Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

October 7, 2020

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

“I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

Mark 14:9

Read: Mark 14: 1-11

In Chapter 13 Jesus taught about the destruction of the Temple by pagans. We can already see in Chapter 14 that Mark is showing Jesus is on a parallel path; the pagans will attempt to destroy his life.

There are other interesting parallels in Mark’s description of the few days before Jesus’ arrest. The religious leaders are plotting to do away with Jesus; Judas is plotting to betray Jesus; the disciples are grumbling about the extravagant generosity of an un-named woman; and this un-named woman, believing Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, allows herself to worship Jesus without inhibition.

Why do you think Jesus said this un-named woman would always be remembered? Did Mark include this episode only because Jesus spoke so positively about her? Or is there something Mark wants us to see? Given that women were generally not highly regarded at this time in history, why would Mark include a story where all the men – the religious leaders, Judas, and the disciples - failed to recognize Jesus as the Christ, but the woman did?

In First Century Israel, men typically had a condescending attitude toward women. Even so, I believe their harsh and indignant attitude toward the unnamed woman was more in response to their embarrassment because someone was so unrestrained in their devotion.

My Takeaway: Today, as I think about this unnamed woman’s deed (just as Jesus said I would – verse 9), I am prone to wonder: has their ever been a time when someone was embarrassed over my extravagant generosity for the Kingdom of God, or my unrestrained devotion to Jesus?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.