** The Woman and Jar of Expensive Ointment **

When Jesus had finished saying all these things,
He said to His disciples,
"As you know, the Passover is two days away --
and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people
assembled in the palace of the high priest,
whose name was Caiaphas,
and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill Him.
"But not during the Feast," they said,
"or there may be a riot among the people."

While Jesus was in Bethany
in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper,
a woman came to Him
with an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment,
which she pored on His head
as He was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.
"Why this waste?" they asked.
"This perfume could have been sold at a high price
and the money given to the poor."

Aware of this, Jesus said to them,
"Why are you bothering this woman?
She has done a beautiful thing to Me.
The poor you will always have with you,
but you will not always have Me.
When she poured this perfume on My body,
she did it to prepare Me for burial.
I tell you the truth,
wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world,
what she has done will also be told,
in memory of her."

Then one of the Twelve --
the one called Judas Iscariot --
went to the chief priest and asked,
"What are you willing to give me
if I hand Him over to you?"
So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
From then on
Judas watched for an opportunity to hand Him over.

(Matthew 26:1-16)