because this oil could have been sold for a high price and given to the poor.”
In these verses, the disciples’ reaction shows the difference between human judgment and spiritual understanding. They saw only the material side—the value of the costly oil—but did not see its symbolic meaning. To them, the woman’s act was a pointless waste, while in reality it was a sacrifice of love and worship. From the disciples’ words it follows that their material calculation was choking their spiritual sight. They were thinking rightly in terms of charity, but they were forgetting that in the presence of God, what is most precious must be given without calculation. Christ does not reject the idea of helping the poor, but shows that when love becomes practical, it rises above values. Thus, the woman saw what the others did not see: she sensed that Jesus’ death was near and honored His person with love, while the disciples, though being close to Jesus, still had not understood the depth of the mystery of the coming sacrifice.