Reflective Bible Study

Leading up to the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Matthew includes an event that every other gospel writer also includes, but with the exception of Mark, each gospel writer includes this event in a unique place. Matthew and Mark’s gospel place this event right before the night Jesus is arrested while Luke places a similar event much earlier in Jesus’ ministry, and John includes this event happening shortly before Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. When looking at the chronology of what happened, I lean towards John’s gospel’s timing, which places this a day or two before Jesus enters Jerusalem on the donkey.

However, since Matthew places it here in his gospel, we have included it here. This event was a special meal that Jesus was invited to attend, and what happened at this meal is extravagant and it leads directly into Jesus’ betrayal.

Our passage and event is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 26, and we will read from the New International Version. Starting in verse 6, Matthew tells us that:

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

This event is the last event leading up to the night Jesus was betrayed in Matthew’s gospel. While Matthew tells us the disciples were indignant, or annoyed and angry, about the woman’s gift, John’s gospel frames this reaction specifically towards Judas Iscariot. With the timing of this event being several days before the festival, this would give Judas Iscariot enough time to plot revenge on Jesus for honoring a sinful woman ahead of him, especially with a gift that should have simply been sold and donated to them in his mind.

This leads us to one key idea that is becoming less common in culture today. This idea says that gifts that are given instead of money (or gift cards), always show more thought involved than gifts that are simply money donated. While our culture often times prefers money or gift cards so we can “get exactly what we want”, gifts of most anything else display a greater level of caring and connection between the gift giver and the gift receiver.

Gifts like the one this woman gave Jesus are even more special because if I understand the details and traditional thought of this event correctly, this was a very expensive, one-time gift. What this woman gave Jesus was not something that could then be sold or re-gifted later – especially with the way this gift was given to Jesus.

Giving Jesus the perfume by pouring it on Him was likely what angered Judas Iscariot the most, because it gave it to Jesus in a way that could not be converted back into money. This was such an extravagant gift that it was hard for Judas Iscariot not to see the potential dollars that could have been given to him as the keeper of the disciples’ money. Because of this event, and Jesus’ response, Judas emotionally agrees to sell Jesus to the religious leaders for significantly less.

However, in Jesus’ response, we see another amazing prediction. While the woman likely believed her gift to be anointing Jesus leading up to Him stepping into the role of Messiah and King, specifically the messiah that would overthrow the Romans and give the Jews back their homeland, Jesus shifts the meaning of this gift to be foreshadowing His burial.

Being anointed was something that was done for both people stepping into greater roles in society and for people who had just died. Those stepping into more significant roles were anointed for spiritual significance, while those who were anointed for burial were anointed to keep their bodies from stinking too badly while decomposing.

All four gospels include an event where a woman anoints Jesus on the head with perfume. Jesus’ prediction that this woman’s gift would be remembered and shared alongside His death has been fulfilled.

Within this gift and event is another subtle foreshadowing, and this idea is one that the disciples might not have wanted to understand or admit. This foreshadowing was Jesus telling them that they will always have the poor among them, but they would not always have Him. While Jesus was crucified, buried, and then resurrected, He knew that not long afterwards, He would return to heaven, leaving the disciples to carry on what He had started.

Jesus accepted the gifts that people wanted to give Him knowing that they would not be able to give them to Him later. Jesus places spiritual significance on the gifts we give to Him as well. While Judas Iscariot, and perhaps another one or two of the disciples, believed this gift to be a waste of money or resources, Jesus amplified this gift, giving it amazing spiritual significance, and He tells us that this woman’s gift will be remembered forever.

When we give gifts to Jesus, I believe He is just as willing to take our gifts and use them for His glory, and I believe that while Jesus can use gifts of money to help where money is needed, Jesus really values the gifts that are more specific than money. The gifts we give Jesus that are non-monetary are ones where He can use and multiply what we gave Him for His glory. Also, giving God non-monetary gifts helps us grow and stay connected to Him in our lives.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to give Him gifts that cannot easily be repaid with money. Gifts such as time, talents, or specific items that are needed are much more valuable in God’s eyes than government issued rectangle pieces of special paper or a string of numbers on a computer somewhere. While God can use any gift we give Him, what God really wants with our gifts is our heart. Our heart is the most valuable gift we can give God in His eyes.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and Bible study, discover what God wants for us and what He wants from us. Don’t assume the Bible teaches anything. Instead, open the pages of this collection of books and discover what it teaches for yourself!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

When we began moving our way through Jesus’ final week, we’ve seen how every one of the four gospels has been building up to the moment Jesus is hung on the cross. For most of the other episodes this year, I’ve picked one or two of the gospels to focus in on, but since this entire year has been leading up to the point when Jesus is hung on the cross, it seems like we should take a little more time on this event. Also, all four gospels share unique details regarding the time Jesus spent on the cross.

While we don’t have enough time left in the year to devote an episode to each gospel for this event while also concluding the year with Jesus’ resurrection, let’s take the next couple of weeks and focus in on some big themes we can learn about Jesus and about God through what is shared about Jesus’ time on the cross.

Since Matthew and Mark are the most similar, let’s group them together in this episode, then in the following two episodes, let’s look at Luke and then John respectively.

With that said, let’s read Mark’s version of Jesus’ crucifixion to discover how he describes Jesus’ time on the cross. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will be reading it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 25, Mark tells us that:

²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the Jews.

²⁷ They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [^[28]  Some manuscripts add a verse here that says: “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was numbered with the transgressors’”] ²⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

In Mark’s version of this event, we discover that Jesus faced a different type of temptation during the last hours before His death. Up to this point, the temptation Satan has thrown at Jesus the strongest is the temptation to abandon both the cross as well as the human race. However, now that Jesus is on the cross, the temptation Satan throws at Jesus is one challenging Jesus to come down from the cross.

The only way this temptation makes sense is if it was within Jesus’ power to do. The fact that Jesus received hostility and insults from all angles suggests that this was prompted by Satan because Jesus could come off of the cross if He wanted to. Out of the challenges Jesus receives, the one Mark chose to include hits all the angles of a solid temptation.

Mark quotes the challenge by saying in verses 31 and 32, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

The first part of the temptation hits on pride. This angle of temptation challenges Jesus regarding His ability to come down, and it suggests that Jesus doesn’t come down because He cannot come down. Satan ignores the detail, hoping we will ignore the detail as well, that while Jesus can come down, He chooses not to because the cross and death was His mission and the way we can be saved.

The second part of the temptation hits on Jesus’ mission. This angle of temptation challenges Jesus regarding the mission and role He came to the earth to fulfill. Jesus came as the Messiah that was promised, and Satan challenges Jesus that His death is a failure of His role – especially in the eyes of the Old Testament scriptures and the current generation’s understanding of these scriptures. Satan ignores the detail, hoping we will ignore the detail as well, that the Old Testament describes Jesus’ rejection, betrayal, and death, and that His death was part of the Messiah’s master plan for humanity’s salvation.

The third part of the temptation hits on Jesus’ divinity. This angle of temptation challenges Jesus regarding His right to receive worship as a member of the Godhead. Satan challenged Jesus through this temptation that if the Messiah dies, He is not worthy of receiving worship. In contrast, if Jesus displays His divinity by coming down from the cross, He will receive worship and praise from those present. Satan ignores the detail, hoping we will ignore the detail as well, that while Jesus is worthy of our worship, Jesus isn’t interested in receiving our worship or praise. Jesus would rather point all praise and worship to the Father, and Jesus didn’t come with the goal of being worshiped.

Also, it is significant to note that any praise or worship Jesus would have received would mean nothing if He came down from the cross. Either the worship itself would be empty because it was from shallow, unrepentant hearts, or it would be empty because Jesus would have failed His mission and He would have failed humanity.

Jesus overcame this big temptation because His mission was to redeem humanity. Jesus triumphed over every temptation Satan threw at Him from the temptations at the start of His ministry after His baptism, to this last temptation Satan was saving for Jesus’ time on the cross. Jesus overcame temptation and sin to make it possible for us to accept the gift He offers to each of us.

Mark’s gospel tells us that not only did Jesus receive insults and challenges from the religious leaders and soldiers who were present, but also from those who were crucified with Him. However, not all those who were crucified with Jesus were convinced that Jesus deserved these insults or challenges, but we’ll wait until our next episode to discover what happens when one of the people near Jesus decides to ask Jesus for a favor when they are both about to die.

As we come to the end of this episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Be sure to always seek God first. Know that Jesus faced and overcame temptation so that when we are tempted, we can lean on Him for the power to resist temptation in our own lives as well. Also, we can know and trust that when we have failed God, He is more than willing to accept us back and forgive us because that is one of the big reasons why Jesus came.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Jesus. Through a personal relationship with Jesus, He helps us overcome temptation in our lives and He helps us live the life He created us to live.

Which leads us into the challenge I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!