Mark 14:3  And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
4  And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
5  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
6  And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
7  For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
8  She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
9  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Bethany was a city near Jerusalem. It was the place where Lazarus, Mary and Martha lived. John 12 speaks of a similar incident taking place, however that incident took place at Martha’s house and it was prior to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This account took place after that event and in Simon the leper’s house.
We are not given any further information on Simon the leper. He was likely someone who had been healed of leprosy at some point prior to this. He was in his house now and lepers needed to be separated from the community due to their disease.
We are also not told who this woman was. We could speculate, but God does not give us any further information on who she was and thus we are wise to leave things as they are and deal with the facts given to us. It was not important to know just who this woman was. What is important is what she did and what that signified.
This woman had some good taste in regard to purchasing ointment. The ointment she had purchased was very precious. We are not told when she bought it or if she intended on using it for this specific purpose, at the time of purchase. We know she decided to bring this ointment to this specific house for this specific purpose.
This woman took this very precious ointment and brake the box and poured the contents on Jesus’ head. She did not just take some of it. She emptied that container onto Jesus’ head. She had one purpose for this entire box of ointment. There was no hesitancy here and there was no concern of overuse.
This in itself is a picture of the attitude of the true child of God. There should be no reservation on any aspect of the saved person’s life, when it comes to service for the Lord. In I Corinthians 6:20 and chapter 7:23. Those who are truly saved are bought with a price. We have been given eternal life and we have submitted ourselves to God. He is now the owner of all we have and are. Ultimately God can do as He pleases with any person. The difference is that the saved person needs to be willing to submit to the Lord.
In our text we read that some in the house where Jesus was, were indignant within themselves at what this woman just did. Their immediate response was that this was a waste of this ointment. In their minds this ointment should have been sold. It would have brought a significant sum of money. These indignant people assumed this ointment could have been sold for about a year’s wages. That would be a significant amount of money. This woman obviously had a much different sense of value than those indignant people had.
Jesus knew what was happening here and He spoke up. He told those self-righteous people to leave this woman alone. What right did they have to judge her in what she was doing. She had purchased the ointment. It was hers to do with as she pleased. Jesus declared that this woman had done a good work on Him. This was not a waste at all, as far as Jesus was concerned. There was no better use of this ointment than what she chose to do with it.
These self-righteous individuals suggested that the ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus stated that the poor would always be with them. These self-righteous individuals could help out the poor any time they wanted to. However, Jesus would not always be with them. He would soon be taken away from them.
Jesus declared that this woman had done what she could in preparing His body for His burial. We noted from the Scriptures, that after Jesus’ death on the cross, His body was taken down and laid in a tomb but it was not properly prepared at that time. The women went back to the tomb to properly deal with the dead body. When they arrived, Jesus was no longer in that tomb. They never did get to take care of that body as they usually would have done. This woman did what those women could not do. She anointed His body prior to His death.
Jesus declared that this gospel would be preached over the whole world. This was recorded and it is being preserved so that all can read it and study it. As we noted, this woman demonstrated the heart attitude of a true child of God. This woman did not lose anything of value in pouring this ointment upon Jesus’ head. We are not told whether this woman was a wealthy woman. We know that this woman would not miss out on anything important due to her actions here.
As we mentioned, a true child of God must be completely surrendered to the Lord. It is not a waste of time or energy to serve the Lord. Jesus Christ is precious. He alone can provide salvation for mankind.

Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

There is nothing more important than the salvation of the soul. Jesus Christ is the Only Saviour. Without His salvation, there is no hope for man. No one can pay their way to heaven. People talk of “paying it forward”. When it comes to salvation, there is no paying it forward. Salvation is a gift of God. Jesus Christ is more precious than anything or anyone else. Those who are saved, are not seeking to pay God back. They serve the Lord because of the love of God that is shed abroad in their hearts.
In our text, this woman did not ‘have to’ pour that ointment on Jesus’ head. She chose to do so. She was not seeking recognition for what she did. Obviously she did not get a good response from the people. It was Jesus that recognized the true value of what she did. The others mentioned condemned her actions.
Serving God should not be done in order to gain recognition. Much of what is done today in religious ‘service’ is for recognition. Thus much of it is worldly. A choir is no longer used in most churches. Harmony is not important in the singing. Now it is a keyboardist and a drummer and then some guitarists and of course some ‘good’ vocalists. It is showmanship, rather than service to the Lord. It is done for the praise of man, not for the glory of God.
We notice as well that true service for the Lord will be toward others. It may not be appreciated but it is done for the benefit of others. This woman could have met privately with Jesus and anointed His head. She did it publicly because it was a teachable moment for others. Others need to see the true value in Jesus Christ. Others needed to see the significance of Who Jesus was. Others needed to be challenged as to what is truly important.
True Christians are not secret Christians. They serve the Lord faithfully without regard for what others will think. They serve the Lord because they love Him.
Pastor Bartel