Mark 14:1-11 A Beautiful Thing
Good morning and Merry Christmas!
We are returning to Mark’s Gospel in chapter 14, verses 1-11. This is another example of how Mark’s Gospel is arranged strategically and not necessarily chronologically. What I mean is, that verse one clearly states that it was two days before the Passover, but verses 3-9 take place six days before the Passover according to John’s Gospel.
This isn’t a disagreement in the Gospel accounts, Mark simply sets it up as a contrast between love and hate, of worship and betrayal.
So let’s look at the text and try to discover what it is that the Lord wants to show us this morning.
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Let’s pray.
So here we have a lovely sandwich with a lot of love between two slices of hate… Mmm, mmm, delicious!
The chief priests and the scribes wanted very much to destroy Jesus because they were jealous of His influence over the people. The crowds were flocking to Jesus to listen to Him rather than listen to them. In their jealousy they were trying to devise way to get rid of Jesus without attracting too much attention from the people. This is why they wanted to wait until after the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover because there was upwards of two million people in Jerusalem to celebrate. If they waited until after the feasts there wouldn’t be nearly as many people, the pilgrims would have all gone home. It would be like Ossipee in November as opposed to July.
Judas decided that he would be the instrument of the chief priest’s plan to arrest Jesus in secret as we see in verses 10-11.
The timing of their plan didn’t go according to their plan however as we’ll see in the rest of this chapter.
Instead of focusing on the two slices of hate, I’d like to look more closely at the love in the middle of the sandwich. There’s a lot for us to learn there.
3 And while [Jesus] was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.
Now, I admit there is temptation to go into great detail about what pure nard is and where it comes from, not to mention the alabaster flask that it was in and what was involved in breaking the flask and on and on.
I’ve even seen these types of alabaster flasks when I was in the Holy Lands. It’s all very fascinating!
The only important detail is right in front of our faces and we can all see it in verse 3. It was very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over Jesus’ head.
There is no real significance in her breaking the flask, as if she smashed it in order to get every last drop, or that here breaking of the flask meant that she didn’t save any for herself.
Breaking an alabaster flask was the normal way of getting its contents out. They had a long skinny neck designed to be snapped off and poured out. This was normal. Again, the only important detail is that it was very costly.
This woman, John’s Gospel reveals, was Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And in her great love for the Lord she anointed His head with this very costly ointment.
She knew the value of the ointment, everybody did. She also knew that she loved the Lord and was inspired to act in this extravagant way. She also knew that He was worth it, that He deserved her gift.
What she didn’t know was what would happen next. She didn’t anticipate the disciples’ response, which, from our perspective is a little predictable, and she also didn’t know just how significant this anointing would be.
So this woman comes and gives a very costly gift, much like the poor widow who gave the two small coins, all she had to live on. A beautiful act of devotion and sacrifice.
This ointment may have been her dowry, or her inheritance, either way, it was a significant act of devotion and sacrifice to the Savior.
And the disciples, John tells us led by Judas, obviously react and praise her act of devotion and love, right? Nope.
4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
All they saw was a year’s wages just dumped on the floor. What possible good could come from that?
Matthew records the words, “Why this waste?”
Of course we know that Judas cared nothing for the poor, he was the keeper of the money bag and would often help himself to it, and the other disciples were, at that moment, swayed by his words and scolded her for her act of devotion to the Lord.
Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last time in the history of the church that greed would wear the mask of piety.
Also, the disciples did what we also often do in rushing to judgment before consulting the Lord. They could have waited to hear the Lord’s word on Mary’s act of worship. That would have been the right thing to do. Instead they listened to and agreed with Judas. An act, I’m sure, they lived to regret.
But Jesus comes to the woman, Mary’s, defense and rebukes His disciples regardless of their true intent.
6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
This act of great devotion and sacrifice was a beautiful thing, more beautiful than I think we often give it credit for.
Smell is a sense that we often take for granted, yet it is strongly attached to our memories and truly serves to enrich our experiences. Karole-Ann can testify, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
Now, there are parts of the world that do not see hygiene through the same lens as we do here in America. Egypt, even today, has a very distinct odor, everywhere you go. It’s the pervasive smell of B.O.
I’ve been inside the Great Pyramids of Giza, you want to know what I remember the most? It smells like a giant stone armpit!
Now rewind two thousand years, a long time before Ivory Soap was invented, no Old Spice, no Chanel Number 5, no Axe Body Spray. A hot climate and a lot of people, need I say more?
In the midst of all that, Mary anoints Jesus with this very costly ointment and the beautiful smell of that perfume filled the room.
It not only filled that room, but it would linger, and stay with Him. That fragrance would reach the noses even of the Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross, it followed Jesus all the way into the borrowed tomb.
Mary anointed His body beforehand for burial. This was a beautiful thing.
And just in reading this account, in considering these words, we are fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy that wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.
Our lesson here is not that we should neglect the poor in order to worship Jesus.
He did say that the poor will always be with you and you can do good to them whenever you want.
Jesus’ point was not to chose Him over them, but rather, to chose “not always,” over, “always.”
You will always have the poor, but you will not always have me.
Sometimes, the Lord will inspire us to perform great acts of devotion and sacrifice, sometimes He will inspire us to do little things that still go a long way.
Mary did what she could out of faith and love, and it was a beautiful thing.
May we follow her example and do what we can out of faith and love.
That would be a beautiful thing.
Amen.
