In John 12, Jesus came to Bethany. “So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (12:2-3). Jesus had dinner with His friends. No big deal, right?
Lazarus reclined at table with Jesus. Sitting next to someone doesn’t seem like much. Except Lazarus was the one “Jesus had raised from the dead” (12:1). People in this day didn’t sit on chairs but laid on their side as they dined in a close, intimate posture. Someone rescued from death was participating in a personal moment with Jesus, his Savior.
Martha served. It doesn’t seem like much to see Martha serving: she loved taking care of people, especially Jesus. Except the last time we saw it, she was “distracted…anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:38-42). Her expectations had displaced the joy and peace her generous service should have produced with resentment and worry. Now, Jesus taught her how to serve entirely from love, not expectations.
Mary wiped Jesus’ feet. That doesn’t seem like much: washing feet was a job for the lowliest household servant. Except Mary was not washing but was anointing Jesus – and with very expensive ointment. Jesus said her act of love was “for the day of my burial” (12:7). Because within days, the chief priests in nearby Jerusalem would have succeeded in killing Him. As the day of rest approached, His lifeless body would be hastily laid in a borrowed tomb before the preparations of spices and ointments were fully completed. Other women would have to come on Sunday morning to finish the process (Luke 23:50-24:1).
Except they never did. Mary’s anointment would be it, because Jesus rose from the dead. He rose from the dead, and now those of us whom He has rescued from sin and death can be close to Him. He rose from the dead, and now we can serve with lavish, self-sacrificing love. It might not seem like much. Because of Jesus, it is.
Visit our sermon podcast page for Ordinary People, Extraordinary God, a series of lessons on how Jesus can accomplish incredible transformation in our everyday lives.