Don’t Give Your Alabaster Jar to the Poor

Matthew 26:⁶ Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸ And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

That alabaster jar was noted in scripture to be “very expensive”. Some scholars estimate it to be worth a year’s wages for the woman who brought it and poured it out on our savior. Some might put it this way – A year’s worth of time, wholly devoted to lavishly worshipping Jesus. When we view this jar of ointment as the finest portion of our time, our energy, and our effort (which was exactly what it was for the woman), we then interpret Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples in scripture like this –

Matthew 26:⁶ Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman came up to him with a year’s worth of time, effort, and energy, and she poured it upon on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸ And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this time, effort, and energy could have been given to the poor.”¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

A year’s worth of valuable and precious time, effort and energy devoting everything to the worship of Jesus, preparing his body for the victory that was won on the cross and in resurrection. The disciples thought this woman was crazy, for to their carnal minds what she was doing made no sense, it seemed like it was a waste.

The disciples saw in their flesh an instant, temporary fix for the poor in what the ointment (time, energy, and effort) could be used for.

Jesus saw what the woman did as an eternal, lasting solution when the same ointment (time, energy and effort) was poured out on Jesus in preparation for the work and victory that HE was going to accomplish for the poor.