The Broken Box and the Broken Heart: Anointing, Betrayal, Gethsemane, and Denial in Mark 14

I have a piece of spalted maple in my shop that I have been saving for years with lines that look like lightning through the grain. I have never cut it because I am waiting for the perfect project. But there is a chance I will wait too long and the piece will never become anything.

Mark 14 opens with a woman who does not wait. She breaks an alabaster box of spikenard worth a years wages and pours it on Jesus head. People say it is a waste but Jesus says she has done what she could.

Meaning of the Alabaster Box in Mark 14

Jesus is in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper when a woman comes with an alabaster box of ointment. She breaks the box and pours it on Jesus head and some of those present are indignant saying the ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred pence.

Jesus defends her by saying let her alone because she has done a good work on me. The poor you have with you always but you will not always have me. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial.

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Mark 14:9

The woman did not calculate the cost. She broke the box and did not hold back while the people who criticized her were thinking about utility rather than love. I think about the things I am saving for the right moment that may never come including words I should have said and help I should have offered.

Why Did Jesus Pray in Gethsemane

After the Last Supper Jesus takes three disciples to a garden called Gethsemane. He tells them to sit while he prays and his soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death. He goes a little farther and falls on the ground praying that if it is possible the hour might pass from him. Abba Father all things are possible unto you. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless not what I will but what you will.

The disciples cannot stay awake and he finds them sleeping three times because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

I think about the nevertheless in Gethsemane. Jesus did not want to suffer and he asked if there was another way but then he submitted. The nevertheless is the difference between resignation and trust.

This connects to an earlier reflection about the nevertheless joint in 2 Nephi 4. Nephi used the word to pivot from despair to hope while Jesus used it to accept the cup.

The Meaning of Peter's Denial

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss and the crowd arrests him while the disciples scatter. Peter follows at a distance and ends up in the courtyard of the high priest warming himself by the fire. A servant girl says he was with Jesus but Peter denies it. Another servant says it again and he denies again until bystanders say his speech gives him away. He begins to curse and swear that he does not know the man.

The cock crows the second time and Peter remembers Jesus words. Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times. He breaks down and weeps.

Peter denial was not sudden because it happened in stages. First proximity from a distance. Then association with the wrong crowd. Then the first lie. Then the oath. Each step made the next one easier and I think about the stages of my own failures starting small with a compromise I barely notice or a silence when I should have spoken.

The chapter leaves Peter weeping and Jesus alone before the Sanhedrin where false witnesses contradict each other. The high priest asks if he is the Christ and Jesus says I am. They condemn him. One man claims to know nothing while the other claims to be everything and the contrast is the whole gospel.

How to Handle Spiritual Loneliness and Betrayal

The chapter teaches that loneliness and betrayal are part of the journey. Jesus experienced both from his closest friends and the religious leaders. The response is not to avoid the pain but to submit to the Fathers will and trust the outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was the ointment considered a waste by some disciples?

The ointment was extremely expensive worth about a years wages. They viewed it through a lens of utility and missed the spiritual significance of preparing Jesus for burial.

What does the cup refer to in Jesus prayer in Gethsemane?

The cup symbolizes the portion of suffering assigned to a person representing the totality of the worlds sins and the agony of separation from the Father.

Did Peter denial mean he was a failure as a disciple?

He failed in that moment but his failure became a catalyst for deeper faith. The Atonement is for those who are broken by their failure and turn back.

Why did Jesus not stop the arrest?

His submission was obedience to the Fathers plan because the scriptures must be fulfilled and his sacrifice was necessary for the Atonement.

Closing

The spalted maple in my shop is still there and I still have not cut it. I do not know if I am saving it for the right reason or if I am just afraid of wasting it. The woman in Bethany was not afraid because she broke the box and poured out everything she had. Jesus said she did what she could and that is the whole measure of discipleship.

Not perfection but what you could. The box was broken and the body was broken and both were given. That is how salvation works.

— D.