This verse is often misinterpreted as Jesus endorsing wasteful extravagance over practical charity, suggesting the poor should be neglected since they are always present, or elevating the woman's personal fame above the gospel message itself; in reality, Jesus affirms continual care for the poor while highlighting the unique, prophetic timing of her act as a beautiful foreshadowing of his death, not diminishing aid to the needy but prioritizing kingdom remembrance of pure devotion amid Judas' hypocritical objection.
Matthew 26:13
King James Version (1769)
13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Jesus commends the woman's extravagant act of anointing him with costly ointment as a profound expression of devotion and unwitting preparation for his burial, declaring that this selfless love will be eternally memorialized wherever the gospel is proclaimed, underscoring the eternal value of sacrificial worship that honors Christ even when misunderstood by others and contrasting it with fleeting earthly concerns.