Mary of Bethany

An Unforgettable Gift – Part Two

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There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 
Mark 14: 4-5 ESV

When people saw Mary pouring the oil on Jesus’ head, they hushed and waited to see how He would respond. Then, without a word, Mary fell to her knees and poured out the remaining perfumed oil on the feet of Jesus, and then she wiped them dry with her hair! There was a shocked silence, but it lasted only a moment. Then Judas, began to criticize. For him, Mary’s act of love was more than unexpected, it was unwelcome. Sadly, his complaining drew in the other disciples who were caught up in his reasoning, “Why this waste?” they said. “This perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor!” But Judas didn’t really care about the poor. He really only cared about the money that he skimmed from every offering. For Judas, and those like him, religion is all a business, meant to be smoothly run, so they can reap the side benefits of a prosperous life. Mary’s heart told her that she had met someone who was greater than religious traditions, and Jesus came to her defense. “Leave her alone! She has done a beautiful thing!” No one there realized that in just a few days, Jesus would be arrested, falsely accused, and nailed to a cross. But Jesus knew and said that her gift had prepared Him for all of what was to come. If we want to be like Mary this Easter, then we must give our all for Jesus, even if no one understands. Then just as He did for Mary, Jesus will defend us and pour out His love on us in a way we will never forget!

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Reading Selection from day 26 of One Unexpected Morning

Master There’s Still More

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This is Easter Sunday – the day that we Christians base our entire faith upon. Some of us are having some big dinners together with family and the scene in Bethany, where they were honoring Jesus with a feast is very much like that. John’s gospel tells us that his disciples and closest friends were all there. Everyone was talking and enjoying the great food when Mary quietly entered. At first no one noticed her, but then she took an alabaster jar filled with perfumed oil, broke it open and began to pour the oil on the head of Jesus. The Bible says that fragrance filled the air and one by one people fell silent and turned their heads to see what was going on. John tells us that Mary anointed the feet of Jesus while in Matthew says she poured it on His head. In this song which I wrote for an Easter play a few years ago I imagine that she did both, because after pouring some on the head of Jesus, she saw that she still had more. Do you still have more for the Master this Easter? It doesn’t matter what others say or think. he is quietly waiting for us to share all we have, even if it seems a waste to others. Not one drop of the fragrance of our worship will be too much for Him!

https://youtu.be/NK7C_5lT8mw

If you would like to use my song, please just let me know. I will be glad to send you song sheets and give permission to use it without charge. You can contact me at Revpete51@gmail.com – God bless and Happy Easter all!

The Fragrance of the Perfume

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Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled withoctober-04-assorted-001 the fragrance of the oil          John 12:3

While Hollywood has generally given us the impression that Mary was a young beautiful woman, that may not have been the reality. In that time even poor young beautiful women would have been married and Mary was not poor. While we do not know Mary’s age it seems possible that she and Martha were both widows, living with their brother Lazarus. That would give us an entirely different view than the film version. In this scene we meet a Mary who kept all her savings in that perfume jar. It acted as something of a retirement account. As she grew older with no marital prospects, no way to work or even the right to own property that perfume was all she had besides the kindness of her brother. She was presenting  that gift in a single defining moment as her worship and expression of love to the Lord Jesus.

As the fragrance filled the room people began one by one to realize how exorbitant and yes even a little crazy what Mary was doing really was! Her family and friends were shocked but silent. Then one by one the disciples, beginning with Judas,  began to protest. “Why wasn’t this sold …and given to the poor?”

But Jesus knew Mary’s heart and while she remained silently at His feet He defended her. Today we have little to describe how Peter or John, Andrew or Phillip worshiped, but Mary’s act remains as the Bible’s best example of how we should be after 2,000 years. In a way that costly perfume continues to fill each of our rooms with its fragrance!