John 12. The woman with the alabaster jar.
Each of the Gospels records a similar story. A woman with a jar of expensive perfume. Lavishing it on Jesus. Rebuked by those around her. The accounts in Matthew, Mark and John are of the same incident but the event that Luke relays is of a different woman, different point in Christ’s ministry, different response from the crowd.
But both convey to us an act of immense love and profound worship.
Let’s look at both events and see what we can see..
One woman (the one in Luke 7:36-50) is a “sinner”, likely a prostitute. The encounter takes place early in Jesus’s ministry and is at the home of a Pharisee. She is silently condemned by the religious leader as being unworthy to perform such an act. He thought his condemnation was private, but Jesus knew! And Jesus rebuked him for a lack of love and praised the woman for her lavish display.
The other three Gospels all tell of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who also anointed Jesus with “costly perfume of pure nard”. She was rebuked by the disciples (primarily Judas) who condemned her as wasteful. They thought the perfume should have been sold and used to care for the poor. Jesus, however, commends her greatly - her use of nard was evidence of her faith because nard was an ointment used when preparing a body for burial. Mary knew that Jesus was headed to the cross…and why…and Jesus gives her high praise for “getting it”. Even His disciples didn’t demonstrate this level of belief!
The watching world saw one woman as worthless. The other woman as wasteful. But Jesus. Jesus declared both actions as worship.
What can you glean from this? I’d love to hear from you as you process these two acts of love.