Sweet Perfume
I am thankful for this woman and I’ d like to share a few highlights from the scripture reading in
Mark 24:3-9:
(3) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman
having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured
it on his head.
(4-5) And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of
the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been
given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
(6-9) And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For
ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have
not always. SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to
the burying. VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, WHERESOEVER THIS GOSPEL SHALL BE
PREACHED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD, THIS ALSO THAT SHE HATH DONE
SHALL BE SPOKEN OF FOR A MEMORIAL OF HER.
Jesus was so pleased with this woman’s lavish expression of love and adoration that he said, “She
hath done what she could…”
Spikenard (also called nard) was a costly aromatic ointment. Nard oil is used as a perfume, an
incense, and for medicinal purposes. The oil was a luxury item in ancient Egypt, the Near East,
and Rome. One source says it was equal to a year’s wage of the average agricultural worker.
Jesus immortalized this woman when he said, “wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.”
Memorial: 1 A recognition of meritorious service; commemoration, remembrance; credit,
recognition
Her sweet perfume permeated the atmosphere of Simon’s house, and the heart of a Saviour who was soon to pay the ultimate price not only for her personally, but for the whole world.
This passage of scripture is rich and full with many things that could be mentioned. My intent
however, is just to show a heart that shared a beautiful act of devotion upon a Saviour who was
worthy of her best, “she hath done what she could.”
FROM MY HEART TO YOU 