3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:3-9, ESV)

In addition to the highly instructive (and sobering) tale of the woman sacrificing her valuable ointment to anoint the Lord, this passage provides us with a valuable reminder about priorities. Note the word reminder: There is nothing particularly new in this short article, no unique insights, no special revelations. Sometimes, however, reminders are just as powerful and necessary as fresh insights; in fact, often they are more so. We are always in need of being reminded that there are more important things than the material world around us. To be sure, we have material needs, and they are an integral, unavoidable quality of our mortal lives. We need work, food, shelter, transportation and a host of other material things. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that we sinful human beings frequently care far more passionately about material things than we should.

This story is not the only account in the gospels that deals with the tension between material and spiritual values. For example, when the Pharisees complained that his disciples ate grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8), Jesus reminded them of the Old Testament accounts of David unlawfully eating the bread of the Presence in the temple and the priests profaning the Sabbath with impunity. Then he pointed out, “Something greater than the temple is here.” Truly for the woman who gave up all her precious ointment, something greater than perfume was there. Unfortunately, the woman’s critics could not grasp that the material does not—must not—outweigh the spiritual.

While it is very easy for us to become critics of the critics in this passage, standing comfortably distant from the events of the story, we truly delude ourselves if we think we are all that different. I fear that we are just like those faultfinders of so long ago. Contrary to the Bible’s principles, our culture—like our Middle Eastern counterpart of yore—widely emphasizes material results as the prime criterion for determining value. One of the most poignant commentaries on this prevalent problem of pragmatism is Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV):

31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Time and time again the scriptures remind us of this spiritual priority with indisputable clarity; yet how often are our lives preoccupied excessively with the “here and now” of this world instead of the “there and later” of the next life? How often do we truly seek to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven that shall never wear out? Our culture looks upon “forward thinking” with great favor, and this is an admirable quality, for prudence and thinking ahead are always wise. But how much of our looking ahead includes the kingdom of God? Let’s make the pursuit of the kingdom of God and his righteousness always our first priority and leave the rest to him.