The Alabaster Jar

John 12:3  Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

Mary walked to her cupboard and pulled out the alabaster jar. The jar had been in her family for years. It cost a year’s salary, but the precious spikenard fragrance inside was worth every penny. She carefully pulled the bottle from its safe place and held it close to her chest. It may have cost a lot of money, but to her it was priceless.

            What she was about to do was so wasteful, so unnecessary, so impractical. It wouldn’t make any sense to anyone who was there, or even heard about it later. She never hesitated, didn’t think twice. She was so consumed with love that no sacrifice would be too high or cost too much. 

She wasn’t going to sell the alabaster jar; she was about to break it open and pour it out.

She walked into the room where Jesus was reclining at the dinner table and approached the savior. She stands next to Jesus and crushes the precious jar in her fingers. Immediately, a beautiful aroma fills the room as the precious oils and perfume inside the box spill out over Jesus’ head. The oil pours over his head, down through his beard, and onto his clothes. The aroma was intoxicating! She sops up some of the oil with her own hair and rubs Jesus’ feet with it.

Of course, there were some in the room who didn’t understand. They muttered under their breath, “What a waste. She could have sold that and given all of the money to the poor instead of just pouring it out…” Jesus knew what was going on and spoke up, “Leave her alone. She has done something great. You will always have the poor, but you won’t always have me.”

A week later Jesus was crucified. As he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying for his life, could he still smell the perfume? As the soldiers gambled for his clothes at the foot of the cross, could they still smell the lovely aroma of the sacrifice of Mary?

Mary understood what it meant to worship. She didn’t worry about the words of others. She wasn’t concerned about how she looked, or the expense, or the sacrifice. It was worth it all for Jesus. Nothing held her back, nothing stopped her. Worship was vital. Sacrifice was not sacrifice; it was giving. The whole incident was love at its most extreme.

Today’s Readings: Jeremiah 5,6; John  12

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