What is the context?
In Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper, a woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus' head while He reclines at the table. The disciples object that it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus defends her and connects her act with preparing His body for burial.
John 12:1–8 describes an anointing at Bethany by Mary, with Martha serving and Lazarus at the table. John describes Jesus' feet being anointed and identifies Judas as the person objecting, adding that he stole from the money bag. Matthew leaves the woman unnamed and describes the disciples' objection. Mark 14:3–9 also records the perfume poured on His head and Jesus' defense of the woman.
Jesus' statement about always having the poor echoes Deuteronomy 15:7–11, which commands openhanded care for those in need. In Mark's account, He also says they can help the poor whenever they want. The approaching end of His bodily presence gives this act its particular moment; His words do not cancel their responsibility to the poor.
Jesus promises that her deed will be remembered wherever the gospel is proclaimed. Between the plot against Him and Judas' agreement to betray Him, Matthew records someone honoring Him at great cost. What the disciples call waste, Jesus receives as a beautiful deed.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian readers commonly understand the gift as costly devotion and Jesus' words as pointing toward His burial. Walvoord on 26:6–13 reads Matthew, Mark, and John as accounts of the same anointing, with John supplying Mary's name and further details.
Readers differ about how fully the woman herself understood what she was doing. Wesley on 26:12 says Jesus gave the act its burial meaning rather than that this was her own intention. Walvoord proposes that Mary had grasped at least something of His approaching death. Matthew clearly gives Jesus' explanation, but does not describe the woman's private thoughts. Both readings recognize the honor Jesus gives her.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
This gift points toward the burial that will follow Jesus' death, and He Himself connects its remembrance with the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. The act is personal and local, yet Jesus places it within a message that will travel far beyond Bethany. Someone whose action others dismissed becomes part of how His story is told.
There is also a useful parallel with the response to God's mercy in Romans 12:1–2: offering our lives to God rather than letting the world set our values. The woman's costly honor illustrates that kind of response; it is not a command that every believer must make her exact gift. Philippians 2:5–11 grounds the wider call to humility in Christ's own willing obedience through death. His self-giving gives depth to the question of what we value and how we respond to Him.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.