Alabaster Jar of Perfume

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

"Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over." Mark 14:1-11


Memorialized

The gospel of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John all record the story of a woman anointing Jesus with expensive perfume. And both the book of Matthew and the book of Mark recorded that wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, the act this woman has done to Him and for Him; preparing His body for His burial, will also be told and retold. This is why we are reading about this woman once again right here, right now.

This shows that what we do for Him who took our place of condemnation and took away the penalty of our transgressions, He will never forget.

Now, what is ironic about this woman's story, especially if you reread these passages, is that right before she did this selfless act, the chief priest were secretly planning a wicked thing, and right after, Judas started the ball rolling in terms of his part in this evil plan. So these passages also record what they did to the Lord -- making Judas and the priests famous, if not infamous, for it.

Which Side of History Are You On

As far as we are concerned, we can take our pick, on what to do for or with this man, we call Jesus of Nazareth. All of these parties, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, the woman and Judas, all thought they were doing the right thing in their eyes, and the priests probably thinking Judas miraculously falling into their laps, was the "divine" answer to their prayer. The thing here is when you pray for something wicked, the enemy would most probably grant your evil desires, as it too falls within his own devilish plans.

The woman on the otherhand who was rebuked and who everyone else thought was doing a bad thing, will be remembered and exalted because she did not have any evil intention or a personal agenda, apart from denying herself, putting her treasure where her heart is, paying homage to Jesus, and not caring about what other people will say and think about her.

Which Side Are You On

All parties, her, Judas, the chief priests and teachers of the law, and the enemy of our soul, all thought they were doing the right thing. Sadly, in God's eyes, only the one Jesus defended, did.


Next: Jesus Gets Fired Up