This chapter is the longest in Mark and begins the passion of Jesus, his great suffering and death. He is anointed like a king or priest would be, but just as Jesus has been a different kind of king with a different kind of kingdom, so his anointing is very different. It’s done in a leper’s house by lowly woman who gets scolded by the disciples for doing it. Jesus says she actually anoints him for burial! He will be exalted in a different way. Her act is beautiful and so we remember it.