Mark 14:8-10 - She did what she could

14:8,9

The woman “did what she could”. She desired to honour Jesus in some way and did what she thought best. Jesus saw the heart of the woman. Sometimes things may do things in an “unseemly” manner, but their hearts may be purer than ours! She was also acting prophetically, preparing Jesus’ body for burial. She probably didn’t appreciate this herself, but was doing so nonetheless. So rather than being condemned, this woman would be held up as a good example, one for others to follow.

14:10

It was at this point that Judas Iscariot got up and went to the chief priests to betray Jesus. Why at this point? The thoughts had been going on in his mind for sometime, and we read in John’s gospel (John 12:6) that Judas was a thief. Indeed, it says in John 12:4,5 that it was Judas who raised the question of giving the money to the poor, though Mark does not say that. Perhaps at this point he had just decided that he had had enough, or maybe he feared being caught out for his pilfering of the money that had been collected for the poor. We need to beware of thoughts that fester in our minds, going round and round. For when this happens something can happen that suddenly triggers an evil action. We need instead to make sure we focus on the Bible, that is the best antidote.