Pastoral - Holy Week: Spy Wednesday

Covetousness and the Christ: Spy Wednesday

14 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, ² for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” ³ And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^[a] as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii^[b] and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” ¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. ¹¹ And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. (Mark 14:1-11)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

It seemed to be a quiet night in Jerusalem and the surrounding towns just two days before the Passover. Although it seemed peaceful, the chief priests and the scribes were gathered together plotting to kill the Son of God. You see, because of him, their reputation and status was at stake. Jesus was gaining fame and had shown to the people the emptiness of their religious practices. Trying to catch Jesus in contradiction or sin wasn’t working and they needed a quick solution to cover up their covet-thirst for power and praise.

The Anointing of Jesus

We turn our attention that very evening to a small house owned by Simon the leper in Bethany a few miles east of Jerusalem. The disciples are gathered with Jesus and a few others. As they are reclining at the table a woman, whom John tells us is Mary the sister of Lazarus (John 12:3), brings “an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard” (Mark 14:3). She breaks the flask and begins to anoint Jesus’ head with this very costly ointment. As the disciples see this happen, a few of them become indignant and say to themselves, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor” (Mark 14:4-5). They were filled with anger because she wasted a year’s worth of wages on their Messiah that could have been put into their moneybags. I wonder, do we find ourselves valuing earthly gain above Christ like this? We see in John 12:6 that this was mainly Judas Iscariot who wanted the money for his own financial gain. Jesus rebuked their hardhearted, covet-filled scolding and praised what Mary had done. She was preparing his body for burial.

The Betrayal

Judas, who has been hardening his heart with covetousness and greed, gave way for Satan to enter his heart. Judas couldn’t see the worth of the Savior, he could only see the worth of his money. Judas left Simon’s house full of hate, probably thinking to himself how much money he could have had if Mary wouldn’t have been so foolish. I’m sure he had the words of Jesus lingering in the back of his mind, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). None the less, having his conscience seared and his mind set on evil, he continued the few miles to Jerusalem choosing to serve money rather than God. He found the chief priests and scribes plotting to kill his master. They promised him 30 pieces of silver if he would but betray Jesus and deliver him up to them. We can see from Matthew 26:15 that Judas even asked what he would gain if he did this. He probably thought to himself, “It’s not like I am killing him, that fate is on the chief priests and scribes. I am merely showing them where he is and getting the money that I deserved when that woman wasted the ointment.”  Judas’ covetous, hardened heart caused him to not see the worth of Christ but only the worth of his money. Does our sin blind us to the point where we chose to betray Christ in order to find satisfaction? As we observe Holy Week, It is my prayer that we ask ourselves these hard questions.