“Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from the essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.”
- John 12:3
This weekend marks the beginning of Passion Week. This week is when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the Donkey, flips over tables in the Temple, predicts Judas’ betrayal, gets arrested, and is crucified. A lot of the Gospel takes place during this week alone. To kick this week off though I wanted to look at one of the most beautiful acts of worship displayed in the New Testament. The sad thing is that not everyone initially saw this as an act of worship, instead they saw it as a disgrace.
The Setting:
According to the Gospel of Mark, it’s Monday of Passion week. Jesus has already ridden into Jerusalem on the donkey, marking Himself as the humble king who is coming to bring salvation. That happened the day before, and that is about all that happened that day. Jesus would leave Jerusalem almost immediately and then head back the next day.
Jesus and His disciples are dining with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Lazarus has already been raised from the dead and this is probably where Jesus and the Disciples spent most of their time. Mary, however, rushes off to another room and grabs a precious family heirloom, 12 ounces of the essence of nard. It is used to anoint the body in preparation for burial. It’s super expensive, usually costing a full year’s wage.
The shock that the Disciples, Lazarus, and Martha must have felt. It is one of those moments that happen so quickly that you can not even react until after it has happened. Lazarus and Martha would have recognized that jar immediately, and potentially in pain of how it was “waisted” like that. Yet, in John’s account, we only see Judas speak up and speak out against what just happened. Clearly, all of that jar could have been sold and the money given to the poor.
Instead, every ounce of that jar was poured out. One… Three… Six… Nine… and the final drop. Jesus was saturated in this perfume from head to toe. The jar was now sitting empty and worthless, yet the most glorifying act just happened. Mary goes so far as to undo her hair, uncovering it for all to see, and washes the feet of Jesus with the perfume and her hair. What others see as an act of disgrace, truly was an act of worship that recognized and prepared Jesus’ body for His coming burial. Maybe this is where Christians find their love for essential oils?
It's an empty jar that filled the room. It's every ounce that anointed Christ as King. Mary’s act of devotion and worship here, Jesus says will be talked about everywhere the Gospel is proclaimed. Mary saw in Jesus reason to make a fool of herself, to utterly “waist” something, for the purpose of glorifying her Messiah and Savior.
An Anointing Life:
Often Christians will talk about the kind of life God blesses. Yet, our life is not only about receiving a blessing from God, instead, our lives are also meant to be a perfume to bless the Lord with. So instead of an Anointed Life, we are going to dive into the Anointing Life.
The Anointing Life looks a lot like what Mary has done in the text above. In economic terms, she wasted a highly valuable and expensive resource. Economically there were better things she could have done. To a degree, it was irrational what she did. Yet, she did it to bless and worship Jesus. She recognized within her heart that Jesus is the Messiah, the King of Israel, the one who was going to bring Salvation and Peace not through political means but through a supernatural flipping of the script that would allow humanity to enter into the presence of God.
Mary was seeing what no one else was quite seeing yet. Now, we not only have seen it, but we have heard it proclaimed numerous times, and have it printed in paper and ink what Jesus has done for us and yet we still don’t react the way Mary did. Are we afraid of being irrational for Christ? Are we afraid of what it might cost us economically or socially? Are we afraid that Jesus isn’t who He said He was?
Judas did that. Judas betrayed because he no longer saw Jesus and His ministry as beneficial. So, Judas sold over Jesus for a bag of silver. While Judas sold out Jesus, Mary was sold out to Jesus. She was so captivated by the beauty of His grace that she was able to publicly recognize Him as her King.
What keeps us from living like Mary?
A Life Poured Out:
Let’s look back at the jar. Every ounce of it was poured out, and though that was only twelve ounces it filled the room with its fragrance. Kind of like when you let a stain remain too long and then it's always there, that the kind of life we should be living. Our actions of worship and intentions to glorify God carry so much weight that it sticks. Everywhere Jesus was going to walk that day they would smell the perfume. What if we lived with such selfless abandon that all people would see was someone sold out for Christ. We would become agents of grace everywhere we would walk. We would not be defensive but instead showed them, Christ, in a tangible way. This is the life that shares the Gospel in word and deed. Through voice and with motion, becoming like that jar, where every ounce has been poured out to bring honor, glory, and praise to Jesus, the King of our lives.
Final Blessing:
On this passion week, let’s approach it a little differently. Focusing a little less on what we are receiving this week and more on what we can give. How can we bring praise and glory to God this week by how we are living. Easter is only a week away, maybe invite a person to church, have someone over for dinner and share the Gospel through your hospitality. Have a life that is poured out, so as to be anointing Christ.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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