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Extravagant Devotion

For Palm Sunday this year, we will be studying Jesus' anointing at Bethany in the gospel of John. After Lazarus has been raised from the dead, Martha and Mary host a dinner to honor Jesus. At this dinner, Mary performs an unconventional act of anointing Jesus' feet with a costly perfume and letting her hair down to wipe his feet. Mary honors Jesus in this way because she has faith in Jesus' words that he will go up to Jerusalem and die. Her act, both costly and uncomfortable for all the dinner party attendants, is rebuked by Judas with seemingly sound logic. Why waste the perfume when it can be given to the poor? Jesus defends Mary's actions, knowing that she recognizes the significance of this moment and His impending death. In this passage, we will see the contrast between true devotion to Christ and hypocrisy and how our Savior prepared for His impending death on our behalf.