Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2
So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3
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. 4
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,5
“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6
He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7
Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8
For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
I might be making too much of this, but I don’t think so. I could not get over three words from our text…Jesus’ coming to the defense of Mary when her extravagant
actions were being called into question…when he said those accusing her:
“Leave her alone.”
I think I have heard the Lord Jesus saying that to the enemy of my soul…“Satan…leave him alone.”I think I have heard him say to my own heart that at times seeks
to condemn me, “Leave him alone.” And I know that my hope comes only in that Jesus has said to sin, death and hell, “Leave him alone.”
Once again, John brings to us the power of contrast to make his point…we see that even on the deepest level of intimacy with Christ, of the most profound demonstration
of that love, there is the world of unbelief, the reality of scorn, the ridicule, there is the reality of the seed of the serpent continuing to war with the seed of the woman.
It is interesting that there would be a reference to burial at an anointing. Anointing was usually a mark of festivity and honoring those who are the special guests.
Remember that Jesus makes it an act of discourtesy that he was not anointed in Luke 7 at the home of Simon the Pharisee. This omission was an insult to Jesus as the guest. Anointing was usually associated with revelry not funerals, a remark about burial is
not what we might have expected but we are probably getting used to the unexpected by now.
This chapter begins a most important division of John’s gospel. Our Lord’s public ministry, his openly addressing the unbelieving Jews of Jerusalem, is now brought
to an end in John’s gospel. From this point on, John will record nothing but what was said and done in private with the disciples. He is preparing Himself and preparing them for the pinnacle event in his life and theirs and for that matter in the history of
the world.
We have the contrast here of Mary and Judas and it is obviously profound. Mary is in fellowship with Christ, love has descended from heaven in deeds of might and mercy
and has shown itself to be the power of eternal life. Heaven has spoken, Lazarus came out, and the earth answered and here we see a picture of love answering love.
For Judas things are quite different. Judas lived in the presence of Jesus. He had many benefits that others did not have. However, the text is revealing to us of
the man’s heart. He is a thoroughly selfish person, a cold calculating thief, a hypocrite, a liar, with only an outward show of spiritual virtue.
Jesus is only days away from his death and he comes to Bethany and has dinner with some friends. The text makes it clear that Lazarus was there, rejoicing and eating
and drinking in the presence of his Savior. Mary takes very costly ointment, a scented oil which was poured upon the head of the one for whom the festivities had been called. There is a discussion of whether or not Mary poured it on Jesus’ head and it ran
down to his feet, or if she simply anointed his feet.
Our text seems clear, that although this was typically poured on the head, Mary is at the feet of Jesus. She bows at the feet of Jesus and washes them with the ointment
and dries it with her own hair and the room is filled with the aroma of the oil.
Mary is taking the lowliest place possible, content to be at the feet of Jesus. A little later in this Gospel and in this one only, there is an incident where Jesus
reproves his disciples by bowing at THEIR feet, to bend down and to wash the dirt from them, once again taking the place of a servant, and he washed the feet of those he loves. Just as He had bent down and come from heaven to earth, so He bends down at the
feet of those who are his own.
Mary, filled with the humility of heaven, expresses the gratitude and the love that so fills her heart, and she does so as a servant. In Luke 10 we are told that Mary
was sitting at the Lord’s feet when he was teaching, listening to him, eating up every word he spoke. Being at the feet of Jesus seems to be a common place for her, it was her place of learning, her place of comfort…should it be so odd for us to find her
at his feet again? She spares no expense but with great extravagance that some will think a waste, expressing her love for Jesus?
It is conjectured by some that the alabaster flask that Mark tells us contained the oil, was typically saved by a woman for her wedding day and that Mary was giving
of that most precious possession that a woman could have. Again, only conjecture, but not beyond the scope of this woman…The act is only the continuation, an expression of what her life was all about…at the feet of Christ giving him her all.
Well, that’s the account. It is beautiful…but two questions for us this morning: Is being at the feet of Jesus a familiar place for you? Is it so familiar that you
would call it home? Second, I ask you what I asked myself: what extravagant thing have I ever done for my Savior? What have I given, what have I become that is just for Him that causes folks to wonder about if I have any sense at all?
Isn’t there peace, comfort…a calmness and serenity found in humble communion with the Lord? Isn’t it in the house of worship, or in the quiet of the morning, that
in the presence of Jesus, all that is “out there” can just wait…for we are concerned only to bow at the feet of him, to whom the whole world will bow.
We too come to the feet of the Savior, and we too are called to sit there and to listen. And we too, in our Eucharist celebrations, are invited to a supper with Jesus,
a meal of communion between Jesus and His friends, where the table is filled with those who were once dead but now are alive, who once were blind, but now who see, a supper, filled with disciples, who humbly sit at the feet of the Savior and not unlike Mary
are moved, only to serve this great Lord!
What is the significance of Jesus washing the feet of his own and then telling them to go and do likewise? Or when he says to them that the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven is the one who serves, that the one who gives his life away is the one counted worthy of the praises of the heavenly tribunal? My brothers and sisters, we will not fully enter into the joy and the reality of the kingdom of God until you find the
joy of giving your life away…of a love to Jesus and for Jesus that literally makes folks think you have lost your mind!
Prayer: Father, I confess that I am not at the feet of Jesus as I should be, as I so desire to be. When I am there I know peace and rest as in no other place. May
it be a familiar home to me and hope for me. Give me the courage and the love for my Savior that I give myself and my life to serving Him and my brothers and sisters, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Song: The Servant Song
