As we saw previously, there were three women named Mary in close relationship to Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry: His mother Mary, His disciple Mary Magdalene, and His dear friend Mary of Bethany. The pattern of triplets in Scripture, reflecting God’s triune nature, continues as we study Mary of Bethany in closer detail.
Mary
of Bethany lived in a family unit of three, including herself, her
sister Martha, and her brother Lazarus (John 11:1-5). The Bible tells us of three significant
occasions in her life: she lavishly
worshipped Jesus by anointing His feet with precious ointment (John 11:2; 12:3-8; Luke 7:
37-50); she listened quietly at His
feet to soak up His wisdom (Luke
10:38-42); and she watched Him
raise Lazarus from the dead (John
11: 1-45)
In Luke’s account of a woman anointing the feet of Jesus,
Mary is not mentioned by name, and it may be that this was a separate incident
involving a different woman from the account in John 12:(3-8), who clearly is Mary of Bethany. And yet John
refers to Mary of Bethany as “that Mary
which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair,” (John 11:2), suggesting that the woman
described in Luke 7 may also be
Mary of Bethany.
When Luke recounted the dinner party in which a woman, I
believe Mary, anointed her Savior’s feet, he refers to her as a sinner (Luke 7: 37), which must have some
special connotation as we are all sinners who have broken God’s laws (Romans 3:23; Psalm 14:1-3).
The implication may be that she was well known to be living in sin. Her sinful condition
was evident not only to herself, but
also to Luke who wrote this account,
and to Simon the Pharisee, the host
of this event (Luke 7:39).
We can infer that Mary knew she was a sinner in need of
Savior, as is evident by her humility
(v. 38), sorrow (v. 38), and need for forgiveness (v. 42-43; 47-48). She must have known
that she had come to the end of her own
resources, could do nothing to save
herself, and gave over all she had
and all she was to let Jesus be Lord of her life. May we follow her
example, repenting of our sins, trusting in the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ (1
Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), and inviting
Him into our hearts to be Lord of our lives!
Mary pulled out all the stops when it came to worshipping
Jesus. She sought Him out despite
the danger, she tearfully repented (Luke 7: 38), and she adoringly ministered to Him. Simon was
a Pharisee, a legalistic, self-righteous religious leader, and Mary was an infamous sinner.
Yet she came,
presumably uninvited, to Simon’s
house because she knew Jesus would be there (v. 37). In so doing, she risked
being thrown out by the host as he considered her to be
unworthy (v. 39), being ridiculed by the dinner guests
who disapproved of Jesus (v. 49) and
of her (John 12:4-8), and even
being rejected by Jesus Himself.
I believe that Mary
was weeping tears of Godly sorrow (v. 38), in repentance for sin, similar
to the tears of the Psalmist David (Psalm 6;119:136) and the
“weeping prophet” Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:1,18; Lamentations 3:48).
She came to Jesus not in defiance but in humility, standing behind Him at His
feet (the word “feet” is mentioned three
times in Luke 7: 38).
She cleansed His
feet by washing them with her tears and wiping them with her hair; she kissed His feet; and she anointed His feet with precious ointment (v. 38; 44-46). Jesus
contrasts the poor hospitality of Simon, who omitted the host’s customary
duties of foot washing,
kiss of greeting, and anointing with oil, with Mary pouring
out her whole being into these acts, elevating them from hospitality to extravagant
worship (v. 44-46).
Simon
did not invite Mary to his house, nor did Simon offer Jesus even standard hospitality, yet Mary showered Jesus with lavish hospitality.
In essence, she invited Jesus into her whole being (body, soul, and spirit).
Foot washing, normally done by the lowliest servant (and,
in the upper room by Christ Himself; John
13:4-17, who took on the form of a servant; Philippians 2:7), was necessary in those days to wash away
the dust and grime accumulated by walking long distances in sandals over dirt
roads. Yet foot washing is also symbolic of Christ washing away the sins of the
world in His own blood (Romans 3:25),
for He Himself had no sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Praise God that He forgives us if we ask Him! Jesus sees
our tears of Godly sorrow and washes away our sins, just as the Holy Spirit led
Mary to weep tears of repentance that cleansed the dust of the world from Christ’s
feet.
Mary gave her body as a living sacrifice to Jesus (Romans 12:1), washing His feet
with her flood of tears, drying them
with her hair, and kissing them
repeatedly with her mouth to show
her devotion (Luke 7. 38; 44-46).
On previous readings of this passage I had a mental image of Mary drying Jesus’
feet with her luxurious mane of long tresses. But on further study, I notice
that the Bible does not say that she wiped His feet with her "hair," but with the
“hairs of her head” (v. 38, 44).
It makes me wonder if Mary cut off or tore out sections of
hair to use as a towel, making her devotion to Christ even more
self-sacrificing. But it also reminds me that the very hairs of our head are numbered
(Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7),
reflecting not only His perfect
knowledge of us and His complete
protection of us, but also the reckoning
believers face at the Judgment Seat of Christ when He shows us how well we
used, or failed to use, our body to glorify Him (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Mary not only sacrificed
her pride and offered her body
as a living sacrifice, but she also gave
Him all her earthly treasure. She stored the precious ointment, identified
in a similar account as spikenard (John
12:3) in a costly alabaster box, which may have represented her dowry
or the sum of all her material possessions. Yet she broke open the box (similar account in Mark 14:3) and bestowed
all the ointment lavishly on Jesus without considering the cost, because
her heart was ignited by the Holy Spirit with passion to serve Him.
The broken box may represent Mary’s broken spirit as she came to Christ; the pouring out of all the
ointment may symbolize her holding
nothing back to save for future use (for she had faith in His provision); and
the fragrance filling the air (John 12:3)
reflecting the Holy Spirit entering her
heart as she surrendered to Jesus as Lord of her life.
As Jesus explained to Simon in a parable with three characters (a creditor and two
debtors), the person who recognizes how
much he has sinned, and how much he
needs forgiveness, will have the
greatest love for the One who forgives sin (Luke 7:40-43). Mary did this and gladly received Christ’s
gifts of forgiveness, faith, and peace (v. 48-50). May we
follow her example and pour out our whole being for Him!
© 2015 Laurie Collett