"Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"

He didn't say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief...

Jesus answered, "Leave her alone..."

John 12:5-8 CSB

There's a lot going on here, but let's start with Jesus sticking up for Mary. 

Judas was being a bully, using an argument that may have held some truth, but using it as a weapon to get what he wanted. 

And Mary was in the firing line.

Seems like this conversation was happening in front of the people in the house, Lazarus, the disciples. Everyone would've heard Judas and be waiting on what Jesus had to say. 

"Leave her alone"

Mary is the person with the least power here, and from Jesus's response we can see Judas wasn't aiming at Jesus, but at Mary. 

Jesus is right there, in a sense stepping in front of Mary. 

"Leave her alone"

This tells Judas something, and it tells Mary something. I'm with the vulnerable and the powerless. 

Yesterday as we talked about Russia & Ukraine, & recalled a story of a man who intervened to protect a young woman and was stabbed and died, Lynne said I'd rather die defending the powerless than ignore their plight. 

In the Big Story Jesus died for us, the powerless, and in this small story he stood with, in front of Mary. May I have the moral courage to do the same to stand with, in front of, the vulnerable.

#lovepeople