John 12:5

What does John 12:5 mean?

Judas is objecting to Mary's extravagant act of pouring expensive perfume on Jesus' feet, suggesting the money could have helped people in need instead. A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer, so three hundred denarii represented roughly a year's income for an ordinary worker, making his point about waste seem reasonable on the surface. Yet John tells us Judas didn't actually care about the poor, he was a thief who wanted access to their common money box. Sometimes we can sound very noble about our objections while our real motives are something else entirely, something worth examining quietly in our own hearts.