Pouring out

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. —John 12:3

No need to put a pint of myrrh (nard) on someone—unless they are dead.

Not only was this anointing a foreshadow of the death-bound tomb Jesus was on the verge of entering, it was a visual allegory of why Jesus had come.

The act was beautiful in its depth of love. It was an expression of sacrifice on Mary's part. She gave something to Jesus that was deeply personal and precious to her, something worth a year's wages, something that represented her identity as a prostitute, something that was earned by her sin, something she knew only Jesus could bear, something she knew only Jesus could transform, something she didn't want anymore.

The wages of sin is death. Mary poured the sin and death of her life out on Jesus at that banquet table. And he received it. He welcomed it because his perspective was like none other, he was able to see the joy set before him—the joy beyond the grave.

In repentance as we pour out our hearts, each one black and sin filled—regardless of how beautiful and alabaster white they appear to be on the outside, Christ transforms the stench of death into sweet perfume before the Father.

The disciples, notably Judas, were shocked by the "waste." And to be sure, pouring one's heart out on anyone or anything else would be waste. Excess given to loss. But, in pouring your heart out to Jesus, repentance is transformed into thanksgiving, shame to honor, and mourning to praise.

As we enter Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, remember Christ and his sacrifice. An act beautiful in its depth of love. An expression of completed sacrifice. God gave something to us that was precious to him; something worth all eternity; something that represented His own identity, Emmanuel, God with us;His Begotten, His One and only Son.

Only Jesus, through the power of God, can transform death into life.