In a donut shop in Grand Saline, TX, a young farm couple was sitting. He was wearing overalls and she a gingham dress. After finishing their doughnuts, he got up to pay the bill, but she did not get up to follow him.
When he came back he stood in front of her. She put her arms around his neck, and he lifted her up, only then revealing that she was wearing a full-body brace. He lifted her out of her chair and backed out the front door to the pick-up truck, with her hanging from his neck.
As he gently put her into the truck, everyone in the shop watched. No one said anything until a waitress remarked, almost reverently, “He took his vows seriously.” (Fred Smith)
Today’s Scripture passage is a love story, a godly, worshipful love story. Let me set the stage: Just before Jesus was betrayed, arrested and crucified, He and some of His disciples were invited to Simon the Leper’s house in Bethany for dinner. Now leprosy was incurable and lepers were not allowed to live in town or associate with other people, so apparently Jesus had healed him.
This dinner was in gratitude for that. For Jesus it was good to break away from the turmoil of Jerusalem and visit with friends. Lazarus the one whom Jesus called back from the grave after being dead for four days was there.
His sisters, Mary and Martha were there. Martha, true to her nature, was bustling around serving the meal. And Mary—you know what she was doing—sitting at Jesus’ feet as a disciple—learning, leaning, and adoring, doing her best to listen and enjoy.
Then something extraordinary happened. Mark 14:3 3While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Now get the picture? Martha is serving; people are talking and eating, dishes clinking and being replenished. All of a sudden the exotic, wonderful aroma of the perfume filled the air.
Slowly the noises of the meal die down. The guests notice Mary standing beside Jesus. Something was happening at that end of the table.
Not everyone can see well. Some push away to get a better look. Other’s stand, craning their necks to see what was going on. Mary, tears streaming down her cheeks, a translucent alabaster jar in her hands is pouring perfume over Jesus’ head.
But she doesn’t stop there. According to John’s account, she then kneels and does the same to His feet. Then to the shocked surprise of everyone Mary did something a Jewish woman never did in public—she reached up and took the clips out of her hair, and, kneeling over his feet, dried His them with her loosened hair.
It was an act of pure worship. Mary had always been especially attentive to our Lord’s teaching. In gratitude she brought the most precious gift she possessed and lavishly poured it over Jesus.
It was a gift fit for an emperor. She laid at His feet her costliest possession as a symbol of her love, loyalty and devotion. It was hers—not anyone else’s. It represented a sacrifice that was beyond description.
Nothing was too good or too expensive to be given to the One who meant so much to her. It seems that Mary understood the significance of Jesus’ impending death better than even the Apostles. She accepted its reality. And she did not wait until it was too late to give her gift.
Mary understood what the others did not—that Jesus had to die in order to be raised again. She understood that His death and resurrection was necessary for her salvation and for the salvation of all.
Did Mary know Jesus would be crucified in the next few days? No. Did she know she was anointing Him for burial? No. Mary was simply worshipping Jesus.
Without hesitation she offered her most expensive earthly possession to her Lord. It was an act of unabashed, adoring worship. She didn’t care what others thought.
Jesus knew He was going to Jerusalem to die. Don’t you know that her gift warmed His heart and brought Him unspeakable joy!
But others in that room did not understand at all. Mark 14:4 - 5 4Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
Some were unhappy with Mary’s actions. This probably means some of the disciples. It was the disciples who tried to keep little children away from Jesus and were corrected for it (Mark 10:13-16). Now they criticize Mary for her form of devotion.
They had no comprehension what Mary was doing. John 12:4 specifically points to Judas Iscariot. With no spiritual understanding and completely blinded by selfishness, Judas rebuked Mary harshly.
He had a distorted idea of the Messiah’s mission. And he could not understand a spirit so generous and liberal as what Mary of Bethany had just shown. As unbelievable as it sounds, he criticized an act that was wholly unselfish.
Righteously indignant, he and some other disciples accuse Mary of wasting that expensive perfume? Why? It wasn’t theirs. They didn’t even know it existed until that moment. But it could be sold and the money given to the poor. Around the room heads were nodding in agreement.
It sounded good. But they didn’t really care about the poor. All Judas cared about was himself and his get rich schemes. John even called him a thief (Jn. 12:6). It never entered their minds that the perfume belonged to Mary. She could do with it whatever she wanted. It was no business of theirs.
But all that is secondary to the deeper tragedy here. They didn’t recognize true worship. They should have been humbled and convicted by what she did. Instead, they severely chastised her.
But Jesus knew. He recognized her worship. And He gave His unqualified approval to Mary’s gift.
Mark 14:6 - 9 6“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Jesus, of course, came to her defense. “Leave her alone,” He was irritated with them. The disciples had come down hard on her. They rebuked her harshly. Jesus knew that she had saved the money for this costly burial anointing.
Mary did have an unusual comprehension of the significance of Christ’s death. But did she see the same meaning that Jesus saw in her act—anointing His body for burial? Probably not!
Jesus accepted her offering and breathed His meaning into it. She simply wanted to worship Him while she still had Him. He said in, v. 8. “She did what she could.” Jesus has such insight. He knows us, and knows that each of us can do something.
His time on earth was short. His earthly ministry would soon end. He would return to His Father in heaven. Now was not the time for philanthropy—now was time for adoration and worship. Mary alone of all the disciples recognized this. She had chosen the best part. According to Jesus, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
This unusual and beautiful story should inspire each of us to do what we can to worship our Savior and Lord. This story shows love in action. How can we put our love into appropriate action?
The word “beautiful” in verse 6 in the New International Version is translated as “good” in others. In Greek there are two words for good: agathos, which just means good; and kalos=something that is not only good but lovely.
A thing that is kalos is winsome and lovely and charming. This is the word Jesus used when He said that Mary had done a winsome, lovely and charming—a beautiful thing for Him.
And she did what only she could do. It was he perfume, no one else’s. She had saved up for it. It was hers to do with as she chose. The point here is that no one else can love Jesus for you. Only you can love Jesus for you. Only you can worship Jesus for you.
What Mary did, she did to Jesus—not to anyone else or for anyone else. Jesus was her Savior. He had saved her brother and sister. There wasn’t anything she could do to repay Him for those things. All she could do was, in love, worship Him. I think we could love Jesus more.
Love doesn’t calculate the cost. It isn’t concerned to see how little it can decently give. If it gave all it had, the gift would still be too little. It is reckless in its giving. That’s exactly what Mary was—extravagantly reckless.
I don’t know what a year’s salary means to you—$25K, 50K, 100K? It was an enormously costly bottle of perfume. She broke the jar—she didn’t take a stopper out and pour just a little on His head and feet, then put the stopper back in so she could have the rest for herself. No, she poured it all on His blessed head that would soon be torturously ringed with a crown of thorns; and on His blessed feet that had walked the hills of Galilee and would soon be pierced with nails.
A tragedy of life is that too often we are moved to do something good and do not do so. (The impulse to send a letter of gratitude; or to tell someone of our appreciation of them; the impulse to give a special gift or speak a special word.)
Our world would be so much nicer if there were more people who were like this woman, who knew in her heart that if she did not do it then she would never do it at all. How this last, impulsive kindness must have lifted Jesus’ heart and spirit.
Think how blessed Mary was to actually physically touch Jesus’ head and feet. It is impossible for us to reach out and physically touch Jesus. But we can pour out our affections toward Him.
It wasn’t the perfume that Jesus cared about. What does the God of creation, the King of Kings care about a little perfume? It is the adoration, praise and prayers of a believer’s broken heart that God cares about.
The new heart, the heart that has been transformed, is the alabaster box that Jesus loves.
A life that is given to and dedicated to Jesus is the perfume Jesus desires. Genuine worship is the supreme service a Christian can give to Christ.
There is a time for giving to the poor, taking care of the sick, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison. There is a time for witnessing to the lost and seeking to lead them to the Savior.
There is a time for helping new believers grow in the faith. There is a time for studying God’s Word and letting it speak to your needs and teaching God’s Word to others.
But all these things grow out of true worship of Christ. What He desires most of all from us is our heartfelt worship. God wants and requires of us is to worship Him through holy living. In fact, if we do not live holy lives anything else we do in His name is empty and powerless.
The true worshipper is inspired by and emulates Mary. A true worshipper does not ask, “How much is it going to cost?” or, “Do I have the time?” If you really love Jesus you will be like Mary and give to Jesus whatever you have, including yourself, because you know it is trifling compared to what you have received from Him.
Let me read again, Mark 14:8 - 9 8”She did what she could….. 9I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Mary didn’t realize when she performed this unique act of worship that she was preparing Jesus for His death and burial. Yet for almost 2000 years what she did has been spoken of in memory of her. She continues to be an example to all of us of unselfish, sacrificial adoration.
When we give ourselves completely in worship to our Lord, we, too, are examples and inspirations to others, and a pleasing, fragrant aroma to our God and Savior. Do what you can to glorify our Savior. He will be pleased.