19th May 2022 – John 12:1-11

"12 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 money bag 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.”

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus."

John 12:1-11

At the outset of our study of this lovely story we should note the contrast that John presents between the last verses of the previous chapter and the beginning of this. There, almost on the eve of the Passover, the Jews were plotting the death of Jesus; here, John tells of someone else's attitude to Him at this time - that of Mary of Bethany, with heart overflowing with love for Him. In the days of preparation leading to the great festival and memorial feast of the Jewish faith, commemorating the mighty acts of God in their past history, this is how they - and she - were thinking in their hearts. Surely this prompts the question, 'How do we come to God's house on His day? With hearts prepared, and going out to Him in love and worship, or with hearts filled with bitterness against someone, with evil or grudging thoughts?'

It is, of course, in relation to our Lord's approaching death that we are to understand and interpret Mary's action here, not merely from the point of view of His consciousness that He was about to die, but also Mary's consciousness of that fact, and her discernment of at least something of the meaning and purpose of that death. This is the wonderful thing about the incident, for it was surely her love for Christ that gave her such discernment. The anointing was obviously a spontaneous and even impulsive gesture on her part, the expression of her love and adoration for Jesus. But we can also say that it was love for Him not merely as a Teacher and Friend, but as One about to become, by His death, her Saviour. We can hardly escape the implication of the context here, and our Lord's own words about her act, that it had to do with the death He was going to die, and that she anointed Him, as if to let Him know somehow that she understood at least in some measure what He was about to pass through. We shall continue this thought in tomorrow's Note.