Any of us who have been in church budget meetings know something of this attitude of pious austerity that affects Christians of all stripes. For some reason, no one is more careful with money than when it is time to judge how someone else spends it, especially in the Lord’s name.
Many of us have seen, and perhaps ourselves contributed to, the questioning with suspicion of ministry workers with respect to necessary building improvements and furnishings or the salary of pastors and missionaries. One well-known example took place many years ago when one pastor rebuked David Platt during one “Elephant Room” dialogue over his decision to allegedly cut goldfish crackers from the children’s ministry to channel the funds toward missions. “That’s sick,” the pastor scoffed.
It is incredibly ironic the way we tend to splurge for ourselves one moment yet tighten the belt of the ministry budget the next.
Holy Wednesday, Good Wednesday, or Spy Wednesday—depending on your tradition—marks the day Jesus was anointed at Bethany and the day Judas Iscariot decided to betray Jesus (see Mark 14:1–11; Matt. 26:6–16; John 12:1–8). That final term, Spy Wednesday, refers to the clandestine way in which Judas ran reconnaissance for the Jewish leaders, waiting for the right moment to give him over.
On this day we see true piety juxtaposed with betrayal. But the contrast goes deeper than we may realize at first glance. While Jesus is reclining at the house of Simon the leper, a woman breaks a fine alabaster flask of ointment made with pure spikenard and anoints Jesus’ head (Mark 14:3). This expensive oil would have filled the room with a woody, earthy, bittersweet aroma drawn from the roots of flowering plants in the valerian family. For Jesus, the fragrance would have had a calming and rejuvenating effect. But the act of devotion is not perceived well by the others present.
Some object (v. 4) that the oil could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii—a year’s wages for a worker—and given to the poor. In today’s terms, this would equate to several tens of thousands of dollars.
By contrast, this woman was willing to sacrifice great sums of wealth not out of indulgence or ostentatious display but in sacrificially honoring the Lord Jesus himself.
“But Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 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. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 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.’” (Mark 14:6–9)
Giving relief to the poor has its place. The missions budget also matters. Jesus does not commend wastefulness per se. But this was the woman’s one and only chance to demonstrate her love for the Lord face to face in an extravagant manner, and she chose not to miss her chance.
Yet it was on the heels of this sacrificial act of devotion that Judas—one of those who sneered about the value of the oil (John 12:4–6)—chose to give Jesus up to the authorities (Mark 14:10–11; Matt. 26:14–16). We know from Matthew 26:15 that the price for which Judas betrayed Jesus was thirty pieces of silver—about four months’ wages, and notably equivalent to the price of a slave (Ex. 21:32; cf. Zech. 11:12–13). The chief priests had scored a bargain.
The ways in which Holy Wednesday’s lessons apply to us are layered. On the one hand, we should not miss the example of the woman and her gift. Jesus is worthy of all our adoration, even when it comes at a cost—be it financial or social. Yes, we should serve the poor, but our primary service should be to the Lord directly.
But a deeper application remains. Remember that balance sheets do not tell the whole story. We live in a Christian subculture in which penny-pinching for missions can appear pious, in which miserliness can be mistaken for spirituality. Yet this same parsimonious perspective that sneered at the woman’s gift was able, in the next moment, to betray Jesus for a small sum.
Stinginess is no marker of spirituality.
When Jesus taught that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:21), he was not merely commending frugality but highlighting the object of one’s devotion. Either we will be devoted to the Lord with our wealth or we will devote our wealth to other lords. Let us not confuse cheapness with true piety.
Jesus had been anointed for his burial. His death was coming in just two days. What happened over the next 48 hours would change the course of human history and eternity.
