On two occasions in the Bible a woman opens an alabaster box of expensive perfume and pours upon Jesus her most prized earthly possession. The sweet aroma of her sacrifice penetrates the room, causes an uproar among the religious community, and touches the heart of the One she treasures above all.
Alabaster is a mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate—otherwise known as gypsum. For centuries, craftsmen have used the smooth, marble-like stone to create pottery, sculptures, and architectural applications. In ancient Egypt, alabaster was found in abundance near a town called Alabastron, which is likely where the name originated. The mineral’s translucent appearance and soft, porous structure is ideal for forming delicate vessels. In biblical times alabaster “boxes” were small jars used to preserve fine beauty ointments, medicinal oils, and exotic perfumes. Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks considered alabaster a sacred mineral that symbolized purity, so they often used the stone to craft their religious vessels and sarcophagi.
The apostles Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record an event in their Gospels that mentions an alabaster box. Most biblical scholars agree that Matthew and Mark’s account speaks of one event, while Luke’s Gospel records a similar event that happened at a different time.
The first alabaster box appears at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry while he is in Galilee. Luke 7:36-50 tells us that a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to his house for dinner. While they dined, a sinful woman from the town interrupted their meal. Carrying an alabaster box of expensive perfume, she approached Jesus and wept. Her tears fell on his feet, so she used her hair to dry them. Then she kissed Jesus’s feet and saturated them with the perfume from her alabaster box. Simon was outraged by the woman’s actions and questioned Jesus’s legitimacy as a prophet for allowing the sinful woman to touch him.
Jesus answered the criticism with a parable about two people who owed money to a lender. One of the debtors owed five hundred denarii, a sum worth about eight years of labor in that day. The other debtor owed only fifty denarii, which represented about a year’s worth of wages. Neither of the debtors were able to repay the loan, so the lender forgave both debts.
After relaying the parable, Jesus asked Simon which of the debtors would love the lender more after their debts were forgiven. When Simon correctly answered, the one with the bigger debt, Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:44-47).
Three years later, at the end of Jesus’s ministry, another alabaster box appears. Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9 tell us that while in Bethany, Jesus and his disciples dined at the home of Simon the Leper. While they were eating a woman approached Jesus, carrying an alabaster jar of costly perfume. The Gospel of John identifies this woman as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 12:1-7).
In an act of pure worship, Mary slowly walked toward Jesus, the resurrector of her brother Lazarus, the provider of her one needful thing, her beloved Lord. She opened her alabaster jar and anointed Jesus’s head with the costly fragrant oil. The aroma of the perfume filled the whole chamber and caused several of Jesus’s disciples to grumble and complain among themselves. In their estimation, Mary’s beautiful demonstration of love seemed frivolous and foolish. They felt the alabaster box and the expensive perfume should have been sold to help the poor in their community (Mark 14:4-5).
Jesus defended Mary’s actions by saying, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial …” (Matthew 26:10-13).
The critics in both events undoubtedly felt justified in their judgment. In that era and culture, it was considered taboo for a woman to touch a man outside the confines of marriage—especially a prophet. Plus, the perfume contained in each alabaster box cost a year’s wages (John 12:5), which would equal about $30,000 today. But while the naysayers witnessed the events through eyes of worldly disdain, Jesus recognized and received the outpouring as an act of extravagant, selfless worship.
Jesus astounded, perplexed, and infuriated the religious community from the onset of his ministry. The pious Pharisees begrudgingly acknowledged Jesus’s power, but they couldn’t fathom why anyone sent from God would defile themselves with the riffraff of the community. Simon the Pharisee likely extended his dinner invitation to Jesus to engage in a fault-finding mission.
When the woman with the alabaster jar interrupted Simon’s dinner party and approached Jesus, the Pharisee must have felt he’d found his aha! moment. But Jesus wasted no time in exposing his motives and wicked assumptions. Jesus’s rebuke uncovered the Pharisee’s sin, while shedding light on the significance of the woman’s costly sacrifice.
According to Jewish tradition, the host of a gathering was expected to treat his invited guests with the utmost honor, which included providing water to wash the dust and dirt from their feet. Hospitality was taken very seriously in those days. So, when Simon broke the strict mandates of tradition by neglecting to extend hospitality to Jesus, he was purposefully sending a clear message of disrespect.
Likewise, a clear message rang true through the actions of the woman, who also defied the mandates of tradition. Because Jesus had liberated her from the shame and shackles of her many sins, her love for him could not—would not—be contained. It overpowered her pride, overthrew her earthly desires, and drove her to that gathering for one purpose. With eyes fixed only upon Jesus, she moved toward him forsaking all else and surrendered her heart, tears, and most prized earthly possession to the One she loved above all.
The woman’s demonstration of extravagant love echoed King David’s audacious victory dance after Israel’s deliverance (2 Samuel 6:14-22), and hinted at a time when Jesus would take a towel upon himself and wash the feet of His disciples (John 13:1-7) before pouring out his all for the sin of the world.
At the end of his ministry on earth, the tension between Jesus and the religious community reached a climax. The Pharisees and chief priests conspired to kill him (John 11:45-57). Two days before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus reclined with his disciples at the table of Simon the Leper. When Mary emptied her alabaster jar of perfumed oil upon Jesus’s head, he knew her beautiful act of worship was meant to prepare him for his imminent burial (Matthew 26:10-11).
In Why Was Mary’s Gift so Precious to Jesus? Shadia Hrichi beautifully describes the symbolism behind Mary’s sacrifice. “On a moonlit night at the garden of Gethsemane many years ago, blood, sweat, and tears poured forth from Jesus’s body as He prayed – but something else penetrated the veil of darkness that night: the sweet aroma of Mary’s perfume … The King, the Christ of God, who is the Sacrificial Lamb, had been anointed, and then crowned with thorns as He presented His own life as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Every human being has a figurative alabaster box—a place where we hoard the things we treasure most. But something miraculous happens when we are forgiven and redeemed by Jesus. Suddenly, everything we once held dear seems worthless in comparison to him (Philippians 3:8).
As we empty our worthless treasures and selves at the feet of the One who set us free, another miracle occurs. We become the alabaster box—a vessel for his Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:7). The sweet aroma of Christ lives in us and wafts through us as we go into the world to accomplish his will for his glory. “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).
Through the stories of the alabaster box in Scripture, we learn what genuine love for Jesus looks like and what His perfect love can accomplish in and through us. And we are ultimately reminded that, “He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” – Jim Elliot
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