Off to the Marine Ball!

Sister, part two 

John 12:1-12 

Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So, they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  

The scene is supper in the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. We speculated on their sisterly relationship last time. Once again, Martha is preparing and serving. As was the custom, the men are reclined at the table.  Lazarus, whom He loved, is with Him. Martha is serving and most likely doesn’t even bother to ask Mary for help any more. Mary is a free spirit. She is emotional and giddy. Her beloved brother is alive and her Lord and Savior is in the house. Let’s celebrate!  

Mary cannot help herself!  She is sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to every word, oblivious to the physical needs of serving dinner. In an act of worship and devotion, Mary takes one of her most prized possessions of expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ feet. Huge gasp! The text reveals that this bottle of perfume is three hundred denarii. In today’s currency, that would be about $50,000. That’s just crazy!

My wife, Leigh, has some similar tendencies of Mary. She doesn’t appreciate it when I constrain her heart to give. I have pre-set criteria and principles of giving that I prefer to follow. I’m a warm-hearted rationalist. She sees a need and wants to give. And in most cases, give a lot. I’ve learned a lot from her in the area of giving and she humbly listens to my rational reasoning. Together, we strike a pretty good balance but most likely, if Jesus were in my house, he would whisper in my ear, ‘don’t hold her back.’ 

Back to Mary. This is an outburst of love and devotion by Mary. She doesn’t have a rational bone in her body. I suspect she didn’t evaluate all the facts and consider the pros and cons. No, she just acts.

Wouldn’t just a few drops do the job? Couldn’t she wait until after supper so that the pervasive odor wouldn’t wreak the meal that Martha worked so hard to prepare? What about the shock of Lazarus? Most likely, it was his work and industrial skills of commerce that earned the money to purchase the perfume. Judas condemns the act and self-righteously states that the perfume would be better used to sell and feed the poor.  

So, what does Jesus think about the whole ordeal? Jesus commends her worship and also indicates the act was prophetic and preparing Him for burial.  

Therefore, Jesus said, ‘Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.’ 

Lord, help me and guide me to be more like Mary. A lover and worshiper of Jesus. Amen!