Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. (John 12:1–11)

While Jesus visited the home of his friend Lazarus, his sister poured perfume on his feet and then wiped them with her hair. The incident resembles what happened in Simon the Leper’s home (Matthew 26:6-12; Mark 14:3-9). Luke relates the story of a “sinful” woman in a Pharisee’s house who did the same thing (Luke 7:38). Though there are similarities between all three stories, the differences between them are enough that most scholars assume that three different woman put perfume on Jesus at three different times.

Three hundred denarii amounted to about a year’s wage. But it would have aided three hundred poor people for only a day, or helped out just one poor person for a year. And afterward, they would still have been poor. Perhaps at that moment, focusing on Jesus who would die in less than a week was more important than focusing on the poor who would still be poor tomorrow.

Constantly second guessing our choices only leads to unnecessary guilt. We can only do so much. When we do a good thing, we shouldn’t worry about whether there might have been some other good thing we could have done instead. We should live our lives without regrets.

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