Center for Biblical Theology and Eschatology
Woman With an Alabaster Box
by Pastor Alfred J. Chompff
10/12/2008
The Wrath of Man
“When Jesus had finished all these sayings”, when He finished teaching His disciples as a prophet, He then entered into His office as a priest. This is what we are going to see here. When further in this chapter the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples about the Lord’s Supper, He was pointing to His atoning work as the Lamb of God, and as the High Priest who intercedes for His people. But did you also see that the Lord Jesus said in verse 2, "The Son of man is betrayed to be crucified"? He did not say, "The Son of man shall be betrayed to be crucified". This part of the verse is definitely in the present tense. This was a departure of previous announcements of His death. For example, the Lord said in Matt 17:22 "And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men". And we read in Matt 20:18, "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death". But here in Matt 26:2 the Lord says, "The Son of man is betrayed to be crucified". Why did He change it to the present tense? It was to indicate that the betrayal was already in process in the mind of Judas Iscariot. Shortly hereafter Judas was going to contact the chief priests with an offer to betray the Lord Jesus, but a few hours before, at the dinner in the house of Simon the Leper, his mind was already made up. And the time was ripe, for the priests and the scribes and the elders were already assembled in the palace of the high priest, as they were plotting to kill the Lord Jesus. Please put a sticker here in Matt 26, for we will be returning there many times, and please turn in your Bibles to the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 4:25. When we meditate on all the evil that Judas and the Sanhedrin were planning, we should keep in mind that God is not the author of sin. Nevertheless, God is not out of control when people sin, or else He would not be the only God in existence; for God works through the sins of man to work out His purposes and His goals. God uses the wrath of man to give Him glory. We read in Acts:Matthew 26:1-13
- "And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,
- Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
- Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
- And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.
- But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.
- Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
- There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
- But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
- For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
- When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
- For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
- For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
- Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."
Acts 4:25-28
- "Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
- The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
- For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
- For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
I. Simon the Leper (Gen 49:5-7, John 14:23, Matt 10:28)But those who come to the Lord with an alabaster box full of spikenard know that they have received it all from God, and they are willing to give it all back to the glory of Christ. To Him alone belong all the credit and the honor and the glory.
Historically, Simon was no longer a leper, for it would have been inconceivable that a leper would serve a dinner for Jesus and His disciples. A leper was an outcast. A leper was not allowed in the city of Bethany. Leprosy was a disease that would kill its victim slowly in about 9 to 11 years. But since no leper could be healed by anyone except by the Lord Jesus, it is obvious that Simon was formerly a leper who was healed by the Lord. But let us now look beyond the historical horizon.Simon the Leper is a symbol or a picture of everyone who experiences the process of salvation. We all started our life as lepers in the sight of God. Our disease was sin, which was slowly consuming us body and soul, just like leprosy, and we could not help ourselves against this disease of sin. It was slowly driving us in the direction of the second death in the Lake of Fire. Only the Lord Jesus could save us from this terrible death, and He would have to suffer the death that we deserve because of our sins.
Moreover, the name Simon also leads us in the direction that he is representing each one of us whom the Lord Jesus has saved. Simon is derived from Simeon. Perhaps you remember that Simeon was the second son of Jacob and Leah. But Simeon and Levi murdered all the males in the city of Shechem. Therefore God said:
Genesis 49:5-7
And so, the tribe of Simeon was scattered within the tribe of Judah. Simeon became a tribe without inheritance. And when we look at the name Simon, we are reminded of someone who has totally lost his inheritance, because of his cruelty toward his fellow man. And thus Simon the Leper was initially a metaphor of anyone of us, who were spiritually bankrupt, and destined for death and Hell. But then the Lord Jesus met him and healed him, not only from his leprosy, but He also gave him a regenerated soul; for on this day, two days before the Passover, he invited the Lord Jesus into his home. And when the Lord Jesus has met us, and healed us from our sins and from the consequences of our sins, we are no longer on the way to Hell, and He has given us a regenerated soul in which the Lord makes Himself a dwelling place. What does it mean to have a regenerated soul? It means that God has wiped away all our sins and all the guilt of our sins, and has made our soul ready to enter into heaven, the moment our body dies. A regenerated soul is so perfect that the triune God Himself makes it His dwelling place (John 14:23). That is why our soul is called the temple of God. We should be aware that many modern theologians no longer believe in a separate soul and body. But the Lord Jesus clearly tells us that man consists of a body and soul. He said in Matthew 10:
- "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
- O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
- Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."
Matthew 10:28
And so, when we look into the face of Simon the Leper we see a man who has been made whole, both in body and in soul; just like anyone of us who have been saved by Christ, and have been born from above by God the Holy Spirit. But Simon is not the only one who is a metaphor of each one of us. We also see this the unnamed woman.
- "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
The Unnamed Woman (Luke 7:36-38, John 12:1-3, Matt 26:6-7) The unnamed "woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment", called spikenard, is also a picture of each one of us, but from a different perspective. Please turn in your Bibles to the Gospel According to Luke, Luke 7:36. Did you know that the Lord Jesus was three times anointed with spikenard by three different women? The first occurrence was in the house of Simon the Pharisee. This was a different Simon who invited the Lord into his house out of his own free will. We can see in these two Simons a contrast of the two salvation plans existing in mankind: one who was saved by grace, a gospel of grace, and one who wanted to be saved by his own free will, a gospel of works. But here in the house of Simon the Pharisee, at dinner time, came an unnamed woman who anointed Jesus’ feet.Luke 7:36-38
The purpose for which God has placed this event in the Bible is to highlight the two punch lines that are indicated in verse 47: "To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little"; and the corollary: "To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much". It tells us that our response of gratitude is proportional to our view of how much Christ has done for us. This was the first time the Lord Jesus was anointed with precious spikenard out of an alabaster box. Please turn now to the Gospel According to John, John 12:1. Here we see the second time the Lord was anointed with spikenard, and no doubt this was also spikenard out of an alabaster box. The Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb, even though he had been dead for four days. Then Mary, the sister of Lazarus, as an outward token of her gratitude, decided to anoint Jesus’ feet, and this again took place at dinner time. We read in John:
- And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
- And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
- And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."
John 12:1-3
Some people interpret this as if it was the same event that is recorded in Matt 26:7. However, this reflects their low opinion of the authority of Scripture. Clearly we read here that this occurred six days before the Passover, whereas in Matt 26 we read that the anointing took place two days before the Passover. In John 12 Mary anointed the feet of Jesus, whereas in Matt 26 the woman anointed the head of Jesus. Clearly, God wanted us to understand that these were two different events, which makes a total of three times the Lord Jesus was anointed in preparation of His burial. And here again we see the number three as a characteristic number associated with the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. Please turn again to Matthew, Matt 26:6. And now we are returning to the house of Simon the Leper. And here we see the unnamed woman.
- Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
- There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
- Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment."
Matthew 26:6-7
Whenever we see an unnamed woman we should be on our guard that this woman may be a type or a picture of all those whom the Lord decided to save by His grace. And indeed this is so, just like in the account of the anointing of Jesus in Luke 7, where this was also an unnamed woman. This woman had:
- "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
- There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat."
An Alabaster Box (John 12:5, Mark 14:5, Rev 12:1, Matt 21:44, Psalm 51:17, Isa 40:17) What is so special about an alabaster box? This was no ordinary jar where some ointment was kept. This was an expensive container made of alabaster. And alabaster of ancient times was really onyx marble. We do not want to speculate in what shape or form this alabaster box or vase was made, for God has not disclosed it in the Bible. Suffice it to say that this was a beautiful and expensive container which had to be broken to let out its contents. And the ointment, called spikenard, was so expensive that only an alabaster box or vase was good enough to contain it. And it seems that this alabaster box and the amount of spikenard it contained was of a uniform size, because in the account of John 12:5, as well as in Mark 14:5, which is the same account as in Matt 26, the value was given as 300 pence, which is the wages of 300 days of labor for any laborer in the field. And thus, in today’s value that would be one year’s salary. That is one hundred times more costly than the most expensive fragrance you can buy today. And all this ointment was poured on the Lord Jesus in one night, and then it seemed to be gone.What do we see in this act of the unnamed woman? In the Bible the eternal church, or the worldwide body of only truly saved individuals, which is also called the Bride of Christ, is often pictured as a woman We see this, for example in Rev 12:1, where the woman is the body of believers out of which the Lord Jesus Christ was born. Please turn in your Bibles to chapter 21 of this Gospel of Matthew, Matt 21:44. This woman in Matt 26 came to the Lord Jesus with an alabaster box with very precious ointment, very very costly, and she broke the alabaster box and poured all its contents on the head of the Lord Jesus, thereby honoring Him as her head, her Lord. What is the significance of the alabaster box which had to be broken in order to glorify Jesus as her Lord? We find in Matt 21:44 that we, the elect of God, shall come broken before the Lord. We read concerning the stone which the builders rejected in Matt 21:44, "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder". Two groups of people are in view in this verse. First, those who shall fall prostrate upon this stone, which is Christ, shall be broken. This must be interpreted that they, who come to the realization that Christ had to suffer for them the equivalent of an eternity in Hell, shall be broken in spirit. When God says in Psalm 51:17, "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise", He refers to the fact that in our soul we shall be broken in spirit, for we remember our sins for which Christ had to suffer and die, and we greatly sorrow that we have committed those sins. In the story of Matt 26 the alabaster box had to be broken to open it up, and thus the alabaster box represents our soul. But God gave us this very expensive box with its very expensive content in the first place. When God the Holy Spirit made us born from above He gave us this regenerated soul, all by grace, in order to give it back to Christ so that He will be glorified by it. He gave it to us, because it is so very costly that we cannot afford to buy it. Those who are saved have a soul that is worth more than all the material value of the whole world. Those who are not saved have a soul that is worth nothing. God says in Isa 40:17, "All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity". And that brings us to the second group of people in Matthew 21:44. That second group of people, who do not want to fall prostrate upon the stone which is Christ, on them shall that stone fall in judgment, and it shall grind them to powder, meaning that their judgment shall be exceeding great.
Very Costly Ointment (Mark 14:3, 1Cor 2:2, Rom 8:28, Eph 2:3, John 19:30, Isa 53:10-12, Tit 2:14) In Mark 14:3 we see that this ointment was spikenard, which was the same ointment that the woman in Luke 7 poured on Jesus’ feet. Spikenard is the English rendering of the two Greek words "Nardos Pistikos", which is the juice from the root of a plant which grows on the Indian side of the Himalaya Mountains. And since the climate in the Himalayas is very harsh, this plant is very scarce, and it grows very slowly. This plant, from the root of which spikenard is extracted, is distinguished by having one root having many hairy spikes shooting out from it. This is why this plant is also called "Indian Spike". It is an interesting name for the symbolic fragrance of a soul that is pleasing to the eyes and nose of God; for we must consider how a worthless unsaved soul can be made so valuable to God: It is through spikes that were piercing the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus when He hung on the cross. Here again we are reminded of the words of 1Cor 2:2, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. In the Bible all things concerning salvation center around and are focused on the cross of Christ. The hinge of entire world history, as it is divided into BC and AD, hinges on the cross of Christ. And God’s providence, as He rules in all the affairs of man, revolves around the cross of Christ for He makes all things work together for good to all those for whom Christ died, which are those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). And so, how costly is spikenard? From the material perspective it is only one year’s salary. But from the spiritual perspective spikenard symbolizes the content of a soul that was bought by Christ on the cross. Formerly that soul was empty. In the sight of God it was worth nothing, yea even less than nothing, and altogether vanity. Even the elect of God, before the moment of them becoming born from above, were no different from the rest of mankind, for God says in Ephesians 2:3 that "We were all by nature children of wrath, even as others". But God had mercy on us, and He plucked us out from the miserable mass of mankind, and gave us new life in His sight. We did not ask for it, we did not want it, we did not see the need for it, and we did not know that we were on a slippery slide into Hell. It was only after He saved us that we realized the great danger that we were in. But in order for God to have mercy on us, through His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, has provided for us a Savior who was willing and able to take our sins, and pay for those sins in our place the payment that needed to be paid. But, the righteousness of God had to be satisfied. God, the righteous judge, demanded that the payment made by His Son, Jesus Christ, must be equivalent to the payment that we would have to endure if we would have to pay for our own sins. And the payment for our sins was an eternity in the Lake of Fire. And thus, Christ would have to endure the equivalent of an eternity in Hell. Some people say that the blood of Christ was of infinite value, so that if He would shed His blood it would suffice to pay even for all the sins of the whole world. Now that is wishful thinking, but this would only be a token of the payment that Christ had to make. We can see that the agony of His soul was far greater than the nails that held Him to the cross, for when He came to the end of His sufferings for our sins He cried with a loud voice, "IT IS FINISHED" (John 19:30). He was still hanging on the cross, suffering in His hands and feet and in the crown of thorns around His head. But when Christ said, "It is finished", we must take His word for it, and we must come to the conclusion that His suffering for our sins was finished. Clearly, Isaiah 53:10-12 tell us that He suffered in His soul, that is in His human soul, for we needed a Savior who was fully man as well as fully God. Only then do we have a Savior who is fully qualified by God to be our Redeemer and Intercessor. This is how costly it was for God to give us a regenerated soul, symbolized by the alabaster box with precious ointment. God says in Tit 2:14, "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works". How great is our gratitude? We pour out our life and our soul to Him so that He will be glorified. He alone must receive all the fragrance for our salvation. We are not afraid to give Him all the credit and all the glory, and we do not retain any of the fragrance, any of the credit, for it all belongs to Him, and He is our Head, our Lord, and our King of kings. This is one of the good works that we can do which pleases Him. And now we can understand the kindness of the woman who poured this fragrance on the head of the Lord Jesus. Where there is true love in the heart to Jesus Christ, nothing will be thought too expensive or too good, nothing will be thought good enough, to bestow upon Christ. Let us now return to Matt 26, and see the reaction of the disciples when they witness this great work of kindness to the Lord Jesus.
II. The Offended Disciples (Matt 26:8-9, John 12:4-6, Mark 14:5)
It is really amazing that more than one of the disciples was indignant. We read in Matt 26:Matthew 26:8-9
First of all, the disciples showed a lack of tenderness toward this kind woman. Secondly, they should have learned from the anointing done by Mary four days earlier that the Lord Jesus looked kindly upon this type of honoring Him. Please turn in your Bibles to the Gospel According to John, John 12:4. The Lord gave us here an account of what took place four days earlier in the house of Lazarus and Martha and Mary. This time it was Mary who anointed Jesus’ feet. We read in John 12:
- "But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
- For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor."
John 12:4-6
Six days before the Passover it was Judas Iscariot who pretended to be the "holy Joe" who protested against this "waste" of money that could have been given to the poor. And look how Judas could fool his fellow apostles with words that sound so immensely pious that he could win some of the apostles to his side. Four days later there were several apostles who were indignant about such a "waste" of money. This shows us that we must be careful with choosing on whose side we are. The one whose words we trust, because he acts so very pious, may be an imposter who intends to rob us from our inheritance. Please turn again to Matthew 26:8. We must be careful that we do not let our priorities for the poor rob Christ of the glory and honor that someone else wants to bestow on Him. Christ comes first, and then all other priorities will fall in place. Thirdly, the disciples showed a lack of respect for their Master. The Lord Jesus did not protest when the woman poured this expensive spikenard upon Him. He let her do it. And therefore it was uncalled for that they labeled this act of kindness a "waste". We must not think that time is wasted, or money is wasted, when it is spent on glorifying the Lord Jesus. If it is done in the proper framework, where the whole counsel of God is preached, then it is certainly not a waste. However, if it is done in the framework of a false gospel, we should call it a waste, for they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
- Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
- Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
- This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein."
A Memorial to This Woman (Matt 26:10-13, Isa 42:8, 48:11, 2Thess 1:10, Deut 15:11) What was Jesus’ response to the pious indignation of His disciples? We read in Matt 26:
Matthew 26:10-13 This shall be told for a memorial of her. This act of faith and love shall be remembered throughout the centuries, for God ordained it to be recorded in the Bible. Now, do we read this right? Does the Lord Jesus say here that in this instance the glory will go to this woman? Well, if we read this as a piece of history we might come to this conclusion. But in Isaiah 42:8 God declared, "My glory will I not give to another". And in Isaiah 48:11 God declared, "I will not give my glory unto another". And so, this is all the more reason to interpret this event not as piece of history, but that the woman is a representation of the entire body of the saints. Then God’s view of glorifying the saints is a little different, for God says in 2nd Thessalonians 1:10, speaking of the return of Christ on the last day, "When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe". In other words, when Christ shall come again, the fact that all the saints shall believe on Him, and the Bride of Christ shall admire Him, is actually to the glory of Christ, for He has purchased each saved individual on the cross, and He has given them the privilege to believe on Him, and to honor and serve Him. It is Christ who shall be glorified, and the immense magnitude of His work shall be proclaimed by the great multitude out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. And do not try to eradicate poverty, for the poor shall always be with us. God already told OT Israel of that fact when He said in Deut 15:11, “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land”. God’s providence will ensure that there will always be poor people in the land, to give us always opportunities of kindness to the poor. But now we have to consider:
- "When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
- For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
- For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
- Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."
III. An Act of the Greatest Unkindness (Matt 26:14-16, 24, Luke 22:3-6, 1Tim 6:10)
Matthew 26:14-16We read in Luke 22 that after the Passover meal on Thursday evening Satan entered into Judas Iscariot. But already two days before the Passover, on Tuesday evening during dinner in the house of Simon the Leper, the Lord Jesus pointed out that Judas had made up his mind to betray Jesus. Can you see the evil mind of Judas working and calculating how he could fatten his purse? His pretended indignation about the waste of money by the woman with the alabaster box of spikenard had at its source the desire to add the 300 pence to his purse, and to which he also desired to add the 30 pieces of silver from the priests, and so he could walk away with lots of money. And thus, when we read that Satan entered into Judas, we should realize that this occurred two days after he already prepared to betray his Lord. We should not say, "Poor Judas, he was no match for Satan", for Judas was already prepared to do his dastardly deed before Satan entered him. Please drop down to verse 24:
- "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
- And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
- And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him."
Matthew 26:24
This verse states unambiguously that Judas Iscariot is one of those who will be cast into Hell. Judas witnessed an act of extreme kindness toward the Lord Jesus by the woman with the box of spikenard, and immediately after this event Judas committed an act of the greatest unkindness to his Lord. We cannot say that Judas did not have the opportunity to become saved. In Matt 10 we read that Judas also was sent out to evangelize the countryside with the other disciples. He saw his power against unclean spirits, and he saw the miraculous healings that occurred under his hands. And yet, he turned away from all this honor and glory and decided to betray his Master for a handful of money. What was it that Judas promised to them? He said in verse 15, "I will deliver Him unto you". In other words, "I will let you know where He is in the absence of a multitude, and I will undertake to bring you to Him at such a convenient time and place that you may bind Him without noise or danger of an uproar". Here is the principle that we see develop in this betrayal by Judas: Those that give up themselves to be led by the Devil, find him readier than they imagine helping them in their evil deed, as Judas did to betray Jesus. This applies to Judas, and it also applies to preachers who have had a good training in seminary, but who decided to preach in such a way that they would attract more customers than if they would just stick to the true Gospel. They preach not the whole counsel of God, but they preach what men want to hear. If Judas would not have been an apostle he could not have been a traitor. Therefore most false preachers are very well aware of all the verses that offend them, and they know how to walk around them. And they do all that for the love of money. Truly, God knew the hearts of men when He said in 1Tim 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows". God’s judgment is just because men sin voluntarily.
- "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born."
Amen!
Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.
| Alfred J. Chompff is Pastor at the Reformed Bible Church of Southern California, in Los Angeles. He was born on October 26, 1930 in Malang, Indonesia and was officially ordained on Jan 25, 1998, and has been studying the Scriptures for more than 25 years. He also holds a B.S. / PHD in Chemical Engineering which he received from the Technological School of Delft in the Netherlands. Before retiring Pastor Chompff worked in the Chemical Engineering field for many years which included a position as Professor of Chemistry at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. |