Neville Goddard on Mark 14:1-11 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Mark 14 in context

Scripture Focus

1After 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.

2But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

3And 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 brake the box, and poured it on his head.

4And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

5For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

6And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9Verily 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.

10And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

11And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

Mark 14:1-11

Biblical Context

Chief priests plot to arrest Jesus; a woman anoints him with costly oil, provoking criticism. Jesus honors the act and points to an enduring memory of true worship.

Neville's Inner Vision

Consider the scene as a map of consciousness. The chief priests and scribes are not distant rulers, but the habit of fear and the urge to control that arises within you, plotting to 'take him by craft' whenever your attention would explore love's surrender. The feast and the leavened bread symbolize cycles of self-purification, where the old ego fears disruption. The alabaster ointment—the oil of spikenard, precious beyond measure—is your most cherished idea of freedom, the quality you pour over your own I AM to consecrate and prepare it for a new burial of old limitations. Those who murmur are the voice of lack and contradiction within; Jesus's reply, 'Let her alone; she hath wrought a good work on me,' is the invitation to recognize that true worship is a revision in your inner state, not a defense against external critique. 'The poor have you always' signals the persistent sensation of limitation in the world, yet you may choose to give now by aligning your inner state with abundance. The memory they spoke of is the enduring gospel of the realized self that travels wherever you stand.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Sit quietly and assume you are the alabaster box, pouring precious oil over your own head—your chosen quality, say, devotion or courage. Feel it as already done, and say softly, I AM the life that anoints and keeps me.