Third Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: John 12:1-8

[To see the first two passes at this lesson, go here and here. The first link explains what these passes are about.]

[Verse-by-Verse Comments, continued]
4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
(1) John always mentions that Judas will betray Jesus. If Mary of Bethany exemplifies authentic discipleship, Judas is its antitype.

(2) Of course, the Scriptures indicate that followers of Christ should make giving to the poor a priority, as it was in Old Testament thought as well. But we see how far Judas is from authentic discipleship in that he will use religious tradition and rhetoric to condemn an act of true devotion to Christ.

(3) A denarius was the usual pay for a laborer's day of work. The perfume used by Mary would thus have cost a year's pay. This is an extravagant act of devotion. (Denarii is the plural form of denarius.)

(4) Brian Stoffregen points out that the 300 denarii "wasted" by Mary is ten times what Judas would take to betray Jesus. All week long, I've been thinking of that old AC/DC song to describe Judas' act: "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap."

6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
(1) The Greek word translated here as thief is kleptes, from which we get the word kleptomaniac. It's also the same word used by Jesus to describe the thief who threatens the flock in John 10:1, 8, 10. In both cases--that of the thief and of Judas--the aim is to destroy the life, hope, and devotion of the followers of the Good Shepherd. Of course, Judas' act is, in its way, vastly more evil. He is the supposedly pious, but faithless person on the inside tearing down the faith and the unity of the church by insisting that things should be done in a proscribed way.

7Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
(1) Jesus does not mean for the Church to prefer extravagance on things like buildings over against doing for the poor. We should always give the poor priority, along with those with no knowledge of Jesus Christ. But Jesus is commending Mary for taking advantage of honoring Him while she could. Do we take advantage of the fleeting opportunities we have to honor Christ when we can?