d when paid to One so conspicuously humble in His
dress and habits, there seemed to the uninstructed eye something
incongruous and bordering on the grotesque. When the fragrance of the
ointment disclosed its value, there was therefore an instantaneous
exclamation of surprise, and at any rate in one instance of blunt
disapproval. Judas, instinctively putting a money value on this display
of affection, roundly and with coarse indelicacy declared it had better
have been sold and given to the poor.

Jesus viewed the act with very different feelings. The rulers were
determining to put Him out of the way, as not only worthless but
dangerous; the very man who objected to this present expenditure was
making up his mind to sell Him for a small part of the sum; the people
were scrutinising His conduct, criticising Him;--in the midst of all
this hatred, suspicion, treachery, coldness, and hesitation comes this
woman and puts aside all this would-be wisdom and caution, and for
herself pronounces that no tribute is rich enough to pay to Him. It is
the rarity of such action, not the rarity of the nard, that strikes
Jesus. This, He says, is a noble deed she has done, far rarer, far more
difficult to produce, far more penetrating, and lasting in its fragrance
than the richest perfume that man has compounded. Mary has the
experience that all those have who for Christ's sake expose themselves
to the misunderstanding and abuse of vulgar and unsympathetic minds; she
receives from Himself more explicit assurance that her offering has
given pleasure to Him and is gratefully accepted. We may sometimes find
ourselves obliged to do what we perfectly well know will be
misunderstood and censured; we may be compelled to adopt a line of
conduct which seems to convict us of heedlessness and of the neglect of
duties we owe to others; we may be driven to action which lays us open
to the charge of being romantic and extravagant; but of one thing we may
be perfectly sure--that however our motives are mis-read and condemned
by those who first make their voices heard, He for whose sake we do
these things will not disparage our action nor misunderstand our
motives. The way to a fuller intimacy with Christ often lies through
passages in life we must traverse alone.

But we are probably more likely to misunderstand than to be
misunderstood. We are so limited in our sympathies, so scantily
furnished with knowledge, and have so slack a hold upon great
princi