Pour love isn’t poor love
Pour twelve-ounces of perform that costs a year’s wages over Jesus’ feet and oh, yes, you’ll get a reaction. The first is from the disciples who had gathered for dinner. They’re aghast. One of them may have cried, “This is NOT done!”
Yet it is done—right in front of them.
Jesus’ reaction, on the other hand, is radically different. He receives this offering (and even defends it) because he understands what Mary is doing perhaps more than Mary herself understands.
As we round into Holy Week next week, this text (found in John 12:1-8) is spectacular for several reasons. First and foremost, Mary’s pure love, devotion and appreciation of Jesus is outstanding, model worthy, and instructive. She knows who Jesus is. In this cloud of uncertainty as to who, exactly, this claim-to-be Messiah is to the culture of the day, Mary gets it clearly. Specifically, Mary gets Jesus clearly. This God/man before her IS the Savior of the world. She knows this because Jesus restores life to her near and dear brother who had been dead in a tomb for four days.
Who brings life from death?
Mary can answer this question. Only Jesus.
Sometimes (often times?) the Bible jumps quickly from one story to the next. We are left with great gaps! Here is one of them. In John 11, we learn that Lazarus is raised from the dead. Twelve verses later, in John 12, we have this story of what Mary does—or better yet, how Mary acknowledges—that Jesus Christ is indeed the LORD.
Mary takes this perfume that costs an exorbitant amount of money and massages this into Jesus’ feet with her hair. It’s notable that a woman in this era who literally lets down her hair only does so when having sexual relations with her husband. And this was no private act. Mary did this eyebrow raiser in front of Jesus’ disciples during a meal six days before the Passover.
But Mary doesn’t care about her audience or the cost. She loves her Jesus. She shows this great love in one great act.
Others do care. Notably, John mentions Judas’s immediate outrage. “Such money wasted!”
Judas’s response is the second reason this story is outstanding because he sounds like every penny-pinching church board member who has far more fear than faith. The one who will betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver is the first of countless scoffers who sink every church’s ambition with the cry, “We can’t afford this!”
Jesus makes it clear that acts like the one Mary did are to be done. Devoting ourselves to Jesus is far above any cost we find out of an annual operating budget. To fiscally-minded naysayers who dominated the dining room then (and to present-day board church members today), this Savior of ours says, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial (John 12:7).”
This brings the third reason this story is so noteworthy. Mary is preparing Jesus for death. She may have known this. Then, too, it is entirely possible that she did not. We’ll have to wait for our time in heaven to learn more.
What we do know is that comments like Judas’s continue today. To this, Mary makes it clear that we are not poor when we pour our love onto (and into) Jesus.
Here’s another reason this story is so very, very good. This story becomes our story, too. We have the question that Mary had. What will you do with Jesus who brings life to you from death?
Mary makes a decision once she learns who Jesus is. She doesn’t hesitate to go all out in love, devotion, worship and care.
Let’s do the same.
This is GOOD,!, He has hit the nail on its head concerning many church board members! our faith is far too fragile (unfortunately) to take a leap into the unknown especially when finances are concerned.