As the sun goes down over Jerusalem, marking the end of the Sabbath on March 28, A.D. 33, a tight-knit community of friends make their way to the home of Simon the Leper in the small village of Bethany (see Matthew 26:6). He's hosting a celebratory dinner to honor Jesus, as the community demonstrates their gratitude for Lazarus being raised from the dead. Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, are overwhelmed with gratitude. After all, Jesus brought their brother back to life! So Martha, as is her custom, serves. Hosting a large dinner party has taken enormous preparation and work. Mary brings her best, too. What else can she offer Jesus but her greatest treasure, a jar of aromatic oil worth an entire year's salary? As she anoints his body, she wipes his feet with her hair. Even today, seeing this at a dinner party would make me extremely uncomfortable. Everyone walks home with the scent of her devotion in their clothes. The disciples are taken aback by this extravagance. Judas speaks on their behalf, "We could have sold the perfume and given the money to the poor." What he leaves unmentioned is that he intended to take a cut of the proceeds before distributing them. He'd rather hand Jesus over to be killed than keep his hands out of the money jar. Jesus calls his bluff. Instead of eliminating poverty, Judas is about to make sure that Jesus isn't around. It pays better. Whenever my wife and I have some extra money, she usually wants to give it away. I usually want to make overdue repairs on our house. What does it look like to honor Jesus with our money and our lives? It's a tension we never resolve. The postscript is jarring. While Judas pretends to be a disciple, the chief priests have taken off their masks. They've put Jesus and Lazarus on a hit list. They're bad for business. It's an unforgettable dinner: A leper and two women act like disciples; the trusted treasurer and the religious leaders plot to kill. Mary gives everything she has to celebrate the reversal of death. Jesus declares he will die.