August 5
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MARY ANOINTS JESUS WITH COSTLY PERFUME
Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” 9 The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. – John 12:1-11
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Lazarus was resurrected from death in this account. It was six days after Passover and Jesus passed by his friends’ house in Bethany. We see on some occasions in the bible that Jesus frequented the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. It establishes how close He was with these people. While having supper with Jesus and the disciples, Mary got her most expensive perfume and began to anoint Jesus’ feet with it and used her hair to wipe His feet with. It must have been very costly to use pure nard because it made Judas Iscariot cringed at the thought that he could have profited from the value of that perfume. It really shows his character. He wasn’t there for Jesus but to use Jesus so he can benefit personally from the funds. In verse 6, we see the true color of Judas, he was a thief who embezzled money from the funds of the group. Mary’s act of using the best perfume to anoint Jesus feet is exactly the opposite of Judas’ greed. She had to honor the Lord with all she has because He was her master.
How easily can we forget that everything we have comes from the Lord? Some people forget that Jesus must come first in all that we have and all that we do.
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REFLECTION
• Why did Mary anoint Jesus’ feet?
• What was the significance of such anointing?