She Has Done a Beautiful Thing

John 12:1-11

Six days before Passover, Mary of Bethany did something that scandalized everyone at the table. She took a jar of pure nard - perfume worth nearly a year's wages - and poured it all over Jesus's feet, then wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

Judas called it wasteful. Jesus called it beautiful. "She has done what she could," he said. "She has anointed my body for burial."

In the middle of a week that will grow very dark, very quickly, this is where we begin: with extravagant, unashamed love. Mary didn't calculate what was "reasonable." She gave everything she had to the one she loved. As we begin Holy Week, we are invited to bring whatever we have - however small or broken - and lay it at his feet.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we don't always know the right words or the right gesture. But like Mary, may we simply draw close to you this week and give you what we have. Fill our hearts with your fragrance. Amen.