An Outpouring Of Worship.

AN OUTPOURING OF WORSHIP.

John 12:1-8.

It was six days before the Passover, and the family in Bethany made our Lord a supper. The resurrected Lazarus was there, and Martha was serving. In a singular act of devotion, Mary took a whole bottle of very expensive Indian perfume and lavished it upon the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.

The treasurer, one Judas Iscariot, was incensed at this apparent waste! After all, it could have been sold for a year’s wages and the proceeds given to the poor. Yet the evangelist John is at pains to inform us that this particular church officer, who would later betray Jesus (John 12:4), was cross for another reason: he had his hand in the bag (John 12:6).

Again we see something of Mary’s humility and spirituality. Jesus says that she has got the rights of the matter, because she had the insight and precognition to thus anoint Him for his burial (John 12:7). All of Mary’s service commences, as should ours, at the feet of Jesus.

When our work does proceed out of a devotion to Jesus, we will find ourselves criticised, sometimes even by our fellow-believers. Yet our heart’s extravagance is a sacrifice of a sweet savour to the Lord. What Mary did was accepted as part of her reasonable service, because her motives and her motivation were sound (Romans 12:1).

This is not to undermine the place of alms-giving in Christian service. Jesus says that we will always have the poor (John 12:8), and we should always minister to them appropriately. This is taught throughout the Bible.

Yet for the Christian this is no longer a legal obligation, but a debt of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us through His death and resurrection. Jesus applauded Mary for her perception that this costly ointment was intended to be kept for His burial. It was now poured out in an act of sacrificial giving because His time had come.

When all is said and done, what Mary did was quite shocking. In any other situation it would have been considered a cultural faux pas to let down her hair as she did, and to wipe His feet in such a manner. The fragrance of Mary’s act of devotion stands as a testimony to the ends of the earth, for ever (cf. Mark 14:9).