03 "A Woman Who Heard Well Done" Mark 14:3-9 | Sunday, May 10, 2026

I I don't know if you would call the

message this morning a Mother's Day

message. We're going to make some

application

certainly to moms and ladies, but really

to all of us. This morning's message

will come from our theme series, which

is well done. We've been looking at this

year at how we can live today with well

done in mind and manage the goods that

God puts in our hands to magnify the

glory of his son Jesus.

But today the message is entitled A

Woman Who Heard Well done. And so I

invite you to turn to Mark chapter 14.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

The Gospel of Mark chapter 14. Once you

Mark 14 · chapter mention

found your place, if you'll stand in

honor of the reading of God's word, Mark

Mark 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. If you don't have a Bible

this morning, there are some at the pew

or the chair in front of you, and you're

welcome to use that today. Mark is the

second gospel of the New Testament.

And we're coming toward the end of

Mark's gospel. In Mark chapter 14, Jesus

Mark 14 · chapter mention

is betrayed by Jesus uh by Judas and

then he has the last supper with his

disciples. He goes to the garden of

Gethsemane where he is betrayed and he

is led to his crucifixion.

Mark 16 is the resurrection of Jesus.

But before

Jesus brings his disciples to the

garden,

there's an account given here of a woman

who gave Jesus all she had.

We're going to see that this morning.

Mark chapter 14, beginning in verse one.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

We'll conclude our reading in verse 11.

I want to set the context here. Our our

primary text will be verses 3-9. But

let's begin reading in verse one.

After two days was the feast of the

Passover and of unleavened bread. And

the chief priests and the scribes sought

how they might take him by craft and put

him to death. But they said, "Not on the

feast day, lest there be an uproar of

the people." And being in Bethany, in

the house of Simon the leper, as he sat

at meat, there came a woman having an

alabaster box of ointment of spikenard,

very precious, and she break the box and

poured it on his head. And there were

some that had indignation within

themselves and said, "Why was this waste

of the ointment made? for it might have

been sold for more than 300 pence and

have been given to the poor. And they

murmured against her. And Jesus said,

"Let her alone. Why trouble ye her? She

hath wrought a good work on me, for ye

have the poor with you always, and

whensoever ye will, ye may do them good,

but me ye have not always.

She hath done what she could. She has

come beforehand to anoint my body to the

burying.

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. I think that's as close as it

gets to her hearing, "Well done, good

and faithful servant."

A woman who heard, "Well done." Our

father, we ask you

to stir something

within us this morning

that would bring transforming change in

our hearts

about the worthiness of our savior,

Jesus.

But for that to take place, your spirit

must move in us.

He must enlighten us to the truth of

your word.

And so may you please speak clearly

today

that we might be better having heard

from you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Thank you for standing. You can be

seated.

During my senior year of high school, my

dad gave me a book written by John Piper

entitled, Don't Waste Your Life. I think

that's a good book to give a teenager

coming out of high school. Don't waste

your life. To be honest with you, I

don't remember much from that book, but

there is one particular part of it

toward the end that I will never forget.

Piper told of two women nearing their

80s

who lived as missionaries in Cameroon in

Africa

until the day when their brakes gave

way. They drove off a cliff and were

killed instantly.

Piper asked the congregation,

"Was that a tragedy?

Two lives driven by one great vision

spent in unheralded service to the

perishing poor for the glory of Jesus

Christ."

He asks, "Was that a tragedy?"

two decades after almost all their

American counterparts have retired to

throw their lives away on trifles in

Florida.

He says, "No,

that is not a tragedy.

That is a glory."

But here's the part that I'll never

forget.

He said, 'I will tell you what a tragedy

is.

In an article from the February 1998

edition of the Reader Digest, a couple

took early retirement from their jobs in

the Northeast when he was 59 years old

and she was 51.

Now they lived in Puna Gorda, Florida,

where they cruise on their 30foot

trwler, play softball and collect

shells.

Piper says, "At first when I read it, I

thought it might be a joke. A spoof on

the American dream, but it wasn't.

Tragically, this was the dream." He

said, "Come to the end of your life.

your one and only precious God-given

life. And let the last great work of

your life before you give an account to

your creator be this, playing softball

and collecting shells.

He said, "Picture them before Christ at

that great great day of judgment

saying,"Look,

Lord,

see my shells."

He says, "That

is a tragedy."

He says, "People today are spending

billions of dollars to persuade each of

you to embrace that tragic dream." in

his final words of the book where I put

my protest against that. Don't buy it.

Don't waste your life.

This year we've been talking about how

you in that day when you stand before

your creator can hear those words,

well done, good and faithful servant.

how what you did with this one precious

life that God gave to you can bring you

to the place where instead of holding

shells in your hands, you can cast

crowns at his feet.

The answer Christ gave us from Matthew

Matthew 25:21

25:21, our theme verse is to manage the

Lord's goods, to magnify the Lord's

glory.

That is how you hear well done.

It is by using the resources that the

Lord puts in your hands today.

Not for selfish gain. Not for luxurious

living or lavish retirement,

but rather to give honor and glory to

the Savior who paid the price for your

sin, who bought your pardon, who bought

that new life for you, who calls you his

friend, who though he completely knows

you, completely loves you. The call to

well done is to lay it all at his feet

for his honor and his glory.

Living today with well done in mind can

keep you from wasting your life.

And yet, in an ironic twist,

what you give

to honor the Lord

will be considered a waste by many

others.

Is that not what we see in this text

this morning?

This woman,

she is sandwiched here between the

religious leaders who sought to kill

Jesus and a false disciple who sought to

betray Jesus.

And she stands out

as a picture

of what every believer should and must

do.

She seeks to honor Jesus Christ.

She broke an expensive jar of a costly

ointment and poured it on the head of

Jesus. Why? In an ancient symbol of

tremendous honor.

She treated him as the honored guest

that no one else did.

She poured out it all for him.

But while she did it to honor Christ,

others around her, even disciples,

called it a waste.

Why was this waste of the ointment made?

And yet we find Jesus calls it what? A

good work.

A good work.

She used a valuable resource that she

held in her hands to magnify Christ's

glory before others. And what was her

experience?

First it was criticism,

but then it was commendation.

Criticism

and commenation.

And what this woman experienced

is what all of you can expect to

experience when you pour it all out in

honor of Jesus Christ. When you give

your life to him, when you give your

goods to him, when you live for him,

when he is number one in your life, you

will face criticism

from others.

Your boss

will scoff at you.

It's what you can expect when you pour

out valuable resources and give all to

Christ. It's what a mom can expect when

she prays for and dedicates her child to

the ministry of the Lord. It's what you

can expect.

It's what a single mom can expect when

she's barely making it by, but chooses

to tithe and give what she can to

missions.

It's what you can expect when you make

the decision to do everything necessary

for your wife to stay home and raise

godly children.

When you live on less and you live with

less than you could if she stayed in the

workforce, yes, you can expect criticism

from others. perhaps even in your family

and among your friends.

But the reality is it's what all of us

can expect when we pour out our lives to

magnify Christ's glory.

We will receive criticism from others.

But I hope to assure you today as well

that you will receive commendation

from Christ.

Our sermon breaks up into those two

themes.

criticism

and commendation.

Let's first consider the criticism

that when you give your all to honor

Christ, you will be criticized by

others.

This woman faced criticism for the gift

she poured out on Jesus.

It tells us in verse three

that he was in Bethany just outside of

Jerusalem and he goes into the home of a

man named Simon the leper but I don't

think he was a leper anymore

because these names given to people in

the gospels reflect who they used to be.

See Mary Magdalene possessed with seven

devils was no longer possessed with

seven devils.

And Mary the harlot was no longer a

harlot. And the blind man was no longer

a blind man. He was just Bararddmus, but

we knew him as a blind man. So this

woman or this man Simon was formerly a

leper, likely healed by Jesus. He hosts

a meal for Jesus. And in the other

gospels, we're told it was for his

disciples.

And so I imagine that they are reclined

around this table on the floor as their

custom was

sharing close intimate fellowship

together,

sharing stories of miracles, stories of

healings, stories of transformation, and

of course hearing from Jesus.

But in the midst of their gathering,

this woman walks in

carrying with her an alabaster, what is

called a box here, likely some type of

bottle with a long slender neck.

And inside of this precious, fragile jar

is an ointment called spikenard.

Spikenard means that it was pure,

undiluted,

perfect.

It would have been imported from North

India because that's the only place

where you could find this particular

tree. And as you can imagine, in that

day, importing something from India to

Israel would cost a lot. Therefore, it

says that it was very precious.

The word costly,

expensive.

This is no knockoff perfume that you get

from Ross or Marshalls.

It was expensive.

In fact, the disciples say it was worth

300 days of wages.

We're talking about tens of thousands of

dollars contained in this tiny little

jar.

For this woman, this would have been her

inheritance

to be sold to pay for her wedding or

perhaps for her to claim for her future

or to give to her future husband. This

thing was everything to her.

And yet, the way she spends it shows she

had no intention of holding anything

back. for she did not take off a cap and

pour a couple of drops upon his head,

but rather she snapped the neck off of

that base, a point of no return, and she

began to pour it on Jesus' head. And

other gospels tell us that she went to

his feet and she poured it out on his

feet as she wept on his feet and wiped

his feet with her hair.

This is a demonstration of tremendous

love, of unmatched honor for Jesus

Christ.

She poured it all out.

She broke the jar.

And yet, what she gave honorably

to Jesus

was criticized by others as being wasted

on Jesus.

As it says in verse number four, there

were some that had indignation within

themselves. That means that they were

vexed. They were irritated. They were

furious about this. They said, "Why was

this waste of the ointment made for it

might have been sold for more than 300 p

and been given to the poor?" And they

murmured against her. This does not mean

that they just complained at her, but

they scolded her. You can hear it in the

tone of their statement.

They scolded her.

But perhaps the reason

they considered her gift to be wasted on

Jesus

is because they did not value Jesus the

way she valued Jesus.

Because what you value determines how

you spend. Is that not true?

I value sports.

I think I have friends in here, too.

So, you know what that means? It means

that I pay for subscriptions to make

sure I have all the channels to watch

all my sports teams. And they are many.

Not just in state, but out of state.

It means that I'll spend birthday money

on a jersey. It means I might even

splurge a bit to go to a playoff game

because I value it. You know what I

don't value? Cologne.

In fact, in my drawer at home, I have a

bottle of Nautica cologne that my wife

gave to me 15 years ago when we were

dating.

And I believe I have sprayed it twice in

those 15 years.

Therefore, when I find out that one of

my friends has spent $150 on a bottle of

cologne, I say, "What a waste."

And they would say the same thing to me

about sports. Why? We value things

differently.

So too, the people in this room value

things differently.

Caring for the poor is good.

Caring for the poor is valuable.

But even that is not as valuable as

Jesus.

This woman

poured it all out for Jesus

because she was saying he is worthy of

it all.

But they said the poor are more worthy

of it all.

Thus they criticized her

because few people today

truly value Christ for all he is worth.

When you give all to honor him, you will

face criticism in your life.

Your boss may scoff at you when you turn

down the traveling job with a big

promotion and the big pay raise all

because you wouldn't be able to be

faithful to church. It won't make sense

to them.

Your parents may see you struggling to

get by as a single mom or a single dad.

And it makes no sense to them why you

would give to support a couple preaching

the gospel in Mexico when you are barely

making it by. Doesn't make sense.

Your unbelieving spouse may resent the

fact that you give regularly to Christ

out of your retirement

or the fact that you take your time to

go on outreach or why you attend every

service and every event. They just don't

understand why you give so much time to

Jesus and perhaps they even resent you

for it, criticize you for it.

But you know what? Sometimes the

criticism

can even come from within the church as

it did for this woman.

You may be doing everything you can to

live your life for the service of the

Lord. And sometimes even Christians may

call you a radical.

It just goes too far. They may say

you're trying to look good in the

pastor's eyes.

You're trying to get in to get a

position in the church,

but perhaps their radical criticism

stems from the subtle rebuke that your

life is to theirs

because they know they don't value Jesus

the way they should.

Maybe they value their job or their

luxurious lifestyle.

Or perhaps they know deep down in their

souls that the extra that they give to

their retirement hamstrings them from

giving more to Christ today. And thus

the radical service that you have for

Jesus when you break it open and pour it

all out. Even your brothers and your

sisters can look at you and say, "What a

waste.

What a waste."

It serves as a rebuke.

but would to God that all of us were as

willing to pour it all out for Jesus the

way this woman did.

And yet far more Christians

are quicker to value other things more

than we value Christ as his disciples

even did in this moment of weakness.

See, when you pour out your all for

Christ, others will criticize you.

Well, let me encourage you believer. Do

not let their criticism keep you from

pouring it out to Christ. Why? Because

in heaven there awaits a heavenly

commendation that far outweighs earthly

criticism.

For when you pour out all to Christ, you

will be commended by Christ. You will

hear those words, "Well done." Just as

this woman did,

the Savior Jesus now commends her for

bestowing such honor upon him.

It says in verse number six, "And Jesus

said, let her alone. Why trouble ye her?

She hath wrought a good work on me."

What she has given should not be

considered a waste.

It should not be considered wasteful but

rather beautiful is what the word good

means. A fine work,

a beautiful work.

But why

why is this such a good work? First of

all, Christ says, "I am leaving soon."

It says there in verse 7, for ye have

the poor with you always, and whensoever

ye will, ye may do good them good, but

me ye have not always.

Where is Jesus going?

He has already told him that he is going

to depart,

but for what reason?

For what cause?

It is nothing less than to be beaten and

tortured and deathly wounded on a cross

for the sins of all mankind.

To pay redemption's price once and for

all by suffering the cruel death of the

cross for you and for me.

That is where he is going.

The eternal son of God will soon be laid

in a cold, dark tomb, having paid in

full redemption's price for our sins.

Thus, Jesus goes on to say in verse

eight, "She hath done what she could.

She has come beforehand to anoint my

body to the burying."

While the disciples remained blinded to

all that Christ must suffer,

Jesus says she knew.

She understood

he's leaving soon.

He will be dead and buried. And thus,

she did what she could.

I am concerned

that we sometimes begrudgingly do what

we must,

but how often do we gladly do what we

can?

How often do we eagerly offer our

offerings in worship to the one who

offered us all for us?

How often do we make our way to church

not begrudging how many chairs must be

set up or how many cords must be run but

rather joyfully to serve our Savior who

gave his all for us.

How often do we go beyond what we must

to do what we can

with what we have in this one life we've

been given.

She did what she could before it was too

late. And notice the lasting commenation

she receives from Christ in verse 9.

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.

You know what Jesus is saying there? May

her story be told as often and as far

and as wide as my story is

for a memorial of her. And what do you

know? Her story is preserved for us in

all four gospels of the New Testament.

Countless millions

have heard of what she did just as we've

heard of what Christ did. That is what I

call a lasting commendation.

Her memory is to be etched in stone in

the mind of every person who heard the

gospel. Why? For the value she had for

Christ.

The gift that she poured out on Christ

is an example of how every believer who

desires to hear well done must live.

Doing what you can with what you have in

honor of Christ.

In this moment,

she showed everyone in that room

Christ is worthy.

is worthy.

I submit this to you.

God prepared

that very tree in North India

to extract that very ointment

to be placed into that very jar

and held in these very hands

to be broken and poured out on the head

of his son.

the sovereignty of God over all

creation.

He knew when that leaf first sprouted

up,

oil will be poured on my son because he

is worthy.

And now

it has been told to countless millions

that Christ is worthy.

And now this woman's name is etched in

heaven and her story is inscribed in

scripture to remind all of us that

Christ is worthy.

He's worthy of your trust, friend.

He's worthy of all of your faith for

eternal salvation. He is worthy that we

who have been redeemed by his precious

blood should give all that we have in

our hands to honor his name. He is

worthy.

I guarantee you when this woman entered

heaven's gates to the joy of a crucified

and now risen Lord, she heard those

words.

Well done, good servant.

Welcome home.

great awakening preacher George

Whitfield

in the early 1700s

was kicked out of countless churches in

England, particularly for his style of

preaching

because he did not sit there in front of

a pulpit

and read regular religious readings off

of a page,

but he removed his wig

and he began to declare the gospel of

Jesus. Jesus Christ,

calling people to turn from dead

religion

to a real relationship with God through

his son.

He faced constant criticism

for preaching in fields and in coal

mines rather than before clergy in

churches.

Because he became emotional in

preaching, he was criticized as

manipulative.

Because he was passionate and dynamic,

he was called more of an actor than a

preacher.

He sailed to America

to call the colonies with the voice of

Isaiah awake out of sleep to

righteousness.

Turn from dead religion to true faith in

Christ.

He lived his life, as many have said,

with more time spent on a horse than he

spent in a home, traveling from town to

town preaching the gospel.

multiple times in one day before crowds

of thousands with his booming voice.

In spite of all the criticism he

continued to receive from fellow clergy

in the colonies, he said this, "I am

content to wait till the judgment day

for the clearing up of my reputation."

Whitfield preached to thousands for an

audience of one.

The only commenation that mattered to

him came not from the pews or the seats,

but from the throne in heaven where he

would hear, "Well done, good and

faithful servant."

Can I tell you today that the only

commenation that matters is the one you

receive from Christ. People

may slander you. They may criticize you.

They may brand you a radical. But when

you, like this woman, give all to your

savior and you raise your kids for

Christ, when you use your resources to

magnify his glory, when you give up the

lavish retirement for the simple one so

that you may give more to Christ today,

you will hear, "Well done."

Others may call it a waste, but Jesus

calls it good,

>> fine,

beautiful.

Others

who don't understand your love will mock

you, but Jesus who knows your love will

commend you. Others may question your

motives.

They may call you hateful,

bigoted.

They may call you fake.

But because Jesus knows your motives,

he commends them.

Because you have trusted in him, listen

believers, because you have trusted in

him, your name is memorialized in

heaven, sealed forever in the Lamb's

book of life.

And as the word of God says, he is not

unjust to forget your labor of love. He

remembers every criticism you faced. But

he remembers every gift you've given. He

remembers it all.

So regardless of the criticism, I exhort

you today. Live your life. Give your

goods. Serve your Lord. Not for the

commendations of men, but for the

commenation of Christ. Live for him.

Honor him.

One might ask this morning.

What makes Jesus

worthy of this honor?

If Islam calls him a prophet,

if other religions add him as any other

god,

what makes him worthy?

That you would pour out all to him.

That you would break the jar open.

That you would believe in him over

everything else that's out there. What

makes him worthy? Because unlike any

other God professed to be out there,

this God gave his all for you.

Jesus is one with God in heaven.

Eternal from the beginning, present at

creation, worshiped by angels.

He made everything,

possesses everything, and owns

everything.

Yet,

he left the glory behind

and the worship of angels

to take on human flesh. To be born

through a woman, to grow like us, to be

hurt like us,

to die

like us.

But he did not die for his own sins, for

he had none. Because he was God and he

was perfect.

Jesus suffered and died on a cross for

our sin.

And he was burying in a tomb. And he

gave up everything to supply us with the

forgiveness that we need, with the

righteousness that we could never

attain.

to give us the life we could never get

on our own.

He gave up all to give us all.

But the Bible says that he rose again

from the dead with this promise in hand

to give eternal life to all who will

believe on him.

This makes Jesus abundantly worthy of

our all.

The gospel's cry to you today

is repent for the kingdom of heaven is

at hand.

Turn from the sin that binds you.

Turn from the dead religion that can

never justify you. Turn from this world

that can never satisfy you. Turn from

the skepticism that binds you and turn

in faith to Christ as your only hope of

eternal salvation and the forgiveness of

sins.

Be converted wholly and completely by

faith in this savior who gave all for

you.

And today your sins will be forgiven.

And for eternity you can live in heaven

with God.

And as you live for him, giving all

honor to him here, well done.

Nail scarred hands,

reach down into the drowning ocean of

sin

to pull out your drowning soul.

Will you take hold of his hand today?

Will you trust in him alone and he will

save you?

Believers,

the truth we gather from this text is

simply this.

Christ commends all

who give what they have to do what they

can

to honor his name.

I ask every believer today, what do you

have in your hands?

What is in your grasp in this life

right now in this moment? Many of you

hold a Bible in your hands.

Use your Bible to share the gospel and

magnify his glory before others.

Use your money to further gospel

ministry at home and abroad around the

world.

Use your time to honor him in worship at

church, in personal devotion at home,

and in gospel declaration wherever you

go.

Use your retirement years to serve him.

Use your strength, your mind, your

skills, your degree, your youth to honor

him, to serve him.

And so I say to moms and to dads and to

children and teenagers and men and women

of all ages, break the jar.

Break the jar.

Pour it all out to the one who is

worthy.

The one who is worthy.

Don't

waste your life,

but use what you have to do what you can

to honor him.

And in spite of all criticism,

you will be commended.

Well done.

Our father,

we come humbly before you.

the one who is worthy

to receive all honor and glory and

blessing.

For you have created all things and for

your pleasure they are and were created.

We cry out today, worthy is the lamb who

is slain

to receive all honor and glory and

riches and power. for he's redeemed us

out of every kindred, tongue, tribe, and

nation that's bought us with his blood

to bring us back to you, oh God.

May we pour out our lives and our souls

for the honor of our savior.

in whose name I pray.