Mark 14:3, commentary and pictures

At Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, whom Jesus had healed, Mary came to Jesus at supper and broke an alabaster box of very costly spikenard and poured it upon His head and His feet and wiped His feet with her hair until its odor filled the room. She who had been a great sinner and had been forgiven much did this out of uncalculating love and gratitude for her pardon and for the raising of her brother Lazarus, desiring to honor her Saviour with the best of her substance while she could. Her gift anticipated His approaching death, and He accepted it as a good work and as an anointing beforehand for His burial, so that nothing so bestowed upon Him was waste. Judas Iscariot murmured at the waste and said the ointment should have been sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor, but his plea was an excuse for covetousness and theft, and when rebuked his wounded pride and greed gave Satan access until he sold his Master for silver. The broken box pouring out fragrance pictures the softened, broken heart pouring out divine sympathy that melts hard hearts, teaching that pardoning love gives freely and puts Christ first while unchecked sin makes even a professed disciple captive to temptation.

Supper at Simon's House

The anointing took place at Bethany six days before the Passover, while Jesus was staying there over the Sabbath. Great crowds were present, drawn by the raising of Lazarus from the dead and by the report that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. The supper was held in the house of Simon the leper, whom Jesus had healed of leprosy, a loathsome disease. Simon hosted the feast for Jesus and His friends to show gratitude for his healing and to do Him honor.

Although Simon acknowledged Jesus as a teacher and hoped He was the Messiah, he had not accepted Him as Saviour and his character remained unchanged. Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, sat at the table with Jesus, beside Him. Martha served at the supper, while Mary listened closely to Jesus.

Mary's Loving Sacrifice

The woman who came with the alabaster box was Mary, once regarded as a great sinner and controlled by demons, whom Christ had lifted from despair and ruin. Through His grace she overcame sin, was forgiven many sins, and became devoted to Him in learning and fellowship and service. Her devotion grew out of love and gratitude both for that forgiveness and for the restoration of her much-loved brother Lazarus from the dead. Filled with the peace of God and with joy, she greatly desired to do something for her Saviour and resolved to anoint Him, seeking to avoid observation.

She had long kept very costly ointment of spikenard, bought at great personal sacrifice, with no fitting opportunity to use it. She had purchased it to anoint His body after His death, because nothing was too dear to give Him. The more precious the gift, the better it expressed her devotion, so she poured it upon Him as the best she had. Hearing people say He would be raised to kingly authority in Jerusalem, she believed He might soon be honored as king and would no longer be rejected or hunted. She therefore sought to honor Him beforehand while she could, before others did.

She broke open the alabaster box and poured the ointment on His head and on His feet, and wiped His feet with her long, flowing hair. The odor filled the room and published her act to all present, though she had wished it unseen. Her act was uncalculating love that did not stop to count or calculate the price. It honored Him with the best of her substance consecrated to Him, and even the most valuable treasures that skill or art could produce bestowed on Him would not have been waste.

What she meant as present honor also anticipated His approaching death and burial. It was accepted by Him as a good work and as an anointing beforehand for His burial. Love for Christ and gratitude for His saving gift made so costly an offering seem fitting, so that those who receive pardoning love give freely and may regret only that their offering was not richer.

Judas and Lasting Lessons

Judas Iscariot looked on with displeasure at the anointing and, without waiting to hear what Christ would say, whispered complaints and threw reproach on Christ for allowing such waste. He said the ointment should have been sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor, and he craftily awakened disaffection until others also murmured and had indignation within themselves at the waste. His plea of mercy to the poor was only an excuse for covetousness and avarice. His heart was carnal and covetous and close, loving money, selfish and inattentive to the comfort and wants of Jesus, with no care for the poor, and he often took for himself what was entrusted to him for the poor.

His reaction showed how greed had distorted his judgment to see only value in the gift, valuing its possible sale for three hundred pence, in contrast to Mary's generous love that did not stop to count the price. Her act stood as a cutting rebuke to his covetous disposition. When Jesus rebuked him, Judas became annoyed, and wounded pride with desire for revenge helped his long-indulged greed gain control. His attachment to Jesus was so slight that he yielded to the tempter, giving Satan ready and easy access to his mind and making him a fit agent to betray Christ and sell his Master to the priests and rulers for a few pieces of silver.

The episode shows that sin left unchecked and unconquered makes a person vulnerable to temptation and captive to Satan's influence, as corrupt propensity working from an unclean, unholy, unsanctified heart overmasters even one who professes discipleship. The setting teaches that care for the poor must not cause God's cause to be neglected; Christ's cause should come first, and faithful stewardship can provide for both. Those who receive pardoning love give freely out of love and gratitude for His saving gift, and may regret only that their offering was not richer. Mary's costly gift was an act of love whose influence lasts: it inspired loving service, and its memory has prompted countless loving deeds through the centuries. She will rejoice when she sees the good her act has done.

The broken alabaster box full of precious ointment pictures a softened and broken heart. The heart gives what neither gold nor silver can buy, and when softened and broken it pours out its fragrance like the broken box, and its sweet odor perfumes the whole room. This fragrance is divine and tender sympathy in Christ, with sanctified human passions interwoven with the sympathies of Christ, which wins its way and melts hard hearts where coldness of temperament that sparkles like an iceberg cannot. As breaking the bottle lets its fragrance fill the house, affection should be shared freely and fully with all who need it and not reserved for a few. Kindness and care are due to people of every position and circumstance, and neglecting others while showing warmth only to favorites is selfishness, not love, and does not glorify God. The precious ointment released when its container is broken also shows that those who have received light must not keep it to themselves but share what they have learned so its influence reaches those around them, as in missionary work that brings truth to others.