Pouring Out
READ
In today’s passage, we witness a powerful contrast between extravagant love and calculated betrayal. Jesus is in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper, when a woman enters with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume.
Let’s take a moment to read Mark 14:1-11:
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. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
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 to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s 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 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.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
REFLECT
Without hesitation, the woman breaks the jar and pours the contents over Jesus's head—an act of stunning devotion worth nearly a year's wages. The reaction is immediate: "Why this waste?" some demand. On a purely practical level, they have a point. The perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Yet Jesus defends her: "She has done a beautiful thing to me."
What makes this act beautiful in Jesus's eyes? The woman understood something the others missed—Jesus is heading toward his death. Her extravagant gesture wasn't merely about luxury but about recognizing the magnitude of who Jesus is and what he was about to face. While the religious leaders plot to arrest Jesus and Judas arranges to betray him, this unnamed woman prepares Jesus for burial. She gives her most precious possession without calculation or restraint.
This story challenges our own approach to devotion. Do we hold back, calculating the "reasonable" limits of our commitment? Or are we willing to break our alabaster jars—to offer our best to Jesus without reservation? The woman's act reveals that true devotion often appears wasteful to pragmatic observers. Yet Jesus tells us her story will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached—because authentic love is never wasted.
In a world obsessed with efficiency and return on investment, this woman's "wasteful" worship reminds us that love follows a different economy. As we journey through Holy Week, we're invited to consider what our own alabaster jars might be—and whether we're willing to break them open in honor of the One who held nothing back for us.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
What is your "alabaster jar"—something precious that you find difficult to surrender fully to God?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Lord Jesus, help me recognize the worth of pouring out my best for You. Forgive me for the times I've calculated the cost of devotion rather than giving freely. Create in me a heart that loves You extravagantly, without reservation or restraint. Amen.