In a small house in Bethany, a woman breaks open her most precious possession and pours it out on Jesus, only to be met with sharp criticism: “Why this waste?” In this episode on Mark 14:1–11, we sit with Mary of Bethany’s costly act of love, hear Jesus’ question “Why do you bother her?”, and trace the striking contrast between her lavish devotion, the religious leaders’ hatred, and Judas’s quiet greed.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- How Mark weaves together two storylines—growing hatred for Jesus and overflowing love for him—on the eve of Passover
- The cultural setting of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and how a festival meant to remember mercy is twisted by hard-hearted leaders
- The scene in Simon the leper’s home and the significance of a healed man hosting the One who restores what is broken
- Mary’s alabaster jar of pure nard—likely her dowry, worth a year’s wages—and what it means to offer Jesus something you may never get back
- Why some disciples call her gift a “waste,” and how a fixation on efficiency and optics can blind us to the beauty of wholehearted worship
- Jesus’ defense of Mary: “She has done a beautiful thing to me… she has done what she could,” and how he names her act timely, feasible, insightful, and unforgettable
- The way Mary, unlike the others, seems to take Jesus’ predictions of his death seriously and anoints him ahead of time for burial
- The dark contrast of Judas, “one of the twelve,” slipping away to sell Jesus for money—and what his secret greed reveals about the danger of divided loyalties
- How Mary’s broken jar foreshadows Jesus’ broken body, and how her poured-out perfume anticipates his blood poured out in love for many
After listening, you’ll see Mary’s act not as reckless emotion, but as a clear-eyed response to who Jesus is and what he is about to do. You’ll be invited to ask what is in your own “box”—the costly things you cling to—and what it might mean to “do what you can” in light of Christ’s extravagant love. And you’ll come away with a deeper sense that the cross is God’s own lavish gift for you: the broken body and poured-out life that prove, once and for all, that you are not your own but dearly bought with a price.
Series: Questions Jesus Asked
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