This document provides a summary and analysis of a passage from the Gospel of Mark about a woman anointing Jesus with expensive perfume. The summary is: 1) The passage describes a woman bringing an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and pouring it over Jesus' head, which some present saw as a waste but Jesus defended as a good deed. 2) The author analyzes this passage alongside parallel accounts in the other Gospels, concluding that the woman, Mary, anointed Jesus twice - once earlier to receive forgiveness, and again later to honor him as he prepared to die. 3) The woman is praised for her lavish, sacrificial, and unembarrassed worship of

1. COME CORRECT SERIES
I Didn’t Come Here For You
SCREENS> Mark 14:3-9
3
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.
4
Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such
expensive perfume?” they asked. 5
“It could have been sold for a
year’s wages and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded
her harshly. 6
But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why criticize her
for doing such a good thing to me? 7
You will always have the
poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to.
But you will not always have me. 8
She has done what she could
and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9
I tell you the
truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world,
this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”
SCREENS> I Didn’t Come Here For You
In this weekend’s text we find a most familiar narrative. We’ve all
heard the story in the form of exegetical prolific dissertations as
well as through sermonic selections. If for nothing else, we’ve at
least heard the song made popular by CeCe Winans entitled
Alabaster Box.
It is a powerful account of events, not to be confused with a
parable, this really happened. A woman of means with a past

2. presses her way through discomfort and pours her worship on
Jesus in the face of great criticism.
The story appears in all four gospels with one interesting
deviation in Luke’s account that we’ll deal with today. My
assignment this weekend is to harmonize all four of the gospel
accounts so we can better understand the progression of the
story and extract some power principles for praise.
Since we are already in Mark’s gospel let’s sit there for a moment,
look at verse three with me.
SCREENS> Mark 14:3
3
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.
Now straight off, I need you to afford me the pastoral latitude to
be a little pedagogical this morning, because I want to be as
responsible and as succinct as possible with this text. The first
thing, as a Bible reader, that strikes me as noteworthy is that both
Matthew and Mark’s gospel place this story in the home of a
gentleman formerly known as Simon the Leper. But in John 12,
and you should write that down, John explicitly tells us that Jesus
is in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Which has led some
to believe that Simon was a relative, possibly even the father of
Mary, Martha and Lazarus, that’s really the only way to
synchronize the text.

3. Now check this out, when sister girl busts up in the room, she
appears on the scene with something that is both beautiful and
expensive. I’m not making this up, it’s actually in the text. Her
alabaster jar is beautiful, and its contents are expensive. She has
postured herself for an experience with God!
I would like to suggest to you that as a believer your service to
God shouldn’t just look good, but it should cost you something!
You gotta understand the text. It would have required a year’s
wages from a common laborer to purchase what she had in that
alabaster box. Which lets me know that she had been saving up
for this moment! She had been making some sacrifices in
preparation of her visit with Jesus!
 I wanna preach to somebody who can say Pastor, I’ve been
saving up!
o I got tears that I didn’t shed because I’m been saving
them for Jesus!
o I got scars that I haven’t shown because I’m been saving
them for Jesus!
o I got people that I should’ve cussed out but didn’t,
because I’ve been saving up!
There were some sacrifices that I had to make in order to have
this ready. Like David, Mary would not give to the Lord that which
cost her nothing. Check this out,
SCREENS> 2 Samuel 24:24 NLT
But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will
not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me
nothing.”

4. SCREENS> 2 Samuel 24:24 MSG
But the king said to Araunah, “No. I’ve got to buy it from you for a
good price; I’m not going to offer God, my God, sacrifices that are
no sacrifice.”
SCREENS> 2 Samuel 24:24 PRV
No! Don’t get it twisted! I’m not going to give my GOD anything
that doesn’t cost me something! [Because He’s been too good to
me!]
Now you mean to tell me after everything that God has done for
you, you gone try to give him “it’s the thought that counts” kind
of praise? No, you need to think harder. If you and God were
exchanging gifts, He gave you the death of His Son for your life
and all you got is a “Hallelujah!” [WORK]
 You better come better than that!!!
Please forgive me but there’s an anomaly in the text that begs to
be addressed. Your girl comes to Jesus, but unlike everybody else
in the Gospels, she doesn’t come to get something, she comes to
give something!
 He’s already done enough, I just came to bless him!
 I just came to give Him praise!
We gotta get to the next verse, but before we do, notice that she
doesn’t just open the jar and pour it over Jesus. No, she is
dramatic with her service, the text says, she breaks the jar. As
beautiful as the jar is, and the Bible goes to great lengths to
express its beauty, she breaks it. She could have easily just opened

5. it, but she wanted God to know that she was she was offering was
for real.
 I wanna break this, because I want you to know that this
moment belongs to you and only you!
Let me go back to David so you can understand,
SCREENS> Psalms 51:17 NLT
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a
broken and repentant heart, O God.
SCREENS> Psalms 51:17 MSG
Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless
performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my
pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for
a moment escape God’s notice.
I’m breaking the bottle of my worship to let you know that I’m
ready! [WORK]
Let’s move on…
SCREENS> Mark 14:4-6
4
Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such
expensive perfume?” they asked. 5
“It could have been sold for a
year’s wages and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded
her harshly. 6
But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why criticize her
for doing such a good thing to me?

6. While I was preparing for this weekend and performing the
necessary cross-references to catch a glimpse of the bigger
picture I realized something. Most of us can’t relate to the sister in
the text, because we’ve never gone far enough in our worship,
service or giving to provoke any kind of reaction like the criticism
she’s experiencing!
 Let’s be real, ain’t nobody accusing you of doing too much!
This account demonstrates the dichotomy of Worship vs. Waste.
Because in this sense some looked at her worship and considered
it wasteful. Surely she could have used that money for something
else. Surely it did not take all of that crying and bowing and
wiping to get God’s attention. After all we’re already engaged in a
conversation with Him, we already have His attention, so you’re
just wasting your time, you could’ve just come in and sat it down
like the rest of us.
But Mary had an understanding. She says, I’m not trying to be like
the rest of yall. They judged her act as wasteful, but Jesus received
it as worship! And at that moment, everybody else in the room
disappeared in Jesus’ eyes, she has His undivided attention!
 Did I tell you that there’s a blessing in the pressing!
Mary says, I’m not interested in a group conversation. I didn’t
come here to talk to yall, I came for Him! I’ve got to have an
intimate conversation with Him to let Him know how good He’s
been to me and you’ve already proven that you don’t qualify to
be privy to my praise! [GO FOR IT]
 This is an A & B conversation…

7. She found at His feet her blessing, she brought to His feet her
burdens, and she gave at His feet her best.
SCREENS> Mark 14:7-8
7
You will always have the poor among you, and you can help
them whenever you want to. But you will not always have
me. 8
She has done what she could and has anointed my body for
burial ahead of time.
Based on extensive study, I’ve come to realize something that
absolutely blew my mind. While it is that my attempt is to
harmonize all four of the stories into one, I can’t. Because after
much study, it seems that Luke 7 is a separate event with same
circumstances and the same characters. As I look closer at the
text, it seems to me that the Luke 7 takes places years earlier than
Matthew, Mark and John’s account.
Before I can move on, let’s check it out and roll with me quickly,
SCREENS> Luke 7:36-47 NLT
36
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so
Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37
When a certain
immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she
brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
38
Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on
his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept
kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. 39
When the
Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this
man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is

8. touching him. She’s a sinner!” 40
Then Jesus answered his
thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to
say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. 41
Then Jesus told
him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces
of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42
But neither of them
could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their
debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43
Simon
answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger
debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. 44
Then he turned to the woman
and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I
entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust
from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped
them with her hair.45
You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the
time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46
You
neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has
anointed my feet with rare perfume. 47
“I tell you, her sins—and
they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much
love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
While it is that Luke’s account focuses on the condition of the
woman – she’s a sinner in need of forgiveness, Mark’s the
accounts focus on the decision of the woman.
After closer review, I am compelled to acknowledge that Mary
must have anointed him twice.
 She anoints him first when she needs a change in her life and
she acknowledges that He is the one who brings change!
 She anoints him second when she realizes that he’s getting
ready to leave and he’s not being appreciated!

9. o She recognizes that He is a seed being prepared for
burial and she knows what happens when a seed goes
into the ground.
 Can I stop right here, real quick and tell you that
you can’t keep a good seed down! Because when
my life is a seed, I only go under so that I can
sprout back up!!! [WORK]
o So knowing what happens when a seed goes into the
ground, she makes the decision to put her offering in,
because you can’t reap what you don’t sow!
In a sense and I’m back in Mark, Mary was showing her devotion
to Jesus before it was too late. She was “giving the roses” while He
was yet alive, and not bringing them to the funeral! Her act of
love and worship was public, spontaneous, sacrificial, lavish,
personal, and unembarrassed. Jesus called it “a good work” and
both commended her and defended her.
And can I just remind you real quick, and get right church let’s go
home, that’s all she came for in the first place! Even though
everybody had something to say about her worship, she didn’t
come for them. Even though they started a side conversation
about the appropriateness of her offering she never showed up
for them, she came because she needed Jesus! [GO TO CHURCH]
 I DIDN’T COME HERE FOR YOU!
o I CAME FOR JESUS!!!
You are not the center of my focus, nor are you the focus of my
attention, nor are you the attention that I seek, I SEEK JESUS!!!
Let’s go home with John’s account,

10. SCREENS> John 12:3 NLT
3
Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made
from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping
his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.
Let’s fill the house!!!