Adapted from She, Volume 1, p 39-40
Read: Matthew 26:1-13; Mark 14:1-9; John 12:1-8
I believe it is helpful to start with this bit of commentary from gotquestions.org:
All four gospels present an account of Jesus being anointed by a woman with a costly jar of perfume (Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; Luke 7:36–50; John 12:1–8). Matthew and Mark relate the same event but do not give the woman’s name; Luke tells of a different woman, also anonymous, on an earlier occasion; and, in yet another event, the woman in John is identified as Mary of Bethany (John 11:2), sister to Martha and Lazarus.
gotquestions.org
There are many women named Mary in the Bible, so it should be noted that Mary of Bethany, the woman mentioned in John’s account of the ‘alabaster box’, is also known to us as the sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 11:2). While Matthew and Mark did not identify the woman in their accounts by name, they related similar stories. Each story, though brief, is a beautiful display of an “extravagant act of worship”.1
The three women who anointed Jesus recognized Christ’s unequaled value and expressed their gratitude with unreserved love and devotion. gotquestions.org
It is also worth noting that at least one of the disciples (if not all) complained about the woman’s act being extravagant and wasteful. In each of these accounts, Jesus corrects the disciples’ criticism/concern for what she had done for Him. My favorite response is found in Matthew 26:10:
“She has done a beautiful thing to me”. Christ explains that the anointing is to prepare His body for burial and that the woman’s act of love will forever be remembered wherever the good news is preached.
(Matthew 26:10)
Friends, to borrow a statement of prayer from the journal: “May we pour out our lives in service to Him.” May we worship Him with such reverence and awe that we hold nothing back ~ that He might say of us, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Reflection and Application
(answers, thoughts, and questions may be left in the comment section below)
- We may be criticized when we ‘pour it all out for Him’, but we must ask ourselves: Is quitting worth missing out on giving Him the glory He deserves?
Me From the Inside Out 