In Matthew 26:6-13, "Simon the leper" having been cleansed from his leprosy, invited Jesus and the disciples to his home for dinner. During the meal a woman opens a costly vial of perfume and anoints Christ's head and feet. The disciples with Judas leading the charge, become indignant crying in vs. 8-9, "Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." In a parallel passage, John 12 reveals that the real motive for disgust was Judas' desire to pad the treasury from which he would often pilfer. Jesus responds by saying, "She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me."
The dichotomy of this picture is that Simon, though more distant from Christ than the disciples and with an outwardly more difficult problem, received Christ power to be made whole. While the disciples who were closest to Christ, seemed to disproportionately ignore the privilege of tapping his power to cleanse their selfish heart.
Let us who are most close to Christ use our proximity to change our hearts so we can change the world. Live right, live well...
