A Troubling Deed

Ο δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· ῎Αφετε αὐτήν. Τί αὐτῇ κόπους παρέχετε; Καλὸν ἔργον εἰργάσατο ἐν ἐμοί. Πάντοτε γὰρ τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἔχετε μεθ' ἑαυτῶν, καὶ ὅταν θέλητε, δύνασθε αὐτοὺς εὖ ποιῆσαι, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε έχετε . Ὁ ἔσχεν αὕτη , ἐποίησε, προέλαβε μυρίσαι μου τὸ σῶμα εἰς τὸν ἐνταφιασμόν. 'Αμὴν δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅπου ἂν κηρυχθῇ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦτο εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ὁ ἐποίησεν αὕτη λαληθήσεται εἰς μνημόσυνον αὐτῆς. Μέμφεται ὁ Κύριος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, ὡς ἀκαίρως ἐμποδίζουσι τῇ προθυμίᾳ τῆς γυναικός. Τἱ γὰρ, φησὶν, αὐτῇ κόπους παρέχετε; μεθ' ὁ προσέφερε τὸ δῶρον, ἀποστρέφοντες αὐτὴν διὰ τοῦ ὀνειδισμοῦ; Αμα δὲ καὶ πλήττει τὸν προδότην, εν τῷ λέγειν, ὅτι Εἰς τὸν ἐνταφιασμόν μου τοῦτο ἐποίησε , καὶ ὡς ἀσυνείδητον ἐλέγχει. Μονονουχὶ τοῦτο λέγων αὐτῷ, ὅτι Σὺ μὲν εἰς θάνατόν με προδιδοὺς, οὐκ ἐλέγχεις σεαυτόν. Αὕτη δὲ εἰς τὸν ἐνταφιασμόν μου τὸ μύρον φέρουσα, ὡσανεὶ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ κινηθεῖσα , ἀξία ἐστὶν ἐλέγχεσθαι ὑπὸ σοῦ; Προφητεύει δὲ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Κύριος δύο προφητείας, ὅτι τε τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον κηρυχθήσεται ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ ὅτι τὸ ἔργον τῆς γυναικὸς συγκηρυχθήσεται. Αἰσχυνέσθωσαν οὖν ἐντεῦθεν οἱ τοὺς πτωχοὺς προτιμῶντες τοῦ Χριστοῦ . Ἡκουσα γὰρ ἐγὼ χρυσοχόων λεγόντων, ὅτι Ἐὰν τὸ ἱερὸν σκεῦος καταλύσας δῶ πτωχοῖς , καὶ ἐγὼ ζήσω, οὐκ ἔστι κρίμα. Ἀκουέτωσαν οὖν πῶς ὁ Χριστὸς προτιμᾷ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θεραπείαν, τῶν πτωχῶν. Χριστοῦ δὲ σῶμα κυείως, τὸ ἐν τῷ δίσκῳ τῷ χρυσῷ, καὶ αἷμα τὸ ἐν τῷ ποτηρίῳ. Ὁ γοῦν ἀφαιρούμενος τὸν δίσκον τὸν πολύτιμον, καὶ ἀναγκάζων τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν εὐτελεστέρῳ τίθεσθαι , προφασιζόμενος δὲ τοὺς πτωχοὺς , γινωσκέτω ποίας μερίδος ἐστίν. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Μάρκον, Κεφαλὴ AB' Source: Migne PG 123.645c-648a

And Jesus said, 'Allow her. Why do you trouble her? She has a performed a good deed for me. You shall always have the poor with you, and as much as you wish you can do good to them, but you shall not always have me. What she was able to do, she did; she came to anoint my body for the tomb. Truly I say to you that wherever the Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, even this which she has done shall be spoken of in memory of her. 1 The Lord reproves the disciples, who intemperately opposed the zeal of the woman. For why, He says, do you make it your business and why are you troubled by it, and after she has brought her gift turn against her in disapproval? And He strikes out at the traitor in saying that she does this for His burial. Clearly He disputes the judgement of his conscience, as if He said to him, 'You shall hand me over to death, but you will not reproach yourself? This woman brings ointment for my burial, who as one moved by God is worthy of me, and you reprove her?' Then in this passage the Lord makes prophecy of two things, that the Gospel shall be preached in the whole world and that likewise what the woman has done shall be told. And this passage confounds those who prefer the poor to Christ. I myself have heard of the melting down of the holy vessels and that is a holy thing to give of them to the poor, and I should live so as not to be condemned, but let them hear that Christ would have Himself preferred to care for the poor. It is fitting that the body of Christ should be on a dish of gold and His blood in a golden cup. Therefore he who would cast away a precious dish and force the body of Christ to be put on a cheap plate, that is, on the excuse of poverty, let it known whose side he takes. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 12 1 Mk 14.6-9