Mark 14:4-7 - She has done a beautiful thing

14:4,5

This woman’s actions offended some of the people there. Given the culture, they would not think much of her because she was a woman. Their pretext for their indignation was that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.So they rebuked the woman harshly. Superficially their objections seem reasonable, they could even be viewed as “caring”. There are many instances where proponents of unbiblical positions will claim to be caring or loving.

14:6,7

Jesus saw things rather differently. He saw the heart of the woman differently, and He saw the hearts of her critic differently. He told them to leave the woman alone, and that what she had done was in fact a beautiful thing. He then also draws attention to Himself. He gladly accepts the worship of the woman, and says that worship of Himself is perfectly in order and is to be encouraged. This is another implicit divinity claim. Indeed, the gospels are one big divinity claim!  Jesus also points out that the poor are always with us. If they were so concerned about the poor they could have done so much more to help them than they actually did. The actions of the woman’s critics could be described as an example of virtue signalling!