The Alabaster Box Part 2

Alabaster Cosmetic Jar from Ancient Egypt
Alabaster Cosmetic Jar-Ancient Egypt
Image in the Public Domain

The Alabaster Box Part 2

In this episode we continue our discussion of the woman with the Alabaster Box. This is one of those stories, on which, you could teach five lessons but this time we focus on another aspect of why this event was so important to Jesus…so important in fact that He made sure that those of us He has called to spread the Gospel (and that includes you) also tell this story. If you want to know what brings God pleasure, take a closer look at what this woman did.

The Alabaster Box

Illustration of an old Alabaster Vase Found at Alexandria.
Image in the Public Domain

The Alabaster Box

The story of the Alabaster Box, as found in the Gospels, is a dynamic window into the mind of God. Through it we get to see what He values and expects from us. Here we see the tender heart of Jesus toward the humble and contrite sinner. Simon the Pharisee is presented to us as the contrast to the “sinful woman”. His judgmental self-righteousness receives a dignified yet effective rebuke from Our Lord and, as always, there is a lesson in all of this. We learn that it takes far more than an outward show of church-approved piety to get God’s attention. In this podcast we point out that this beautiful story is given to us to demonstrate how a true child of God expresses nothing less than a deep-felt, sincere love and gratitude for what they have received through Grace. This story is not given to us to command anything. It is given to us to simply lay out what it truly looks like when forgiveness is truly felt by the forgiven. This is Part 1. Part 2 is next week.