What a Waste

Mark 14:1–11 ESV

1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” 3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” 10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Introduction

I want you to think about a time when you were on vacation. Have you ever been on a trip, maybe to some great faraway place, maybe some beautiful location to enjoy rest and renewal, and you were about to pay for some very overpriced dinner out, and you thought to yourself: I could be using this money for something useful! I could be paying this bill or this bill with this money. We could have skipped this whole vacation and put more into savings! Is that you? Maybe it’s someone else in your family. Let me tell you, and I’m telling it to myself: we’re stealing the fun out of our vacation!

We’re missing the point! It really is hard to make a utilitarian case for far off travel or an extravagant vacation or even Disneyland tickets for our kids , and really who needs the aggravation of theme park lines? Why do we do it? For the joy it brings out of our family; for the beauty of some new place we’ve never seen before; for the way it can renew us and give us rest. But the thinking that says—we could be doing something more productive with this—is exactly what we see from Jesus’ followers in this passage when they are confronted with an extravagant act of worship.

What we’ll see in this passage are those who are embarrassed by this act, they think it’s gone too far, but the truth is they’re in bondage, in bondage to themselves and in bondage to their own legalism and religiosity. On the other hand, we’ll see a woman who gives everything she has to Jesus and at his feet she finds freedom. That’s our main idea today: Costly surrender to Jesus brings freedom from bondage.

A Costly Sacrifice

We’ll start with the costly sacrifice. Notice that Mark has structured this story of amazing devotion and worship to Jesus in between these two brief passages about those plotting against Him. We’ll focus on those in a little bit, but keep those bookends in mind as the woman and her sacrifice are a stark contrast against those who would kill Jesus.

Here’s the scene: Jesus goes to the house of Simon the Leper, probably a former leper who had been healed, for a dinner party. We see this story in both Matthew 26 and John 12. In John’s account, he gives us a little more detail, this was after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and this dinner was held in Jesus’ honor. Lazarus was there as were Mary and Martha—his sisters—and it’s Mary who anoints Jesus with this perfume. Whatever the case, the details remain, a woman interrupts the dinner party to anoint Jesus with this exceedingly expensive perfume.

[Mark 14:3]

Now, we’re told it’s expensive, but we must be careful to not undersell the extent of her gift here. This is not merely some expensive perfume you’d get at the mall. This was an alabaster jar of pure nard. Mark helps us out by giving us it’s value: 300 denarii about a year’s worth of wages. NOT what one could save in a year, it’s as if you took every cent you earned in a year and spent it on nothing but a bottle of perfume.

It was extremely difficult to make and to get; the flower for this perfume basically only grow at elevation in the Himalayan mountains in Nepal and India. Could you imagine the headache to procure this and transport it to ancient Israel? For this woman, for her family, this was undoubtedly a family heirloom, in which case it possessed sentimental value as well as monetary value.

Because it was so valuable, it would have been passed down from generation to generation and it would have represented financial security for the family. In case of famine, invasion by foreign enemy, other disaster or financial emergency this could provide tremendous financial provision for the family! This was a sell in case of emergency sort of thing!

But she gives it up, she holds nothing back. She even breaks the precious container it’s in, they won’t even be able to use that again for something else. We see the totality of her gift to Jesus.

We see total surrender, total humility , not seeking to honor herself or get something out of Jesus, but only to honor and glorify and offer praise to Him. This is extravagant worship, holding nothing back!

If this is, as John says, Mary, then we shouldn’t be surprised. She had known Jesus for a long time, she had sat at his feet and learned from him, she saw him resurrect her brother from the dead. She is at the point of saying: there’s nothing else I will hold on to in order to serve and worship you. She has looked and found nothing as satisfying as joy-filling, as trustworthy, as dependable, as worthy as Jesus Christ.

You see, when we come to see Jesus as He truly is, as our precious savior, as the King of Kings who came to serve the world, if we see Him like that then the most precious things in our lives, their value will begin to fade. Even the most precious gifts we have, their value will diminish compared to the priceless value of knowing our savior.

The words on my mind all week have been these from that great hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:

Were the whole realm of nature mine That were a present far too small Love so amazing so divine Demands my soul my life my all

You could imagine, if this woman had more she’d give it to Jesus. If she had the whole realm of nature it wouldn’t be enough to give her savior. She pours out her life before Him. Not because he lords is power over her, but because His love is so amazing it draws us into complete surrender.

It’s an invitation for us to consider, where are we holding back from our savior? And if we’re holding back, is it because we see Him as something other than He is? Something less than the King of Kings who is worthy of all our praise. That question is one we see play out in the others in this story.

The bondage we face

Let’s look at those around Jesus in this passage and how they react to Him and how they react to this woman’s act of worship. First are those there at the dinner with him. We’re meant to take this as some of his disciples and others gathered with them. Mark 14:4–5 “4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.”

They are indignant! What a waste, they say! They’re absolutely put off by this woman’s act of devotion, by the extravagance of her gift. They have too much pride in themselves to even think about an act of worship like this, oh the indignity. As the kids might say, it’s a little cringe, she’s being pretty extra.

And they seem offended by her confidence. This woman interrupts dinner to pour this expensive perfume on Jesus, what a bold move! What confidence she has, knowing that her savior will accept her gift and receive her. While everyone else in the room upset, their pride is offended by her shameless confidence!

Do you think this embarrassment ever crossed her mind? I just quoted a great hymn, but this brings to mind another classic song: “What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak? What will people do when they find that it's true?” She didn’t seem bothered by what they thought, her confidence confronts their pride.

But how do they hide their pride? They pivot, they make their indignation about giving to the poor. They hide behind a noble cause and shame her, scold her for what she’s done. That word there for scold, it literally meant to snort out someone in rage, it’s like they’re booing her.

And I want to be careful here, there may be some genuine care for the poor among them, but it seems to betray a deeper disfunction in their hearts: their deeply entrenched legalism. Their in bondage to their desire to to good works over worshipping their savior, a religiosity that says we need to check the boxes, but just the minimum, don’t go too far and don’t go overboard. We could give a little to Jesus and check that box, we could give some to the poor and check that good deed off our list.

In effect, they’re saying, our fund for the poor is a little low, can we get that up a little bit first before anything else? This is a real waste! They’re wondering how they could make themselves look good, increase their position. This is what legalism does to us, we become obsessed with checking the boxes and looking good. In legalism, there may be a good motivation to honor God, but as we see it has limits and it ultimately serves ourselves.

Are you ever tempted to think this way about God—what can I get out of him? Do we think along these legalistic, self-serving terms: Well, I’m a good person because I go to church, I serve, therefore God will bless me with good things. This is not surrendered faith, this is conditional faith. If as soon as things get hard, suffering emerges, do you think: what good is it being a Christian? If we say this, then what we’re saying is there are conditions on our faith. I’ll follow you, but I expect something in return.

I’ll give to the poor, God, but I want to make sure I get the credit. Meanwhile, this woman humbles herself completely.

This woman destroys their legalistic framework, crushes it like she crushes the alabaster jar. She says there is no minimum, I can do nothing but give Him my all.

And at least one of them was thinking: how can keep some of this for myself? In John’s telling it was Judas who questioned the gift. John 12:6 “6 Judas said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.”

That’s a bondage not to legalism but a bondage to self. How can I enrich myself? And that really brings us to the bookends of this passage: Judas and the scribes. The chief priests are certainly in bondage to their legalism, for Jesus is a threat to religious order, to their way of doing things. He was a threat to manage and to do that they plotted his arrest and execution.

Then we have Judas in these final few verses. He goes to those very chief priests we see in the opening verses and it says in order to betray him.

Mark 14:10 “10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.” Judas sought them out, he is the active agent in the betrayal, he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus to the chief priests. It wasn’t that they priests had to woo or entice a disciple, one of his followers did this willingly.

Do you think Judas saw the writing on the wall? Do you think he could see where things were going? Tensions were rising, plots were being whispered throughout the city. He could see where things were going and his instinct was to get whatever he could out of Jesus before things really went south. He could see the crash coming, better sell Jesus stock now and get what you can.

The woman says: Jesus you can have everything, my all; Judas says: what can I get for myself. And do you remember, what does Judas get for betraying Jesus?

30 pieces of silver. It’s a telling amount of money for 30 pieces of silver was the exact payment required according to the book of Exodus if your cow accidentally killed your neighbor’s slave. To Judas, Jesus was worth the price of a dead slave, a dead servant and nothing more. Jesus said of himself, the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and Judas is ready to take him up on that as if he was owed something by Jesus.

The woman, on the other hand, says Jesus you’re worthy of everything I have. My life, my all, my security, my hopes, everything.

This kind of self-serving bondage, kills us, it crushes us! It will crush Judas. What happened to him? He got his reward, but he was crushed.

Freedom in Christ

What is the antidote to this bondage? To this pride that consumes us, this self-serving instinct, this movement toward legalism? To throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus and find freedom even in our surrender!

Finally, let’s look at the response of our dear savior to this woman and her worship: Mark 14:6–9 “6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.””

Look at our good shepherd, what does he do? He defends her. He doesn’t bask in the glory of the moment. He doesn’t say to to the disciples, hey, let me enjoy this, it smells nice! No, he redirects in order to care for her: why do you trouble her? Leave her alone!

Never let anyone tell you your worship is a waste, let no one tell you your devotion to Jesus is a waste! Jesus will never put you to shame! He honors her devotion and her sacrifice.

And don’t mistake Jesus’ words. These are not words of insensitivity toward the poor. Jesus is clear, consistently that the call of the Christian is to care for those in need. Remember what he said to the rich young man: sell all you have and give to the poor. That was the standard for that man. Why is it different for this woman? Because he knows what we need. He knew what that rich man needed for his heart, he knows what this woman needs for her surrender and deeper faith in Him.

In fact, he’s reminding them the poor will be among them, they can and should keep serving others! But he’s also preparing for his own death, just days away at this point. He knows he’s leaving this world, he knows the sacrifice he’s going to make and he seems to marvel at her faith and understanding: that she understands—maybe not fully—to some degree, what is going to happen to him.

It’s not an impossibility to think that this woman, especially if it is Mary, had concluded in her mind that Jesus was going to sacrifice himself, and that thought startled her into extreme worship. And this should be the same with us: we should be astounded by what Jesus has done for us! It shake us up, fill us with unending joy, move us in our deepest place every day.

The good news of Jesus’ death for us never stops being good news and we can, day after day, be filled with awe anew for what He has done for us.

Do you see what this woman has done? She pours out this precious gift, extravagant worship on Jesus who is SO very worthy of our praise. He is worthy of all that we could give him. And in doing this, she is preparing his body for his death and burial, preparing him for when He will pour out His whole self for us, we who are so unworthy.

Jesus’s words are fulfilled today in our sharing this story: that wherever the gospel is preached, the memory of her worship, her devotion, her surrender to Jesus will be told. Let us be people who, indeed, are remembered for our surrender and worship of our precious savior.