I’d like us look at this story in a little more detail and consider first of all,
A Roman Pound is 11.5 ounces or 326 grams
Worth 300 denarii, this was more than a year’s salary in Jesus day
Just Nicodemus who gave up his own tomb for Jesus, so Mary sacrifices her most precious possession for Jesus. Mary seems to know intuitively that Jesus is about to die. Mary’s gratitude is an act of worship.
But to compound this provocative act, John tells us, Mary expresses her loyalty to Jesus in another dramatic way. She lets down her hair and dries Jesus feet with it. This act was as shocking to the men present as pouring out the nard had appeared reckless. It was the custom of the day that a woman would only let her hair down in the presence of her husband and never in public. Mary is clearly moved by deep loyalty that ignores the inevitable disapproval her act will cause. Mary’s act of devotion was therefore a beautiful thing.
It was a sign of her gratitude for what Jesus has done in raising her brother to life but also perhaps what she understood Jesus was about to do for her. It was therefore both appropriate and timely. Jesus knows his death and burial are just a few days away and makes that plain.
The contrast between Mary and the disciples could not be more stark. While critical of Mary, none of the disciples are willing to undertake this lowly task of feet washing just a few days later at the Passover meal. It is Jesus who gets down on his knees and washes their feet to reinforce the same lesson of servanthood Mary has already given them. Having done so, Jesus returns to his place and explains,
“You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.” (John 13:13-14). Mary has done so without being asked. That is how gratitude is displayed. Without asking. The gratitude of Mary.
Charles Erdman put it like this:
“Jesus forever vindicates the most extravagant gifts which are made in devotion to him, and condemns the spurious philanthropy which is not animated by him. Social service divorced from Christianity may spend the treasure of Mary according to the direction of Judas.”
The gratitude of Mary contrasted by the greed of Judas.
“She did what she could.”
We do not all have the same gifts or abilities, the same resources or the same opportunities to serve Jesus. Do not dwell not on what you cannot do. Dwell instead on what you can do for Jesus. As a clue, Jesus says in verse 7, “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. (Mark 14:7). The question is, “do I want to?” The very existence of an alms bag among Jesus disciples demonstrates how much Jesus cared for the poor. That Jesus had no permanent home, or as Luke puts it, “nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58); that Jesus’ only possession was the clothes he wore to his execution should speak powerfully to every Christ-follower of our obligation to give sacrificially as Jesus did to those less fortunate.
A Prayer to Let Go
Lord, I am haunted by Mary's unreasonable extravagance as she poured the precious ointment on your feet. Part of me agrees with those who rebuked her, that the money could have been better spent - in feeding the poor or paying the bills or supporting the temple.
But you would have none of it. Unembarrassed, you accepted her gift of ointment and tears and the house was filled with the fragrance.
This goes against the grain for me. I have learned the hard way that money is not to be thrown around, that I must live with prudence and modesty, thrift and discipline, or life will get out of hand.
Teach me, Lord, that there are times when love requires something more than habit and routine, a rigid timetable and a balanced check book. Lord of the dance, do you sometimes invite me to join you in fresh and spontaneous responses to life, to allow myself to be vulnerable, to make the unexpected gift, to show my love in gesture and embrace, and let myself go without fear of others' censure - to break the iron disciplines of every day?
Must I always rein in my emotions because of what others may think of me?
Is my forgiveness of those who hurt me always to be cold and conditional?
Am I never to reach out to others in case they rebuff me?
Lord, Mary knew that her moment had come and might never come again. Will you rescue me from my imprisoning inhibitions, help me to know when it is time to cast prudence aside, break open the spikenard and fill the house with the fragrance of love.
Amen.
A Story: My Blood for My Sister
His pediatrician told a little boy that he could save his little sister's life by giving her some blood. His six-year old sister was near death, a victim of a disease from which the boy had made a miraculous recovery two years earlier. The little girl's only chance for restoration was a blood transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the illness. Since the children both had the same rare blood type, the boy was an ideal donor.
"Johnny, would you like to give your blood for Mary?" the doctor asked. The boy hesitated. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, I'll give my blood for my sister." Soon both children were wheeled into an operating room. Mary was thin and pale. Johnny was robust and full of life. Neither of them spoke.
As Johnny's blood siphoned into Mary's veins, one could almost see new life come into her tired little body. The ordeal was nearly over when Johnny's brave voice broke the silence, "Say, Doc, when do I die?"
It was only then that the doctor realized what the moment of hesitation had meant earlier. Johnny actually believed in that giving his blood to sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he had made his great decision.
Obviously, in Johnny's mind his act of love toward his sister had no personal reward. In fact, he believed that in helping her, he would not even be around to enjoy whatever relationship he might share with his sister.
In John 12:1-8 we see a biblical example of love when Mary anoints Jesus feet with spikenard and washed his feet with her hair.
Pastor Victor Shepherd tells the story of a missionary surgeon he met who was rather gruff and to the point. On one occasion the surgeon was speaking to a small group of university students about his work in the Gaza Strip. He was telling us that we North American "fat cats" knew nothing about gratitude. Nothing! On one occasion he had stopped a peasant hovel to see a woman on whom he had performed surgery. She and her husband were dirt poor. Their livestock supply consisted of one Angora rabbit and two chickens. For income the woman combed the hair out of the rabbit, spun the hair into yarn and sold it. For food she and her husband ate the eggs from the chickens. The woman insisted that the missionary surgeon stay for lunch. He accepted the invitation and said he would be back for lunch after he had gone down the road to see another postoperative patient. An hour and a half later he was back. He peeked into the cooking pot to see what he was going to eat. He saw one rabbit and two chickens. The woman had given up her entire livestock supply--her income, her food, everything. He concluded his story by reminding us that we knew nothing of gratitude. He wept unashamedly. The incident will stay with me forever.
There is another incident concerning gratitude that will never be forgotten. It's about a woman who poured costly perfume over our Lord as she wiped his feet with her hair. Make no mistake--the perfume was expensive, three hundred denarii, a year's income for a laborer in Palestine. Enough to keep a family alive for twelve months.
A few years ago there was a true story about a man in New York City who was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $100,000 ransom. She talked them down to $30,000.
The story had a happy ending: the man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. But, don't you wonder what happened when the man got home and found that his wife got him back for a discount? Calvin Trillin was the writer of this story. He imagined out loud what the negotiations must have been like: "$100,000 for that old guy? You have got to be crazy. Just look at him! Look at that gut! You want $100,000 for that? You've got to be kidding. Give me a break here. $30,000 is my top offer."
Mark Trotter concluded his rendition of the story with this thoughtful comment: "I suppose there are some here this morning who can identify with the wife in that story, but for some reason I find myself identifying with the husband. I'd like to think if I were in a similar situation, there would be people who would spare no expense to get me back. They wouldn't haggle over the price. They wouldn't say, 'Well, let me think about it.' I like to think that they would say, 'We'll do anything for you.'"
The point of that story is this: sometimes it's O.K. to be extravagant! Now, that is precisely what this story in the Gospel of Mark is all about. Remember the story with me. Jesus is on His way to the cross. It is just a few days before Passover. The chief priests and scribes are plotting against Him. Judas is about ready to betray Him. The crucifixion is less than a week away and Jesus knows it. Jesus and His disciples stop at Bethany. just a few days before, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead there in Bethany. Now, as they are having dinner, a woman comes to Jesus and does a beautiful but extravagant thing for our Lord. The Gospel of John tells us that the woman was Mary, (the sister of Martha and Lazarus). Mary brings an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment. She breaks open the jar and pours the costly perfumed oil on Jesus' head. She anoints His head with oil.
Why did she do that? Some say it was an act of gratitude in which she was thanking Jesus for raising her brother Lazarus from the dead. Some say it was an act of consecration in which she was baptizing Jesus to encourage Him to go into the Holy City and do what had to be done. Others say it was a foreshadowing, an act of preparation, in which she was anointing His body for the death which was to come in Jerusalem a few days later. All say it was an act of love and kindness.
But Judas said it was a waste. If you lived strictly by the Judas mind-set, you would have no Spire on the church, no flowers on the altar, no art on the wall, no robes for the choir, no fine organ, no beautiful weddings. Your daughter would come to you and say, "I'm in love and I'm so happy. I want to get married." And you would say, "Well, why don't you just elope? It's much cheaper. It would be wasteful to have a wedding." But the Mary mind-set says, "Sometimes in the name of love and kindness and gratefulness; it's O.K. Indeed, it's beautiful to be extravagant." Let me show you what I mean.
1. First Of All, It's OK To Be Extravagant In Our Generosity.
2. Second, It's OK To Be Extravagant In Our Gratitude.
3. Third And Finally, It's OK To Be Extravagant In Our Graciousness.
