When Matthew and Mark report this scene of the anointing of Jesus the ones objecting to the expense of the ointment are generic: the disciples or the crowds. When St. John reports the story Judas is the one objecting to the expense “because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.” Of course we can’t know the exact situation but it reflects a natural human reaction to demonize someone who does an evil act. They must have been rotten to the core! But the fact is that quite ordinary people, in fact people remarkably like you and me, get caught up in a misguided way of thinking and are capable of perpetrating acts of hatred and racism.
