Lenten Reader | Day 33

April 11th, 2025

Broken Alabaster

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9

Bethany was a small, slow-paced village located on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Jesus often AirBnB’d here. It was the hometown to some of the most notable men and women of the New Testament. One of Jesus’ closest friends, Lazarus, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, lived here. Some scholars have even suggested that the host of this momentous occasion, Simon “the Leper,” may have been the father of these siblings.

Regardless, in a great act of sacrifice and courage, the unnamed woman of Bethany interrupted the gathering, broke the sealed jar of expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus’ head. It was a sacrifice because she used up her most valuable possession, and it was courageous because she knew she would be ridiculed and shamed.

These alabaster jars were sometimes passed down from generation to generation. Often, they were given to young women to eventually present her betrothed as a sign of commitment. If nothing else, it held a significant monetary value, and the woman undoubtedly knew where this precious jar was kept. Yet, she emptied the jar and filled the room with the smell of death.

Most sacrifices appear wasteful. We think about how we could have used our tithe differently. We worry about time spent in prayer and wonder if we could have used that time more effectively. A Sabbath rest seems like a wasted day in a world obsessed with getting ahead. Sure enough, once the woman broke the jar, those gathered in the house began to imagine how it could have been used differently.

But Jesus declared that the woman chose the more “beautiful thing,” when she anointed him with every last drop from the jar, keeping nothing for herself. And by doing so, she prepared Jesus for the cross — the ultimate act of sacrifice and courage. How can you, like this woman, courageously and sacrificially do your part in the kingdom of God?

Jon Welch