Mk14

Extravagance toward Jesus is a great way to "waste" your assets! To my knowledge this is the only time recorded in Scripture when someone gave something to Jesus and it was called "wasted". 

The value of this perfume was likely a year's wages for the average worker. It was an extravagant gift and an extravagant expression of love! Even the disciples thought this kind of extravagance toward Jesus was a "waste". They said, "this perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor."

My hunch is that the woman was probably more generous to the poor than the disciples, AND it is likely true, that they were not actually thinking of the poor. Most likely they were thinking of themselves! "Why not just give the perfume to Jesus. We could then sell it. Give some away. But mostly have money for ourselves." We don't have much evidence that they thought much of the poor. We have a lot of evidence that they thought a lot about themselves.

The application of this text could easily be... Let your extravagance be expressed to Jesus!