Lenten Reader | Day 33

March 27th, 2026

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

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.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14:1-26

Perfume for Burial

In this passage we see two significant stories side by side. One of pure love, devotion, sacrifice, and obedience and one of ultimate betrayal and rejection.

Mary and Judas had both spent time with Jesus – they followed Him as He taught and performed miracles. They knew Him intimately. Which leads me to a very sobering question for myself, and I ask of you. As Christians, we go to church, see miracles, hear testimonies, and have access to the Holy Spirit to know him intimately, but do we treasure Jesus above all else? Or are we close in proximity to Him doing all the “right” things, yet our heart is far?

Mary brought to Jesus an alabaster far of pure spikenard. She broke open the jar and poured the entire contents of expensive perfume over his head. These jars were ornately beautiful, sealed, and seen as a treasured heirloom. The symbolism of Mary breaking the jar to anoint Jesus shows an irreversible, irrevocable, ‘no holding back’ offering of worship to honor him in preparation of burial while she could.

John 12:3 adds that Mary anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Using her hair represented using her “covering/her glory” (1 Cor. 11:15) as an act of total humility and total devotion to her Savior. Throughout the Bible we are told that our worship is like a “fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”

Judas and others spoke harshly of Mary for wasting something that equaled a year’s wages. But what they saw as waste, the one she honored saw worship. Do we see Jesus as the priceless treasure he is? Do we worship with all we have spiritually and materially honoring him and advancing his Kingdom? Let’s challenge ourselves this season to “pour out” our lives entirely, in Mary-like worship and Christ-like sacrificial love. And then let’s watch transformation in our lives and those around us.

Heather Berry