"She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head." (vs.3)

These last chapters of Mark's gospel trace the dark scenes of Jesus' last week on earth. Mark makes no attempt to soften the hammer blow as he constructs the narrative of each scene. Reading these chapters is like a walk through a dark valley, one called death, as the realization of Jesus' imminent brokenness becomes more and more vivid. To the disciples the dawning of this realization became a heavy burden and thus inescapably real.

The occasion should have been festive. The disciples had been anticipating the Passover and revelling in what could have been Jesus' public claim to be the Messiah. Jesus, however, had made clear to them that he had come to Jerusalem not to be celebrated but to die. His constant reference to this had made the atmosphere heavy with the expectation of death. Now with two days to go before the Passover the disciples felt the net tighten around them as the "chief priests and teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him." (vs.1)

It would take a dramatic incident at a friend's house to both prepare and reassure the disciples that death was inevitable and necessary for God's purposes to be carried through. It would take a woman with a flask of perfume to illustrate this sense of purpose and destiny in the death of Christ.

Jesus is eating with his disciples when Mary, the sister of Lazarus (see John 12:3), takes a bottle of "pure nard" and breaks the jar to allow the full contents to spill completely over Christ. Nard was an expensive perfume extracted from plants found only in India. It was customary at the Passover to help the poor and this nard would have gone a long way had it been sold and distributed. Mary chose instead to "waste" the contents on Christ by anointing him with it. Once this act was complete there would be none left to give pleasure to anyone else, or to sell for benevolent purposes. This act was reserved solely to give pleasure to her Lord. This was her way of recognizing and proclaiming him as her Lord.

The disciples rebuked her for this, in particular Judas, but Jesus commended her. To the disciples what she did was a waste, but to Christ "she has done a beautiful thing for me. The poor you will always have with you ... but you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial." (vs.6-8)

What Mary did for Christ was immeasurable and spoke volumes of her love and devotion for Christ. This would foreshadow what Christ came to do in surrendering his life completely for his father. Her one act would serve as an object lesson for history speaking over and over of the sacrifice of Christ. Like that jar his life was broken and poured out for all that will receive him. It was an act of complete sacrifice that would give pleasure to his father. Likewise each of us who are willing to pour out everything that we are on him, do our part in rehearsing the work of brokenness carried out on the cross. And consecrating all that we are in this way for him does not go unnoticed by the Lord. It is a beautiful thing for him.

Recently the value of full surrender and brokenness rested on me as the Lord responded dramatically to my cry and submission. The saga related to my son has been a long and painful one and one mixed with the joy of progress but most recently the agony of setbacks. Recovered completely from the symptoms related to his brain tumor he enjoyed three full months of good normal boyish activities. Only a few weeks ago however his symptoms have all returned. My son is again struggling with walking, balance and severe weakness on the right side of his body.

My response to this latest struggle was to wrestle with God and for three agonizing days wrestle I did. I could not understand why he would shatter our hopes by presenting us with further anxieties and uncertainties. I have to confess it seemed unkind for God to take us through more. To work through my desperation I decided one afternoon to go for a walk and in those moments of solitude I realized I could no longer hold back from God. My emotions and pain, my confusion and fears were like bottled oil that needed to be poured out. Right there as I was crossing the yard of a neighbor's house my alabaster jar broke under the pressure and I allowed the full contents of my heart to be poured out on my lord. Within minutes the Lord by his Holy Spirit flooded me with peace and acceptance and a deep sense of reassurance of his love for me.

What I did at that moment gave him the right to have his way in my life. That moment of full surrender was like a personal coronation ceremony where like Mary I honored him as my king. That is what I believe Mary meant to do that day. Her act symbolized her declaration that he is King and it would be in brokenness that she would declare it.

Are there some "Alabaster Jars" you are selfishly holding on to that need to be broken? Perhaps you are hoarding the contents out of pride or perhaps even anger and bitterness. Perhaps you have selfish plans of receiving for yourself from the contents of that jar. Let it break and allow the contents to be poured over the Lord Jesus. What you do will be spoken of for eternity in the same breath as the story of the ultimate act of devotion - the death of Jesus on the cross.

God is a Specialist at making something useful and beautiful out of something broken and confused.

- Charles R. Swindoll

God will never plant the seed of his life upon the soil of a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed where the conviction of his Spirit has brought brokenness, where the soil has been watered with the tears of repentance as well as the tears of joy.

Alan Redpath (1907–1989)

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