Broken Jars: A Faithful Offering

Mark 14:3-9, NLT – Jesus Anointed at Bethany

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. 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.”

This narration in the Bible is of a woman breaking a jar she owned of expensive perfume oil and using it to anoint Jesus. As the onlookers exclaimed, and much to their detest, the value of the perfume was worth a year’s wages.

The woman willingly gave up a whole year’s salary in a moment, all for Jesus. The reactions of the people who witnessed this event show it was an astonishing act for the woman to perform. Such an act would equally be astonishing in our current times. After all, who throws away money like that? 

That might be the world’s point of view because Jesus thought the opposite. The world may call her act a waste, but Jesus calls it a “good thing”. For the woman, this was a display of her love and appreciation for her Lord, an act of worship. As Jesus proclaimed, “I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” (Mark 14:9).

We can take several inspirations from this woman’s action in giving up something for Jesus that appears so valuable from a worldly perspective. From her example, we can interrogate our hearts with questions such as:

Ultimately, the woman’s act displayed love that could not be shown without the love that Jesus first showed her. The love of Jesus is not limited to individuals. It extends to everyone through His sacrifice on the cross by making way for us to be made right with God. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), He rescues us from the darkness and the consequences of our sins that will eventually lead to death. Through the acceptance of Christ, we are brought into God’s Kingdom of light and eternal life and have the right to be called children of God (John 1:12). There is an awareness that as God’s children, we are now part of an eternal Kingdom that will come after our dwelling on earth, acknowledging that earth is a temporary home.  

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. – Colossians 1:13-14, NLT

Following Jesus is also a commitment to follow His commands and teachings, striving to glorify Him in all we do. In essence, we offer ourselves to God so His will may be done, a  submission that requires a continuous act of worship, as expressed by Apostle Paul:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. – Romans 12:1-2, NLT

While we can consider the good things we have on earth as blessings from God, living in true submission means our possessions or whatever we consider as treasures here on earth should never distract or come between God and us. However, in our human nature, we tend to act based on what we see. We physically see the world before us and likely place value on the things we own. So it would naturally be upsetting for most of us to lose these things, whether wealth, possessions or anything we consider valuable. Contrary to what we are drawn towards, the Bible informs us not to grasp at what our eyes can see. It reveals that what we see here on earth is only a limited view compared to what lies beyond this temporary life. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV

This narrative of the woman and her willingness to break a valuable possession for Jesus represents what God desires from us in how we live here on earth. It is to look beyond what we can see and submit to God to fulfil our role in bringing His Kingdom here on earth.  With the Holy Spirit leading us, we can go against our nature in the flesh and keep our minds set beyond what we see here on earth. This includes distinguishing earthly treasures from heavenly treasures and treating them accordingly. The woman’s act of worship is also an illustration of what Jesus teaches us about not holding on too tightly to our earthly possessions.

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. – Matthew 6:19-21, NLT

However, this does not come without challenges to our faith. This woman likely doubted her actions before and maybe after doing so. Perhaps these are some thoughts that flooded her mind: Could I break my jar of perfume worth so much just for anointing purposes? Would it even matter or make a difference?

Whether known or unknown to the woman before anointing Jesus with her perfume, she had prepared Jesus for His burial. This ultimately was an invaluable action; preparing her Messiah for His burial was worth more than she could have ever imagined, as affirmed by Jesus:

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. – Mark 14:7-8, NLT

In hindsight, this woman had given up a valuable possession to prepare the Saviour of the world to carry out the greatest demonstration of love, bringing eternal life to all who accept Him. This woman let go of an earthly possession for a higher spiritual and heavenly purpose. Her valuable possession was given up for God to use as He wills, an actual act of submission and worship.

Reflect on the things you own, what you treasure and highly value, whether materially or emotionally. Now, consider placing these things in a metaphorical jar. In faith, are you willing to break that jar to glorify God?

It is also important to note that while this particular narrative in the Bible is about the woman giving up a possession worth a year’s wages, what we can offer to God is not always about money or possessions. It is whatever we may need to sacrifice to make way for God to use us to fulfil His will. Ultimately, whatever we can do for the Kingdom of God will bring glory to His name.

Perhaps breaking that jar for you is giving up a life ambition to pursue something else you know is more in line with God’s will for you. Perhaps it is making the hard decision to decline company with people you know tend to lure you into sin, causing a more significant divide between you and God. It may look like choosing to spend more intentional time with God, giving up the distractions that have stood between you and God, and deciding to make it a priority to draw closer to Him through prayer and study of His word. Whatever it may look like, a willingness to break our metaphorical jars for Jesus reflects our heart’s desire to obey Him. Whether material possessions, comforts, plans, desires, priorities, relationships… While it may be uncomfortable for us to ask, we must consider: If necessary, are we willing to give it all up for God? 

The response we give in our hearts likely reflects how willing we are to be used as living and holy sacrifices for God, as the woman with her jar of perfume demonstrates. Apart from this woman’s story, throughout the Bible, we are confronted with the challenge of laying it all down for God. As another illustration, the accounts of Jesus’ ministry on earth offer a comparable analogy of taking up our cross.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? – Matthew 16:24-26, NLT

Taking up our cross resembles the sacrificial action of Jesus, who chose to let go of His own life to accomplish the will of His heavenly Father. As part of the completion of this will was an excruciating crucifixion on the cross, the reality of which was distressing enough for Jesus to pray to His Father to avoid the ‘cup’ that awaited Him if possible:

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. – Matthew 26:39, NLT

Despite His inner struggles, however, Jesus demonstrates submission to the will of God by going on to say:“… Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Jesus illustrates what it means to go against our desires with this act of total surrender. As followers of Jesus, taking up our cross resembles giving up anything self-centred that is a hindrance to God’s plan for our lives. It is a death to our flesh in order to carry out our God-glorifying assignments. However, due to our naturally selfish nature, this is not possible by our own power. It is only in surrender to God and through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that we can die to our selfish nature and carry out the will of our heavenly Father like Jesus did. Whether we let go of earthly treasures by ‘breaking our jars’ or face sacrificial choices by ‘picking up our cross’, our decision to follow Jesus will come with its challenges.  Nevertheless the only way for our soul to be saved and receive eternal life is through accepting Jesus into our lives. 

We must not be consumed by what the world offers or enticed by the temporary treasures we see that will eventually fade away. Jesus echoes this reality: “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” Like the choice Jesus made on His way to the cross, we are faced with temporal sufferings and sacrifices for a treasure that will last forever.

If you have not accepted Jesus, the first step in inviting Him as Lord over your life is letting go of whatever stands between you and God. To realise we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard of goodness (Romans 3:23).  It is in knowing you cannot save yourself from God’s judgement and you need Jesus to be free from the fear of death. We all need God’s love and grace. Break that jar of unrepentance and choose to accept the love God shows through Jesus. From that point on, as led by the Holy Spirit, you can begin to make your faithful offerings to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. – Romans 10:9-10, NLT

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