It was one of those parties where the future changes. It happens sometimes. You show up, expecting to have a good time. By the end of the party, everyone is talking about it. And two people at this party–one named, one unnamed–will be forever remembered.

It seems that the pivotal point in this party is perfumed oil.

A woman poured it on Jesus’ head. (We talked about it last week.) After all the conversation, Jesus says that people will tell her story of extravagance as long as people talk about the gospel, the good news.

Intriguingly, we know her action but we don’t know her name. We’d love to know her name. We’d love to speculate about why she did this and what the rest of her story is. We say, “men are named, women are not.”

I wonder if Jesus, rather than protecting her identity, is protecting her reward.

Back in Matthew 6, Jesus talked about giving, fasting and praying privately rather than for show. (See “Conspiracy”) He said that giving that way would be seen by God. He also said that if you do it for show, that’s your reward.

This woman was very public in her gift, but she was doing it privately, just for Jesus. In her honor, he passes on the story, not her name.

In contrast, we know well the name of the next person mentioned: Judas. Whether he didn’t like the financial waste of dumping out perfume or was frustrated by the whole direction of everything Jesus was doing or just wanted some cash, Judas went to a very private meeting with very public results. The nameless woman symbolically anointed Jesus’ body for burial; Judas starts the need for burial.

As we start a new week, are we willing to be remembered anonymously?