The King

Six days before another great festival, the healer returned to the same village where he had raised a man from the dead. There was a dinner being held in his honor. The man who was raised from the dead sat at the table with him. As one of the man's sisters served the guests, the other sister did something remarkable. She took a jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on the healer's feet and began to wipe them with her hair. The entire house was filled with the sweet fragrance. This was her act of love and worship, showing that she knew something important was about to happen—the healer's own death and burial. However, not everyone was happy about this. One of his students corrected the woman saying the perfume could have been sold for a great sum of money and given to the poor. But the student wasn't concerned with the poor; he had his own plans for the money. The healer said, "Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me." The next day, the healer entered the great city. Instead of riding on a mighty horse like a warrior, he rode on a young donkey, just as their prophets had predicted. The crowd cheered and waved palm branches, shouting, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" They knew that their king had finally come. But while some celebrated, others silently planned his death. The religious leaders wanted him dead and also sought to kill the man he raised from the dead—because all the people were beginning to believe.