Mark’s Gospel features a cast of memorable characters.  Early in the Gospel, the friends of a crippled man broke through the roof of the house where Jesus was staying. (Mk 2:3-11)  They did so in order to lower the cripple down for healing. I’ve always wondered what the owner of the house thought about their act of friendship. 

In the Passion Narrative, a young man who was about to be arrested with Jesus abandoned his clothing and ran away to avoid capture. (Mk 14:51-52)  A little while before that event, a nameless and uninvited woman anointed Jesus with a costly imported perfumed oil. (Mk 14:3-9) 

Some Scripture commentators say that these characters represented members of Mark’s congregation or people known to the congregation.  If true, this knowledge does little for us because we have no way of knowing who these people were.   

It might be more helpful if we understand these quirky characters as representing ideas or experiences central to the Gospel message, but even this has its limitations.  For example, Jesus’ response to the disciples’ objections to the anointing can be misunderstood too easily.  “You will always have the poor with you” (Mk 14:7) can sound a great deal like the variously attributed quote, “I’ve been poor, and I’ve been rich; rich is better.”  If this anointing is examined within the larger context of Mark’s Passion Narrative, however, it does make sense as a representation of a central theme of the Gospel. 

The unidentified woman is the only person in the Passion Narrative who correctly identifies Jesus.  Her act of anointing Jesus with costly perfume identifies Jesus as the Messiah, that is, “the anointed one.”  She saw Jesus’ true nature, unlike the disciples and the chief priests of the Temple who were spiritually blind and deaf.  Jesus said that she performed this prophetic act in anticipation of his burial. (Mk 14:8)  His comment underscores the central theme of the Gospel, namely, that Jesus can be understood only from the point of view of his sacrificial and redemptive death on the Cross. 

The contrast between the woman’s faith and Jesus’ rejection by almost everyone else reflects the mixed response the Gospel received after his death.  It is also a statement about how Mark’s Gospel wants us to respond to Jesus who is the innocent, suffering servant of God and the revelation of God’s plan to redeem the whole world.  The message that Mark’s Gospel proclaims is portrayed graphically in the events of the last days of Jesus’ life; he was greeted in Jerusalem with both palms and the Passion, as both Messiah and Suffering Servant. 

The unnamed woman’s prophetic act of anointing is instruction about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.  The Gospel says that some of those present at the table were indignant that she seemed to waste such a costly commodity. They complained, “Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil?  It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages and the money given to the poor.” (Mk 14:4-5) 

The disciples’ complaint that the cost of the perfume could have been donated to the poor was a reference to the practice of almsgiving at festivals such as Passover.  Every member of God’s People was obliged to give alms to the poor as an act of fidelity to the Sinai Covenant. (Dt 15:1-11) Jesus’ reprimand was not an expression of indifference to poverty but a reiteration of the permanent obligation to care for the poor.  Mark 14:8 says, “She did the good she was able to do.” He was drawing attention to the demonstrably good action of the woman and the deficiency of good actions on the part of the complaining disciples who had acted responsibly toward neither him nor the poor. 

The complaint by the disciples was little more than an excuse to avoid responsibility to give alms.  The complaint still functions as a popular excuse today.  There’s so much wrong with the world and so much wrong with the Church, why shouldn’t we spend all our time complaining?  Jesus’ response is that we should not spend any time complaining; rather, we should do the good we’re capable of doing despite the fact that achieving perfect good isn’t possible in this life. 

Everybody has a long list of complaints about the world; there’s nothing unique or laudatory about complaining.  Jesus says his disciples should be capable of identifying a long list of things they can do to proclaim their faith and to honor God’s Name.  What good thing is waiting to be done by you?