‘A woman who had lived a sinful life…brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him [Jesus] at his feet weeping…poured perfume on them’ (vv. 37-38 NIV). The perfume this woman was using was ridiculously expensive: it was pure nard (look up ‘spikenard’ online to see how expensive it is, even now). And she used half a litre of it. But it gets more costly. The jar itself, made of translucent gems, was probably a family heirloom. It might even have been her dowry. Basically, it was her most precious possession. And the wildest thing is, this woman used it in her profession – as a prostitute. The perfume used in her profession as a prostitute became the token of her profession of faith, when she poured out every last drop at the feet of Jesus. Breaking that bottle was her way of breaking with the past. No more masking sin with the sweet scent of perfume. No more secrets. No more shame. She walked out of the dark shadow of sin into the light of the world. There comes a moment when you have to come clean with God, a moment when you need to unveil your secrets, struggles, and sins. A moment when you need to throw yourself completely on the grace of God. Why do we act as though our sin disqualifies us from the grace of God? Putting it this way sounds odd, but it’s actually the only thing that qualifies us. Anything else is a self-righteous shot at earning God’s grace. You can’t trust God’s grace 99 per cent: it’s all or nothing. When we try to save ourselves, we lose out on the salvation that comes through Jesus only, by grace through faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9).

What now?

Ask yourself what’s your alabaster jar.