TEXT: Mark 14:1-9

SUBJECT: Meeting the Lord #15: Mary of Bethany

The story takes place in Bethany, a village about two miles from Jerusalem. In forty eight hours, thousands of Jews will celebrate the Passover; one of them will fulfill it. Our Lord is on His way to the cross.

But before He gets there, He stops in to see some old friends. Simon lives there, a man whom our Lord had once healed of leprosy. So does Lazarus, the man He raised from the dead, along with Mary and Martha, sisters He loved dearly. Around the table, everyone is having a splendid time.

Until someone commits a social blunder. The lady owns a bottle of imported perfume; it is very expensive, worth maybe twenty or thirty thousand dollars! She comes up behind our Lord and pours the whole thing over His head. The room is filled with an aroma the poor don't often smell.

Instead of savoring the moment, though, some lash out against the woman in a fit of rage: "Why was the oil wasted?"

Wasted? Yes it was, to their way of thinking. The oil might have been sold to support the widows and orphans of Bethany. Instead, it was thrown away on Jesus Christ.

Who was saying these things? It was Judas Iscariot. That makes us feel good, doesn't it? Of course, a man of his spirit would bawl out a dear woman doing what she could for Christ. The problem is, Mark tells us "some were indignant..and said". It wasn't Judas alone who felt this way. Other disciples did too. Which ones, do you suppose? I think they were Peter, James, and John. Peter because he was always running his mouth; James and John because they were, after all, "Sons of Thunder".

The woman must have been mortified. What she intended as a gift to her Savior--an "anointing for His burial" even--had become a public humiliation.

So it was...till the Lord spoke up. "Let her alone" He retorts. Doesn't the Law require pity? Doesn't God have a special place in His heart for the defenseless? Yet, here is a poor woman being ganged-up on by "twelve angry men". Shame on them!

But He doesn't stop there. He adds, "She has done a good work for Me". She hasn't done anything wrong; in fact, what she's done is right--the best thing she could have done. No better way of spending her money, than pouring it over the head of her God!

As for the poor? Our Lord cares for them. His people must, too. In time, the woman would give to charity. But for now, she must spend her all on the Lord. Directly.

What has she done? The disciples said, "Wasted her money". But our Lord knows better. What she's done is to "anoint [His] body for burial". This was customary, of course. Bodies were not mummified, for Jews believe in the resurrection. But they were perfumed to delay the stench that follows death. That's what she has done!

He closes with a promise: "Wherever this gospel is preached...what this woman did will be spoken of as a memorial to her". The anointing was not a waste, deserving criticism. It was an act of piety that will never be forgotten.

The prophecy is fulfilled this day. Here we are, two thousand years later, in a place they couldn't imagine, speaking a language they had never heard. Yet, what she did is remembered.

Mark doesn't name the woman, but John does. She is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

That's the story. What does it tell us?

It tells us something about the disciples of Christ--then and now. They are sometimes quick to pass judgment on unconventional piety.

In those days, like today, there was a usual way of worshiping God. If you asked anyone, he'd tell you he worships God by praying, fasting, and giving alms to the poor. The Pharisees did this "to be seen of men". And that was wrong. But good men worshiped God in these ways, too.

All these acts were good. The Law commanded them; holy men practiced them; they met real needs.

The customary way of worshiping God, however, is not the only way! Nor is it always the best way.

The disciples should have known that! Instead of scolding her, they should have praised Mary for her unexpected--but very real--devotion to Christ.

We have standard ways of worshiping too, don't we? They are good and should be supported. They are not, however, the only ways of serving Christ. Let me offer two examples, one famous, the other unknown.

How do we become less like the disciples were that day?

These are just hints; they can't be developed at the moment. Think about them, though, and you'll be "Slower to speak, swifter to hear, and slower to wrath" next time.

The story also tells us something about Mary. What is it? That she was sacrificial. Well, yes she was. But more than that, it tells us she was perceptive. The perfuming was more than a gift; it was an "anointing for My burial" the Lord said.

What does "burial" signify? Death. Well, of course, it does. Our Lord was going to Jerusalem to be crucified--everyone knows that! Oh really? The disciples didn't. Just a few weeks before, Peter, James, and John wondered what He meant by this "Rising from the dead"? Forty eight hours later, they were ready to die themselves to save Him from death. His closest friends did not know the crucifixion was at hand.

But Mary did. How? She was no prophetess; no gazer into the future. How, then, did she know? The old fashioned way: Mary listened. While her sister was serving tables and the disciples were having arguments, she was sitting at the feet of Christ, taking in His every word.

Do you listen to Jesus Christ as He speaks to you in the Word? It is not bigger brains that we need, but sharper ears! God give us those ears!

"Speak LORD, for

Your servant hears".

The passage features the disciples and Mary, of course, but isn't about them. It is about our Lord Jesus. What does it say about Him? This: Jesus Christ gladly takes what we have and doesn't demand what we don't have.

"She did what she could".

Mary did not have the Apostolic gifts. She could not raise the dead, as they did; she could not heal the sick; she could not cast out devils; she could not take a leadership role in the Church.

Because she couldn't do these things, she pouted and did nothing! Is that right? No, it isn't. "She did what she could".

So can you. It doesn't matter if you're a preacher or a deaf-mute! If doesn't matter if you're a scholar or an illiterate. A man or a woman. An adult or a child. Healthy or sick. Got three jobs or none. It makes no difference! You can do what you can do!

Find something to do for Christ. Do it with all your might. If someone criticizes you, let the Lord be your defense. You do what you can.

If this is every believer's duty, let the Church help its members to find their calling and support them in doing it. If we must tell others they're wrong, let's do it "in meekness, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted".

When Mary "did what she could", she found a Savior happy to accept her offering. Not nitpicking it; not saying, "Is that all?" But gladly receiving it.

He will do the same for us. Some men can't preach a sermon without saying, "All your works are corrupted by sin--the motive was wrong, the effort was weak, and so on". They're right, of course, but only half-right. The other half is this: All your works are corrupted by sin...but God, for Christ's sake, wholly accepts them!

In union with Christ, we become a "holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices...acceptable to God through Jesus Christ!" Not "tolerable" to Him; but well-pleasing, a "sweet-smelling savor".

The One who took Mary's gift, will take yours too. So give it. Nothing is ever wasted on Him.

"Take my life and let it be,

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee".