What about me...?

This parable suggests that even when you’re in the presence of Jesus, you still sometime fail too see him. In Matthew 26 we find the disciples caught up in the moral status of another. We find them distracted by an act of generosity. They were so consumed with emotions of anger and self righteousness that they missed the object of greatest value and priority...Jesus. Jesus said to them..."Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.' (Matthew 26:10-11) What about me!

It's easy to get caught up in the cycle of serving & speaking Jesus, but even the disciples failed to see him in different circumstances, and they were in the same room as him!
It's not all about what we do. It's all about Jesus, and if it's about Jesus, then what we do will naturally follow. Sure, the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor, but shift your focus to Jesus and Jesus will shift your heart, not your wallet, to the poor.
Jesus is worth more than any jar of perfume, and his worth will heal a poor man before your wallet will! Jesus needs to be at the center of your sight because Jesus is longing to redirect your seeing, hearing & doing with a heart that reflects only his heart. Go for the heart of Jesus over the natural ability to effect change - His heart is completely pure.

Interesting that Judas may just have been the one that was so focused on the value of the perfume that he went out and began to use the value of Jesus to generate and perhaps even make up some of the wealth that he just saw lost? Jesus became nothing more than a money making object. Why? Because the wrong focus consumed him. In the world of ecclesiology, this also can become a focus that dominates what we see, hear & do - allowing our association with Jesus to assist us in the generation of wealth! Perhaps then we become only one step away from betrayal? Or perhaps we're already there...