The disciples are concerned about Jesus establishing his kingdom, and ask in Matthew 24:3 “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”. He answers in Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows—not even the angels of heaven nor the Son—except the Father alone”. Then he gives them parables teaching them to be faithful and then he says in Matthew 25:31 “Now when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” and will separate the sheep and the goats”. But then Jesus says in Matthew 26:2 “You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Man will be handed over in order to be crucified.” His death isn’t what they were anticipating. When this woman comes and anoints Jesus for burial, the disciples react badly. Their minds were on meeting the needs of the crowds that followed and they weren’t hearing Jesus as he said in two days he would be crucified. But she heard. She responded and came with oil to anoint Jesus for burial. God’s ways are not ours and here, there was only one person, this woman with her oil, that fully aligned with God’s plan.
The Wise Ones
Matthew 25:1–13
Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant
Matthew 25:14–23
Because I Was Afraid
When the Son of Man Comes In His Glory
Matthew 25:31–46
There is a day coming when Jesus Christ, “the Son of Man” will return in
Matthew 25:31 Now when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
and when he does, everyone will stand before him for judgment in
Matthew 25:32–33 And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.
and they will be separated by one simple principle, did you care for anyone else? in
Matthew 25:34–36 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me as a guest, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
This wrecks our religious thinking because it won’t be about what we believed or doctrine or our family line or nationality but it will be about what we did. Did we see a need and meet it? Or did we see a need and turn our back? Isn’t this what Jesus meant when he said love your neighbor as yourself?
The Son of Man Will Be Crucified
Matthew 26:1–5
Jesus has answered his disciples questions about when the Son of Man would establish his kingdom and now tells them that he will be crucified in
Matthew 26:2 “You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Man will be handed over in order to be crucified.”
and the writer of Matthew makes the historic note that while Jesus was off on the Mount of Olives teaching his disciples, the religious men of God were in the “palace of the high priest” plotting to kill Jesus in
Matthew 26:3–4 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas, 4 and plotted in order that they could arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
While Jesus had been teaching the importance of doing good, meeting the needs of those around you, the religious were only concerned with the perceptions of the people, they were concerned with how they could kill Jesus without causing and uproar in
Matthew 26:5 But they were saying, “Not during the feast, so that there will not be an uproar among the people.”
She Did It To Prepare Me For Burial
Matthew 26:6–16
During this time, a woman brings oil and poured it out on Jesus in
Matthew 26:7 a woman came up to him holding an alabaster flask of very expensive perfumed oil, and poured it out on his head while he was reclining at table.
The disciples react badly and complain that this is a waste that the oil should have been sold to meet the needs of the poor in
Matthew 26:8–9 And when the disciples saw it they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor!”
Jesus comes to her defense in
Matthew 26:10 But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, “Why do you cause trouble for the woman? For she has done a good deed for me.
and then Jesus says that her action was for a purpose in
Matthew 26:12 For when this woman poured this ointment on my body, she did it in order to prepare me for burial.
It isn’t clear whether this woman knew Jesus was going to die, although he had just told his disciples he would be crucified so “Whether or not the woman is thinking of Jesus’ burial, he interprets her action this way (v. 12; cf. John 19:39–40)”.1
He knew there would not be time for proper preparation of his body for the tomb as the Sabbath and Passover was close and his crucifixion was coming quickly.
I prefer to think that she was listening as Jesus spoke and her heart was broken as he talked about being crucified. That it was her great love for him that caused her to respond when no one else bothered to make any preparation.
Study Verses
- Matthew 25:31–46 When the Son of Man Comes In His Glory
- Matthew 26:1–5 The Son of Man Will Be Crucified
- Matthew 26:6–16 She Did It To Prepare Me For Burial
Today’s Reading
- Matthew 25:1-46
- Matthew 26:1-16
References
- 1. Chamblin, J. K. (1995). Matthew. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 755). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.