Mary knew He was the fragrance,
the Rose of Sharon,
when the alabaster shattered
and the scent filled up the room.
It was called a beautiful waste—
a too-costly jar, and should be sold
for such and such a price
and elsewhere used.
Worth one year’s wages,
the ointment mingled with His blood
and dried as it clung to Him
from cross to tomb.
Her precious scent was spent
and followed Him
from Bethany to Calvary
—now onto me.
So, how shall I waste
such precious offering,
my palms perfumed
from the hollow of His Eternal Bloom.
© 2026 Jennifer Wagner
“I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.” Song of Solomon 2:1
And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”
But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Matthew 26:6-13
street art, Valley of the Sun, Photo © Jennifer Wagner