The Lord Jesus said something in regard to His anointing which is often overlooked. At least I have overlooked it until recently. Most preachers consider this passage and its cousins in Matthew 26 and John 12 merely in the light of worship. Mary loved the Lord Jesus and expressed her love in a very real and tangible form of worship. John 12:3 says, “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”
According to the words of Christ, it is perfectly permissible to study the woman and her worship. With the help of three of her critics, Christians have been thinking about her now for two thousand years. But this morning, I’d like us to look at Jesus’ encouragement a little more closely. He said, “Verily I say unto you, wheresoever THIS GOSPEL shall be preached throughout the whole world, THIS ALSO that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Is He saying that this woman did something which was among Jesus’ greatest honors? Out of all the things done for Christ during His lifetime was this the highest? Was this the most important? What in this offering was so special that it warranted eternal – and world-wide – recognition? I don’t think we will ever see its value until we stop starring at Mary and take another look at the Saviour.
The three gospels which record this event place it at both two days and six days before the Passover. They also remind us that this was a part of “the Days of Unleavened Bread.” The difference in time depends on which aspect of the Passover week is being considered. The Passover wasn’t just one day, and it didn’t stand alone but was in a larger period of worship. I won’t go into the differences between two and six days; I’ll just say they aren’t a problem to me. The primary point is – Christ was less than a week away from His crucifixion. What He had told His disciples over and over again was now just a stone’s throw away. The priests were already in a secret conclave, trying to figure out how to take Jesus without creating a fuss. The point of the spear was being honed to its very sharpest.
During this last trip to Jerusalem, Jesus had already been into the city teaching and preaching. And He would be going back and forth for a couple more days. But at night, when He was most vulnerable – at least in the eyes of His enemies – He left the city. And on this day, he was back in the familiar village of Bethany, on the east side of the Mount of Olives. This community had grown famous, because it was there that Christ raised Lazarus from his grave. And that resurrection ambiance was undoubtedly still in the air. But on this occasion, Jesus was at a meal in the home of “Simon the Leper” – not at Lazarus’ house. I have no doubt that Christ had at some point healed Simon of his leprosy, but that miracle didn’t compare to the resurrection of Lazarus. And sadly for Simon, the ugly sir name had become permanent. Yet it appears that Simon had become one of Jesus’ supporters and followers. But I wonder how a man who had been so ill and rejected by society for so long, had money enough for a large meal. It makes me wonder if the family of wealthy Lazarus hadn’t helped to cater this party. Even though there wasn’t an organized church in Bethany, there was certainly a brotherhood of believers there, so that Simon and Lazarus would have become friends. Undoubtedly they prayed for each other and helped each other, sharing meals together especially in a situation like this one. The Gospel of John tells us that Martha, ever being Martha, was serving the supper. She loved the Lord, and she loved serving the Lord in this way.
During the meal, Mary, ever being Mary, came in, and probably knelt behind her Saviour, who was reclining on the floor in front of a low table filled with food. She had with her a beautiful alabaster container, which she broke open, releasing a large quantity of precious spikenard. We aren’t told that she didn’t ask anyone for permission; she just did it. She probably hadn’t told Lazarus, John or Peter what she was going to do. It is said that “necessity is the mother of invention.” If that is the case, “love is the grandmother of invention.” Love finds a way to express itself. Mary loved the Lord Jesus. John tells us that she poured the ointment on Jesus’ feet and then she massaged it into His skin with her hair. Of course, by the time she was done, she was just as covered with the spikenard as Christ was. Fellowship with Christ and the worship of Christ are just as beneficial to the saint us as they are glorifying to the Saviour.
She was so filled with love for the One who first loved her, she gave what she could to show that love. Some commentators suggest she did this in an expression of thanks for resurrecting her brother. No, no. Her love was flowing from her own relationship to Jesus, not Jesus’ relationship to Lazarus. Other commentators think that this spikenard may have been her dowry – the only wealth that she might have brought into a future marriage – if she had sought one. Some think that without the wealth contained in this box, she might never have been married. If so, it appears that she was so in love with Christ, she didn’t care about any other man. She was willing to sacrifice what she could to help glorify her Redeemer. But, I think that even without it, some Christian brother would have seen her as a perfect helpmeet. Matthew and Mark tells us that she poured the rest of the ointment abundantly on Jesus’ head – on His head – over abundantly. Perhaps, noticing how the first part of her sacrificed pleased the Lord, she extended her service. In whatever way it transpired, the Lord Jesus showed no disapproval whatsoever.
In my imagination I see some smiles among the disciples when Mary began to anoint Jesus’ feet. Probably no one was unduly upset. They had seen this sort of thing before, to a limited degree. But when she began to pour more copious amounts on His head, their smiles turned to frowns. “This is a disgusting, sticky, waste of good spikenard. And look what this woman is doing to our Master.” While David and Mary danced before the Lord, Michael and the disciples gasped and sneered. And internally, several hearts began to complain – probably some of the disciples looked at the others with their eyebrows raised. But then after a few moments of awkward silence, Judas’ actually expressed what several of them were thinking, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” That provoked the Lord’s reply: “Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.”
With all that in our minds, let us lift our thoughts from the sacrifice of Mary to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Yes, I know that the Lord said, “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole, there shall also THIS, that THIS WOMAN hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” But He also referred to “this gospel” and preaching this gospel “throughout the whole world.” Based on these things, let’s consider Christ her defender; Christ her God, and Christ her Saviour. Christ OUR defender; Christ OUR God, and Christ OUR Saviour.
Christ immediately came to the DEFENSE of this woman.
“Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me” – Mark 12. With the exception of Judas, I am not going to fault the disciples for their negative opinion about this. How can I fault them, when I am so guilty myself? John tells us that Judas was upset, not because of the extravagant gift, but because “he was a thief, and had the bag and bare what was put therein.” The rest of the disciples saw their Master drenched in sticky oily odor and were offended on His behalf. Something we need to remember is that even the best of God’s servants only see the outward appearance. So very, very often, we focus so sharply on non-essentials that we fail to see the eternals. And the only One can really see those essentials is God Himself. For example, when the great prophet Samuel was looking for God’s next Israelite king, all he could see were superficial attributes. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
Have you ever seen someone attempt to bring glory to the Saviour and your heart smiled at the feeble attempt? Perhaps, someone got up to sing a song of praise, but when his mouth opened, and he got half way through the first verse, you realized the guy couldn’t sing his way out of a wet paper bag. Or a child asked if she could quote a scripture in front of the congregation, and she did so with great gusto, but she had no idea how badly she misquoted it. When the Spirit lays some sacrifice on your heart, don’t worry about what other disciples might think – do it. Remember, the Lord “knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” “The Lord looketh on the heart.” And in some cases He knows, “She hath done what she could.” Like the poor widow going into the temple with her two mites – Jesus “called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” That may have been exactly what Mary did – all that she could – and the Lord Jesus defended her heart-felt sacrifice.
So Christ was, in this case, Mary’s DEFENDER, but He was also her GOD.
Perhaps I am reading more into this than I should, but the Lord knows what’s in my heart. Mary could have been in love with the man, Jesus of Nazareth. But I am of the opinion she was in love with the Saviour of her soul, the Messiah, the infinite Son of God. If she was foolishly thinking that Jesus was a potential husband, she wouldn’t have “wasted” this ointment. She would have turned it into cash and made a down payment on a small house for the two of them. But this was not an act of human adoration, she was worshipping her Saviour – her God. That is how she was looking at the Lord Jesus. God the Son is the primary character in this event.
I think we can see the deity of Christ in this scripture. For example, we can see His omniscience in all of this. And we can see a hint of Christ’s salvation doctrine of “justification.”
What is the theological definition of “justification?” Isn’t it God’s declaration that the person He is saving is “righteous?” Justification is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness applied to the account of an unrighteous sinner. This kind of “accounting” or “imputation” is something only in the repertoire of God. Only God can declare a sinner to be righteous; it is certainly not in the purview of any priest or man.
In a similar fashion, we see here Jesus imputing something to Mary, which she probably didn’t intend “She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying” – Mark. “Against the day of my burying hath she kept this” – John. Was Mary thinking about Jesus’ burial at this point? I seriously doubt it. Even if she accepted all that Christ had been saying about His upcoming crucifixion, do you really believe Mary was thinking, “Oh, since Jesus is going to die, I’ll prepare Him now for His burial?”
I hope this doesn’t come across as blasphemous, because that is certainly not my intention. But I believe Mary was not thinking along the lines of what the Lord Jesus said about her sacrifice. This was as Christ applied it, but not as she applied it. What I see parallels – “Her faith was counted for righteousness.” The Lord Jesus, as the sovereign God, accounted her anointing in a direction she didn’t intend.
About three days will transpire between this meal at Simon’s house and Jesus’ burial in Joseph’s tomb. Does anyone think that the Lord Jesus still overwhelmingly smelled like spikenard by that time? After all the blood which washed down from His head, face and back… And after all the spit in His face, and after three days of natural sweat… Did His body smell as sweet and wonderful as it did at the end of the meal at Simon’s house? On Sunday morning, other ladies, will come to the tomb to properly anoint Jesus’ body, with “sweet spices.” But they won’t be able, not because they couldn’t get into the tomb, but because Jesus will not be there. There will be no need to prepare Jesus’ body for a permanent burial. And yet, the Lord, in His authority, looked at what Mary did here in Bethany in that particular way. Christ, in His divine omnipotence, sees the unintended results of her gift. And the Lord Jesus may look at something you have done for Him, in ways that you didn’t intend.
Only the God the Son, should be worshipped and served in the way that Mary did that day. And only God the Son has the authority to impute what she did as something eternal and spiritual.
The third thing I’d like us to see this morning is an illustration of Mary’s SAVIOUR.
Notice again what the Lord said in Mark 14:9 – “Verily I say unto you, wheresoever THIS GOSPEL shall be preached throughout the whole world, THIS ALSO that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” I could not find in any of the earlier context any reference to “the gospel” per se. And despite what we know about the death of Christ, at that point to the disciples, there wasn’t any “good news” in it. It was all bad news to their immature minds. Without any earlier reference, Christ ties together the gospel and this anointing. And thus, with the Lord’s apparent approval, I think we can weave these two things together. This anointing is a type, or picture, of the sacrifice of Christ, which, of course, is the heart of the gospel.
Mary brought a beautiful, white, alabaster box to the supper that night. She had no intention of dining with the Lord and His disciples, she had another purpose. Alabaster is a crystal which forms naturally, most often in caves, by white gypsum or a special kind of lime. People harvested stalagmites or stalactites, hollowed them out, worked them into some form and sold them. In Mary’s case, this alabaster container was filled with spikenard and then sealed in some way. Spikenard was a very precious commodity in that day; it has even been likened to liquid gold. John tells us that Mary brought about a pound of spikenard, and that it was “very costly.” The odor of that ointment filled the entire house. It might have made a few eyes water. But it was Judas’ mouth that was watering when he calculated the value of Mary’s gift.
If I may say, Mary could not have given the Lord a greater or more expensive sacrifice than this spikenard. Other than her own heart and soul, which she had already surrendered to Him, this was probably the most expensive thing she had left. But it doesn’t compare with the value of the gift the Lord Jesus gave to Mary. It doesn’t compare to the sacrifice of Christ in its various aspects. Whatever was possible for Christ to endure in the way of humiliation, temptation, sorrow and suffering He did. He even went so far as to become a “sin bearer” and “a curse.” Throughout His life on earth He scrupulously abstained from doing anything that might make His sacrifice come short of its absolute fulness. He denied Himself the full advantages of divine power and privilege. He emptied Himself; He made Himself poor. But I am talking about the One who created the universe out of nothing, but His own will. This is the God who was so holy the most holy men of the Old Testament were not permitted to look on Him. This the One who in His incarnation went about doing nothing but good. He blessed; He healed; He raised the dead; He restored sight. He even touched lepers in healing them. And He fed undeserving people – simply because they were hungry. There has never been a more pure, a more giving and self-sacrificing individual. There has never been anyone sweeter, more beautiful or more gracious than the Lord Jesus. A pound of spikenard may have been the best illustration of Christ Mary could make, but it falls far short of the reality.
Inside that alabaster box was divine, liquid gold. Deity dwelt inside the perfect humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. And that perfectly pure white box had to be broken open to reveal the value inside. I doubt that the alabaster had a cork stopper or wax which Mary found hard to pull out. The context seems to demand a container which had been permanently sealed in some way, and it could be opened only by breaking. It is not a coincidence that Paul described Jesus’ words at the Lord’s supper as “Take, eat: this is my body, which is BROKEN for you: this do in remembrance of me.” Christ’s body was broken – nailed, pierced with thorns and a spear, whipped into shreds, ripped of its skin. The flesh of Jesus’ body was broken, and in the process it wasn’t fallen humanity that poured out, it was the exquisite beauty of deity.
And again, there was a POUND of spikenard inside that white box. There was such an abundance of the ointment that the whole house was filled with the odor. To say that there was “more than enough” is such an understatement that it seems silly. Jesus came away drenched in oily, sticky spikenard – with an emphasis on the word “drenched.” When it comes to the sacrifice which Christ made for our sins, it is silly to say “it was satisfactory – enough.” Even though only a small percentage of humanity will eventually be saved, there is a sense in which what Jesus did was sufficient to save ten thousand humanities and more.
And the aroma of that sacrifice has floated over and filled the world now for more than two thousand years. Generally speaking, this world is a better place because of Christ, even if the majority of the world still hates and rejects Him. Despite the waves of destructive sin, beating like repeating tsunamis against society after society, still, the odor of Christ’s sacrifice has left its blessings on us. “What a waste,” the onlookers said. But the Lord Jesus replied, saying, “What a misconception you all have.”
Mary was motivated by unmitigated, unlimited, unreserved love for Christ. But her love for Him can’t be used to measure His love for her and for His other saints and disciples. “We love Him (our little) because He first loved us (a lot).” How can we not love the One whose sacrifice was greater than the universe? Christ Jesus was in full agreement with the father when, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8. “Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” – Jeremiah 31:3. Mary’s love for the Lord Jesus, began at some point in her life, long before the resurrection of her brother. But Christ’s love for her and for those He saves and resurrects from their spiritual death, began in eternity past. Hers was no ordinary love, but Christ’s love was and continues to be infinitely beyond whatever superlative word we might employ to Mary’s love.
Mary had both a love for Christ and a faith in Christ. It might be argued, but it appears to me that faith in the Lord Jesus is the more important of the two. She was a “child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Without that – her love for Him would have been wasted.
Please don’t talk to me about your love for the Lord – your sacrifices for Christ – your longing for Him – if you can’t tell me that your faith is in Christ. Please tell me that in abject emptiness and repentance, you have put your trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. If you have not yet trusted Christ, won’t you surrender to Him today?