It is a valuable lesson after the story of the extravagant son and the father’s extravagant forgiveness to look at extravagant giving (John 12:1-11). Mary was an example of bounteous giving to Jesus. She was the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life and naturally was very grateful. How grateful is measured by her lavish giving. Notice the elements of her gift. The perfume was contained in an alabaster box, an expensive stone vase. The amount used was about a litra, a Roman pound of around 12 oz. It was worth about 300 denarius, perhaps 300 day’s wage, about a year’s income. Why so valuable? In those days spikenard or nard was only found on the slopes of the Himalaya’s and had to be imported a long, long way. How extravagant is our giving to Jesus?
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