Morsels of food are delicious because of the little things, the subtle seasonings, the dash of salt, the sprinkle of garlic, the garnish of parsley, the touch of glaze, or the hint of lemon. Ahhhh - so delicious!
It's such a beautiful flower and special too. The flower was harvested for a spice to add to wine and foods in wealthy Roman households. But, the plant also had an extractable oil that smelled much like lavender. This oil in the ancient Egyptian days was used as incense to honor the dead (in India as well). It had the same use in ancient Greece, too, because the hero of Homer's Iliad, Achilles, honored one of his dead friend's body after a battle by pouring Nard on it.
In ancient Israel the Jews also had a tradition of using the oil of this plant called Nard. They would mix it with other ingredients such as myrrh and frankencense as an incense offering on Sabbath days in rememberance to God for what he had done for his people. In the Song of Songs (4:13-14), the groom describes his beautiful bride-to-be as a garden containing fruits, spices, and sweet smelling scents - Nard in particular.
In Exodus (34.34-38, 37.29), Nard oil was dedicated to God when it was burned as an incense offering.
And you shall make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together [salted], pure and holy... And as for the perfume which you shall make, you shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto you holy for the LORD. Whosoever shall make like unto it, to enjoy the smell thereof, shall even be cut off from his people. (NASV)
The oral Talmud of the above verses allowed pure Nard as a part of the incense sacred to God.
So, when we read in Mark 14.1-8 of a supper Jesus was invited to, the context, which is not included in the translation of the words, adds marvelously to words used. The context brings a realization of what the woman is really doing and of the reason Jesus is touched enough to memorialize the woman's actions. Jesus is sitting, visiting with Simon and others when Lazarus' sister Mary, comes to him, kneels at his feet, takes her alabaster (stone like marble) jar of pure Nard oil, breaks its wax seal, and pours the oil on Jesus's feet. Everyone recognizes instantly the smell of lavender from the marble-like container that kept the Nard pure, because it was an oil dedicated for God only.
The Nard wasn't cheap - it cost a year's earnings ($52,000 median salary in U.S. at this writing). But, Mary was a woman of means. The Nard was expensive in another way,too. It was kept for burials of friends and family and for dedications of one's soul to God. To use it meant that she was pouring out not only her highly prized material possession, but also her heart and soul because where a person's money goes, the heart goes also.
The spiritual significance of pouring this pure Nard on Jesus's feet cannot be understated. Mary was pouring sacred oil, the oil that dedicates one's actions to acknowledge the Most High, the perfume that is freely used for only one person, for a supreme reason.
Jesus was not about to pass up an opportunity to illustrate that he was God's son just shy of a week from his upcoming ordeal ending his life on Earth. Mary's actions with all their significance moved Jesus. So he interjected himself into the criticism that Simon, his friends, and Judas were making about breaking open an expensive jar of Nard. He tells them that they would have ample opportunity to give to the poor if that was the object of their criticism. But his objective was very different for this expensive show of tribute to him, reserved normally for the Most High . He accepted this tribute and announced his burial. Their reaction is not recorded so it's unknown whether they understood his prediction. But readers after this event understood it.
The tasty morsel for me in this story comes in Jesus's ensuing words to the group about Mary. He said, ὃ ἔσχεν ἐποίησεν (the thing she had, she did). If I wasn't touched by the context of the scene, I am certainly moved by the words from Jesus. Everyone has something that cost a great deal to obtain. It might have cost money, time, tremendous effort, a great deal of experience, great loss, or any combination of the above things. But we all have a thing. Jesus memorialized this thing of Mary's, this pure Nard, because she actually broke open the wax seal around the jar's mouth and poured the oil on his feet. It was her action that was honored. She did something. She didn't just give something and go her way. She did something that left behind something of tremendous value, her oil of dedication, and her heart and soul.
I think that as God looks at us as we are among our friends, our coworkers, and the people in whatever sphere we travel. He is moved and touched by how we follow Jesus ος διηλθεν ευεργετων (who went about doing good) [Acts 10:38]. That was his comment about Mary. "Why do you criticize her?" he asked. "καλὸν ἔργον ἠργάσατο ἐν ἐμοί," (she has done something good for me). Mary did something with the thing she had. It touched Jesus, and he memorialized it. I also am moved to want to do something with the thing I have that would leave behind my dedication, heart, and soul.
[An explanatory note is in order for the events used in the above commentary. The story of a woman annointing Jesus is in all four gospels: Matthew 26.6-13, Mark 14.3-11, Luke 7.36-50, and John 12.1-8. The details differ in several ways, but I have taken a composite of the 4 accounts. I have followed John rather than Luke in the identification of Mary although there is nothing to preclude Lazarus's sister from being the Mary of Luke. Also I have followed John's timing of the event as close to the time of Jesus's death. I also acknowledge that some would allow for two different annointings, one in Bethany and another in a different village as in Luke.]
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