“While He was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on His head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’” -Mark 14:3-9
So a few quick translations- the ointment in the jar was basically really really expensive perfume. Think higher end than the high end perfumes of Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Chanel... Which leads us to translation #2- 300 denarii was almost a whole year’s wages- thousands of dollars today. So what’s the deal? Shouldn’t that money have gone to the poor? I have a hard time with this. So many other times, Jesus talks about caring for the poor, and then He defends this seemingly extravagantly wasteful woman. She probably didn’t even know that what she was doing served a greater purpose. She probably didn’t realize that in a few short days, Jesus would be killed and that her act of love was preparing Him for His burial. But she was lead to show the huge love she felt for Him and to care for her dear friend and Savior in this way.
This season in Lent, we have been talking a lot about Matthew 25. In this passage, Jesus makes it clear to us that as we serve and care for each other, we serve and care for Him. After all, everyone we meet is a child of God, created in His image, just as we are, just as Jesus was. To live in the love that He has first given us, is to share that love in extreme ways. This woman did it by anointing Jesus with expensive perfume. Maybe we do it by serving a meal, sponsoring a child through Compassion International, or by visiting the Manor. Maybe we do it by donating money to a charity, or buying flowers for a friend or family member. Whatever it looks like, I think Jesus is making a point in this story to give, with complete abandon, out of our need to share God’s crazy love with the world. She didn’t use fancy words, in fact, we don’t know that she said anything at all. She used action and tears to show how she felt, and Jesus is sure to tell us that her story will be told everywhere anyone talks about Him. That’s legit.
Something I read recently in the book Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean, caught my eye about this story. She points out that the word translated to "waste" in this passage derives from the same Greek root as the word translated to "lose" in Mark 8:35 when Jesus says, "Those who lose (/waste) their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." So what does this word "waste" mean? In both instances, something is being given. Something HUGE- a perfume bought with a years worth of wages, a life. These are both things that one would not casually lay at someone's feet. As I explained above, I believe the woman did this anointing out of love. Throughout the Bible we are called to love simply because He first loved us. This translates to living our lives completely surrendered to His love and His loving purpose for which we were lovingly created. Which, in a nutshell, is sharing the Good News of His hugely extravagant love for us. Notice the full circle that we just made? Revolving the whole time around, "For God so loved the world...".
So love. Love with wild abandon. Love your neighbor as you love your Father in Heaven. Be extravagantly wasteful with your love. He's given you more than enough. As long as you continue to look to Him, to fill you up, you will never run dry.
Prayer: God, you love us like crazy! You have loved us first so we can love where love is not. Guide us in our service to others, to you. Amen!
So a few quick translations- the ointment in the jar was basically really really expensive perfume. Think higher end than the high end perfumes of Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Chanel... Which leads us to translation #2- 300 denarii was almost a whole year’s wages- thousands of dollars today. So what’s the deal? Shouldn’t that money have gone to the poor? I have a hard time with this. So many other times, Jesus talks about caring for the poor, and then He defends this seemingly extravagantly wasteful woman. She probably didn’t even know that what she was doing served a greater purpose. She probably didn’t realize that in a few short days, Jesus would be killed and that her act of love was preparing Him for His burial. But she was lead to show the huge love she felt for Him and to care for her dear friend and Savior in this way.
This season in Lent, we have been talking a lot about Matthew 25. In this passage, Jesus makes it clear to us that as we serve and care for each other, we serve and care for Him. After all, everyone we meet is a child of God, created in His image, just as we are, just as Jesus was. To live in the love that He has first given us, is to share that love in extreme ways. This woman did it by anointing Jesus with expensive perfume. Maybe we do it by serving a meal, sponsoring a child through Compassion International, or by visiting the Manor. Maybe we do it by donating money to a charity, or buying flowers for a friend or family member. Whatever it looks like, I think Jesus is making a point in this story to give, with complete abandon, out of our need to share God’s crazy love with the world. She didn’t use fancy words, in fact, we don’t know that she said anything at all. She used action and tears to show how she felt, and Jesus is sure to tell us that her story will be told everywhere anyone talks about Him. That’s legit.
Something I read recently in the book Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean, caught my eye about this story. She points out that the word translated to "waste" in this passage derives from the same Greek root as the word translated to "lose" in Mark 8:35 when Jesus says, "Those who lose (/waste) their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." So what does this word "waste" mean? In both instances, something is being given. Something HUGE- a perfume bought with a years worth of wages, a life. These are both things that one would not casually lay at someone's feet. As I explained above, I believe the woman did this anointing out of love. Throughout the Bible we are called to love simply because He first loved us. This translates to living our lives completely surrendered to His love and His loving purpose for which we were lovingly created. Which, in a nutshell, is sharing the Good News of His hugely extravagant love for us. Notice the full circle that we just made? Revolving the whole time around, "For God so loved the world...".
So love. Love with wild abandon. Love your neighbor as you love your Father in Heaven. Be extravagantly wasteful with your love. He's given you more than enough. As long as you continue to look to Him, to fill you up, you will never run dry.
Prayer: God, you love us like crazy! You have loved us first so we can love where love is not. Guide us in our service to others, to you. Amen!
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