Mark 14:1-9 1 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. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”3 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. 4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. 6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Here we see that what happened in this passage was very close to the crucifixion of Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus was reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany. Simon used to suffer from leprosy. The Lord Jesus healed him. While reclining at the table in Simon’s house, 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. The expensive perfume worthed more than thirty taels of silver, which was equivalent to one year’s salary at that time. Who is this woman? John 12 tells us that this woman is Mary. John 12:2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Martha is Mary’s sister and Lazarus is Mary’s brother. Lazarus used to die for four days, and Lord Jesus raised him from the dead. We see that Mary loves the Lord very much. She offered her best to the Lord. She poured the most precious perfume on Lord Jesus in advance to prepare for his burial. In Gospel Matthew and Mark, she anointed Jesus’ head, and in Gospel John, she anointed Jesus’ feet. Apparently she anointed both Jesus’s head and feet. What she did in the eyes of the Lord was a beautiful thing, but a few people were very displeased and felt that it was a waste. The perfume could be sold for more than thirty taels of silver and the money given to the poor. Judas who betrayed Jesus said the same thing in John 12, Judas was not concerned about the poor, he was trying to steal the money. It’s not that Lord Jesus doesn’t care about the poor, he cares a lot about the poor and the sick. He said “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.” Mary offered the best to the Lord, did a beautiful thing to the Lord, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she did will be remembered. Thank and praise the Lord, may God bless you and your family.
After I prepared the above sharing, that evening my wife started listening to “The Biography of Dai Desheng”. I heard it said that Dai Desheng’s life was like the life of Mary who offered very expensive perfume to Lord Jesus. Was it a coincidence? Thank the Lord. Dai Desheng was a well-known British missionary who shared the gospel in China in the 19th century.
