as lax morality, others have responded that, due to his impending crucifixion, Jesus is simply explaining that what was done was not a choice between two moral acts, but a necessity, and would no more be criticized in Jesus' day as a modern man purchasing a coffin for a loved one, even though there are poor that could be fed instead. In the autobiographical Palm Sunday, author Kurt Vonnegut reports being invited to preach on Palm Sunday in 1980, and chooses for his text the Gospel of John's version of the anointing. Vonnegut did so because he had "seen so much un-Christian impatience with the poor encouraged by the quotation"; he questioned the translation, saying that it lacked the mercifulness of the Sermon on the Mount, and took the opportunity to offer his own translation. The Scholars Version note to Mark 14:3–9 states: "The disciples miss the point, which Jesus makes clear: the woman has signaled his impending death and burial. It must be unintentional irony when Mark has Jesus predict that this story will always be told in memory of a woman whose very name escapes him." In art See also Foot washing Chrism Life of Jesus in the New Testament References Notes Citations Works cited General references Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament Doubleday 1997 Brown, Raymond E. et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary Prentice Hall 1990 Kilgallen, John J. A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark Paulist Press 1989 Mack, Burton L. & Vernon K. Robbins Patterns of Persuasion in the Gospels Wipf & Stock 2008, pp. 85–106, Miller, Robert J. Editor The Complete Gospels Polebridge Press 1994 Passion of Jesus Gestures of respect Women in the New Testament Christian messianism