Mark 14_ Perceived Value

Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head. Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such expensive perfume?” they asked.  “It could have been sold for a year’s wages and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded her harshly. Mark 14:3-5

While reading through Mark 14 when Jesus was eating inside the home of Simon, the one healed of leprosy, there was a woman who came in that honored Jesus by pouring expensive perfume over his head. Some of the people that were seated at the table with him were not too happy to see that she did this because they believed that there were more valuable ways of utilizing the perfume or better ways to exchange.

This passage really made me think of those people who may be “breaking bread” with you (doing business), but still devalue you. The word says that “there were some that had indignation within themselves” meaning that these people were annoyed, displeased and troubled. This literally is explaining that it pained these people to see this woman honoring the Lord Jesus in this way. They felt that it was a waste and even scolded her with ways that they believed it should have been used like selling it and giving to the poor or those that they felt had need of it. — Well, I’ve got news, they aren’t completely wrong in their ideas or how they feel about helping those who are in need. The problem was that they did not see the value in the Messiah like this woman demonstrated. They did not value him in their hearts and they began proclaiming it out of their mouths by reproving or correcting the behavior of this woman and challenging her based on her values.

This woman was able to see the value in Jesus and was willing to give anything to honor him despite the cost. We see this outlined in Jesus’ response to these indignant individuals who occupied his circle.

But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me.  She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.  I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” Mark 14:6-9

We can also obviously see that this was no ordinary oil, this was expensive oil because it was mentioned that it could be sold for a years wages. We can also see in scripture that this was the same type of oil used by Mary to anoint the feet of Jesus. This, as Jesus explained, was the woman preparing the Lord’s body for burial ahead of time. Back then, this was the ritual for preparing a person of high status as a lavish provision to show appreciation and value for that person. By this we can recognize that Jesus represented high value to this woman and what he had to offer her in exchange would eventually be the sacrificing of his life.

Our question then is, how much do we value the Lord? What are we willing to utilize in our lives as a way to bring glory and honor to him, causing him to feel valued by us?

Most people are always “What’s in it for me?” minded, but it’s time for this to change. We must begin to think about the ways that we can honor God and in exchange, we will be Blessed. And just as Jesus told these people “wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be spoken of as a memorial for her.” — When we commit that which we have, whether it be our business, our money, our time or whatever that is valuable to being used to glorify the Lord Jesus and help people see the value of him, we will be memorialized for it.