"but not during the festival, or the people may riot." Meanwhile, at Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper, Jesus is reclining at table. A woman comes with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She breaks the jar—no saving it for later—and pours it on his head. The fragrance fills the room. Some are indignant: "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." They rebuke her harshly. But Jesus says: "Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you... but you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial." Wherever the gospel is preached, what she has done will also be told. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus. They are delighted and promise him money. Extravagant worship and calculated betrayal—side by side.