While
he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor.” They grumbled against her.
Mark 14:3-5
Mark 14 [1.] It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception, and kill him. For they said, “Not during the feast, because there might be a riot of the people.”
Mark 14 [3.] While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor.” They grumbled against her.
Mark 14 [6.] But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.”
Meaning:
Mark places this story of love between two stories of hatred: the plot of the chief priests (Mark 14:1-2) and the betrayal by Judas (Mark 14:10-11). The contrast is deliberate. While the leaders scheme and a disciple sells his master, an unnamed woman pours out everything she has in honour of Jesus. John’s Gospel tells us that she was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and that the meal took place at Bethany shortly before the Passover (John 12:1-8).
- “While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper”
Bethany was a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, a short walk from Jerusalem, and Jesus stayed there during his last week (Mark 11:11). The host is called “Simon the leper”. A man with active leprosy had to live apart and could not have held a dinner, so Simon had very likely been healed, perhaps by Jesus himself. Earlier in Mark a leper begged Jesus, “If you want to, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). The name remained, but the disease was gone. Jesus was at home among those whom others kept at a distance, for he said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).
- “An alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly”
Nard, or spikenard, was a fragrant oil made from a plant that grows in the mountains of India and the Himalayas. It was carried great distances by trade and was one of the most precious perfumes of the ancient world. It was stored in a sealed alabaster flask with a narrow neck. Such a jar might be kept for years as a family treasure, perhaps saved for a burial or a wedding.
“She broke the jar”. She did not pour out a few drops and keep the rest; the jar could not be used again. Her gift was total and unreserved.
- “Poured it over his head”
In Israel kings and priests were anointed on the head with oil. The very titles “Messiah” and “Christ” mean “Anointed One”, and the psalm speaks of the rulers who stand “against Yahweh, and against his Anointed” (Psalm 2:2). Whether or not the woman fully understood it, her action honoured Jesus as the anointed King, only days before he would be crowned with thorns. John records that she also anointed his feet and “wiped his feet with her hair” (John 12:3). Luke tells of a different occasion, when a sinful woman in a Pharisee’s house anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and ointment (Luke 7:38).
- “Why has this ointment been wasted?”
Some of those present were indignant. The PIB footnote explains that three hundred denarii was about a year’s wages for an agricultural laborer. To them, pouring it out in a few moments was a waste that could have fed many poor families. Their objection sounded generous and responsible.
John tells us who started it: Judas Iscariot, “not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it” (John 12:6). Others joined in, and “They grumbled against her”, speaking harshly to her as she stood among them. Love for Jesus was misunderstood and attacked as foolishness.
The Significance of Mark 14:3-5
- Extravagant love for Jesus
Like the poor widow in the temple, who “out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on” (Mark 12:44), this woman gave without calculation. True devotion does not ask how little it can give, but how much.
- Beware the critical spirit
It is easy to criticise the devotion of others, and even to dress up criticism in good causes. Jesus warned, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Before judging how others honour Christ, believers should examine their own hearts.
Cross-References:
John 12:3: "Mary, therefore, took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair." John names the woman.
Luke 7:38: "Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment." An earlier anointing by a sinful woman.
Psalm 2:2: "The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed," God’s Anointed King.
Mark 12:44: "for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on." Another woman’s wholehearted gift.
Conclusion: At a dinner in Bethany, in the house of a man once known as a leper, a woman broke a jar of very costly nard and poured it over Jesus’ head. Some who were present, led by Judas, called it waste and scolded her, saying the money should have gone to the poor. The scene sets wholehearted love beside cold calculation and invites every reader to ask what Jesus is worth to them.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible