Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

John 12:1-8

Instantly I am struck with many questions after reading this like, “Would I do that?” If so what does that look like in my life? I certainly hope that I would do that, but really anoint Jesus’ head and feet (Mark says head and feet) wiping his feet with my hair?! For her she did something that Jewish girls never did which is letting her hair down in public but for her to wipe his feet with her hair is unthinkable only slaves cleaned feet. Let alone the nard that she broke over Jesus’ head as Mark says was worth a year’s wages and it was perfume oil which is only used for devotion. This is why Judas was criticizing her. But in this action as everyone is sitting at the table in what was probably an awkward silence that filled the room and as people saying wow in their minds we see a supreme devotion by Mary to Jesus. All of this was done by giving Jesus her best. Letting all her hair out, showing no shame, letting all of what she was out, holding nothing back from him. Putting all of her at His feet where we belong—bowed. She, in that moment, was embracing something we often forget, that He is worthy and all we have is His. The Fragrance of her act filled the room; no one could have missed it. We see fragrance or aroma mentioned a lot in the Bible. It is often referred to in Old Testament when someone was giving a sacrifice to God and He liked it describing it as a “pleasing aroma”. So by Mary’s sacrifice and service to Christ it produced a pleasing aroma to Jesus, as he says in the other gospels she was doing a beautiful thing. But can I say that my actions this week or last week have been pleasing to God? Did I create a pleasing aroma with my service or sacrifice to Him? Did I even serve Him this week? Let us serve and sacrifice to others as we are called to do, and to do it as if it were Christ. So that they may smell that pleasing aroma, that love that fills the room penetrating their hearts. So others may ask just as Judas did, “why are you doing this?” In that we may say –because of Christ. See Christ was soon about to be broken as a sacrifice to us, as He foreshadows in those verses. So He was anointed as He should be as King by Mary. Though he was something that was also precious and holy He still died. Giving us all that He had, His life, poured out so that we might be clean. So our life as a sacrifice to Him is pleasing, and we are equipped with all that He is inside of us so that others may share that aroma as we serve. And that aroma was meant to fill the earth, spreading the message of what Christ has done for us. So go, be a pleasing aroma, serve Christ.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,”

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Grace be with you,

-Newt