The Alabaster Box Mark 14:1-9

Text: “...Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7b.

Good morning, maligned Christian!  You have felt the fiery slander of many as you have sought to serve Jesus; your every outward action has been taken out of context by fault-finders around you, and then used to give a false interpretation of your inner heart’s motives.

Yet, fret not beloved saint, remember the lessons of the alabaster box and persevere in the faith.  God will always help you. 

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Think for a moment about the characteristics which went to make up a vessel such as the alabaster box featured in our selected Bible passage today (V.3); for time spent in such meditations prove profitable to every Christian’s faith. 

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  (Psalm 119:105)

Alabaster is a substance which is made up of gypsum, calcium sulphate, from which plaster of Paris is created, often to splint around broken bones. It is mixed with water, moulded to a particular shape and, when dried, appears as a startling white, translucent, vessel of fragile vulnerability.  Alabaster, therefore, is a perfect TYPE of the Christian’s character and has so very much in common with our frail human nature.

We of the Christian faith are also made up of vulnerable constituents: we are Eternally secure, yet so easily broken; we appear startling white in outer behaviour and morals; yet our hearts are so often filled with carnal corruptions; we desire to be ever flowing with Christlikeness, yet so often are found dry and seemingly ready to crack.  Food for thought, what?

“But we have this treasure (Christ Jesus) in earthen vessels (alabaster boxes?), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”  (2 Corinthians 4:7)

The alabaster box featured in today’s selected Bible reading was filled with precious ointment called spikenard, or pure nard, which was left in its liquid form.  The spikenard is the plant, a fragrant Indian herb; the nard is the perfumed ointment prepared from this plant.  Precious, and expensive, perfume indeed. Like the beautiful smell of the Vine.

“I am the Vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me (Christ Jesus) ye can do nothing.”  (John 15:1-11)

The Christian is maligned by the world due to his/her still possessing all the traits of a fallen human nature.  Yet, by God’s grace, we are filled with the Spirit of God and thus we can also manifest all the precious fruits of God the Spirit.  Hallelujah!  Glory to the Lamb! 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Mark’s account of the alabaster box reveals the fact that the box had first to be broken before the precious ointment inside could be used to serve the Master.  (Mark 14:3) Christians, too, must often be ‘broken’, bruised, and maligned before the fruits of the Spirit are manifested to the greater glory and honour of the Lord Jesus.  (Hebrews 11:6; 31-40) (Psalm 30:5b)

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us observe, in the second place, in these verses, what honour Christ loves to put on those that honour Him.

“We are told that when He “was in the house of Simon the leper,” a certain woman came while He sat at meat, and poured a box of precious ointment on His head. She did it, no doubt, out of reverence and affection. She had received soul-benefit from Him, and she thought no mark of honour too costly to be bestowed on Him in return. But this deed of hers called forth disapprobation from some who saw it. They called it “waste;” they said it might have been better to sell the ointment, and give the money to the poor. At once our Lord rebuked these cold-hearted fault-finders. He tells them that the woman “has wrought a good work,” and one that He accepts and approves; and He goes on to make a striking prediction: “Wheresoever this Gospel is preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her.”

“We see, in this little incident, how perfectly our Lord knew things to come, and how easy it is for Him to confer honour. This prophecy of His about this woman is receiving a fulfilment every day before our eyes. Wherever the Gospel of St. Matthew/Mark is read, the deed that she did is known. The deeds and titles of many a king, and emperor, and general, are as completely forgotten as if written in the sand; but the grateful act of one humble Christian woman is recorded in one hundred and fifty different languages, and is known all over the globe. The praise of man is but for a few days: the praise of Christ endureth for ever. The pathway to lasting honour is to honour Christ.” (J. C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew, 1816-1900)

The world sees through much of our translucent weaknesses and finds fault to malign.  Praise God, He looks right through all our outer weaknesses to the true motives of our Christian hearts and blesses us according to our motivation, rather than the limitations of what we actually achieve.  Aim high in motivation – the Lord will do the rest.

Thought: The motives God has given us are rewarded when we try our best to act upon them for Christ’s glory.  Now, that is good news for ‘alabaster box’ Christians such as we.  The Lord bless your day, beloved Bible-believing Christian.