Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

 Good morning. Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus. The chief priests and the Pharisees wanted people to report if they saw Jesus, so that they might seize Him. Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to where Lazarus was. They were having dinner, and Lazarus was dining with Him. Martha was serving. In Luke we have where Martha was upset because Mary was not helping her. It is in the middle of Luke and not at the end, so it may have been a different situation. Sometimes different gospels have episodes in a different order. Mary took some very expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. Judas wanted to know why it was not sold and the money given to the poor. He didn’t really care about the poor; he just wanted to steal some of the money since he carried the money box. Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. Jesus knew what was going to happen, and that Mary would not have an opportunity to anoint Him before His burial. Note that Jesus did not say to not help the poor; but it seems that He says no matter what you do, you will not get rid of poverty. The people found out that Jesus was there, and so they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. The chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. In their minds, it was not enough just to kill Jesus; they had to get rid of the evidence that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Father help us to be sensitive to Your leading. Sometimes we don’t listen and later regret not doing or saying something when we had the opportunity.