Wholehearted Devotion
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Wholehearted Devotion

Mark 14:1–9  (ID: 2903)

When an anonymous woman broke an alabaster jar and poured her ointment on Jesus’ head, she gave up a treasured possession. Some who were there saw this as extravagant and wasteful, but Jesus considered her actions a demonstration of gratitude toward her Savior. Alistair Begg reminds us that if Jesus truly is our God and Savior, there is no sacrifice that we can make for Him that is too great.

Series Containing This Sermon

A Study in Mark, Volume 8

The Jar, the Bread, and the Cups Mark 14:1–42 Series ID: 14108


The Plot to Kill Jesus

1It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

3And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,1 as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii2 and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Copyright © 2024, Alistair Begg. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bible teacher on Truth For Life, which is heard on the radio and online around the world.