John 12:1-8

1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied." It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

Just prior to this event, Jesus had performed a miracle for Mary in bringing back her brother, Lazarus, from the dead. After such a gift from Jesus, her gift of washing His feet with the expensive perfume probably seemed to her like a small gesture. But to put the monetary value of the gift in some perspective, a year’s wages at today’s minimum wage is about $13,000. Surely it would have been appreciated by Jesus and well regarded among the guests if she had used less than the entire pint of perfume. In the book of Mark it says that she even broke the bottle before pouring it on Jesus. John describes how Mary let her hair down, against the Jewish custom for a “proper” lady, and wiped Jesus’ feet with it, an act of humiliation by any standards. So Mary did not plan ahead of time to wait until everyone got there and perform an act of showmanship. In that moment Mary did not care what anyone thought of her. The Spirit prompted her and she responded immediately with absolute abandonment of herself to embrace her Savior.

The story also shows how a gift like the one Mary offered can bring out the worst in some people, like Judas. This act might have even seemed immoral to him. “What a waste!” he said. “What kind of an idiot just throws away $13,000 like that?” The details about Lazarus being returned from the dead and Mary’s resulting gratitude to Jesus were lost on Judas, and he probably wrote her off as a fool or a show-off or a hypocrite or worse. If we are honest, witnessing such an act might have elicited a similar response from us. It might have made us feel guilty about the level of our own devotion to Jesus, and like Judas, as a response we might have tried to find some fault in it. And like Judas, we also might not have understood Mary’s motive. The thing we can miss sometimes is that we never know exactly what calling has been put on a person, and we don’t know what purpose God is working in an individual at a given time. Without knowing the whole story, if we had seen Abraham in the moment before he was going to kill his son Isaac, the Israelites as they marched around Jericho blowing trumpets instead of preparing for battle, the starving widow who gave Elijah her last meal, or Jesus on the cross, we might have responded like Judas did, and think, “What good could that possibly do?” But Jesus cleared up all doubt on this occasion when He said, “Mary is being obedient and faithful, her gift is a good thing. Even though you don’t see a purpose for it Judas, God has a purpose for it.” So many times we never find out so specifically what God thinks about something like that.

Many of us have probably also heard the voice of Judas while putting money in the offering plate. “You idiot, that money could have been used for your kids college or for a rainy day or for some other good purpose. Are you sure you can still pay for those things now?” Those kinds of thoughts can take the joy out of the giving experience, and I would think they also ruin the experience for God. A child would not like to overhear his father or mother saying on Christmas morning, “I am worried we can’t afford all this”, or “We spent way too much on them”, or “We might could have spent that money better elsewhere.” It would obviously take most of the enjoyment away from the child as the recipient of the gifts. But Mary apparently did not hear the voice of Judas. She was so sure of her calling to do what she did, she didn’t consider whether it was her calling or not. She understood the magnitude of what Jesus had done for her and in light of that did not consider this gesture to be too much. She did not second–guess and think, “Maybe Judas is right, maybe I’ll just pour half of it on Jesus and save the rest for the poor, or maybe to use in case Lazarus dies again along with our only source of income.” This uncertainty would have transformed this same action into a bad experience for Mary and also for Jesus.

I find myself envious of Mary’s generous and devoted attitude. Without the reservations that can plague me, Mary’s generosity allowed her the joy of fully carrying out God’s purpose through her. I doubt I have ever felt the way Mary must have after she did this for Jesus. Dear Jesus, teach us to give the way Mary did, with the Spirit that Mary had. Mary was thankful that you brought back Lazarus for her and she acted on that gratitude without reservation. Bringing back Lazarus was something special You did for her. How much more have You done for us and for anyone else who has believed in You. You have brought back not only our brothers and sisters but us from the dead, from a spiritual death as lifeless as Lazarus’s body was in the tomb. Jesus, help us to feel the way Mary did about what You have done for us. And may we act on our gratitude to You in the same Spirit that Mary did. Amen.