Scripture:
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the money bag and used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”
John 12:1–8
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 among themselves, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” They were incensed at her. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For 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
Devotional Thought:
Everyone in the room thought it was wasteful. A year’s wages — broken open and poured out in a matter of minutes. The fragrance filled the house and the criticism filled the air almost simultaneously. Why this waste?
But Jesus called it beautiful.
Mary’s offering was extravagant precisely because it was not calculated. She did not give what she could afford to give. She did not offer a reasonable portion while keeping the rest in reserve. She broke the jar — which meant there was no taking it back, no measuring out a safer amount. Everything in it went on Jesus. And Jesus received it as the most fitting thing anyone had done for him.
This is what worship that fully surrenders looks like. It is not the tidy, managed offering that costs us little. It is the broken jar — the thing we hold back for ourselves, poured out. And inevitably, when we worship that way, there will be people in the room who call it waste. Irresponsible. Excessive. Out of proportion.
Jesus says: leave her alone. She has done a beautiful thing.
There is something in Mary’s act that exposes the Judas-logic we all carry — the instinct to redirect our devotion into something more practical, more measurable, more defensible. But Jesus is not primarily interested in our managed contributions. He is looking for broken jars. He is looking for worship that holds nothing back.
What jar are you still holding? What have you been unwilling to break open before him because it feels too costly, too risky, too much like waste?
Reflection Questions:
1. What is the “alabaster jar” in your life — the thing you’ve been protecting, saving, holding back from full surrender to God?
2. How do you respond to the voices — internal or external — that call wholehearted devotion to God impractical or excessive?
Application:
Write a letter to God today — not a prayer list, but an honest offering. Tell him what you’ve been holding back and why. Then tell him you want to break the jar. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Mary didn’t explain herself either. She just poured.