“A woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head.” (Mark 14:3)

“A woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head.” (Mark 14:3)

Nard or “Spikenard” is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. It is the main ingredient in manufacturing an intensely aromatic, amber-colored oil that has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, medicine, and for sacramental anointing within a Judeo-Christian context. Because this oil had to be procured from afar, it was quite expensive and considered a luxury item – something to be used quite sparingly. Mark’s gospel, however, relates how the woman broke open the jar and poured its entire contents upon Christ; something which shocked many as being a “waste” of good money (300 denarii being equivalent to $15,000 today). Jesus quickly comes to the woman’s rescue; praising her and silences the critics. The irony, however, is that Judas betrayed his Master for 30 pieces of silver – the cost of purchasing a slave, while this woman offers thirty times that amount to show the value she placed upon our Lord, who delivered her from slavery to sin!

Fr. John