阅读经文 

耶稣死后，祂的身体应该被抹上香膏。这是当地处理尸体的习惯，以纪念死者，并防止腐烂的气味。但是，当这一群妇女来到坟墓前要膏抹耶稣的身体时，（参可 16）她们却找不到祂了。耶稣已经从死里复活了。

这有助于解释我们今天读到的一个重要细节。在耶稣受死前几天，一个女人在晚宴上用昂贵的香膏膏了祂。一些宾客对这种浪费感到不快，但耶稣却没有。祂说：“她是为我安葬的事，把香膏预先浇在我身上。”（参可 16:8）虽然这个女人当时不知道，她尊崇和奉献的行动暗示了复活；她在膏抹耶稣，因为祂后来不会被膏抹。

耶稣说，她所做的事很美。任何指向耶稣复活的行为都是美好的。我们今天在传讲复活的时候，它是美好的。当临终关怀的护士给予垂死的人温柔的照顾时，这就是美好的。当我们培养孩子在充满恐惧的世界中勇敢地生活时，这是美好的。当我们愿意放下我们无法控制的事情，哪怕这让我们对自己的极限感到惧怕，这也是美好的。耶稣已经从死里复活，庆祝这一事实就是一种美好的生活方式。

After Jesus died, his body was supposed to be anointed. That was the custom with dead bodies, to honor the deceased and help keep away the smell of decay. But when a group of women came to anoint Jesus' body in the tomb (see Mark 16), they could not find it! Jesus had risen from the dead.

This helps to explain an important detail in our reading for today. A few days before Jesus died, a woman anointed him at a dinner gathering using expensive perfume. Some of the guests were offended at the waste, but Jesus was not. He said, "She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial" (see Mark 16:8). Even if the woman didn't know it then, her act of honor and devotion hinted at the resurrection; she was anointing Jesus because he wouldn't be anointed later.

Jesus said that what she did was beautiful. Any action that points to the resurrection of Jesus is beautiful. When we preach about the resurrection today, it is beautiful. When a hospice nurse gives tender care to a dying person, it is beautiful. When we raise children to live with courage in a world of fear, it is beautiful. When we are willing to give up trying to control things that we can't control, even though it makes us afraid of our limits, it is beautiful. Jesus rose from the dead, and celebrating that fact is a beautiful way to live.