She Has Done a Good Work

Matthew and Mark also tell about a supper in Bethany, where a woman poured very costly oil on Jesus' head (Matthew 26:6-7; Mark 14:3). Many Christians see this as the same event John tells about. John is the one who gives her name: Mary.

A broken flask. Mark says she came “having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head” (Mark 14:3). Alabaster is a smooth stone used for fine jars. Once the flask was broken, the oil could not be saved for later.

Why this waste? Matthew says that when the disciples saw it, “they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste?’” (Matthew 26:8). Indignant means upset because you think something is wrong.

Counting the cost. Mark tells us some said the oil “might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” Then “they criticized her sharply” (Mark 14:5). To them, pouring it on Jesus looked like throwing it away.

A good work. Jesus answered, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me” (Mark 14:6). Where they saw waste, Jesus saw a good work.

Good and beautiful. The word Jesus used for good can also mean beautiful. To Jesus, what Mary did was a beautiful thing.

What Jesus sees. The critics looked at the price of the oil. Jesus looked at the love that gave it. He looks at what we give Him in the same way.

The poor still matter. In Mark, Jesus added that “whenever you wish you may do them good” (Mark 14:7). Worship of Jesus and kindness to people in need belong together.

Never wasted. Nothing given to Jesus is wasted. Paul wrote that “your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). In vain means for nothing. Time you spend praying, giving or worshiping is never for nothing.

Love that looks foolish. Some people think it is silly to give up a Saturday to help at church, or to give part of your money to God's work. Jesus does not think so.

The greatest gift poured out. On the cross Jesus poured out His own life for us. Isaiah wrote, “He poured out His soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12). To some it looked like a good life thrown away. It was the greatest good work ever done, because it saved sinners. Then He rose again.

What to do. Give Jesus something this week that others might call a waste: extra time to pray, a song of praise, or a gift for someone in need.

Jesus said more about the woman's gift: “She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial” (Mark 14:8). Then He made a promise about her.

What she could. Jesus received what she gave Him gladly.

Beforehand. She came “beforehand.” She honored Jesus before the cross, while He was still with them. A few days later, that chance would be gone.

Do not wait. She did not wait for a better day. She honored Jesus while He was with them. You can love and worship Him today, not someday.

Remembered. Then Jesus made a promise: “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). A memorial is something that helps people remember.

Told everywhere. That promise has come true. Christians in many countries and many languages still read about what she did. You are reading about it right now!

The gospel goes out. Jesus said the gospel would be preached “in the whole world.” The gospel is the good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Wherever that news goes, her love for Jesus is told too.

Her gift remembered. Jesus did not promise that the price of the oil would be remembered. He promised that what she had done for Him would be told.

Her love points to His. She poured out her oil for Jesus. Days later Jesus poured out His life for her and for us.

A book of remembrance. Long ago, the prophet Malachi wrote that when people who feared the Lord talked together about Him, the Lord listened. A book of remembrance was written before Him for them (Malachi 3:16).

Love you can see. Her love for Jesus was not only a feeling kept inside. It became something she did. Love for Jesus always looks for a way to show itself.

Love that answers love. We do not give to earn God's love. Jesus loved us and gave Himself first. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

What to do. Think of one way to honor Jesus that you keep putting off, like a prayer or a thank-you to Him. Do it this week, the way the woman in Bethany did not wait.