Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (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.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
— John 12: 1-8
When reading today’s gospel, some may find themselves puzzled by Jesus’ rebuke of Judas. From a modern perspective, it’s difficult not to sympathize with Judas’ reasoning. Mary "wasted" something worth a year's wages at the time. How we interpret this story sheds light on what it means to follow Jesus and how we measure the impact of our actions. If we weigh Mary’s offering on Judas’ utilitarian scale, we are left confused when Jesus places his thumb on the other side. How should we understand our offerings if they aren’t meant to serve the least of these? After all, wasn’t this a core teaching in the Sermon on the Mount?
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” — Matthew 25:40
Should we measure our offerings, worship, and walk with Christ purely by its utility? In this circumstance, we are asking the wrong question. Is usefulness the only measure to which we should judge our actions? Or is there meaningful impact from irrational transformative acts? What does it truly mean to serve the least of these? I find it helpful to view Mary's sacrifice as a work of art. What is the utility of art, and why would Jesus favor such a "wasteful" gesture?
For the sake of this discussion, let’s set aside the fact that the one asserting this act as wasteful, Judas, isn't acting in good faith. He claims to speak for the poor, yet he has not been the best steward of the disciples' coin purse.
How did those thirty pieces of silver end up in there, Judas?
But I digress.
Viewing Mary's act as art provides insight that, at first glance, is left unseen. The value of art is subjective and, from an economic point of view, only beneficial as a vehicle to store wealth. Past that, art lacks the utility of progressing society by providing a material gain for sustenance or innovation. Therein lies the secret: art’s lack of utility is what makes it so impactful. Andy Crouch puts it this way:
Art is one way of naming everything we as cultural beings do that cannot be explained in terms of its usefulness.
Art communicates something economic value can never capture. Jesus isn't condemning giving to the poor and needy in this account. He is assigning value to something that cannot be measured with silver and gold. Mary’s art communicates what great love looks like through a seemingly destructive act. Sacrificing her prized possession symbolizes what it means to “take up your cross daily.” This act goes on to impact the whole gospel message throughout the world.
Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. — Mark 14:9
When we see the world only in terms of usefulness or waste, we limit what it means to be human and cut ourselves off from an abundant life. Efficiency is not humanity’s highest and greatest concern. I believe Jesus recognizes this sacrifice as not only a preparation for his burial, but an icon to represent what it means to follow him. Giving to the poor out of generosity is good and noble, but it is not in competition with our faithfulness and the human spirit. This view comes from a scarcity mindset that only sees life as a zero-sum game. We are not meant to view the world in such dualistic terms. I want to leave you with a quote from Michael Goheen that encapsulates the essence of art and its impact on the human experience.
Creating something good by cultivating God's world is called culture-making, and it's an important part of the human vocation. When we discover and unfold the inherent goodness in the things that we make, we fill the world with things that evoke awe and wonder, and our work becomes a magnifying glass that provides a clear picture of God's majestic creation. When humans experience wonder and delight as they encounter good culture, whether it's a symphony, a baseball game or a sandwich, they are experiencing an amplified image of God's good handiwork. Our work can give people a glimpse of the majesty of God's creation and a sense that they are something greater than themselves in the world.
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