In Mark 14, Jesus is sitting
at table at the home of Simon the Leper as He was in Matthew. Mark
also says that the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was two
days away. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were
looking for a way to arrest Jesus and kill him. However, they didn't
want to do it during the Feast because the feasts were holy and any
violence may cause a riot. So time was running out for them to do
their evil deed. Passover became the day of Jesus' death. The Law
required that the male of every Jewish household bring a lamb without
spot or blemish to the temple to be slaughtered for the sin of the
household. The Perfect Passover Lamb died on that day at the exact
hour that the lambs were being slain in the Temple to fulfill the
requirements of the Law for all both Jews and Gentiles.
A woman came into the room full of
men carrying her white, cherished alabaster jar of very expensive
perfume. In Greek, the jar is “alabastron.” It was white,
translucent gypsum carved in many shapes and sizes. The ancients
thought that alabaster was the best material to preserve ointments.
Women sometimes wore a small alabaster jar filled with perfume around
their necks. It was the symbol of purity. The family of a woman
ready to marry would purchase this alabaster jar and fill it with
sweet ointment. The size and the quality of the perfume would depend
upon the wealth of the family. This jar of perfume would be part of
the young woman's dowry. When a man asked the woman to marry, she
would break the alabaster jar and pour the precious oil on her
husband-to-be's head showing him honor and respect as head of their household.
Mark says that this woman's perfume
was made of pure nard indicating its expense. Pure nard is the
scent of kings. She will use her costly perfume on her Divine Husband and King of Kings. Alabaster jars of sweet perfume were sealed to
preserve the precious ointment. The seal had to be broken for the
oil to pour out. Had the sealed jar of precious anointing oil not
been broken, no one would have smelled its sweet aroma.
Jesus was broken for us so the
sweet anointing of the Holy Spirit could be poured out. Here in
Mark, the writer emphasizes that the woman “broke the box and
poured it on His head.” v3 When the white alabaster box was
broken, the sweet oil of anointing flowed out. Jesus, God's precious
and costly gift to humanity, had His righteous body broken for us.
His sacrificial death on the cross was a sweet fragrance to the
Father. In the Song of Songs, which is about a Shepherd who becomes
a King wooing His Bride into a relationship with Him and eventually
marriage, it says that the fragrance of her king's perfumes are
pleasing and his name is like perfume poured out. (Song of Songs
1:3) Then in 1:12, the king's bride-to-be says, “While
the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.” The
story of the Shulamite woman and King Solomon is a picture of King
Jesus and the mystical love between a female sinner who would
eventually become His Bride. The Shulamite woman started out dark
and rough, but her Shepherd-King has wooed and guided her into a
bride full of His sweet fragrance. Nard is also spoken of in the Song
of Songs as one of the sweet spices that made her King fragrant.
(Song of Songs 4:13-14) The mystical love of the Godhead
empowers us to become instruments of that love also. This unnamed
woman in Mark is pouring out her sweet fragrance on her King as He is
seated at the table.
The Bible says that we are
“jars of clay.” (1 Corinthians 4:7) God wants our jars
of clay (flesh body and heart) to become a pure vessel
full of the sweet fragrance of Christ. No one can smell the sweet
fragrance of Christ in us until we allow the Godhead to break our
will so we will walk in the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit and
the sweet fragrance of Christ. As we willingly allow this, the sweet
fragrance of Christ -- His love and His sacrificial life – will
flow out of us to others. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15: But thanks be to
God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and
through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being
saved and those who are perishing. Any sacrificial act we do
out of love for Jesus and others is everlasting just as His
sacrificial act of love for us is everlasting. As Jesus became a
Living Sacrifice for us, He wants us to become a living sacrifice for
Him.
Some of those present in
self-righteous indignation criticized the pouring out of this
precious oil upon Jesus saying it was a waste. (Mark 14:4-5)
Nothing that we do for Jesus/God is a waste! Some of those present
said that the costly perfume could have been sold and the money given
to the poor. This sounds good and sounds religious, but Jesus
defends her so-called "waste." This woman is displaying her love and devotion to
Jesus. Her love was pure and sincere, therefore her gift and action
was pure and sincere. This woman never spoke a word. Her actions
did all of the talking. Pure love and worship can only come from a
heart that loves the Lord, not out of fear, guilt or demand. The
Law demanded, but grace comes through love. This woman poured out
her love to Jesus by giving Him her most precious and best gift. God
loves a cheerful giver. The Law demands a tithe, but grace wants
giving to Jesus and others to come from a heart of love -- freely and willingly. This
woman's worship was sacrificial and selfless. What others had to say
didn't affect her. She kept on worshiping Jesus. What the others
saw as waste, Jesus saw as love and worship, and He honored her.
Jesus told her critics to leave her
alone and don't bother her. “She has done a beautiful thing to
me......She did what she could. She poured perfume on My body
beforehand to prepare for My burial.” vv6, 8 This woman
couldn't stop what was about to happen to Jesus on the cross, but she
could give Him her love and most precious gift that was reserved for her
husband-to-be and anoint Him for burial.
Jesus wants us to willingly pour
out our body, soul and spirit to Him in love and worship. The
indignant one – Satan -- will always attempt to stop those who are
pouring out their soul to Jesus. We can waste our time and our lives
satisfying the desires of our flesh at the expense of loving,
worshiping and honoring Jesus. The cost of loving and following
Jesus is not cheap. Jesus gave His all to humanity at the cross of suffering out of love. He wants us to give our all to Him out of love.In Mark, Jesus is being recognized as High Priest, the Passover Lamb and the Unleavened Bread of heaven.
(Next week: Luke)
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