Mk 14:1-10 – This event, where Mary anoints Jesus with the expensive fragrant oil, precedes the path to the Cross as seen in three gospels. Jesus proclaims that wherever the gospel is preached, this act of hers will be spoken because the gospel is hidden in this act of worship.
THE HOUSE OF SIMON THE LEPER IN BETHANY
Simon’s house in Bethany is a picture of the world of suffering and sin. BETHANY in Hebrew means “House of suffering,” and leprosy is a type of sin.
Leprosy and Sin –
>Leprosy separates loved ones like how sin separated us from God.
>Leprosy is contagious, just like how sin is contagious.
>Leprosy carries a terrible stench, like how the consequences of sin are evil.
>Leprosy slowly eats up a person, ultimately killing him: For the wages of sin are death (Rom 3:23)
MARY BRINGS A PURE, EXPENSIVE PERFUME
It was Mary who brought an expensive jar of perfume called spikenard into the house. We see another young girl named Mary chosen to bring the heavenly pure nard–– Jesus Christ. (This Mary is not the prostitute mentioned in Lk 7).
So the expensive pure Spikenard is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, just like how it was imported from the Himalayas, and it was very expensive – Jesus is the most precious gift from God who came down from the highest.
Song of Songs 1:3 says that the Name of Jesus is a sweet ointment and in the stench of leprosy his perfume prevails. His grace is bigger than any sin and shame.
THE ALABASTER BOX WAS BROKEN
Just like how the alabaster box was broken in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, Jesus was broken on the Cross for our lives to be healed and restored. Here are several viewpoints through which we see the brokenness of Jesus for our healing:
1) Jesus’ Body was broken
Mat 26:26 – He took the bread, broke it, and said – This is my body! He was broken to heal you. This breaking is not literal in its sense but refers to the physical suffering that Jesus endured on the Cross.
Ps 129:3 – I gave my back to the plowers – they have made furrows on my back. PIC
Isa 53:4-5 – He carried our griefs and carried our sorrows, and by His stripes we are healed.
The Heb for griefs is KHOLEE (Sicknesses) and the Heb for sorrows is MAKOBE (Pains). Hence, we can boldly declare that by the broken body of Jesus, our bodies can be healed, restored, and made whole.
Truth to Relish: It is His brokenness that brings our healing and wholeness.
2) Jesus experienced emotional brokenness.
In the garden Jesus sweat blood and it was due to the high mental pressure that he was carrying – the thought of all the pain He was to go through, the thought of becoming “sin” and be separated from His father brought extreme stress and anxiety that caused the blood vessels to burst and for the blood to seep out via the sweat pores on his skin. This condition is termed HAEMATIDROSIS medically.
In Mat 27:46 we read how Jesus cried – My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me? Jesus was forsaken on the Cross because all our sins were put on Jesus and he endured the judgment for them. When we compare the sufferings of Jesus with the sufferings that we go through as Christians in this world, one big difference is that God’s presence is always with us, but Jesus did not have the presence of God on the Cross.
3) Jesus was heartbroken on the cross
If there is something that will break a man, it is insult, and we read in Mat 26:39-44, and also from the time he was arrested, Jesus was put through extreme mockery, shame, and reproach.
Through this messianic portion in Ps 69:7-9, Jesus says to God about how all the insults man cast upon God fell upon Jesus when he was on the Cross.
In verses 19 through 21, Jesus cries, saying – Reproach has broken my heart. I looked for someone to pity me, and no one!
The Hebrew here indicates that Jesus’ heart literally broke on the Cross: His heart broke, and then the blood in it mixed with the pericardial fluid, and that is why when they pierced His side, blood and water flowed out (John 19:34).
Truth to Reflect: Jesus died broken-hearted so that we can live with our hearts full of his affection.
HIS BROKENNESS, OUR WHOLENESS
1) His garment torn into four pieces – John 19: 23, 24 – His robe is a type of His righteousness to the four winds of the earth.
2) Veil torn – Mt 27:51 – Heb 10:20 – By the death of Jesus, the way into the holy of holies is made open, sin has been taken out of the way.
3) Rocks rent and graves opened – Mt 27:51 – No more death, sickness, poverty, and depression.
->Mr. Alex Rathnam was working in the Police Dept. He was a jovial man, but was keen on pointing people to Jesus. His ministry was that he would preach on street corners with a megaphone. He had a nephew whom he constantly shared the gospel with. 1955, Feb 11, this nephew, a young man, wanted to commit suicide and end his life, and he walked towards the railway track, but he wanted to see a few people for the last time, and he also met his uncle, Mr. Alex Rathnam. Mr. Alex was not aware of the fact that this young man was contemplating suicide, but that day, he even forgot that he had to go to work and began to share in detail about the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross for more than one hour. This really touched the young man’s heart, and he gave his life to God! This young man is who we know as Dr. DGS Dhinakaran. In his testimony video, he says that it was the sufferings of Jesus that healed his broken heart.
Truth to Reflect: A revelation of His brokenness is what will break the bondages in your life:
THE GOSPEL IS THE KEY
When this perfume is opened, it must be used immediately. It could be used only once in its fullness of freshness. Don’t delay coming to Jesus – today is your day of salvation”. Respond to the message of the Gospel and make Jesus the Lord of your life.
In Lk 4:18, Jesus says He has anointed me to preach, to heal the broken-hearted.
By heeding the message of the gospel, your broken heart will be healed. Note that it is the gospel that heals the broken-hearted. The revelation of the brokenness he endured on the Cross is the key to our healing. Keep listening to the gospel and keep reminding yourself of his sufferings on the cross, and you will be healed, restored, and made whole.
->Father’s Call – A famous military officer used to tell a story of an aged Quaker named Hartmann, whose son had enlisted in the army. There came the news of a dreadful battle, and this old father, in fear and trembling, started to the scene of conflict that he might learn something concerning his boy. The officer of the day told him that he had not answered to his name and that there was every reason to believe that he was dead. This did not satisfy the father, so, leaving headquarters, he started across the battlefield, looking for the one who was dearer to him than life. He would stoop down and turn over the face of this one and then the face of another, but without success. The night came on, and then with a lantern he continued his search, all to no purpose. Suddenly, the wind, which was blowing a gale, extinguished his lantern, and he stood there in the darkness, hardly knowing what to do until his father’s ingenuity, strength, and affection prompted him to call out his son’s name, and so he stood and shouted, “John Hartmann, your father calls you.” All about him, he would hear the groans of the dying and someone saying: “Oh, if that were only my father.” He continued his cry with more pathos and power until at last, in the distance, he heard his boy’s voice crying tremblingly, “Here, father.” The old man made his way across the field, shouting out, “Thank God! Thank God!” Taking him in his arms, he carried him to headquarters, nursed him back to health and strength, and he went on to live a long life. Over the battlefield of the slain this day walks Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crying out to all who are wrecked by this awful power, “Thy Father calleth thee,” and if there should be but the faintest response to his cry, he would take the lost in his arms and carry them home to heaven.
Beloved, His brokenness on the Cross is your wholeness and the way you receive and experience that wholeness is by heeding the message of the gospel. The more you dwell on the gospel and keep reminding yourself on the sufferings of Jesus that he endured on your behalf on the Cross the more you will see your broken heart be mended and eventually your broken life be made whole. God bless you!