MARK 14:1-9
‘They said to each other, “Why waste the perfume?’
The meeting between Jesus and this woman is so intimate that it made the observers uncomfortable. Mark does not give much detail of what actually happened, whereas Luke in his version tells us how the woman wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair and kissed them and poured perfume on them (Luke 7:36-50). It was so intimate that to the disciples it was improper, maybe even indecent, but certainly undignified in such a public setting.
Jesus did not have a problem with her actions. It was an act of worship and the woman shows us what worship is. It is not primarily singing, praying, dancing, laughing, crying, reading – although all of these can be part of worship. Worship is what the woman did: pouring out our heart to Jesus, expressing our love and adoration for him, even when others might find it embarrassing and undignified.
Worship is supposed to be intimate. It is, of course, to declare the greatness of God, it is to bow down to the Majesty in awe, but it is also an intimate meeting with the lover of our soul, where we, who have been forgiven much, express our love to our Saviour.
To the onlookers, it seemed as a waste. The danger though, then and now, is that we get so caught up with what ought to be done, the needs around us and the enormous task before us, that we forget all our service must begin with and flow out of our love for Jesus. Worship is not a waste, it is the only prober response in the presence of Jesus and without it we risk to achieve nothing with all our deeds (1. Cor. 13, 1-3).