“While He was in Bethany, in the home of a man known as 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 years 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 anytime 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. I tell you the truth, 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.” (Mark 14:3-10)
This is a beautiful story of sacrificial love on the eve of the greatest act of love that ever occurred. This unnamed woman crashes a dinner party, where the disciples and Jesus were guests, in order to express her love to the Lord. She is carrying the most valuable thing to her…a jar of perfume. It is worth a years wages but she isn’t focused on that. In reckless abandon she breaks the jar and pours it on Jesus’ head. It is an act of worship. It is an act of love. When we are in love we do the craziest things!
Her act, however, is seen as a waste by those closest to Jesus. Their thoughts turn toward practical matters of ministry rather than expressions of worship. They are evaluating the gift in terms of it’s value and usefulness and, therefore, do not see it as a sacrifice. What is it that causes the disciples to see “waste” instead of “sacrifice”? I wonder how many times we have done the same thing? Someone we know is moved by their love for Jesus to give sacrificially and we criticize them, or worse, stop them. The Gospel tells us that it was after this event that Judas decided that he would betray Jesus. This may have been the last straw. Judas was a practical man and Jesus had proved Himself to be an impractical Savior. Jesus was more concerned about dealing with individuals than the greater issues of a self proclaimed Messiah.
Maybe this is why the disciples missed the significance of the cross at first. They saw it as a “waste” of a great man instead of the sacrifice of a loving God. We could apply their critical words in the story above to the cross. “What a waste. He could have done so much more.” Really?
Jesus describes the loving act of this woman as “beautiful”. What his followers saw as a waste, He saw as wondrous! We look at the story of the woman and we get it but, when we look at the cross, which is the Heavenly Father pouring out everything to show His love for us, do we see it as “beautiful”. Today, lets look at the cross and see it as the greatest act of love that ever was…Jesus laying down His life for His friends.
“You are My friends” (John 15:14)