Scripture

 Mary then took a litra {Romand pound, 12 0z} of perfume of very costly 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.

~John 12:3, LSB

Quote

You cannot stop love from giving: the nature of love is to give.

~Ya’akov

I love this story. They are having a celebration of Lazarus resurrection. Martha has prepared an extravagant meal but apparently, Mary was not a good cook or perhaps didn’t like to cook. Anyway, as Martha was serving the meal, Mary took a bottle of expensive perfume and literally washed Jesus’ feet with this costly fragrance. Of course, Judas had a fit because 300 denarii was approximately three years wages. We don’t know what Martha’s response was or Lazarus, but we know some of the men in the room didn’t like Mary’s display of love and affection for Jesus. The good news is: I don’t think Mary cared what they thought; she was focused on Jesus. Mary’s gift, as was her love, was a bit extravagant. Some would say she went overboard but is it possible to love Jesus too much? When you love someone as much as Mary loved Jesus, you will find a way to express it and many times it is by giving a gift. Giving the one you love something that is precious to you. We have to remember; this small family had just been through an excruciating crisis. When we are under the cloud of death, we shouldn’t be worrying about accumulating wealth which was Judas problem. Judas was greedy and the greedy are always vexed by giving.

You cannot stop love from giving. Love that does not give is not true love, but this is not the only point of the story. There is a great lesson here on worship. Worship is expression our love for Jesus in the public setting. I think she wanted not only to express her love for Jesus but to give Him glory and to treat Him differently than all the other men in the room. She wants to distinguish Him. I don’t know what they were focused on, but Mary was focused on Jesus. She didn’t see anyone in the room other than Jesus. This is the key to worship: we must give our undivided attention Jesus. When we do, we want see those around us. I am quite sure that some do not sing because they do not want the person beside them to know that they cannot sing talent wise. I don’t give a flip. If you don’t want to hear me sing, you better sing yourself because I am determined–“No rock is going to take my place.” Did Mary embarrass herself? Did she have regrets later, “Oh, I wish I had not done that!” I don’t think so. I think it was the others in the room that had the regrets.

Extra

This is Fridays post but todays did not publish and I can’t find it on my computer. I must have deleted it by mistake. Sorry about that!

I have to admit that given the choice, I would probably marry Martha because she could cook but it would be great to have Mary as a sister in law or a friend.