In The Face Of Their Uncertainty God Arranges For Jesus To Be Anointed For His Burial As His Plan Goes Smoothly Forward (26:6-13).
Meanwhile attention turns back on Jesus and His disciples. They had been invited for a meal at the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany, a village on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. And as they were there a woman came into Simon's house and poured expensive perfumed oil on His head (and on His body - Matthew 26:12; John 11:2 adds, and also on His feet). For her it was probably an act of love and gratitude, made with a desire to honour Him and pay homage to Him, although possibly also including a recognition that soon He would no longer be with them. But Jesus saw further, and saw it as His Father arranging for Him to be anointed in preparation for His burial. To Him it was a visible assurance that His Father was with Him. The incident is described here by Matthew because it ties it in closely with the Passion narrative, and fits well into Matthew's pattern, but chronologically it was probably some days earlier as depicted in John's Gospel. Ancient writings tended to be topical rather than chronological.
Comparison with Luke 7:36-50, which is superficially similar, reveals so many differences that it is quite clear that they are different incidents, although the one may have had unconscious influence on the wording of the other as it passed on in the tradition.
Analysis.
a Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came to Him a woman having an alabaster cruse of very valuable perfumed oil, and she poured it on His head, as He sat at meat (Matthew 26:6-7).
b But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “To what purpose is this waste? For this perfumed oil might have been sold for much, and given to the poor” (Matthew 26:8-9).
c But Jesus perceiving it said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? for she has wrought a good work on Me. For you have the poor always with you, but Me you do not always have” (Matthew 26:10-11).
b “For in that she poured this perfumed oil on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial” (Matthew 26:12).
a “Truly I say to you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, what this woman has also done will be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Matthew 26:13).
Note that in ‘a' we have the service that she performed and in the parallel the assurance that it would ever be remembered. In ‘b' the disciples state what could have been done with the perfumed oil, in the parallel Jesus states what has really been done with it. Centrally in ‘c' Jesus stresses the good work that she had done on Him.