The Woman with an Alabaster Jar

The woman with an alabaster jar is an unnamed female that appears in all three of the synoptic gospels. In each of these gospels, she brings an alabaster jar of ointment to Jesus and applies it to his body as a sign of love and worship. In all three gospels her story is simple, but upon close examination of both the Gospel of Luke and of Matthew, it is evident that the message, along with the importance of the story within the Gospel, varies depending upon the persuasive intentions of the writer.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the woman is simply introduced as a woman with an alabaster jar, but in Luke, her story is presented in much greater detail. Our first clue that the Gospel of Luke intends to convey a new message is the description of the woman as a sinner. The details of the woman's actions that follow, which are not provided in Matthew, allow the woman to become a richer and more significant character. These details tell us that the woman is not only a sinner, but a repentant sinner, "She stood behind him at his feet, weeping" (Luke 7.38). She could also be thought as brave and bold to enter the Pharisee's house to worship Jesus, and she clearly has a devout love and faith in Jesus, shown by her actions of washing his feet, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with ointment.

The woman's actions are rebuked in both gospels, either by the disciples or the Pharisees, and in both, Jesus delivers a rebuttal. Even though this is the same in both gospels, the purposes behind them are quite different. In Matthew, Jesus' disciples complain that the costly ointment should not have been wasted when it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. This implies that the significance of the woman's story will have something to do with righteousness and good deeds. Jesus' response simply asserts that it is more important to focus on the events that are happening now with him, than on good deeds that can be dealt with later. In Luke, however, a Pharisee sees the woman's action as a chance to expose Jesus as a false prophet, which sets Jesus up with the opportunity to not only prove otherwise, but also to teach his disciples that God's grace is not reserved for righteous Jews.

The Gospel of Luke then goes on with Jesus telling a parable. Parables are used heavily in the synoptic Gospels to convey God's law in a way that all people might understand. This parable in particular conveys two messages that are directed at two different audiences. While the parable seems to be a lesson to Jesus' disciples about love and humility, it is something entirely different for the Pharisee who doubted Jesus as a prophet because it reveals that Jesus did, as a prophet, recognize the woman as a sinner, and he, with the authority of God, was able to forgive her of her sins. This parable is a significant part of Luke's version of the story that establishes Jesus' power (something that is unnecessary for Matthew as this is already established) as well as his love for those who are unfortunate.

There is much to be said about the absence of the parable and other details in Matthew's version of the story. Perhaps most importantly, in the Gospel of Matthew, the woman is not described as a sinner, she does not weep or bathe his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair, and she does not kiss his feet. In fact, the woman is barely described at all, which suggests that neither the woman nor her story plays a significant role in the Gospel of Matthew.

In Matthew, the message of this woman's story seems to simply be that worshipping Jesus should be of the utmost importance, even above doing good deeds such as helping the poor. This fits within the context of the Gospel of Matthew, when considered as a whole, because it was meant to focus on the one important fact that Jesus is the Messiah here to fulfill and continue the old covenant, whereas the Gospel of Luke puts more emphasis on the universality of God's word. The woman with the alabaster jar, who is described as both a woman and a sinner in Luke, is a more important character in Luke because she is a prime example of all those who will benefit from the reach of Luke's "Good News" (Gospel).