Mark 14:3 ” While in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.”

This alabaster jar had no lid, the precious nard was instead sealed in the container…preserved for a very significant use. We thus see this unknown woman deliberately breaking open the jar and anointing Jesus…a profound display of love, devotion, and reverence. However, what the disciples saw was an extravagant waste of resources. But what Jesus saw was much more…a preparation for His burial. And as the fragrance wafted up and filled the room, the disciples were indignant at the woman’s careless actions…but Jesus instead understood it as Ephesians 5:2 states, ” Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Later, when Paul gave instructions for the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper in I Corinthians 11:24, he wrote, “The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ ” The disciples couldn’t understand the importance of the broken jar, until they witnessed the broken body of Jesus at the crucifixion…realizing only then Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and love for all mankind.