1

Mary who prepared Jesus' burial with perfume.

2

[Matthew 26:13]

I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world,

what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.

3

Jesus, who came to this earth to save us, knew everything that would happen to him. He was killed on the cross, resurrected, and knew that he would go to heaven. And he knew that he will come again as a judge in the future.

4

So when he was on the earth he told his disciples that they should wait for Jesus in various stories. And Jesus told them the parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the talents. And on the last day, when Jesus came again, He told them who was going to heaven.

5

After he had finished these stories, Jesus directly spoke of his death. "As you know, the Passover is two days later, and at that time the Son of Man will die on the cross." But the disciples did not know what Jesus meant and what it meant.

6

Then, when Jesus was in the house of Simon in Bethany, an incident arose. Jesus was eating there. At that time a woman came to Jesus with an perfume in her hand.

7

This woman was Mary, the sister of Jesus' friend, Lazarus (see John 12:3). Mary was holding a perfume bottle.

8

The perfume that Mary holds is very expensive. Approximately 300 denarii (one denarius = one day wage for workers). This is because the workers have collected all the money they have earned for a full year of work, which is an extremely expensive item.

9

Mary began to pour that expensive perfume from the head of Jesus. The ointment spewed down the whole body of Jesus.

10

The smell was filled with the perfume that the woman had sprinkled in the whole room. The disciples were astonished at this sight. They thought that they were wasting too much expensive perfume.

11

And some of the disciples told the woman in anger.

  “No, why do you waste this expensive perfume? You could sell it and give it to the poor, but you've wasted it like this!” They just calculated what Mary did for the amount of money and angry at her.

12

But Jesus knew the true meaning of Mary's actions. It was preparing for the funeral of Jesus, the body to die on the cross in the future.

13

Among the customs of the Jewish funeral is the consciousness of putting the perfume on the dead. However, the disciples showed ignorance that they did not realize the meaning at all. When Mary poured perfume for Jesus' burial, they did not realize the meaning and were sorry for it.

14

Jesus told His disciples. “Why do you harass this woman? This woman has done a very good thing for me, and the poor will continue to be with you in the future, but I will not be with you so long. It was done for my funeral.”

15

Mary was so grateful for the grace she received through Jesus that she did not hesitate to give Jesus the most precious thing she had. But God made this heart of Mary more and more meaningful. It does not know how much glory she has been in preparing for the burial of Jesus, who is God.

16

Jesus continued to say: “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Mary received all the land where the Gospel is transmitted, and the blessings whose name is remembered. Today we hear God's word about this woman to prove that this Jesus prophecy was fulfilled.

17

We received the grace of salvation because of the death of Jesus on the cross. We should be thankful for that grace and be a man of faith who can give us the precious things we have for Him like Mary. Like Mary, when we offer our precious things for God, God gives us more amazing blessings than we can think of.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)