Passage: Matthew 26:6-13
Purpose: To feel how wrong, how absolutely wrong, it was for Jesus to head toward the cross. He was supposed to be crowned King, not be murdered and thrown in a tomb.
Time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
Setting: Table with an empty bowl and small vase partially filled with oil. Jesus has just died.
Image courtesy of Mark Lawrence via marklawrencegallery.com
Script:
[Walking toward table, reflecting on what has just happened earlier tonight.]
I had heard that Jesus and his disciples would be eating at Simon’s house. It was just before the feast and there were rumors that when Jesus went up to Jerusalem the next day, that the people would make him king.
Surely, Jesus was the promised one the Isaiah had foretold. He had healed the sick, made blind people see, lame people walk—we had all seen God’s power at work in him. And now, he was going up to Jerusalem as the prophets had foretold and the people spoke of making him king.
I wanted to honor him, but how? What did I have that would be fit for a king?
Then, I remembered my perfume. [Picks up vase.] It was the only thing of value I owned. A few drops from this bottle would honor him. [Pauses.] No, not a few drops, I will pour all of it over his head like when Samuel anointed King David. Yes, that would be fitting for a king.
So, I came into Simon’s house part-way through the meal. When I entered the room, the men stopped eating and stared at me, suspicion on some of their faces. The room was silent, as if demanding an account for why I was there, but I hadn’t planned anything to say. All I’d thought about was the alabaster jar resting heavy in my hand. [Raises the jar as she speaks.] So without saying anything, I went to where Jesus was, [Walks to other side of table.] kneeled behind him, and poured the precious contents over his head. [Pours the oil slowly into the bowl.]
Before I was done, one of them whispered—loud enough for me to hear—“Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
But then Jesus looked at me, a drop of oil trickling down his forehead, and 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.”
His burial? But He was to be crowned as King. This was not right. Preparing him for his coronation maybe, but certainly not his burial. This couldn’t be right.
