Mark 14:3-9, Matthew 26:6-13
In Mark 14, Christ is sitting down with his apostles at their quiet Passover meal. During this time, a women enters, of whom we find out later in the scriptures (here) to be Mary, the sister of Martha. From an alabaster box she carried and broke open (which seems to be less like a box, and more like a vase), she poured some very expensive ointment/oil/cream on to the Savior.
In verses 4 & 5, we read that a few of the disciples were not very happy about this. They saw this nice, expensive ointment and thought there must be better uses for it.
"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."
Christ then told those that were scolding Mary to leave her alone. Verse 6-7 he explains to the disciples:
"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."
The Savior then uses this as a teaching moment for the disciples. Up to now, they have basically lived in denial that Christ would soon be killed, and that He would no longer be on this earth. Some of them didn't really grasp that idea, and other actually chose not to believe it. Aside from an act of love and respect, this anointing was a message to the disciples, reminding them of the impending murder of their beloved leader.
As was custom back then, the ointment placed on a body was part of the preparation for burial. This oil, called in verse 3 the "oil of spikenard," was made from a the Spikenard plant. Spikenard, aka "nard" is has a very strong pleasing smell, that was commonly used alongside myrrh on bodies before they were placed in the tomb. This helped the bodies not to stink as badly. By allowing Mary to pour the expensive oil/cream/ointment on to Himself, Christ told his disciples that he was being prepared for burial.
Spikenard plant(aka: nard)
In verses 8 & 9 Christ continues to explain and defend Mary to the disciples:
"She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresover this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken for a memorial of her."
Not only does this give a more direct message to His disciples about his death being a real, upcoming event, but it also hints at the idea that Mary knew about His death and was preparing for it. She knew that it was coming, and sacrificed oil that she could have made a fortune off of, to place on Christ and show her gratitude and love for him. It must have been a very emotional sacrifice, knowing that He would soon be killed. Her respect and adoration for Christ is especially touching, because directly after this situation is when Judas, who should have felt the same, left to betray Christ. Mary, sister of Martha, was a stud.
In my own life, I feel the need to pause here and think about what I would have done back then, if I would have been in this situation. So I ask myself: Do I sacrifice enough for the preparation of the Lord? Am I making sure that I can do everything in my ability to show my love and admiration for Christ? What am I doing to prepare his way?
No matter the sacrifices that I make, the answer will always be "not enough." There will always be more that I can do to show my gratitude for the Savior: whether serving Heavenly Father's other children, serving in my calling, building up His kingdom or by just sending up a prayer of thanks. Mary was a great example of love and humility. I hope that someday, when I stand before my Savior, that I can honestly say that I did what I could in this life to show Him my thankfulness.
