Holy Wednesday
Read Matthew 26:1-16 & Mark 14:1-11
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Matthew 26:1-16 (NASB)
When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.” At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas; and they plotted together to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him. But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.” Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume, and she poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? For this perfume could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? For she has done a good deed for Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
Matthew 26:1-16 (NASB)
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Matthew 26:1-16 (NASB)
Now the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him covertly and kill Him; for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there will be a riot of the people.” While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper, He was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head. But there were some indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume could have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a good deed for Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the entire world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were delighted when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.
Mark 14:1-11 (NASB)
Today we see a few things happen. The Pharisees are continuing to grow irate with Jesus and impatient. They are scheming to make plans to arrest and kill Him but know they must wait until the upcoming holiday, Passover, had ended.
During that time, Jesus continued the last couple of days He had visiting with those that He loved and had ministered to. While dining with friends, a woman came and broke an alabaster jar that was filled with an oil, called nard. Alabaster jars were special jars for specifically storing precious oils and perfumes to ensure that the fragrance itself kept. This woman broke the jar, in a desire to completely pour all of its contents out, and anoint the head of Jesus with the oil. Nard was used for many different types of religious anointing.
She chose this moment to anoint the head of Jesus with a special oil that was worth almost a year’s salary, and she wanted every last drop to be used. She was moved to show her deep devotion and unreserved love and gratitude for Jesus. It was true worship; an overflow from the heart. Now, this bothered a few of those gathered, mainly Judas. Their claim was that the oil could have been sold and then given to the poor if she really wanted to love Jesus well and serve Him. And then they began to angrily scold her, as if she were a child, for her decisions.
And Jesus. Sweet Jesus. “Why are you bothering her?” He steps in. She doesn’t stop, that we see, or pay them attention. And He butts in and tells them to leave her be. He reminds them, again, that the time is coming where He will no longer be here and that she is preparing His body for burial, something that they would not actually have the time to do themselves (as we will see later). She made the right choice.
From this exact moment, we see Judas leave and seek out the Pharisees and the Chief Priest to find the right time to betray Jesus. And what is interesting, is that in each of the accounts, Judas seeks them out to betray Jesus and, in Matthew, Judas asks “What will you give me for him?”. Judas seems to be so overwhelmed and bothered by this interaction that it was enough to push him over the edge. And it was not much to want to now benefit from something. Maybe not much seemed to make sense to him anymore. Jesus had a way of flipping things upside down. Maybe this was one of those things for Judas.
Regardless, this helped set the stage for all that was to come.
Prayer
“Jesus, We thank you for all of the times that you stand up for us. We thank you for the times that you intervene. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you as we worship you so that any other voice fades into the background. This week as we continue to keep our focus on you, help us to remember that in your last week you chose and desired the most sincere and pure parts of our worship. Help me as I keep that as my focus.”