she had kept the box for years

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. (Matthew 22:6-7)

Years after the wise men left, long after the money from the gold, frankincense and myrrh had been spent, Mary still had the walnut box the frankincense came in. She didn’t know why she kept it or what possible use it was to her. It still bore the fragrance of the frankincense

She had kept the box for years. It was beautiful and had been a part of such a marvelous period of her life. Never again had anything be as amazing as that first part of Jesus’ life anyway.

But finally, she was clearing out some of the stuff in her house, and decided to sell some things. The box was one. The merchant gave her a good price, since it was of such exceptional quality. It had, after all, come from a very wealthy man who had come with two other men from a long ways away to see the baby Jesus. They said they had followed a star.

The merchant was amazed the most by the craftsman’s stamp on the bottom. It had the picture of a winged lion. It was, all in all, a very good box.

It was just that Mary had no real use for it and besides, Jesus was getting older – almost 30 now – and she just decided to get rid of it.

Jesus left home and began his ministry. He preached and taught and healed and loved all who came to him. And most who came to him loved him back. He was just so unique. Never had anyone brought God down to a level they could understand before. The regular teachers loved to use big words and strange illustrations. Jesus just spoke with authority.

His words touched one young woman.

She was a prostitute and a fairly successful one at that. She knew she didn’t have many more years left so she was careful, but because she was so beautiful and skilled at various ways of love-making, she was in demand. And because she was so in demand, her prices were high.

With her money she bought some special perfume that was sealed in an alabaster jar. To get it out, you had to break the jar. She figured one day when she was old, she would begin to use it. She even bought a special box to keep it in, one she had found at a store in Jerusalem, down a small street. The merchant assured her that is was of great quality.

She heard Jesus speak and was amazed at the love he showed for people like her. She was even near him at one point. She was waiting to offer herself to him, but something stopped her. She knew he looked at her with approval, but it wasn’t the approval with which most men looked at her. It was different.

It was genuine. And it touched her more deeply than any man had ever touched her. It reminded her of the love her father had for her before he died and she was sold into slavery. It was a love she was searching for and had looked for in every man’s face that came to her house.

Of course, all she saw there was lust. Here she saw love. Real, raw, genuine love.

And she felt it deep inside where no man had ever penetrated. She felt it in her heart and in her soul.

She stood outside the door of the house where he was having dinner. Jesus was at a man’s house. The man, to her astonishment, was a leper. Jesus would talk to anyone.

But would he talk to her? The leper couldn’t help be a leper. She could help being a whore.

But she had to try.

She got her courage together and ran into the room and knelt at Jesus’ feet. She opened the walnut box and took out the perfume. She stood up, poured it on Jesus’ head and began to massage it in.

Jesus turned around and looked at her. He didn’t protest, nor did he necessarily encourage. But neither did he discourage.

Some people in the room got mad. They felt it was a waste. The perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. She figured they didn’t realize that it had been sold and a prostitute bought it. That was probably the only people who would. She realized she had made a mistake and started trying to figure out how to get away before Jesus got angry with her.

But he didn’t. Instead he looked – rather sharply, it seemed – at the men who said this. Then he told them to be quiet, that poor people would always be there, but that he wouldn’t. He said she anointed him for his burial. What did that mean? She didn’t know, but he seemed to like the fact that she had done this. And he looked at her with such love and compassion.

And for that, if nothing else, she loved him. She rubbed a little more, started getting self-conscious. Then she put the broken jar back into the walnut box and left quietly.

When she got back home, she sat for a while, looking at the box with the broken jar. Such a beautiful box. It even had a picture of some kind of winged lion on the bottom.

She put it on the shelf and sat quietly for some time.